got a new computer maybe this is a good way?

 

I know it's a silly reason, but I accept that I will buy a new laptop about every 5 years. I like to have a business computer as I feel they last longer at home. This time I was going to get a business class device at a retail store (making it business hardware with a consumer warranty), but it changed....

Long story short, maybe the mfg's eBay store is a good way to get a good price.

I happened to see a "great" price on a thinkpad on Lenovo's eBay store, $26xx list, $699.99! OK sounds good let me check though....their website had the same "sku" for $849.99 and showed the same list price. From online articles in reality this device likely sold for about $1600 when a new model as it's core i7 8th gen, not 10th gen.

It's a business computer as 3 year warranty. Decided to get it, sold out on eBay, sold out online. Suddenly, 8 days later, eBay has 2 available at $849.99. It would seem like from my opinion it was a good deal, and one that didn't last forever, as it did sell out (like 10 per hour) at the price I got. I would do it again 5 years from now as it was from Lenovo's eBay store directly. Go online my warranty is all intact through 2023, all on the up and up. If I pay $13 more, I can have it be onsite repairs (I have brought a ThinkPad over to the authorized repair before, it kinda took a long time to get it back). Based on the BIOS the machine was mfg. in 4/20.

Background:

I have always been a ThinkPad person and my last co. let us keep our old laptops so I probably have 3 of them (don't even remember the models but T61p comes to mind and that is like 13 years ago or so).

Our co. switched to Dell and actually I was very impressed. I thought wow, finally a ThinkPad like keyboard again...had HP from 2010-2019 and the keyboards are imho terrible and very similar to MACs. It's kind of like bad steering on a 2020 car because it's electric. Most folks are used to it and like it, pinkie light steering when standing still. But I like to have "feel" to it.

Anyway Turbo Tax said 2019 was the last year it will run on Win7. my 2015 ThinkPad purchased new had a free upgrade to Win10 Pro but I declined it because I have car mfg. software running on it which I needed to use to do the ABS braking system (the software pulses the ABS pump to get air out of it, as well as each caliper one by one--the mfg states this is the ONLY way to get air bubbles out, guys on the forum have said go to a gravel road and slam on brakes repeatedly lol). I tried to install it on a 2008 computer so I could keep this huge program off my daily home laptop, but it was too big and install failed.

So I said OK plan on getting a Dell XPS 13 at Costco no later than mid Feb 2021, and budgeted accordingly. But the way it panned out, it's like I saved 45% of the price of the Dell....eBay to the rescue (imagine the fees Lenovo pays over if you got it from them directly)

another interesting thing about the eBay listing...2,235 sold, and 511 watching....again I will try again in 5 years to see if I can get a deal that I think is good....

Desktop? Build your own. It

Desktop? Build your own. It might cost marginally more but you'll get the exact parts you want inside. All standard, no proprietary garbage.

kind

zx1100e1 wrote:

Desktop? Build your own. It might cost marginally more but you'll get the exact parts you want inside. All standard, no proprietary garbage.

of funny with the pandemic and video. Personally I didn't like video conferencing pre-March, now, who cares? It does get awkward when it's 02:00 EDT and I'm the only one who has my video on and 12 others are muted.

But what I was gonna say is it's astounding how every male even SVPs are sitting in a gaming chair and you see those mics with a windscreen lol I'm in no way into that. Maybe then one would want a desktop? I mean the young kids don't even want a ultrabook let alone a desktop, they want tablets and some don't even want that they use their phones. If I did go tablet I kind of like Zebras on android enterprise. Samsung even Actives are a little lightweight imho to replace a computer.

Me I don't consider the ThinkPad garbage but I could see it being called overpriced.

Can Be a Bargain

johnnatash4 wrote:

I know it's a silly reason, but I accept that I will buy a new laptop about every 5 years. I like to have a business computer as I feel they last longer at home. This time I was going to get a business class device at a retail store (making it business hardware with a consumer warranty), but it changed....

Long story short, maybe the mfg's eBay store is a good way to get a good price.

I happened to see a "great" price on a thinkpad on Lenovo's eBay store, $26xx list, $699.99! OK sounds good let me check though....their website had the same "sku" for $849.99 and showed the same list price. From online articles in reality this device likely sold for about $1600 when a new model as it's core i7 8th gen, not 10th gen.

