Tweet
How to test a refurbished damaged laptop?
How do you test a refurbished damaged laptop on the store? Or how do you test a used laptop before you buy?
Here's the best way I found from all the info I gathered:
1- Make sure all the keys work and work well. I mean all of them!
A quick way to test all of the letters is by typing "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
2- Make sure the all USB ports and headphone jack works correctly.
Take a USB stick with you with the software I recommend on point 4. Take some headphones too. And if you have an SD card and a CD to test out the rest bring it with you too.
3- Make sure the screen has no scratches or marks or even dead pixels.
Look at the screen from different angles and here you have a website with great screen testing tools
4- Use some quick benchmarks to check if everything is working.
At the store you can't really stress test the computer, but you CAN check if the components such as GPU, CPU, RAM and the disk are working at all. These softwares will help you with that:
HWiNFO; to check if all components report as expected and read hdd's S.M.A.R.T. values.
QwikMark Portable; for stress testing, it's a bit short/fast, so might want to run it a few times in succession.
GPUtest; to check if the graphics card is working. Brings FurMark and some other quick graphics benchmark tools.
If you find that some (replaceable) component is damaged or defective then you're on good grounds to haggle the price down.
5- Even after using Hwinfo you should run a Dxdiag to check once again if the advertised components are the ones actually inside the computer.
And by the way, go to the search panel on menu start, type "cmd" and then "systeminfo". There you can check when was the windows originally installed and know more or less how old is the computer by looking at the BIOS install date.
6- Make sure the speakers work and make no crackling noises.
7- If there is a webcam, check that as well.
8- Make sure they are selling you a laptop with a genuine Windows copy.
9- Check if the laptop screen is not loose and holds in place
10- If you can, remove the battery to see if it is not damaged.
11- If the laptop has visible outside damage (from falling just like mine), check online for photos/videos of someone disassembling/opening the laptop so that you know what kind of internal damage it might have caused, and what kind of components might have been affected. Mine was at the place of the battery, so that's not a big issue as it can be (and was) replaced.
Some explanations on different types of damage on laptops: If it's dent or cracked covers on edges, then it has probably been dropped. Similar on the larger surfaces, maybe stepped or sat on. Those may result in broken hdd, bent chassis (is it stable on a flat table?), LCD panel frame could be bent and crack more easily later... Lots of stuff might happen.
If the damage is just scratches, then there shouldn't be any issue.
12- AAAnd of course, ask the store's WIFI password so that you can test if the computer's wireless card is working
Here is also some information on how laptop refurbishing usually works:
Classes: A)The product didn't pass the original quality tests so it was "factory refurbished" and sold through a secondary channel or the product was returned not long after original sale (client returned the machine, manufacturer tested it and repacked it), it could also be a new product but that came in a damaged box so it was repacked.
B)Exhibition products, these were exhibited in stores or other places, may have parts missing, were sent back to factory for repackaging, may have internal issues or broken ones.
C)Pre-owned/leased/used products, usually batches of units either leased or bought by companies as employee's machines, after their life cycle they were sold to a refurbishing company which makes some tests (if it turns on it passed...), cleaning and repackaging.
Hope this will help you! It helped me!
Original post
So if you checked out my previous thread, you know I am looking to buy a new gaming laptop.
I actually managed to find a deal of 480€ for the Asus G550JK (The same I mentioned last thread but much cheaper), because it has a "Damaged case" and no warranty. But I don't mind because I don't have a lot of money and I believe that for this price I am getting a great gaming laptop (since I dont care about the outside looks of it).
I Still don't know the extent of the damage, but this Tuesday before buying I can check this "Damaged Case" and test the computer in the store, but I don't care about the outside looks and will buy if the internal components have no damage and are working like they should.
But how do I actually test the laptop? Is there some quick benchmarking/checking software I can take in a USB stick (not sure if they will let me plug a usb stick to the laptop before buying it) and check if everything is alright?
Here are the laptop's specs for some refreshing:
Core i7 4700HQ - 15.6 - nVidia GTX850M 2GB - RAM: 8GB - HDD: 750GB 7200rpm - Windows 8.1
Should I just type Dxdiag and check if the specs are right?
Should I type "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and test all the keys on the keyboard?
