Purchased a X201 tablet

I have a dilemma to ask notebook gurus here. I just purchased a x201 tablet to replace my x201 from ebay. this is the item.

Seems like a good deal until I received it yesterday and I found out it is not an outdoor 400nit model. It is actually has a PVA samsung screen (but not touch screen which is strange). I refered to this link for the screen lcd. The screen However is very bright and beautiful compared to my x201 AFFS CCFL.

Another problem I have is that the notebook has no serial number. Sellers claims that they are a repair center for Lenovo and build this notebook from the ground up.

The seller however offered me a partial refund and asking me how much I want a refund for or a full refund. I was thinking $300 for partial refund but I will have a problem the next time I want to sell it since I usually change notebook twice a year.

Please help me with any suggestion you have. I decided to post it here because of more traffic here then the other tablet site.

 

If it doesnt have serial, does it have warranty with Lenovo then?
Id say full refund and return this laptop.

 

no warranty from Lenovo only seller's warranty. So far seller is very cooperative. I actually asking $350 back for the misinfo on the screen

 

there are some dodgy deals on ebay, i would suggest you get a full refund.

They claim to be a repair center for Lenovo and building these laptops from grounds up? I would say this is a unlikely scenario, since IBM service whom ships out the part to these repair center are usually very careful with parts that goes to them. Also ask for the name of their company and their contact no., so that you can verify the repair center actually exists.

Basically you got a laptop with no warranty and some promises from people whom you don't even know. Since they are have already been dishonest, what is the bet that the parts that the laptops contain is second rate or faulty? If they fail, you would have to fork out the money to get parts and do the repair yourself.

Obviously, if you are inclined to find the cheapest deals from questionable dealers then i guess you could get a partial refund.

 

2X.

Relatively new laptop w/o serial number sounds fishy to me.

 

before everyone jumps to unfounded conclusions, let's clear up some confusion.

IBM ships parts directly to dealers all the time.   i have an account with them and can buy whatever i want, whenever i want, and it's irrespective to any employee or contractor affiliation that i may or may not have.   in 15 years they've never once been "very careful" with me in what i've purchased.   i call and place an order and see it on my doorstep the next day if the FRUs are in stock.

the IBM parts department has tons of accounts throughout the US with large and small businesses who repair systems both under contract and on their own.   IBM even sells parts direct to individuals.

i don't see this as an unlikely scenario at all.   it's a shady business practice to sell a system without a serial number but it's not like the ebay listing doesn't show this clearly in the photos.   at that point it's up to the buyer to decide whether the risk of an unwarrantable system is worth the purchase price.

the only facts i'm seeing here is that the system was sold without a system serial number and either with a touchscreen panel (possibly missing the touch feature) or with one of the original 300-nit superbright LED samsung panels instead of the later 400-nit toshiba panels.   in their efforts to rebuild this system, the panel might have been substituted. this would be my guess.

exactly who this company is, i don't know.   there are at least 30 authorized lenovo business partners in the laurel, maryland area alone.   it could be any one of them.   see for yourself: http://bplocator.lenovo.com/et.cfm?eid=934

handai - if you don't feel good about it then i suggest returning it.   resale on a system without proper MTM/SN info isn't going to be easy.   personally, i would never buy one even though i can easily replace parts on my own.

 

thanks for the info and input. Funny, the item listed from MD but shipped from TX and I search using the link from Erik. Cant find the business partner

 

in that case i would return it if the reseller is willing to refund you.   it's not worth the risk or hassle to own an unwarrantable system.

 

Demand a 100% refund or you just may need to use the eBay/paypal buyers protection.
Keep in mind you cannot use the lack of serial number as support in this refund as the seller did supply a bios picture that reflects no serial number.
If the LCD screen is the wrong one, get a 100% refund and 100% refund on ALL shipping since this is a SELLER ERROR.

 

If you look at the ebay link. It shows the laptop model no., but no serial no.

Typically this is the result of:

1) getting a broken laptop from somewhere, and then repair the parts that is broken and on selling them as used laptop.

and/or

2) laptop was obtained from some illegal source with the serial wiped.
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So i would say buy with caution.

P.S. Also, from the ebay statement, they claim to be a rental/lease company that hires a Certified tech to do the repair using brand new OEM internal parts and OEM plastics. So they are not a certified repair center as such.

 

thanks for all the help. I think I will refund it

 

It's bad karma. I'd go the refund route.

 

I have the same experience buying Thinkpad from Ebay. there is no serial number and model number because the previous owner had the laptop service by Lenovo and they change the motherboard. Lenovo was able to get my model number and serial number by providing the battery serial number. I requested if they can input the model number and serial number which they did by using Thinkpad maintenance diskette.