It's a business computer as 3 year warranty. Decided to get it, sold out on eBay, sold out online. Suddenly, 8 days later, eBay has 2 available at $849.99. It would seem like from my opinion it was a good deal, and one that didn't last forever, as it did sell out (like 10 per hour) at the price I got. I would do it again 5 years from now as it was from Lenovo's eBay store directly. Go online my warranty is all intact through 2023, all on the up and up. If I pay $13 more, I can have it be onsite repairs (I have brought a ThinkPad over to the authorized repair before, it kinda took a long time to get it back). Based on the BIOS the machine was mfg. in 4/20.

Background:

I have always been a ThinkPad person and my last co. let us keep our old laptops so I probably have 3 of them (don't even remember the models but T61p comes to mind and that is like 13 years ago or so).

Our co. switched to Dell and actually I was very impressed. I thought wow, finally a ThinkPad like keyboard again...had HP from 2010-2019 and the keyboards are imho terrible and very similar to MACs. It's kind of like bad steering on a 2020 car because it's electric. Most folks are used to it and like it, pinkie light steering when standing still. But I like to have "feel" to it.

Anyway Turbo Tax said 2019 was the last year it will run on Win7. my 2015 ThinkPad purchased new had a free upgrade to Win10 Pro but I declined it because I have car mfg. software running on it which I needed to use to do the ABS braking system (the software pulses the ABS pump to get air out of it, as well as each caliper one by one--the mfg states this is the ONLY way to get air bubbles out, guys on the forum have said go to a gravel road and slam on brakes repeatedly lol). I tried to install it on a 2008 computer so I could keep this huge program off my daily home laptop, but it was too big and install failed.

So I said OK plan on getting a Dell XPS 13 at Costco no later than mid Feb 2021, and budgeted accordingly. But the way it panned out, it's like I saved 45% of the price of the Dell....eBay to the rescue (imagine the fees Lenovo pays over if you got it from them directly)

another interesting thing about the eBay listing...2,235 sold, and 511 watching....again I will try again in 5 years to see if I can get a deal that I think is good....

There are several eBay vendors who bid on lots of business laptops when they come off lease. Bargains can definitely be found depending on how well the machine was handled.

Years ago, I bought an off lease IBM A20M (before they became Lenovo) from such a vendor. I used it for many years until XP became obsolete. It was a great laptop and a good bargain.

I'm also a Lenovo fan and have owned several since then. My wife and I currently have X230's which still run Win 7. Both have I7 processors and 1.5 GB SSD drives so I'm going to upgrade to Win 10 instead of replacing them.

before

bdhsfz6 wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

I know it's a silly reason, but I accept that I will buy a new laptop about every 5 years. I like to have a business computer as I feel they last longer at home. This time I was going to get a business class device at a retail store (making it business hardware with a consumer warranty), but it changed....

Long story short, maybe the mfg's eBay store is a good way to get a good price.

I happened to see a "great" price on a thinkpad on Lenovo's eBay store, $26xx list, $699.99! OK sounds good let me check though....their website had the same "sku" for $849.99 and showed the same list price. From online articles in reality this device likely sold for about $1600 when a new model as it's core i7 8th gen, not 10th gen.

It's a business computer as 3 year warranty. Decided to get it, sold out on eBay, sold out online. Suddenly, 8 days later, eBay has 2 available at $849.99. It would seem like from my opinion it was a good deal, and one that didn't last forever, as it did sell out (like 10 per hour) at the price I got. I would do it again 5 years from now as it was from Lenovo's eBay store directly. Go online my warranty is all intact through 2023, all on the up and up. If I pay $13 more, I can have it be onsite repairs (I have brought a ThinkPad over to the authorized repair before, it kinda took a long time to get it back). Based on the BIOS the machine was mfg. in 4/20.

Background:

I have always been a ThinkPad person and my last co. let us keep our old laptops so I probably have 3 of them (don't even remember the models but T61p comes to mind and that is like 13 years ago or so).

Our co. switched to Dell and actually I was very impressed. I thought wow, finally a ThinkPad like keyboard again...had HP from 2010-2019 and the keyboards are imho terrible and very similar to MACs. It's kind of like bad steering on a 2020 car because it's electric. Most folks are used to it and like it, pinkie light steering when standing still. But I like to have "feel" to it.

