IBM WorkPad c500 (palm m500 clone) $99 direct from ibm

[Dealmunky]

IBM is clearin out a ton of these on their ebay site...

just go to ebay and search for WorkPad c500

 

[J9JM3]

Good find. They have a bunch for buy it now price of $99. Thanks.

 

[yellowperil]

Nice price, here's a direct link: link. (19 left) They have other auctions for the C500 but with a BIN of $110. At FW they said this model is comparable to the Palm Vx

 

[crypticlogin]

Originally posted by: yellowperil
Nice price, here's a direct link: link. (19 left) They have other auctions for the C500 but with a BIN of $110. At FW they said this model is comparable to the Palm Vx

Considering these are vendor-sold Palm m500 clones, I'd say they're closer to an m500 than a Vx. Definitely gives that Overstock C3 a run for the money!

 

[Dealmunky]

yeah.. these models have the slot for either SD or MMC expansion so they are really are m500 clones...

btw: didn't even realize this was over at f4tw4llet.... guy over there gets props

 

[Turin39789]

grabbed me one, waiting for the payment email from ibm, how long should this take isnt it automated?

 

[yellowperil]

Turin: The auction page has a link that says "Once the auction has ended, please click here to pay for the item". It takes you to another checkout page where you enter all your info.

Kind of sucks how they don't tell you if you're being charged sales tax until *after* you've won the auction and are ready to pay

 

[Moemar]

Any idea about warranty on this?

 

[fr]

I would say this is a hot deal if you're looking for an M500. The Palm M500 goes for $199.99 and the best deals I've seen are ~$155-160+tax.

It's too bad I can't use my Palm V accessories with this.

 

[fr]

Originally posted by: Moemar
Any idea about warranty on this?

You will have to go through IBM for support.

For terms and conditions or copies of IBM's statements of Limited Warranty, call 1-800-772-2227 in the US and in Canada call 1-800-426-2255. Telephone support may be subject to additional charges. Warranty, service and support for non-IBM products, if any, are provided by third parties, not IBM. IBM makes no representatives or warranties regarding non-IBM products.

 

[yellowperil]

I got an e-mail telling me the item is on backorder and won't be available for another 2 weeks. I think I'm gonna cancel, it's ridiculous to auction something you don't have on hand.

 

[fr]

It seems that they got most of their negative feedback because they sold something that wasn't in stock. About a dozen times they said they either gave a discount or upgraded the item (c505 maybe ?).

It looks like they charge your credit card right away no matter what.

 

[yellowperil]

I called IBM and they told me the backorder notice was a mistake and it should be shipping soon. I'm a little wary b/c last time I bought a Thinkpad from them off eBay they took a week and a half to ship it.

If you want to take your chances, here's a link to the new auction

 

[Tullphan]

I got in on this...won one 9/4, paid 9/5 via c.c. How long does it usually take before they reply on average? I also paid $2 to have it shipped 2 day FedEx instead of 5-6 day parcel post. I hope that wasn't a waste.

 

[LucJoe]

Wow. This looks like a good deal, but does anyone know if these are compatible with accessories that are compatible with the M500? Is it the exact same thing, just rebadged?

I'd love to get one, but it looks like IBM stopped making them, and if they aren't planning on doing anything with them then it would be nice to at least know that I can use Palm stuff with it.

 

[fr]

Yes.

 

[yellowperil]

Just a disclaimer, I got this yesterday and it came with a serial Hotsync cradle, not a USB one like it says on the auction page. I called IBM and they said the auction page is a mistake. However, they would not send me a USB cradle and said my only other option is to return it.

 

[Tullphan]

Got mine today. It came with a serial hotsync cradle as well. It also came without the cd-rom. I sent an e-mail to the girl i've been griping with regarding my paying extra for FedEx 2 day & it taking almost a week to get here. I'll probably find something out tomorrow.
If it was indeed a mistake regarding what the auction post said, do they have some type of disclaimer to get them out of a false advertising mess?

 

[yellowperil]

Doesn't look like it, but I doubt they can be held to anything. They'll just claim they made the mistake in good faith (which might be true, even though they sold hundreds of these units with the same product description). Plus they have the return policy to fall back on, so they can say they offered a remedy. It just sucks from a customer relations point of view, but I doubt they care (judging from my experiences with them with owning a Thinkpad and a Deskstar hard drive).

I didn't get the CD-ROM either, I downloaded the Palm Desktop software and Palm OS 4.1 from palm.com. Seems to work OK so far, but the transferring apps/updating AvantGo takes a long time over the serial connection.

 

[gurulegendary]

Yep, mine had a serial cradle as well. I'm dissappointed with IBM here. I'll try calling them tomorrow. USB cradles are about $20-$35 so this deal went from $99 to $120 (shipping&tax) to $150. I'm kinda bummed.

No harm in calling them. If we all yell at them maybe they'll budge.

 

[fr]

I see they have now pulled all the C500's from their eBay store.

 

[Chia]

i also got in on this deal. the lady that i emailed said that the auction description was a mistake, and that i had the option of returning the unit, or getting a 10 dollar refund towards getting a new usb cradle. the lady also claimed that the usb cradles run for 5 dollars on ebay. this is pretty ridiculous since the cradles retail for 50 dollars and the cheap ones on ebay are sold as-is and are very rare.

get on their case if they have not offered you this... the least they could do is send us some usb cradles... they probably have a bunch lying around if they're trying to liquidate these c500s

 

[delchiro]

For those of you who bought the IBM c500 like I did on Ebay through IBM's "Buy it now " option, you can call IBM at 877-999-7115. They will lower the price to $75 and credit you the shipping (mine was $8) to make up for the lack of a USB connector.

 

[Tullphan]

Yep, I got an e-mail from someone that got in on the dutch auction with me. The same thing happened to them. They called IBM & was told that they will refund $25 + shipping costs to make up for their "oversight".
I called yesterday about it as well as my lack of installation disk & i'm supposed to hear from them today.

 

[k000]

I have been waiting for an affordable deal for a Palm for my wife. Should I go for it ??