Buying a used IBM Thinkpad R40

[fuzzzzydonut]

I'm thinking of buying a used R40 off a friend's friend.

Here are the specs
-1.3 ghz centrino, wireless etc...
-512 mb ram
-40gig HD
-5 hrs battery life
-14.1 screen

It is 10 months old, still has 2 months of warranty left.

He is selling it for 1400$ Cdn (approx. $1000 US or a little less)
-he is offering 2 batteries and a carrying case too. Supposedly in good condition.

What do you guys think? Is this a good laptop for a college student? What do you guys think of the 1.3ghz centrino... what is that comparable to? (p4 wise). Is it slow?
I appreciate any feedback. Thank you very much.

 

[fuzzzzydonut]

Oh sorry but forgot one more thing to ask...

Is Noise a big factor for the R40 laptop? I HATE NOISE! That's one of the reasons why i'm parting my 6 month old toshiba.

 

[DaWhim]

get a used t series.....

my friend got a T40 brand new for $1340
pentium m 1.5
512mb ram
40gb
14.1" screen
9 cell li battery
warranty ends on 5/10/07

the config may not be as good as your r40, but t series is t series. better quality and built in titanium + magnesium. for r series, it is plastic.

for the price, I would say $800 for that R40. also, you should ask him how many counts on both batteries.

r series is meant to be affordable.

anyways, I don't know about the noise for r40, but with my x30, the fan is 80% off and it VERY quiet even with the fan on. sometimes, I don't realize the fan is on unless i feel the wind.

 

[user1234]

I have exactly the R40 you describe (except for smaller HD), bought it from ebay for $900 a few months ago, so I would say $1000 is not the greatest deal, I agree $800 would be a better price, given that the 1.3 GHz is quite far from the current top of the line centrinos (with larger cache as well). But as a machine, it's just fabulous in my opinion, quiet, pretty fast, great keyboard & trackpoint, and very well built. The T series is just smaller and lighter, but the major component are the same (screen, cpu, memory, hd, chipset). But R40 is still more than great, as you can see if you read the reviews. The 14" config is preferable to the 15" in my opinion because it has longer battery life, and is lighter by half a pound (it's 5.5 lbs).

 

[fuzzzzydonut]

Thank you guys for your replies. Here in Canada, we have to pay 15% tax for goods, even used products, say, bought on ebay. Therefore, i believe paying 1000$ US is still a fair price. Also there is no shipping charges.

The person i am buying it off of seems like a nice guy and trustworthy (works at IBM) so I think i'm gonna go for it.

I saw the laptop today, it has a scratch on the top surface of the cover but that's about it. seems like in great condition.

I assume ibms are reliable and don't have too much setbacks beyond the 1st year?

 

[user1234]

yes, thinkpads are the best quality x86 notebooks around. For example, in the latest pc magazine reader survey, IBM scored the highest overall for noebooks, highest overall reliablity (tied w/fujitsu), highest on tech support, repairs and likelihood of recommending. Only Apple is higher (in all categories), but that's of course a different platform. Both IBM thinkpads and Apple powerbooks come at a premium though. BTW, this one has a great battery life, but I hope you're not looking for a gaming machine (r40 is not one).

 

[DaFinn]

R40 is a good lappy (like all IBMs). We have them at work, and never had single problem w. them. Can't say abut the price, but if you are ok with it the R40 will serve you fine.