Korean Job Discussion Forums

[winnie]

I am considering buying this laptop and I don't know very much about computers. Just need one for internet surfing, dowloading music/movies, and word processing. It is on sale right now for 1400.00 CAD.

This is what the site said about it:

The IBM ThinkPad R51 Intel Pentium M 725 1.6GHz Laptop features a large, bright TFT display, making it perfect for viewing presentations and running demanding applications. All your important work will run smoothly with 256MB RAM, 400MH System Bus, and a 30GB hard drive. More Info

WebID: 10059588
Mfr. Part Number: IBNB141
Processor Type Intel Mobile Pentium 725
Screen Size 14.1"
RAM (Preloaded / Maximum) 256MB RAM (Exp. To 2GB)
Hard Drive 30GB 4200RPM
Optical Drives CD-RW/DVD
Graphics 32MB Radeon 7500
Average Battery Life 4 - 4.7 Hours
Product Weight 2.8 kg
Audio Type AC 97 Stereo Sound
Battery Type 6-Cell Lithium Ion
Cache 1MB L2
Fax/Modem 56K Flex V.92
I/O Ports See The Features Section
Included In Box AC Adapter, Battery, Power Cord, Manual
Network Card 802.11B/G Wireless
Other Software Info Not Available
PC Card Slots 1 x Type I/II With CardBus
Pointing Device ThinkPad UltraNav
Preloaded Operating System Windows XP Professional
Processor Speed 1.6GHz
Product Dimensions 36.5(W) x 17.5(H) x 42.0(D) cm
Removable Storage No
Screen Type TFT
Speakers Info Not Available
System Bus 400MHz
Warranty 1 Year Limited Parts & Labour


Any advice would be appreciated!

[Demonicat]

Whats it for? Gaming? Internet? Word processing?
I don;t know about much else, but if you plan on gaming or watching movies on it...I can't imagine that it'd work all too well.

[Industrial Strength]

[Pangit]

64%

How do you feel about refurbished products?

[Bulsajo]

A 1 year warranty on a refurbished computer is pretty good, are you sure it's a refurb Pangit?

HD is a little on the weak side, ditto with the graphics, but not so weak that you'd walk away from the deal.

Price is a little high- your model of R51 can be found from Tiger Direct.ca for 1200.00

Pangit does have the right idea- check out the refurb laptops available (some of them are 'open box', i.e.- hardly used at all):
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Refurb/refurb_tlc.asp

Price-Model Comparisons:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=r51

(N.B. the latest R51 lists Lenovo as the manufacturer. Big Blue becomes Big Red. Good article about it in the June edition of Wired.
http://www.wired.com/wired/ )

[Demophobe]

Tiny display, small HDD, low, low-end graphics and too much money for what you get. No games, chug on video and no room for storage.

These are facts about that machine. So, it sounds kinda wimpy overall.

[Pangit]

[keninseoul]

BUT rather $$$ for what you get

memory is on the small side if you will have sevral applications open at the same time (most people end up that way)

hard-drive is puny, esp if downloading movies

I have a nice Hitachi (sans battery) for W 450,000 which is great for surfing & word-processing. Fast & light-weight. Was just totally serviced-everything checked out.

[poker player]

That's a lightweight for that price. You quoted Cdn $-are you buying it in Canada? If so, you should be able to get a new 700 series processor (centrino) at about 1.6 with 512k memory, 60mb hard drive and a dvd burner. You buy IBM, you pay for the name-look at a Dell, Acer or Averatec and you'll be able to get a much more robust config for about $1400 Cdn.

[Thunndarr]

http://www.notebookreview.com/

That website offers coupon codes for some of the major laptop brands. It always has the latest and greatest Dell codes that are usually good for up to $750 off if the configuration totals $1999 or more. I'm not sure if this is applicable to your situation, but it's still good info to have.

[Gollum]

256 of ram is NOT adequate. It sucks.

You really need a minimum of 512k these days if you plan on running a virus checker, MSN, and a few of the basics. Especially on a laptop, where HD speeds are slower. Sure, it can run off of 256, but at that low amount, the computer will have to access that slow HD constantly for the information it can't store in ram.... slows things down a lot.

If you buy a computer with 256 of ram, plan on adding a 512 stick when you buy the thing.

You can add another 512 for about 60,000 or so.

[Pangit]

512k? How about 640k? That's what Bill said, innit?

I think you mean 512 MB of RAM.

[Demophobe]

No, I think he meant what he said.

This isn't the first time he said it....or was that Derrek....?