IBM ThinkPad T23 2647XJX REFURBISHED

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great build quality, excellent XP PRO configuration, Hardware Perfect

Cons: One dead sub-pixel

Ease of Use:
Quality of Tech Support:

The Bottom Line: 
It's better to spend $1000 on a refurbished PIII IBM than a new P4 from anyone else.

Author's Review
I work for a major computer manufacturer; my position is VP of Manufacturing. I have the option of choosing my work computer from our own product line, including a notebook if I so choose. What did I choose? I skipped our own product line and chose a ThinkPad T23 instead. I had to pay for it myself because I don’t work for IBM.

Look, I’m in the industry. I’m overly familiar with the technology and more so, with the differences that components have on the end product. Start with good components and you’ve made a good start. Then, make sure it’s assembled properly, but don’t forget about the software hot load. IBM does all three things just right.

So why write another review for a product that is already well covered? Well, the unit I purchased was refurbished and I was a bit apprehensive about this transaction since I had very little info. about the IBM refurbished product lines. As you will see in this review, I had nothing to fear. Hopefully, this will help anyone else considering a refurbished ThinkPad.

I purchased the unit via E-Bay, where a lot of ThinkPads show up on any given day. My criteria were to deal with a well-rated seller and the box (carton) had to be IBM factory sealed. I figured I was already playing with fire; I did not want to risk purchasing a unit that had been previously opened. My major requirements were:

Built in wireless support (WiFi)
DVD / CDRW
PIII 1000
256MB RAM
Windows XP Pro

The unit I eventually purchased had exactly those specs. plus a 20GB HDD, all for $950, which for IBM quality you simply cannot beat. Yes, I could have purchased a P4 from almost anyone for that amount, but remember, I could have had a P4 for free at work! I wanted a ThinkPad.

After trying to win a couple of auctions, I finally got the hang of things and won a unit I wanted. I paid with a major credit card and the ThinkPad arrived less than a week later at my door. And it was an original IBM factory sealed carton. Hurray!

The IBM packaging was excellent but it was clearly not the original package one receives with a new unit. Just a lot more generic brown cardboard and references to “refurbished” throughout the documentation. Nevertheless, there were no problems. I examined the notebook intensely, both the outside covers as well as the keyboard and the screen. Nothing. Not a scratch. Original Windows XP license on the bottom, everything was in order. I proceeded to the next scary step, which was charging the battery. Refurbished batteries are a big problem since they don’t always hold the charge new batteries hold, so I held my breath while the battery charged properly for three hours and then I powered on the system. Again, I spent a lot of time going over all the software, the factory settings, I ran diagnostics on the hard drive, on the memory, on the DVD, I tested all the ports, everything passed with flying colors. My final big test was to connect it to my home wireless network and once again, everything ran smoothly. As a matter of fact, the built in dual antenna on the edges of the LCD screen give the ThinkPad a greater range than any other notebook I’ve tested which had wireless PCMCIA cards. And oh yeah, the battery holds a two hour charge which is about right for this model.

I won’t go into specifics such as speed benchmarks, the great keyboard, the build quality, and the software bundle, all this has been covered by other reviewers. All I can say is that I am happier with a refurbished PIII ThinkPad than I would have been with any other new non-IBM notebook on sale today. Would I purchase this unit again? Absolutely. Would I recommend a refurbished ThinkPad? Without a doubt. However, to protect yourself be sure you are buying and receiving a factory sealed carton.

One last thing, after two months of ownership I finally found one thing wrong with this unit, I found one dead sub-pixel (a blue one) on the far edge of the screen. A sub-pixel is one of three RGB units, which makes up a whole pixel. I don’t know of any major manufacturer of either notebooks or LCD screens which warrants against fewer than three dead pixels (nine sub-pixels), so one sub-pixel is quite acceptable. Even knowing where it is, I have a hard time finding it on a consistent basis.

Unfortunately, due to manufacturing issues the likelihood is very high that anything you buy will have a couple of dead pixels, it’s inevitable. I mention this because I’ve seen complaints in regards to this issue but all major manufacturers are basically in agreement as to what constitutes a bad screen. If you are VERY lucky, your screen will be perfect. I’ve seen literally thousands of screens go through our Production Line and few are 100% pixel perfect. There’s always at least one dead sub-pixel hiding away somewhere.