do refurbed machined keep the original serial no.?

vaw · 05-12-2009, 11:06 PM

Just curious, do they change the serial number of a machine after they refurbish it?

erik · 05-12-2009, 11:55 PM

the serial number usually stays the same. many times you'll see your model number in the BIOS as the original but both the info decal and warranty lookup will show an MTM number ending in CTR, RF1, RF2, RF3, etc.

zenit · 05-13-2009, 03:41 AM

half the time the new model designation such as CTR doesnt show up in warranty lookup. It just stays CTO. Thats the trick all the shady ebay dealers use to sell refurbished notebooks as new.

surfasb · 05-13-2009, 03:56 AM

The short answer, no.

Luke1708 · 05-13-2009, 08:42 AM

And what's the long one?

erik · 05-13-2009, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenit

half the time the new model designation such as CTR doesnt show up in warranty lookup. It just stays CTO. Thats the trick all the shady ebay dealers use to sell refurbished notebooks as new.

shady ebay dealers are more likely selling used systems claiming them to be refurbished or by doing the so-called "refurbishing" themselves. if a system doesn't change MTMs from CTO to CTR then it probably didn't go through IBM or lenovo for refurbishment. the MTMs are supposed to change but not the serials. topseller models go from, say, B7U to RF2 as an example. serials rarely change since even a replacement planar can be reflashed or a new MTM/SN/warranty decal printed.