Refurbished laptops (Thinkpad T410)

sycamorex · 11-04-2010, 08:34 AM

Christmas is coming and I'm thinking of getting myself a Thinkpad T410.
They are quite pricey though. What's your experience with buying refurbished laptops?
Do you think it's a good idea? Do you know any reliable site where I could buy a refurbished
T410?

TIA

Drakeo · 11-12-2010, 04:20 PM

I always buy refurbished I have had great luck why. because years ago I used to do that. And this means some one went completely through the hardware and the software. good luck

sycamorex · 11-12-2010, 05:27 PM

Thanks for your reply. I now need to find some reliable source of refurbished Thinkpads.

cantab · 11-12-2010, 06:42 PM

My former employer bought half a dozen refurb laptops, HPs. They were good, except the battery life on some sucked. Generally, sellers of refurb laptops make no promises as to battery life. So if you're going to use it in one place and can plug it in, refurb may be good, but if you want to use it on the go, I'd advise getting a new one.

DavidMcCann · 11-12-2010, 06:46 PM

There are a number of refurbishers who advertise on ebay. I'm not sure whether you'd find a recent computer like the T410 though; they generally get machines in bulk from companies who are up-grading from older machines.

sycamorex · 11-12-2010, 06:56 PM

After some googling, it seems that ebay is probably the best place to try.

sycamorex · 11-18-2010, 08:15 PM

Eventually, I gave up on the idea of buying from ebay and bought in the UK.
I tested it for a few hours on the preinstalled Windows, made sure everything works and then wiped the drive clean to install Slack64 13.1. Apart from a few function keys (that I wouldn't use anyway) everything works fine out of the box. It seems like a very linux friendly laptop.

Code:

* Product Description: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 2522 - Core i7 620M 2.66 GHz - 14.1" TFT
* Dimensions (WxDxH): 33.6 cm x 23.9 cm x 3.2 cm
* Weight: 2.3 kg
* Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial, ThinkLight, Bluetooth aerial, cellular aerial, SIM card reader
* Embedded Security: Trusted Platform Module (TPM 1.2) Security Chip , fingerprint reader
* Processor: Intel Core i7 620M / 2.66 GHz ( 3.33 GHz ) ( Dual-Core )
* Cache Memory: 4 MB
* RAM: 4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM - 1066 MHz - PC3-8500 ( 2 x 2 GB )
* Card Reader: 5 in 1
* Hard Drive: 250 GB Full Disk Encryption (FDE) - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm
* Optical Storage: DVD-Writer - removable plug-in module
* Display: 14.1" TFT 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ )
* Graphics Controller: NVIDIA NVS 3100M
* Video Memory: 256 MB
* Audio Output: Sound card
* Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft), Bluetooth 2.1
* Wireless NIC: Intel WiFi Link 6300
* Notebook Camera: Integrated - 2 Megapixel
* Input Device: Keyboard, TrackPoint, UltraNav
* Power: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
* Battery: Lithium Ion

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 02)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset KT Controller (rev 06)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 06)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NVIDIA NVS 3100M (rev a2)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 6000 Series (rev 35)
0d:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e822 (rev 01)
0d:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e230 (rev 01)
0d:00.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Device e832 (rev 01)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)

I'm going to write more details on HCL

I guess no more (christmas/any) presents for me for another 5 years

lupusarcanus · 11-18-2010, 08:37 PM

Did you buy a new one or a refurbished one?

sycamorex · 11-18-2010, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leopard

Did you buy a new one or a refurbished one?

In the end I decided to buy a new one.

lupusarcanus · 11-18-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

In the end I decided to buy a new one.

Oh, nice. Good for you and I hope you enjoy it!

sycamorex · 11-18-2010, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leopard

Oh, nice. Good for you and I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks. So far I can't complain at all. Hopefully, it'll serve me long.