How to get your laptop refurbished?

How and why does Lenovo refurbish their laptops? Let's say you own a Lenovo and it's in warranty, can you get it refurbished..?

What if it's in warranty and the laptop breaks, do they send you a replacement refurbished?

 

I can't speak for Lenovo, but I know other companies will you send a refurbished replacement unit (looks squarely at Dell), while I know Apple will send a new replacement. Sorry that doesn't answer your question about Lenovo. That would be really cool if you could send in your unit to be refurbished, but I've never heard of any computer company doing that. Like for a nominal fee, have your computer gone over and refurbished, and sent back, that would be really cool.

 

how: broken parts are replaced with new ones by trained personnel.

why: because parts have broken.

refurbished systems are only sold through the outlet.   systems are brought up to like-new working condition before being sold.

no.   if your system is in warranty and nothing has broken under normal conditions (and whatever breaks or fails wasn't caused by the end user) then there's no resource for replacing parts just because you want new ones.   in this case, parts can be purchased through IBM at your own expense.

no.   only the part that has broken or failed is replaced.   it's the same process as something breaking on an automobile under warranty.   you don't get a new car just because your A/C compressor died.   you simply get a new A/C compressor.

 

there are some external companies that do it, but it is not cheap.

 

Thanks man!

 

Is there a particular reason why you want your laptop refurbished? Broken components? Usually "refurbished" has a negative connotation that means, instead of replacing an entire unit, a company chooses to attempt to bring it back to factory specifications.

 

That's not always a bad thing. Some times a refurbished unit will have newer components, if the factory is out of stock on the older ones.

 

Quite honestly,
sometimes I prefer refurbished items, since they actually have been tested rigorously.

New items are tested too, of course, but I am under the impression that manufacturers spend more time testing refurbs than new ones, because they assume new items are supposed to work.

 

Some of my thinkpads are refurbished, and they are darn cheap too if you know where to ask.

The only problem with some refurbished model from some resellers, is that a few of the laptop could have been liquid damaged, which you don't know about.

When i buy a second hand Thinkpad i would usually take it apart and look at the chassis conditions and how the motherboard is fairing.

A good refurb computer, would have new fans and all the dusts/hair cleaned up. But there are some cheap refurb, which only has a cosmetic clean up, while everything is extremely dirty inside.

 

There you go!
But I was talking about "Refurbished By Manufacturer."
Not 3rd hand refurbs.

So if you buy a refurb from Dell, Apple or Lenovo you get basically a new laptop.

 

IBM sells refurbished laptop on behalf of Lenovo from memory, and Erik has said that they are done through Flexitronics, which is third party.

Refurbished goods have rating A+ to D or E or something like that, usually the laptop company keeps the A+ version to resell through their own channel at later dates.

 

flextronics, not flexitronics.   there's only one 'i'.

IBM certified used systems are indeed by refurbished by a third party but done under contract.   it's not possible to contact flextronics as an end user and request a system be refurbished though -- at least not in the US.

i'm not sure i follow the point of this discussion.   parts either work or don't.   i don't quite understand what one might want "refurbished" if their system is in working order.   are we talking about electronic components, chassis components, or both?   perhaps someone can enlighten me.