Selling used laptops as new?

[VirtualLarry]

I bought a Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5048 yesterday at OD in IN. It had a piece of plastic tape over the box, and when I purchased it, they stuck a big long red sticker over it that contained their return policy.

I opened the laptop last night, and hooked it up. It prompted me to confirm the EULA, and then asked me for my username, and time zone. Then it said something about starting the computer for the first time. (It might have said that before prompting me).

But this morning, in the light, I can see that the LCD screen has residue from a screen cleaner. That, and the lack of bloatware, makes me wonder.

The C: partition has a name that starts with TI, does that stand for Toshiba, or TrueImage?
There is a 9MB primary partition at the end of the drive that is not allocated to the C:

I've never seen screen-cleaner residue on a factory-new LCD screen. This slightly disturbs me.

Oh, and when I opened the laptop, it was in a tightly-wrapped piece of plastic, that had a sticker over it stating that Toshiba does not give pro-rated refunds on return of pre-installed software. (Remember that guy in .AU that tried to return the bundled Windows for a refund?) I had difficulty opening that without tearing the sticker, so I just ripped it open.

So it makes me wonder if the screen-cleaning happened at the factory, or what. Perhaps this was a returned unit, that Toshiba refurbished, and sent out as new?

Edit: One other reason that makes me suspicious, is that nothing has popped up yet prompting me to register the laptop, although when I booted it this morning, some "Toshiba Registration Wizard" flashed up and promptly disappeared on me.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Oh the word "used" is so arbitrary. They just took the courtesy of unboxing and cleaning the screen/OS for you. Feel privileged!

Umm, when you opened the box were the contents arranged conspicuously or anything seem out of place?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Someone else pointed out that I never had to remove a plastic protective film off of any components of my laptop. My other two laptops that I've purchased recently, I had to do that.

And no, nothing was conspicuously misplaced.

The laptop is running good though, I cannot complain. Unless of course it's already been registered in someone else's name, then that wouldn't be good.

 

[deadlyapp]

Someone else pointed out that I never had to remove a plastic protective film off of any components of my laptop. My other two laptops that I've purchased recently, I had to do that.

And no, nothing was conspicuously misplaced.

The laptop is running good though, I cannot complain. Unless of course it's already been registered in someone else's name, then that wouldn't be good.

My most recent new laptop had a cling wrapper over the top, the keyboard, and the screen, as well as bits of blue tape and stuff on different smaller parts. If it is wrapped, you're usually good to go. You can also check the s/n because if it's been refurbished the sn has likely been changed (may be a replacement sticker?)

 

[HybridSquirrel]

maybe it was a floor model that was pulled off the floor?

 

[Meghan54]

Maybe run the S/N through Toshiba's website and see if it's already registered?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, here's another piece of evidence. I had the computer on the AC power cord for the last two days, and today, I turned it on on battery power, and Win7 is reporting 2 hours 20 minutes of battery power left. The laptop is rated at 3.8 hours of battery life. I talked to someone else that has one of these laptops, and he claims that it gets 4 hours of battery life.

So is Win7 just reporting wrong (does it need to be calibrated through several charge/discharge cycles)? Or is that the only remaining battery life, which would be a good indication that this was used?

Edit: After posting this, it's reporting 3 hours 4 minutes left. Hmm.
Edit: Now 3 hours 42 minutes.

 

[Schfifty Five]

If you are really concerned, and you have every right to be so seeing how this is a pretty big purchase, then see if you can exchange it at OD for another one.

There should be a 14 day window or something to do an exact item exchange. Just tell them what you told us about how there is evidence that it was tampered.