How to tell is M15x is refurbed or brand new?

Hi, guys, I was going to order an Alienware m15x model online, it's a decent price (a little over 1100$k) but the seller is not the original owner and said he picked it up from a sale/trade computer website.

With all the issues I read about with alienwares, how can I verify that this model wasn't originally an outlet model (i.e. refurbished or Previously ordered new from dell etc..etc..)????

Is there a way?? I really don't want something that was refurbed or bought from some outlet that has been shipped back and forth from multiple people..................

.....Please help.....

 

Sorry, I cant answer the question directly but, have you looked at Dell Outlet?
Skip a lot of potential risk from an unknown source.
Dell Factory Outlet

 

To my knowledge the M15x has been discontinued so the chances its a refurbished product are high I guess. Ask the seller for pictures maybe and proof of purchase from wherever the seller got it from? To be honest I dont think there is a way at all. In any case what is the payment method? If its PayPay then you have the PayPal resolution center that can help you out if the item you bought is not as described. That process is long and is not 100% guarantee that youll get your money back in worst case scenario but its better than nothing. Hope this helps.

 

You'll buy "used" but not a "refurbished" unit???

Anyway... the only way I know of to tell if a unit is certified refurbished is Dell puts a green label on the bottom of the laptop. I've heard you can call Dell and give them the service tag and they can tell you if it was sold from the Outlet. That said... Do not fear certified refurbished units if you get them from Dell Outlet. The warranty is the same as new and sometimes they have some real sweetheart deals that can save you lots of cash... and it beats gambling on the condition of buying a used computer from an unknown source as stated above. I've ordered 4 laptops from Dell Outlet over the years and have been very happy with all of them.

 

Thanks for your replies thus far guys.

I was looking at the Dell outlet, thanks for that link. They only have (2) M15x's

They have quite a few m14x's.... Is scratch and dent better than refurbished? I would rather have something with a scratch on it, then a laptop that had to get refurbished because something internal was damaged....

But they don't even tell you where the scratch or dent is ? So it's just a freaking gamble? Ugh...

The only reason I'm weary of refurbed is b/c my current gateway laptop is refurb and the battery and trackpad pretty much went out after 3months of buying it, even though everything was perfect initially.

So I'm completely biased of refurb now and thought maybe I could scape up a better deal of some who doesn't use there m15x anymore but was in good condition......

Well?

 

Check the service tag of the laptop online at dell.com under warranty.

 

If it breaks after 3 months you still have warranty on it, so no problem.

You have a bigger problem if you buy it from an unknown person who offers no warranty.

 

I'd opt for a certified refurbished over a scratch and dent. Every certified refurbished I've received was like new. The outlet does list whether it's scratch and dent or refurbished, and there's also a filter to select which one you'd rather look for. They do not list what the scratch or dent is (although you might be able to call and get that info once you add it to your cart but idk). Most of the time the "refurbished" are units that were assembled and then cancelled, shipped but returned because the buyer wanted something else or if there was a problem they fix it and sell it. Regardless, even with the base 1 year warranty you're covered for any problems. I don't know how Gateway is with their outlet, but Dell is top notch when it comes to theirs.

 

Guys thanks sooooo much for your help.

Hey INAP, I went to the dell site and found the "enter service tag option".

I punched it in, and dell did not "recognize it or it was invalid".

Check it out guys, here is the picture the seller sent me of the bottom of the laptop, which has the service tag and barcodes......

Imageshack - m15xtag.jpg

something fishy here??

 

Or if the warrant is expired, does the service tag not pull anything up..is that normal or should it still pull some info. up...?

 

The tag seems legit. Looks exactly like mine (except for the numbers and letters).

Might just be because its out of warranty and they no longer have it in their system?

 

I tried using that Service Tag on the Drivers and Downloads section of Dell Support and got a similar result. I don't know what causes a Service Tag to become unrecognized or invalid, but I would be cautious. By the way, my M15x is out of warranty, but my Service Tag is still recognized the same as always.

 

Ok, seems like I was wrong

 

Might even be true insofar as the warranty registry is concerned, but not otherwise. It was a logical supposition.

 

Yeah, I did some research and it seems even if the warranty is expired it should still register on Dell's search filter.

so I'm probably not going to buy it. It has no warranty, and that tag isn't working, so it could be some refurbished or scratch and dent or even some fake model someone made.

The forums he said he got it from, I checked them out and there was postings for people selling these chinese/japanese alienware models. They sold on these weird foreign websites for like 400$ US.

So who knows, maybe it's some ty fraudulent model. My brother used to buy fake apply products over ebay with the logo and booklets and everything, but there made out of like tin foil and crappy materials that burned out in 1month, but you would never be able to tell.

 

OOOOOhhhh, check this out guys,

I was actually just going to go to the Dell online chat/support to ask them directly what this service tag belonged to on this m15x, and when it asked for the service tag right before speaking to a tech, it came up with this information after I punched the service tag in:



Definitely not purchasing it now.

 

Very interesting.

 

guys,i wanna add sth
i saw sum1 said refurber still have warranty?
yes it does have,but notice,its not the same as a brand new model
a brand new model owns wt they called "complete care"
but the refurbed only got next bussiness day support
and wt's the difference?its wt part or wt kinda problem that they'll fixed in your warranty
as i know
NBS does not cover any problem about the case of the laptop,stuff like hinge,cover...etc,they wont fix it for free
also,nbs only can repair/change parts for your laptop
if your laptop got sum serious problem even changing the mobo or wt ever still cant fix,they still wont replace it for you with a brand new one
which a CC product would definately replace a new laptop for you/upgrade for free wt ever
though refurbed one can change your warranty from NBS to CC only cost like 40bucks,also,refurbed one has one year warranty
if you choose to extend it 2moreyrs within 90days and change it to CC,it cost about 140bucks,but if you extend it after 90days,it cost double
so wt ever u wanna do,do it quick lol

 

Dude, thanks so much for that information ^ I really appreciate it.