![[Refurb] Lenovo Thinkpad T490s i5-8365U 16GB RAM 256GB SSD $374.08 Delivered ($365.28 w/ eBay Plus) @ Technology Locker eBay](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/76/788476.jpg?h=731afe77)
Marketplace
JULYY15JULYY17
Seems like a very good deal for a supposedly A-grade 8th gen Thinkpad. Picked one up as my current laptop's mainboard hit the deck. RAM is soldered and non-upgradeable on the T490s unfortunately.
[Refurb] Lenovo Thinkpad T490s i5-8365U 16GB RAM 256GB SSD $374.08 Delivered ($365.28 w/ eBay Plus) @ Technology Locker eBay
360
Related Stores
closed Comments
According to the description C-grades have at least one technical fault (not just cosmetic), B-grades have at least one major cosmetic fault (but no technical), and A-grades have no faults and regular cosmetic wear on the outside.
Personally I wouldn't even touch the C-grade ones.
Thanks for the quick response. I guess it explained why we purchased a few A grade previously and they were different in cosmetic conditions. One was good and a few were not at the same level.
Probably lots more scratches, dents and dead pixels on "C" grade. I bought something from these guys around a year ago and had no issues (in fact they were great) but I've just looked at recent feedback and there's quite a bit of negative and neutral feedback.
From another Refurb website
The black 14" ThinkPad T490s Laptop from Lenovo is designed with the performance, security, and portability that business users need. To keep up with your day-to-day tasks, it features a 50Wh battery and comes with a 65W USB Type-C adapter for rapid charging. Specs-wise, it's powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-8365U quad-core processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe solid-state drive. Should you need more space, you can install an additional drive as well as attach external storage solutions using its multiple USB ports, which include two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, and one Thunderbolt 3 port over USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C.
Its 14" IPS display, driven by an integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 chipset, features a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution for crisp and clear playback. It also supports HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort over USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3, so you can mirror or extend your display for enhanced viewing and multitasking. Other integrated features include a microSD card reader, Micro-SIM slot, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.0, a 720p webcam, dual far-field microphones, speakers, a fingerprint reader, and an audio in/out jack. The operating system installed is Windows 11 Pro.Thanks. What's the current model? How old do you think these notebook?
Mine was just outside 3yr warranty when purchased Jan 22. Could safely assume 3.5yrs old, or 6mths out of warranty
2019
I bought one of these on a deal in Jan 2022 for around $424. Seriously impressed with build quality.
Re ram comment as I understand, 8gb is soldered, 8gb is a sodimm. Technically could swap to 16gb sodimm (24gb total) but I'd wager if more than 16gb is needed, this isn't the laptop for you.
Battery life well below spec is only complaint, but I'm a lenovo convert from this one
I think the soldered+slotted situation is for the T480s. The T490s looks to be fully soldered from a teardown video.
As for battery life yeah they never do work at spec. Too many variables with PCs, especially refurbs which might have some miles on them. Shouldn't be too hard to pop the shell off and put a new one in for ~$50 though if needed.
Edit: This video is where I got my info from.
Good post and on checking manual, I think you're right on soldered. Probably not an issue on this age and spec for most needs.
I ran BIOS battery tests on mine and showed 82% IIRC but it gives only just over 2hrs use. It may be a build issue with lots of cloud sync apps installed but not sure. Still worth it for price I reckon. Thanks OP
Hmm yeah 2 hours is quite alarming. Could be a range of things from battery health, thermal paste age, dust in the chassis, or bloatware.
Thanks for the input though.
@Void: Well outside expected specs, but I've had other issues to deal with.
Reposting an old comment from deal I bought on re t470s vs t480s v t490s. Maybe useful for someone.
Many A grade refurbished is 12 months warranty. This one only 3 months
Does this have touchscreen ?
Curious to know as well.
T480 with dual batteries and 16GB of RAM is cheaper
Whats the benefit of T490s vs T480?I desperately searched for reasons to not regret getting this over the T480 after you made this comment, and thankfully I found one lol. The screen on the T480 is only 1366x768 and presumably TN, this one is a 1920x1080 IPS (brightness unknown, probably 250 nits).
Aside from that, the T480 is a bit heavier but also has more I/O. If it weren't for the screen difference I might have gone for the T480 instead, but that res is a deal breaker for me.
Edit: There is also a B-grade T480 that has a 1920x1080 screen; the A-grade is 1366x768. Might be a good option too for those who want to make the trade off of slimness for I/O and battery, however I am unsure of what exactly a B-grade laptop looks like. They say there could be marks on the screen.
There's also the T480s which is full HD
Really like this model but I know I don't need another laptop :(
3 months warranty hum….
I bought a T490s to replace my wife's T460s a month or so ago for $390
and my son uses a T480ss touch screen model 4 school
compared to the t480s, the T490S is slightly thinner and looks more sleek in its build lines, very nice to physically handle and better to look at, more modern screen being IPS.
a bummer not to have touch screen on the 490s
so worth it at this price!
edit: bought the t490s and a year ago the t480s from these guys and they were very good in packaging and speed shipping. also good support infixing a missing power cord connector quickly.
T490s specs show these have 4 different LCD options. Guessing the low cost units will have the 45% gamut LCD.
14.0" Dolby Vision HDR screen, WQHD (2560x1440), WVA,1500:1 contrast ratio, 100% Adobe gamut
14.0" ThinkPad Privacy Guard screen, Full HD (1920x1080),WVA, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 72% gamut
14.0" Low Power screen, Full HD (1920x1080), WVA, 800:1 contrast ratio, 72% gamut
14.0" screen, Full HD (1920x1080), WVA, 700:1 contrast ratio, 45% gamut (optional touch)I recall 1080p touch is 300nits in AU spec. Not sure what's on offer with this deal
I have one of these for work. Build quality and performance are fantastic
N140HCG-GR2 display is about $120
Easy to change, should fit the T490.Game changer!
Seems interesting. I think I'll be happy with the 45% NTSC 250 nits one since I use a desktop most of the time but this could be a good option for more serious users. Looks like AliExpress is the best place to get it from.
still active, now cheaper using REFU20/REFU22
Thanks, updated.
I got mine today, I am really surprised to see it is almost brand new .. not a single mark or scratch .. battery is 100%.
Lucky. Got mine today too. Shipped with TNT 😒.
It had an unknown screw rolling around in the chassis (I opened it and took it out), and the G-key does not register properly unless pressed down hard. Really pissed since I now have to borrow a laptop for longer than I wanted to. Don't know why they halfass their quality checks, knowing how many complaints they get. It also had a decent scratch on the outside of the lid, which while it doesn't bother me may not be something a buyer of an A-grade product would expect.
Aside from those issues I did like the laptop. It's built well, aside from some flex at the gap between the screen and the base, and the keyboard has good travel. The screen was very good despite probably being the 250 nits model, and it ran pretty quiet when most laptops would be screaming during setup. Though I did repaste it with Arctic MX-6 as soon as I got it, and cleaned out the dusty fans (what passes for 'refurbished' these days??).
Sadly have to return it though. Will probably get a replacement or something similar again though.
oh was about to buy another as this one is better than expected.. build quality almost similar tp Carbon X1, anyway i'll hold my 2nd purchase :)
Tbh I still find it acceptable since it's hard to really fully test hundreds of laptops in a short time period with a few workers, and they seem to have been pretty decent with returns, but yeah it's super frustrating especially when you need a working laptop and now have to wait another week at least to send the faulty one back and then get a new one.
What's the main difference between A grade and C grade? Is there a standard or just a perception? Or it's subjective!