How can one recognize a refurb laptop?

Ok guys, long story short: was debating for a few days between the Clevo and the AW with the 680m. Today I decided to go for the AW simply because of the better sound and keyboard, but as you know, the 680m is no longer an option on dell site.

So I found a nice seller on eBay, got a very nice base configuration, and since he had on stock upgrade parts (ssd, another hdd, ram, killer n, etc), I agreed to have them added to the machine.

Initially I wanted to replace them myself, but after watching a movie on youtube, I gave up the idea and agreed (since he was a hardware comp savy guy) to have him replaced the parts. That means he will open the box etc, etc. Now my question, seeing he's selling lots of refurbished AWs, how can I tell if my laptop was not a refurbished one by the time it arrives? Are there any signs on them? I trust him being a honest seller, but you never know..
Am I being paranoid?

 

if its a refurb and is honest it will have a green sticker on the bottom of the laptop by the windows cert sticker that says refurbished. It can be removed though so thats why I say if he is honest

 

Refurbs don't come with the AW box. They come in a standard brown box.

 

Pretty much in the same boat you are as I was hoping to go with the 680M in an M17 after having a terrible experience with the 7970 in a Clevo. I'm curious to hear how your experience goes with the Ebay seller.

 

yup as SkylineLvr said, Dell refurbs don't come in the alienware box or have the mousepad or other goodies either if I'm not mistaken. If you get that stuff, I'd say its not a refurb.

 

Well, thanks guys for this info. Didn't know that.
Will let you know how it goes, as soon I receive it, hopefully before GW2 launches

 

I'm sure you will be fine if this guy sells a ton of machines and has good feedback. Congrats on the machine!!

 

Well, finally received it today.
I am a bit dissapointed. Firstly, it has a very annoying flex in the keyboard. I guess it's "normal", though I did not expect to feel so loose. It's not a refurb, it still had some plastic seals in the front, but I have another problem now.

I booted it fine for about 5 seconds, then it shut down. I thought it was the baterry, but it was full and when I powered it on with the AC cord hooked, the keyboard would light up, but no screen, and a series of 4 beeps with a sec delay, then again 4 beeps in a loop.
I googled it and it should be either the RAM modules (the seller upgraded to 4x4gb) or a faulty ram slot which will require a mobo change, unless I could live with 3 modules. I will try to test the memories myself, hope this is not a hw failure.
The warranty has been successfully transferred to my name, but I hate having it sent to Dell for God knows how many days to get it fixed.

So what would you suggest? Should I open it up myself, or call for assistance?
What a bummer!

 

If the seller upgraded the RAM himself, I would first open it up and and reseat all 4 RAM slots. Also, the keyboard shouldn't flex to the point it's noticeable, unless you're a really heavy typer. Perhaps he didn't put it together right when he upgraded the RAM slots. Either way, if a RAM reseat doesn't work, I would run MEMTest and see if you're RAM may be bad. If so, I would see if the seller would send out some new sticks for you.

Now, since he upgraded the RAM on your system, did he include the original sticks (or did he just add 2 sticks)? If he upgraded all 4 on his own, your RAM won't be covered under Dell's warranty. They only cover original parts that were included in the original build.