"Refurbished"

So I've seen several comments about so called refurbished Toughbooks that various members have bought or were looking at buying. Obviously, there's much more to it than just reloading from the recovery disk. So what do y'all think needs to be done to a Toughbook before it can be called refurbished?

 

It should be sent back to the factory to be called "Refurbished" IMO.

 

Personally I take mine pretty much all apart. I try to leave as much together as I can so not to separate seals unless they are proven to be problems. (But I will replace with stronger fasteners!) For instance... I try not to separate the halves of the LCD unless there is a Touchscreen problem. However... Every bottom comes off on mine as I install custom GPS. At this point I re-adhere the parts that are falling off, (IE the Media Bay Caddy Bumper) I totally clean all port covers and replace as necessary. I relax all cover seals and ensure that no debris is embedded into the seal. On some of mine.. I treat the seals to a silicone water-repellent solution so that water ingress is never a problem. Also... On some... I make sure that the pass-ways between the LCD and the main body are completely sealed. I will build out to suit the End User/Buyer. I also completely clean and disinfect mine with different mixtures depending on the issue. Sticky adhesive residue is removed, All surfaces are cleaned... Even those that nobody will ever see. (You'd be surprised at how dirty even the "clean" ones are!) The screens are cleaned properly and then the keyboard is blown out and scrubbed with a soft bristle brush in conjunction with a light alcohol bath. This not only cleans it... But disinfects it. And if you saw some of the disgusting things that come out of keyboards... If I posted pictures (No I won't) You would INSIST that EVERY keyboard be disinfected. I have seen some weird stuff... I'll tell you that. And some from "refurbished" laptops... Most don't even know the meaning of the word.... They choose it instead of "Used" as they think "Refurbished" makes them more money in the auction.

This is but a taste... But then it most likely falls under customization rather than 'Refurbishment"... For most... Refurbishment means loading the OS... Maybe with the correct drivers... Maybe not... Maybe with no drivers.

The rest is proprietary....

 

Thanks, all noted!

 

DANG TOUGHBOOK, you got me all freaked out about germs and boogers and stuff on my keyboard now, I even took my taco bell 7 layer off the keys to type this ! gross. I better not lose any ink off these keys when I clean it later today. you also have me wanting to mail my cf-29 off to you so you can put some love into it! maybe you could get these darned drivers to load while you have it!