Great Find - Too Good to be True ?


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Just browsing Craigslist & found a listing for a T430 ThinkPad for $250!!

A 1 year old ThinkPad that was $1500 new for $250 !

I called the # and its a pawn shop, so I am thinking they may not know what they have as it is not the greatest area. (Garland)

So I am going over there tomorrow and seeing if anything is wrong with it.  It has a Core i5 33--, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD.

I have an extra 128GB SSD not being used, and would bump it up to 8GB - it would be an incredible laptop for $350.

I already have an X1 Carbon, but it has Windows 8.1 on it and I dont use the touchscreen so - I think I can sell it - I like the T series better - an absolute workhorse.


My reason for posting is, what boot program can I run (if they will let me) that will give it a quick system stability test.

I would just put it on a flash drive, and let it do its thing - I am looking for something that can complete in 5 minutes, not like PC Check that takes 5 hours....

Any help would be appreciated.

And, of course, like everything else I have - its for sale !  :D

 

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I went to take a look @ it today.  They have no idea what it is, they have a formula they use to get pricing.  Its brand new, flawless. And it actually already has 8GB RAM.

They said if I get it Monday - they will honor $230 cash after I told them I didnt want HDD....  SOLD !!

Its obvious it was stolen, and they paid crap to someone.  Nobody who paid $1500 for this thing 1 year ago would have sold it for $150.

I would have picked it up today but forgot my damned ID. :angry:
But regardless, I am really happy as I never get great deals like this, I am never that guy who always finds the steal...

 

 

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If it's stolen and has LoJack... you and the store could be in trouble. Also if it doesn't have a invoice then no warranty.

You're right - and I thought about both of those things.  I am not worried a lot about warranty - because I would never use it anyway.  I can fix it just as good, and faster than Lenovo's warranty.

As for the Lo-Jack - I will definitely look into that - I would hate to be forced to give it up after spending money on it.  It shows in the BIOS, correct ?

But to correct you, I wont be in trouble at all, I will be forced to relinquish it.  I would have to knowingly buy or have intent to buy stolen merchandise in order to get in trouble....

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But to correct you, I wont be in trouble at all, I will be forced to relinquish it.  I would have to knowingly buy or have intent to buy stolen merchandise in order to get in trouble....

 

Well you did say this earlier in the thread...

 

Its obvious it was stolen, and they paid crap to someone.  Nobody who paid $1500 for this thing 1 year ago would have sold it for $150.

 

So wouldn't this thread serve as proof you have knowingly purchased stolen merchandise?

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Well you did say this earlier in the thread...

 

 

So wouldn't this thread serve as proof you have knowingly purchased stolen merchandise?

 

I would think that the pawn shop would bear the responsibility of that, even pawn shops aren't allowed to buy or sell obviously stolen items, they could lose their license if proven they sold a stolen device, OP will just be out the money spent 

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I would think that the pawn shop would bear the responsibility of that, even pawn shops aren't allowed to buy or sell obviously stolen items, they could lose their license if proven they sold a stolen device, OP will just be out the money spent 

 

Probably. But never admit guilt like you did earlier in this thread.

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I have no direct knowledge of it being stolen.  In fact, I assume it is completely legit as it is being sold by a store.

To say it has to be stolen was an assumption based on the fact it is so cheap.  I admitted to nothing.  And to think these posts would be "found" by authorities working a case of a $250 purchase of an item from a pawn store... I'd say you have been watching too much TV. 

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Pawn shops in my area are required by law to submit every serial number to the police database.  Most states have this law or Pawn shops willingly abide by the request.  If it was stolen and the original owner was smart enough to record the serial, it wouldn't have made it to the point where you could purchase it.

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Good deals happen...

 

Similar to the Dell R620 I purchased last year for $1K that had dual Intel Xeon CPUs that were going for $2K+ per CPU at the time (not including the rest of the kit). The server was worth at least $7K or more. I too thought the server had to be stolen and it was just a too good to be true deal. The server owner was selling it and his wife told him it had to go. I confirmed this when I transferred the still active Dell Warranty into my name and provided his information. Dell confirmed it was his and transferred the warranty.

 

So sometimes deals happen.

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As always Hawk & Logical throw up some really good posts -- but I like the other ones who secretly think I am going to Levinworth for buying stolen goods :rolleyes:


Tomorrow evening I'll post pics ..... from PRISON !!

 

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Well, here it is. 

It is flawless in every aspect, not even the slightest scratch on the outside.

I didnt have time to get another SSD, and dont want to use the one I have lying around so today and tomorrow it will just use the 500GB HDD (at least its 7200RPM)

But I think I'll get one of those new crucial MX100 series SSD and be good to go.

Total was $215 + tax

post-508501-0-46383200-1410844782.jpg

 

I am considering a win7/win8.1 dual boot since it came with 8.1

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Glad you managed to get it T3X4S, looks like a real bargain (Y)  Just picked one of them mx100's (256GB) yesterday and according to some it`s actually ~320GB with 20% overprovisioning as opposed to the normal ~7% whick makes it even better value. Not sure how true that is and not set up the drive yet but as far as bang for buck goes that lappie is streets ahead ;)

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You're right - and I thought about both of those things.  I am not worried a lot about warranty - because I would never use it anyway.  I can fix it just as good, and faster than Lenovo's warranty.

As for the Lo-Jack - I will definitely look into that - I would hate to be forced to give it up after spending money on it.  It shows in the BIOS, correct ?

But to correct you, I wont be in trouble at all, I will be forced to relinquish it.  I would have to knowingly buy or have intent to buy stolen merchandise in order to get in trouble....

 

If the laptop was reported stolen, alot of police departments check pawn shops. So, if it was stolen and reported, it would have been most likely checked. It could very well have been a laptop that was pawned, and the person who brought it in couldn't afford to repay the loan they received for their laptop and they are just selling it to receive their interest.

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You got a good deal!! As far as your concerned you are buying it in good faith. You don't know its stolen. Its a good guess but it might not be. Someone might have just needed cash urgently! or it might be someones lover who they just took all their stuff to the pawn shop. Good find!!  :)

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Well you did say this earlier in the thread...

 

 

So wouldn't this thread serve as proof you have knowingly purchased stolen merchandise?

 

He said probably.

 

It could be someone needing money fast and not getting more than that from the pawn shop.

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