Looking at picking up a used/refurb Thinkpad - Which one do I pick?

[murphy55d]

Assuming condition is equal, which of these two would be better? Plan on using this just for internet, Winamp, emulators, and the occasional DVD. No XTREME gaming or anything. Specs look better on the T23 which makes me wonder why it's slighltly lower in price. What does the R31 have that it doesnt?


Unit Class: Laptop
Manufacturer: IBM
Model: THINKPAD T23
Price: $150.84
CPU Speed:
1.2GHz
CPU Type:
Pentium III M
Drive 1 Interface:
IDE
Drive 1 Size:
40.0 GB HD
Included 3.5 Floppy Drives:
No Drive
Laptop Screen Size:
14.1"
Media Drive 1:
DVD
Media Drive 2:
No 2nd Drive
Memory:
384 MB
Modem:
56.0K (OnBoard)
Motherboard:
1.2GHz
Network Adapter Type:
Fast Ethernet (100Base-X) Network Adapter
Operating System:
NO OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLED
PCM Slots:
Two PCM Slots
Pointing Device Type:
Trackpoint/Touchpad Pointing Device
Power Supply Adapter:
Power Supply Adapter Included
Screen Type:
Active Matrix
Sound System:
Integrated Sound System with Speakers
Video RAM:
1 MB VRAM (OnBoard)
Wireless Networking:
No Wireless Networking


OR


Unit Class: Laptop
Manufacturer: IBM
Model: THINKPAD R31
Price: $154.79

CPU Speed:
1.13Ghz
CPU Type:
Pentium III M
Drive 1 Interface:
IDE
Drive 1 Size:
30.0 GB HD
Included 3.5 Floppy Drives:
No Drive
Laptop Screen Size:
14.1"
Media Drive 1:
DVD
Media Drive 2:
No 2nd Drive
Memory:
384 MB
Modem:
56.0K (OnBoard)
Motherboard:
1.13Ghz
Network Adapter Type:
Fast Ethernet (100Base-X) Network Adapter
Operating System:
NO OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLED
PCM Slots:
One PCM Slot
Pointing Device Type:
Trackpoint Pointing Device
Power Supply Adapter:
Power Supply Adapter Included
Screen Type:
Active Matrix
Sound System:
Integrated Sound System with Speakers
Video RAM:
1 MB VRAM (OnBoard)
Wireless Networking:
No Wireless Networking

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The $4 isn't going to mean much in the differences in these machines, the T series is usually a higher end machine than the R series, but there's no telling in what order these were made. we have t61's here that are speced worse than R series, but the T still commands a higher price. I think the T series is just a more rugged chasis.

My honest opinion would be to save your money and get something better. You might think web brosing is not taxing on a system, but throw in Flash and things like youtube, ect, and you'll see where these machines will fall flat for web browsing. Do your self a favor, and up your budget to $350 and you can get much much more machine AND a warranty.
If you buy one of the listed machines, what are you going to do when it craps the bed a week later?

 

[murphy55d]

both come with 60 day parts and labor warranty. these are thru retrobox, not ebay or anything. I just want to replace my long gone Thinkpad which was less of a machine than either of these, which played DVDs and the internet just fine. For $350 I could buy a new laptop(saw a few on sale sunday) but i want to spend $150, not $350. 🙂

 

[corkyg]

Neither comes with an OS. So, you will have to make sure you have all the necessary drivers for the model you select. Both have the same processor, etc. The T23 has a slightly larger HDD. I believe the R series was lighter in weight. For your use, the T series might be better.

Both have 2.5" PATA drives - an upgrade would be very reasonable.

 

[murphy55d]

Yeah I'm not too concerned with portability. Looks like the T series will be what I get if I pull the trigger. All the drivers and such are right on IBMs site, I already looked. So I'm good there, at least for Windows.

 

[Colt45]

I've got a T23 around here, and it's nothing short of a goddamn tank. No problems with XP or debian out of the box.
knockoff batteries are in the $40 range last i checked, decent weight.

I love the finish on the thinkpads too.. all the glossy laptops feel so slippery and cheap compared to them. i dunno.

IBM has great docs too, maintenance is cake. not to mention they made a ton of T2x, so parts should be easy to come by if something does get wonky.

USB1 kinda sucks, but there's two PCMCIA slots, so you can throw in one of those flush USB2 cards. Having a serial and parallel port is nice for me, not sure how much the general population uses them now days though..