eBay T420s (cheap laptop with DVD drive)?

[daxzy]

I see these on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/262440182623

Likely to be decommissioned business laptops. I'd need to buy an optical drive (about $20). I figure these would run circles around an Atom based machine. Anyone have any experience with these?

Any other options for cheap (<$200) laptops that have an optical drive?

 

[JeffMD]

They are most likely business laptops that were replaced with updates. You risk gambling the condition of the case and how many hours of use it has gotten. Spec wise it looks very capable, cpu wise. You should have no problems boosting its speed with an ssd.

 

[daxzy]

No doubt its a gamble with the battery and scuff marks. I also like its 1600x900 instead of the usual 768p crap.

I was checking out the Thinkpad E455 (Kaveri based), but massive bummer that it doesn't have an optical drive (and uses the 768p panel).

 

[tortillasoup]

There is another thing to look out for, some of the machines have Computrace which uses the TPM chip and can make the system not bootable in some cases. Other instances would be missing bios passwords as well. If the machine isn't stolen, computrace can and should be able to be removed by calling the company and having them send an update (you must boot into windows and connect to the internet) but this is a hassle and you may not be successful.

 

[RossMAN]

Have you considered Dell Outlet which at least offers 90 day warranty and better specs.

Their inventory is constantly and frequently replenished, so you may have to check several times for the right config/price.

Just saw this which is slightly over your budget but decent specs except for the LCD resolution:

$258.30 after coupon

Inspiron 15 - 3542

Tech Specs

Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i3-4005U Processor (Dual Core, 1.70GHz, 3M cache, 15W)
Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10 Home)
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
4GB DDR3L at 1600MHz
15.6 inch HD (1366x768) Truelife LED-Backlit Display
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Intel HD Graphics
LCD Back Cover - Black (Non Touch)
Dell Outlet Inspiron-15 - 3542

 

[xgsound]

Here's another ebay thought: A Dell e-6520,I5-2520m 8GB, $218 http://www.ebay.com/itm/151933937610?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Jim

 

[fire400]

just got a t420s for winXP to play Starcraft Broodwar and Diablo 2.

came with great keyboard, but still replaced with it with brand new keyboard to help with keyboard response times.
replaced with new fan just because if the units were running 24/7 in a warehouse for example, absolutely wouldn't want it dying on me in the middle of a match.
upgraded RAM to 8gb and installed 64gb mSATA for Windows 10 Pro and wiped original hard drive to dualboot for winXP.
exterior chassis was near mint, grade A. no password locks or anything. unit came with cloned HDD of win10 enterprise, obviously pre-activated and completely useless OS, 'cuz it was cloned from another thinkpad that had nVidia, and my unit didn't have the nVidia chipset, and microsoft would not re-activate re-installs without authorized server authentication. so activated win10 pro with the COA sticker on the bottom of laptop.
battery was good, not excellent. came with DVD-RW.

total came out to $266 shipped for everything.
pretty much a brand new laptop after it was customized.

so yes, I would do the t420s.

also ran t430s with SSD for winXP, and it's the fastest native support for XP on SSD i've ever seen ever, flawless stability and perfect auto trim with PNY CS1311 with zero software tweaking.
btw, ivybridge t430s is as low as $200 shipped on eBay and will run well better than the sandy i5.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I recommend getting the T430 or later, as that is the model that begins support for Windows 10.

 

[Sheep221]

I use T420 as work laptop and it's really good, it's good for everything except playing new games. Although yea, be aware since these are business laptops and do contain security chip.

 

[nerp]

Avoid t440. The buttonless touchpad is garbage.

T420 and t430 are legends, highly desirable. Great machines. Confirm there is no BIOS password before buying. Other than that, every single component can be replaced for not much.

Subscribe to /thinkpad on reddit. Huge community.

 

[jaydee]

I recommend getting the T430 or later, as that is the model that begins support for Windows 10.

T420 also does not have USB 3.0, so that's another reason to go with T430 or T430S

 

[daxzy]

I just bought a T430s on eBay. Pics looked decent enough, and it has most of the key features. Hopefully I'll win the RNG lottery and get a good one.

14" 1600x900, DVDRW, non-crap touchpad, USB 3.0, < 4 lbs for $250 shipped. I figure it was worth the $50 extra over a T420s.

I'll probably be upgrading it as far as it can go, and that should last awhile for my backup driver. Edit: Saw prices on 35W i7-3612qm, guess I won't be upgrading the CPU.

Thanks

 

[fire400]

t420s has better support for Windows XP, 'cuz t430s requires a lot of modifications to allow XP OS to properly run, and t420s has native USB 3.0 support for windows XP, t430s does not.

on the t420s, the 83+ battery may not charge on windows 10 and may have issues charging without proper driver (support if any) if using the t430s original battery (83+), if anyone gets the t420s, recommend getting brand new 66+ battery (Genuine 6 Cell 66+ 0A36287 44WH Lenovo Thinkpad T420s Series Battery).

win10 runs flawless on t420s, primary difference are chicklet (some models have glowing keys) on t430s, where the t420s retains original t400/t410 keyboard. screen on t430s is superior and much easier on the eyes, primarily less light bleeding from the panel, but nothing as terribly bad as the HP NC6400's and similar HP business series from core 2 duo and maybe i5-gen1 era.

t430u is also available if anyone needs a thinner laptop, but loses the ultrabay option, and comes with a significantly slower u-series intel processor, which is seriously nothing close to the i5m or i7m in performance.

 

[daxzy]

To add to above, the S and U series have the CPU soldered on, so there is no room for upgrade. If you can stand the 0.75 lbs heavier, you can get the "normal" series with an upgradeable CPU. The low end Ivy-Bridge mobile Quad's are about $50 on eBay. With that, they are actually pretty powerful machines.