Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys,
I need your help to judge the conditions of a Thinkpad T420 laptop. Please open the following four pic links and inspect them carefully:

T420 Picture 1
T420 Picture 2
T420 Picture 3
T420 Picture 4

Suppose you have this T420 in hand and there are two opposite claims:

A. "This is clearly a used laptop."
B. "This item (laptop) is brand new, it has not been previously used."

Please post reply to give a mark between 1 (you strongly agree with A) and 10 (you strongly agree with B) to indicate your opinion about the conditions of this T420.

I need at least 10 feedbacks to get an average public opinion. Thanks for your help.

redaemon - Welcome to the forum -

I would describe the T420 a strong:
A. "This is clearly a used laptop."

Clearly used -- Just curious -- are you the Seller or Purchaser of this laptop

I would advise you to go see an eye doctor if you need to ask this question!
It's extremely obviously a used machine. '1' would be my vote.

@RBS -- just guessing here, but maybe redaemon purchased this laptop from somewhere (feebay?) whick listed with a stock photo as "like new" and then received the laptop as pictured in his post -- or maybe he already sold this laptop and had posted these photos with his auction, only to have his purchaser complain, "from the photos, I thought this laptop was like new" --

I am a little curious also

Wow. My 16-year-old 760ED doesn't look anywhere near that bad, and it's been around the world 10 times.

My score is 1 -- I *very* strongly agree that is a USED laptop. Misused, even.

Hi guys,
Thanks for your feedbacks and questions. Yes, I did buy this T420 from an ebay seller recently and I took the 4 photos of the laptop when I received it. Unfortunately, the sale went wrong when the seller insists B, while my opinion is A. I did not introduce the background at the beginning because I don't want to bias your opinions.

Now please go on to post your mark/opinion publicly. I will let the seller read this thread later.

Many thanks.

Seller -- don't even know what to say... I've only bought used computers in the past 10 years, and all have been in MUCH closer to "brand new" condition than this one. Give the guy back his money.

Buyer, post his eBay ID so we can publicly shame and avoid him.

@redaemon -- your Seller won't bother to read this -- he/she knew when they sold the laptop what the condition was. They were just hoping you would accept what you received without complaint.

You should waste no time in escalating this purchase to a claim with eBay to get your money back. Unfortunately, you will be responsible for return shipping, as I'm guessing this Seller will refuse to pay return shipping costs and eBay requires Buyers to pay return costs unless Seller volunteers to do so. Make sure you purchase viewable online Delivery Confirmation, or eBay will not refund you. After you have returned the laptop and have your funds back in your bank account, remember to leave appropriate feedback to hopefully warn other buyers about this Seller.

EDIT: Also, if purchase price was over $250, eBay requires you to obtain Signature Confirmation on delivery before they will refund your money. You will also need to purchase delivery insurance because if your package gets lost in transit, then Seller will be able to keep your money, and no one will have to reimburse -- you will be stuck even worse than you are now

1 - "This is clearly a used laptop."

I see the problem here, there is some minor typos in the original post, but once corrected you can clearly see the answer is "B"... I will demonstrate...



B. "This item (laptop) is was brand new, it has not been previously abused."


I suspect there were similar typos in the ebay auction lol

Ok, please forgive the humor, I know this situation isn't funny when you get shafted on ebay, we've all been there. What I can tell you is to look at the listing. If they listed it as used, then it's allowed to have scratches, scufff, dead pixels, pressure marks and other blemishes that are undisclosed. Cracks, missing parts or non working parts must be disclosed.

Generally ebay will side with the buyer on a dispute, as long as there is some grounds to the complaint. I'd like to see the original listing for this computer to see the exact wording, but normally most sellers will agree to a full refund if you're unhappy. If it's listed as "no returns", then they still have to accept returns if it's not as described.

As for the actual condition of this laptop, it's so dirty that you really can't judge it properly. There is NO WAY it should be listed as new, and the other categories such as mint, like new, excellent, very good, good, average, blemished, ect... you just can't tell until someone does a really good job of cleaning it. Some very gentle cleaning with a soft lint-free cloth and some windex might produce a nice looking laptop, but not anything you could claim as new by any stretch of the imagination.

Good luck in your dispute, and remember, there are enough real problems in the world to be upset about, don't let a computer be one of them, just let the process run it's course and you should get a full refund.

Next time consider buying from one of the sellers in our forum.


ps. For the record... "A"

Obviously used, you can even see some shine on the space bar.

Guess I have been lucky. In the last 5 years I purchases a T43P that was pristine, looked like it was never used and still have 6 months of warranty on it. I recently purchased a T400, again pristine, looked like it had never been used. Also purchased a T500, now that was used and had some wear on it, but it was accurately described and I got a real deal on it. YMMV.

Used, abused and downright filthy.

Please give us the user name of the seller, so NO ONE around here buys anything from them, ever.

Time to file a dispute with eBay for item not as described, period.

Good luck.

And I thought my laptop looked worn

As others have said, if you don't hear back from the seller fairly quickly just open a case with ebay. Something similar happened to me before and once I opened a case the seller was quick to have it resolved. I'd give it a 1 as well, no question its seen some extensive use

>> A. "This is clearly a used laptop."

A few years ago I bought a refurbished T60, most probably an off-lease; it was really worned - corners, keyboard - it even had some dents on the cover lid; but was advertised as refurbished and perfect working state, so I took my chances... This laptop looks dirty - is it cleaned or not?

It's most definitely an A. "this is clearly a use laptop" as far as the shape it is in, and if advertised as new then it was not as stated.

Now, with that being said and has been mentioned, with a couple of microfiber cloths and a can of Stoner glass cleaner, almost all of the crud you see will wipe right off. I know that I have gotten Thinkpads that looked very dirty, but using the method above (and maybe a Magic Eraser if really bad) made the laptop look almost like new when I was finished.

I hope you are able to get the matter resolved to your satisfaction.

My honest opinion from what I can see in the pictures is that the laptop is in the Used - Fair Condition category.

There is NO WAY that is a New - Unused condition laptop!

Like was said above, you need to contact eBay now, don't wait for the seller to string you along until it's too late to do anything.

-Scott H.