Any suggestions and recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Also they have a 10 day return policy, so obviously in the first few days I will install GTA V and check how is it running games.
Here's the best way I found from all the info I gathered:
1- Make sure all the keys work and work well. I mean all of them!
A quick way to test all of the letters is by typing "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
2- Make sure the all USB ports and headphone jack works correctly.
Take a USB stick with you with the software I recommend on point 4. Take some headphones too. And if you have an SD card and a CD to test out the rest bring it with you too.
3- Make sure the screen has no scratches or marks or even dead pixels.
Look at the screen from different angles and here you have a website with great screen testing tools
4- Use some quick benchmarks to check if everything is working.
At the store you can't really stress test the computer, but you CAN check if the components such as GPU, CPU, RAM and the disk are working at all. These softwares will help you with that:
HWiNFO; to check if all components report as expected and read hdd's S.M.A.R.T. values.
QwikMark Portable; for stress testing, it's a bit short/fast, so might want to run it a few times in succession.
GPUtest; to check if the graphics card is working. Brings FurMark and some other quick graphics benchmark tools.
If you find that some (replaceable) component is damaged or defective then you're on good grounds to haggle the price down.
5- Even after using Hwinfo you should run a Dxdiag to check once again if the advertised components are the ones actually inside the computer.
And by the way, go to the search panel on menu start, type "cmd" and then "systeminfo". There you can check when was the windows originally installed and know more or less how old is the computer by looking at the BIOS install date.
6- Make sure the speakers work and make no crackling noises.
7- If there is a webcam, check that as well.
8- Make sure they are selling you a laptop with a genuine Windows copy.
9- Check if the laptop screen is not loose and holds in place
10- If you can, remove the battery to see if it is not damaged.
11- If the laptop has visible outside damage (from falling just like mine), check online for photos/videos of someone disassembling/opening the laptop so that you know what kind of internal damage it might have caused, and what kind of components might have been affected. Mine was at the place of the battery, so that's not a big issue as it can be (and was) replaced.
Some explanations on different types of damage on laptops: If it's dent or cracked covers on edges, then it has probably been dropped. Similar on the larger surfaces, maybe stepped or sat on. Those may result in broken hdd, bent chassis (is it stable on a flat table?), LCD panel frame could be bent and crack more easily later... Lots of stuff might happen.
If the damage is just scratches, then there shouldn't be any issue.
12- AAAnd of course, ask the store's WIFI password so that you can test if the computer's wireless card is working
Here is also some information on how laptop refurbishing usually works:
Classes: A)The product didn't pass the original quality tests so it was "factory refurbished" and sold through a secondary channel or the product was returned not long after original sale (client returned the machine, manufacturer tested it and repacked it), it could also be a new product but that came in a damaged box so it was repacked.
B)Exhibition products, these were exhibited in stores or other places, may have parts missing, were sent back to factory for repackaging, may have internal issues or broken ones.
C)Pre-owned/leased/used products, usually batches of units either leased or bought by companies as employee's machines, after their life cycle they were sold to a refurbishing company which makes some tests (if it turns on it passed...), cleaning and repackaging.
Hope this will help you! It helped me!
Original post
So if you checked out my previous thread, you know I am looking to buy a new gaming laptop.
I actually managed to find a deal of 480€ for the Asus G550JK (The same I mentioned last thread but much cheaper), because it has a "Damaged case" and no warranty. But I don't mind because I don't have a lot of money and I believe that for this price I am getting a great gaming laptop (since I dont care about the outside looks of it).
I Still don't know the extent of the damage, but this Tuesday before buying I can check this "Damaged Case" and test the computer in the store, but I don't care about the outside looks and will buy if the internal components have no damage and are working like they should.
But how do I actually test the laptop? Is there some quick benchmarking/checking software I can take in a USB stick (not sure if they will let me plug a usb stick to the laptop before buying it) and check if everything is alright?
Here are the laptop's specs for some refreshing:
Core i7 4700HQ - 15.6 - nVidia GTX850M 2GB - RAM: 8GB - HDD: 750GB 7200rpm - Windows 8.1
Should I just type Dxdiag and check if the specs are right?
Should I type "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and test all the keys on the keyboard?
Any suggestions and recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Also they have a 10 day return policy, so obviously in the first few days I will install GTA V and check how is it running games.
Comment