Anybody purchased Thinkpad from eBay?

I was doing a search in there and found some "on-line-through-ebay" store selling some seriously configured T60p, fully loaded for a very nice price. I called them up, sounds like a legit store that only sells on-line. So, I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with such places and how does their 3-year manufacturing warranty really works?

 

I'm not sure about your other questions, but i'm always wary of ebay transactions for things like that. As far as the warranty goes, I believe that the warranty follows the thinkpad, not the owner.

 

the warranty goes with the serial #... ask for the serial number, make sure it's an international warranty and check the warranty status on the manufacturer's website. What are you gonna do tho if he lied about the serial number or anything else? Well, you can try doing a chargeback - only if you've paid via a c/card.

i never bought a laptop on ebay, but my best purchases have always been from a small, individual person with perfect feedback who has many years on ebay. The power sellers are hit-and-miss. Sometimes it's good but sometimes they misrepresent product and often sell refurbs, repossesions, off-lease, or rejects.

 

Can't emphasize enough about paying with a credit card. It will offer you more recourse should a problem arise.

 

I bought my T43 from an individual seller on Ebay. No problems, was exactly as described (unopened, built a month earlier). One of the grad students I work with bought a G series from ThinkpadWorld, has not had any problems either.

 

I bought a T60p and an X60 (the one in my sig) all on eBay with no problems. Make sure, however, you do massive research on: the seller, his/her feedback, other items he/she sold, description of item, and see if there is a return policy.

 

I hate to threadjack, but Qhs, did you install Ubuntu on the T60p as well? If so, and if you have fglrx installed, are you able to execute this:

sudo aticonfig --set-powerstate=2 --effective=now

Or does it artifact your screen forcing you to reboot? Beware, don't try that without saving all your work.
Using --effective=startup doesn't apply the clocks even when I restart X, and it wouldn't be a very good option anyway.

 

Sorry, Ethyriel. I did not install Ubuntu on the T60p and did not install fglrx on my X60. Technically, I did not "install" Ubuntu because it is on a virtual drive (VMware Workstation 5). I did not really have to go through the hassle of getting the video and network drivers working and making sure GRUB does not wipe over my MBR.