Anyway Turbo Tax said 2019 was the last year it will run on Win7. my 2015 ThinkPad purchased new had a free upgrade to Win10 Pro but I declined it because I have car mfg. software running on it which I needed to use to do the ABS braking system (the software pulses the ABS pump to get air out of it, as well as each caliper one by one--the mfg states this is the ONLY way to get air bubbles out, guys on the forum have said go to a gravel road and slam on brakes repeatedly lol). I tried to install it on a 2008 computer so I could keep this huge program off my daily home laptop, but it was too big and install failed.

So I said OK plan on getting a Dell XPS 13 at Costco no later than mid Feb 2021, and budgeted accordingly. But the way it panned out, it's like I saved 45% of the price of the Dell....eBay to the rescue (imagine the fees Lenovo pays over if you got it from them directly)

another interesting thing about the eBay listing...2,235 sold, and 511 watching....again I will try again in 5 years to see if I can get a deal that I think is good....

There are several eBay vendors who bid on lots of business laptops when they come off lease. Bargains can definitely be found depending on how well the machine was handled.

Years ago, I bought an off lease IBM A20M (before they became Lenovo) from such a vendor. I used it for many years until XP became obsolete. It was a great laptop and a good bargain.

I'm also a Lenovo fan and have owned several since then. My wife and I currently have X230's which still run Win 7. Both have I7 processors and 1.5 GB SSD drives so I'm going to upgrade to Win 10 instead of replacing them.

prior to buying the X390, I said why not just get another T450s like the one I bought new (just looked it up I paid $1573 ouch!!)--I have extra batteries etc. And it is a good machine, 5th gen i7. They are going for about $499 on eBay....that's why I figured $699 %-wise is a lot more, but $200 more is not...and it's brand new with a new warranty....but agreed there's so much "stuff" out there that if we don't need the latest/greatest something someone else doesn't want is perfectly fine for us and we get to get something very decent at a cut rate.

My wife doesn't tend to take it easy on machines, and so a business grade laptop might stand up to less care if you will. She destroyed an ordinary consumer grade Lenovo, the screen just flopped off and it was only $500 to begin with brand new. A $500 4.5 y.o. ThinkPad would hold up better imho...

p.s. in my travels I learned it's best to get the even generation Intel processors, as the life cycle is a tick-tock, not to be confused with that thing that Oracle just bid for...

p.p.s. I notice new laptops don't have ethernet connections (let alone serial connections lol). When I was issued a Dell I requested that so the IT dept. ordered me one with ethernet (I need to plug in sometimes when at a site). The X390 also does not have ethernet, but on eBay there is an adapter that costs $18.50 and the plug is proprietary not USB etc....

waitng for next year 2021

All of your comments are true and as consumer, we stand between 2 mountains of choices. Hard to pick the right one right now. God bless us all!

What are the search terms on

What are the search terms on eBay or who was the seller?

save yourself time and

save yourself time and hassle and get yourself a dell, hp or lenovo
workstation either a desktop or a laptop they are built like tank and they will last a very long time. Ebay is your best bet for a used one. have a nice day

Here’s the Lenovo eBay site

riveroaks wrote:

What are the search terms on eBay or who was the seller?

https://www.ebay.com/str/lenovo

Very decent bargains on machine that are new but excess stock that is 6 months or more old.

--
John from PA

This is an eBay store for Lenovo products, not used stuff

geepeeslover wrote:

save yourself time and hassle and get yourself a dell, hp or lenovo
workstation either a desktop or a laptop they are built like tank and they will last a very long time. Ebay is your best bet for a used one. have a nice day

These are not products being sold by some individual, they are products being sold, usually new or refurb, directly by Lenovo. As long as you don’t need state of the art something for video editing or gaming there are bargains to be had. See https://www.ebay.com/str/lenovo

--
John from PA

you

John from PA wrote:
geepeeslover wrote:

save yourself time and hassle and get yourself a dell, hp or lenovo
workstation either a desktop or a laptop they are built like tank and they will last a very long time. Ebay is your best bet for a used one. have a nice day

These are not products being sold by some individual, they are products being sold, usually new or refurb, directly by Lenovo. As long as you don’t need state of the art something for video editing or gaming there are bargains to be had. See https://www.ebay.com/str/lenovo

Are correct.

