Once in awhile when I take a trip, it sure would be nice to have an adequate notebook. Nothing fancy, just one that works and doesn't cost an arm and a leg being it wouldn't be used all that often.

What do you think of the refurbished ThinkPad 600E (http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?product_id=299046)?

Anyone have good luck with this or other vendors? Any comments are appreciated.

Well I can tell you that PC Connection has been around for quite some time. I think the last time I bought something from them was a full 8MB of RAM for my 386DX/33 some 10 years ago for like $200 i think. hahaha...

I know I had good service from them then... dunno about now... but if they're still around... I'd say they're probably still ok to do business with. :D

There is a reason that they are called StinkPads... I've got 3 from work, and they suck. Except for the one that I have Linux loaded on...

I've heard mostly positive about ThinkPads.

Are you saying it's a software issue but the notebook is fine?

i heard it was good from a friend of mine but have had no experience with it my self

At work, we have standardized on the IBM thinkpads for our moble employees. We have over 15,000 world wide out of 83,500 employees, and the number is increasing every month. We are very happy with them. If you are going to load Windows 2K or XP, I would recommend you get at least a 600X, as the 600E's can be a little sluggish. If you do decide to get the 600E, max out the ram. Let me know if you have an specific questions about the 600E.

wow, svdorr what company you work for ?

the thinkpad is awesome. ibm and tosh rule on laptops. my ibm a 21m is bulletproof. before that i had a tosh portege as did my boss and he left his in the rain overnight and it worked after careful cleaning. my ibm has fallen down the stairs (not a short flight either) and generally survived being cavemans laptop for over a year now and is still in very close to perfect nick. theres a reason ibm and tosh command such a price premium over the other shoddy heaps you see around. they build em reallllly well. from the little touches like the keyboards moving down a little on some models to avoid the screen to a little night light. they tend to pioneer (like tosh with their new polymer battery forming part of the case) new technologies and ideas, and the rest follow like sheep. ibm and tosh still have an r and d department , they dont just contract a clone factory to knock out any old rubbish.
if the 600 meets your spec requirements and you ensure you get a good battery with it and you check out ram prices for expanding it then go for it. if the machine is sound when you buy it it will last a long time. ohhh and its black so it looks damn fine to boot :)

Mahinder,

I work for 3M company, in their corporate IT division.

i know it is not a 600E, but my IBM T20 works great! Holds up very well to knocks and abuse. I dual boot Win2k and Red Hat 7.3. Very nice machine in my opinion. It only has a Pentium 3 700, with 256megs or ram.... but performs as well as my no-name desktop with a faster processor and double the ram.
Glenn

Can't speak for the vendor, but I used to have a ThinkPad 600E. Loved it! Only upgraded this year (to another ThinkPad) and sent this one off to my sister and she loves it, as well.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I read some more reviews (http://ebay.consumerreview.com/reviews/showproduct.asp?partner=ebay&partnerproduct=&ProductID=1706&SiteID=10&CategoryID=236&RVNum=-1) and overall, most were positive.

I am concerned about the battery being it's almost $200 for a new one.

But, to keep in touch via email and to monitor my site and forums while on the road, I don't see a problem. I also like the fact that it's OS is Win98 which I prefer as I find it to be very stable on my desktop at home.

Question, does it come with a "system" or "restore" CD? My IBM desktop did.

Hi all-

Several months ago I bought a refurbished IBM ThinkPad 600E from TigerDirect. It has a P2 366 with 64mb RAM, a 13.3" screen, Win98, 24x cd ROM, 56K modem, and external floppy. It came with Lotus Suite. It is ultra thin and light-weight. The cost was $550.

I would do it again in a heart-beat, as I am very pleased with it.

Yes, it came with a Restore CD.

-Lamar

wow.. if they can get $600 for that laptop. I should be able to get alot more for my dell.

Well, I ordered it and should have it Tuesday.

For basic functions while on the road, it should work fine and didn't break the bank.

Thanks guys!

The only thing I would think about adding is a DVD player.. I bought a similar system and after about 10 flights ended up buying a dvd add-on for it.. def worth the $$$ if your going to be doing alot of travel.