Problem with refurbished T400

I have recently bought a T400 from ebay for 500 USD (less than 350 euros)...

It seems like a sweet deal but it seems there are some issues with those refurbished units...

Allow me to explain.

Frist the puter didn't came with restore DVDs and the HDD was blank...

there is Vista Business OEMAct sticker from Lenovo Singapore but how can I know if it's a 32 bits or a 64 bits one?

For now i have installed a Windows Vista some guys from MS gave me, you know those with some orange sticker promo copies to make sure you don't resell them . Anyway I have installed Vista 64 bits Ultimate.

Frist weird thing.

THE PUTER DOESNT HAVE A STICKER WITH MODEL TYPE AND SN ... HOW WEIRD IS THAT.

System Update 3.14 did detect the puter as PC25340 , and said there was nothing to update, when obviously there was as i didn't install any tools : )

I tried to install manually the lenovo tools , BUT some tools require to enter the model type... I don't have any type! : (

the type is like XXXX-XXX ... from the web i could find some model types : ie : 6473 , 7417, 6475 etc ... there should also be some letters but i don't know what those letters should be like on a previous model i had the infamous "CTO".

I updated the BIOS to 3.01 which seems the latest and i found out the following :
system unit SN : PC253407091234
Bios 3.01
Embedded 1.03
System board SN : (blank field)

Why is that field blank? what is the format of this field for you guys with a T400 how many digits or number is it?

With the BIOS disc i also found out you can edit the model number in my case it's PC25340 , perhaps this been tempered with and i should restore it to something else so thinkvantage would properly detect my unit.

so my questions are :
anyone ever seen a refurbished unit with the sticker removed?
How can i tell if the Vista licence is 64 bits or 32 bits?
How can i get thinkvantage to detect my unit properly?
Should i change the PC25340 so something else like let's say 1234-ABC (some legit model number) perhaps the bios would properly detect it.
(When you guys with T400 run system update what model does it dectect for you? like 1234-ABC?)

How can I figure out my exact model number?
the configuration of this unit is :
Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Laptop Computer 14.1 WIDE
Intel Centrino Core2Duo P8400 processor @2.26GHz (3MB L2 Cache)
2GB DDR3 PC3-8500 RAM (max. 8GB)
160GB SATA hard drive @5400 rpm WD1600BEVS-08VAT2
14.1" WXGA+ TFT LCD w/CCFL Backlight - max resolution 1440 x 900 @ 60Hz
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD w/vPro Technology
Conexant stereo sound system
DVD ROM DRIVE HL-DT-ST DVD ROM DU10N
UltraNav Trackpoint and Touchpad with 2 mouse buttons each
Standard ThinkPad 101/102-key keyboard US
Audio in/Audio out jacks
Express card slot
PCMCIA slot
Integrated 56K v.92 modem
Integrated Intel 82567LM 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Integrated Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN Wireless adapter
IEEE 1394 Firewire port
6-cell high capacity LiIon battery
3 USB 2.0 slots

 

I found out something interesting about SN of Thinkpad.

I checked my T60 it's a model 2007-46G

the SN is 200746GA11A1A1

so it's the model number 200746G-A11A1A1 with the serial obviously i've edit the SN but it's 1 letter 2 digits 1 letter 1 digit 1 letter 1 digit.

so obviously something is not right with my model number.

 

A true refurbished model would have the tag of XXXX-CTR. If I were you I would consider sending it back. Something isn't right with it, something was edited (perhaps it had a bios password and the seller hacked it and resold it???). Either way I would not be comfortable with that and would want a genuine new or refurb unit.

 

i confirm i'm not confortable with it, that's why i'm eager to understand.
there is no return policy however and so i need to deal with it and anyway shipping it back to the US would cost me almost the amount i paid for it : )

For now i'm trying to understand and putting the pieces back together...

it's like if it was a non working unit which had some non lenovo remplaced parts fit in... as it doesn't get detected. it's really weird stuff.

 

My T400 is 7417-CTO.