It's sold out once again on the website, and eBay store, last price was $849.00. this is why I believe that $699.99 and 10 selling each hour, was in fact a price that moved the rest of the stock.

Thought that was stated in my original post, it's Lenovo's eBay store, the same people who have a website at www.lenovo.com, i.e. the manufacturer. Factory warranty all registered, blah blah blah just like you bought it on lenovo.com Who else can sell 2,237 of one item on eBay? And 10 per hour? Even the largest of eBay sellers will never have that many of one model that they were able to sell.

Most folks can recognize that a Core i7 8665 is from April 2019, not 2020. The 1065 is from last month, and now 11th gen are coming out. But remember the tick tock life cycle and skip the odd numbered generations. If this matters, then run away as fast as you can. But it's in no way obscured, right in the headline Core i7 8665 and 3 year warranty. It was mfg. in 4/20 per the bios.

My point is the ebay store had the device for $699.99, the website $849.00, and both sold out. They reflected a list price of $2659 which is legit, but NOBODY on earth including corporations ever paid that, that's just list, they sold for about $1600 per online in mid 2019.

What's the point? that in my general travels, I always saw an eBay store's price, same as online store, same as amazon, etc. Did not know that eBay store could have a lower price, that's all. So maybe, just maybe, a mfg. eBay store is a way to get something for less. If it isn't, it isn't. But maybe. YMMV as they say...

p.s. I wanted to get a 13" sleeve for it and I downloaded the Lenovo spreadsheet showing all OE part numbers for all their ThinkPads. Lenovo.com sells the sleeve for $21.99, and amazon $28.99. Amazon has it in stock and delivered in 2 days. Lenovo by October 2 hahahahahahahahaha

I chose Lenovo and paid. They provided UPS tracking, and it's in Hong Kong awaiting customs clearance. I would have thought that it'd be in NC or something like that. And of the $21.99, how much goes into the shipping?

p.s. in going to the Lenovo website this AM, all of the remaining devices have only a 1 year warranty, which I find odd for a business computer. One is $2300 and one $2800, crazy. Nobody will buy it, nobody in the world would be that uninformed....but the "save 73%!" did grab my attention when I first saw it on eBay

I buy used business class

I buy used business class Dell computers and upgrade them with a solid state drive. Great highly functional and cost effective solution.

If your after a laptop

You might look at MSI.

I've had great success, durability and performance.

--
Never argue with a pig. It makes you look foolish and it anoys the hell out of the pig!

I used to do that

zx1100e1 wrote:

Desktop? Build your own. It might cost marginally more but you'll get the exact parts you want inside. All standard, no proprietary garbage.

I very long time ago I used to go to computer shows all the time with a friend and we used to buy all kinds of parts we'd use to build desktops, like you said you get exactly what you want and it was half the cost that way. Then computers became a lot cheaper and it was more costly to build your own. I haven't built one in many years and the bloatware you get now can be dealt with for the most part, take up very little room.

I did used to enjoy getting 'the next best thing', "more power" as Tim from Tool Time would say, and by the time you got it home the next version would be out. Not sure I'd have the patience for it any more.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Other Vendors

There are other vendors of used business class lenovo laptops than those sold by Lenovo directly. Some sell on eBay and even via Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=used+lenovo+laptop&crid=Q5AHRJO7P...

Over the years, I've purchased 8 used laptops from these sellers and have had no problems with any.

my

bdhsfz6 wrote:

There are other vendors of used business class lenovo laptops than those sold by Lenovo directly. Some sell on eBay and even via Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=used+lenovo+laptop&crid=Q5AHRJO7P...

Over the years, I've purchased 8 used laptops from these sellers and have had no problems with any.

my point which is surprising....my 2015 T450s which I paid over $1500 for brand new, sells for $499, as a used machine on eBay. A 2020 production (2019 model) X390 sold for $699 brand new, factory fresh, with a 3 year lenovo warranty, upgradeable for $14 to on-site repairs. 200/499 is a huge %, but it's 3-4 unplanned lunches with the family. I never would have thought the gap were that small. that's why I would try to do it again 5 years from now. My T450s is mint--the only reason at all that I needed to upgrade was Windows 7 Pro needs to stay...

there's a lot of stuff going on with this Win 10 Pro X390 that's not going on with my work laptop also Win 10 Pro, like the One Drive thing....