Edit: very similar specs to yours (integrated graphics, P8400..)

 

The only part of your post I can answer is that it doesn't matter what architecture the license key is for, 32 bit or 64 bit, the license is valid for both. It is up to you to decide which version to run. The catch is that you will need to find out which version of Vista(ex: Home Basic, Home premium, Business, etc) the license key matches, as the license key on the bottom of the machine is tied to this. I agree with StealthTH, something is way off if the machine doesn't have a product and serial number on the bottom.

 

yes something is wrong and it's a reminder that if something is very cheap, there must be a reason : )

as I said the vista is a business edition, the windows sticker seems to be legit...
It's a Vista Business OEMAct licence.

 

The key should be fine for either x64 or x86 but you will have to give MS a call to activate it. I hear it is an automated process over the phone and pretty simple.

 

it could be a stolen machine that is stripped down.

 

yeah chances are it was stolen or something

 

i don't think it's stolen cf :
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-LENOVO-THIN...C&itu=UCI%2BIA%2BUA%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=10&ps=63

If you check the profile, those guys sold tons of T400's during the last few months, so unless they grabbed a container in Hong-Kong it seems legit : )

 

then it could be that the systems was refurbished by themselves and not Lenovo official refurbished systems.

 

I can't speak for Lenovo, but I had an HP Business computer with a hairline crack in the base. They came out (onsite warranty) and replaced the base. The new base was stickerless. They left the original base with me, but that did not appease me. Yet, when I complained all they said they could do was to print basic stickers (not OEM ones that were on there to begin with) and I could put them on. I did this and they fell off shortly afterward. I actually had a few other issues with the laptop during the warranty, and they never gave me any trouble about it not having a fixed serial number or anything. Just thought you might want to know....

 

Goodness I don't know what to say after aadadams post. Eradication of the serial number is frequently an attempt at theft or an attempt to maintain a theft if that makes sense.

The person who offered that the OS authorization number is not sensitive to whether it's a 32 or 64 bit machine is correct.
Renee

 

My thinkpad is identical to your configuration, except i have a weaker wireless card, its 7417-CTO

 

The seller change the motherboard on your T400 and forgot to update the previous system board serial number and model number by doing the IBM maintenance disk. i had a similar exact problem when i change my T61 motherboard due to Nvidia GPU failure. you can't update from Lenovo system update because Lenovo is looking on the model number of your Thinkpad.. go ask around this forum and ask on IBM maintenace disk i think it s version 1.74 but not sure if it will work on your T400. You also need to run it on a usb floppy drive to update the serial number, model number and so on.

 

I have not explored the option, but is the tool on a bios update CD as well? I seem to remember a reference to that on the GUI for a previous BIOS update.

 

lovan6 thanks for your input anyone got that maintenance disk around?

 

nevermind found it , if anyone needs to download those tools you can find there here :
http://www.eserviceinfo.com/index.php?what=search2&searchstring=Thinkpad+Maintenance+Disk+v1.72+1.72

- thanks google! -

guess now i need an external floppy and i still don't know the part number of this PC nor the serial of the new mobo.

 

nibbler consider your T400 as CTO-REF... just a joke...

 

can someone tell me what a thinkpad SN looks like please :
like 7417CTR A1A1A1

just checking if the SN is still like on T60 One letter + One digit x 3

 

something like L3-xxxxx

 

could you distinguish the X's that corresponds to letter from X's that correspond to a number , ie : X1X1X1

thx

 

L3-XXXXX could be either number or characters, it is random (well to me anyway, there is probably a system but i don't know).

 

There is a dealer from NJ/NY area selling "refurbished" Thinkpads warrantied by himself(and not Lenovo). I heard about it from another post on NBR and also bought one. My Vista sticker is also that of Lenovo singapore and it did not come with any OS. From what i could tell mine was brand new with 0 cycles on the battery. No s/n. I believe these are probably brand new scratch/dent grey market imports directly from Asia/Factory.

Considering he apparently has been doing this for the last couple of months and the number of units involved i doubt it is stolen goods.