We have chosen one model of laptop at random to show you the process we go through in reconditioning every single laptop we sell from start to finish.
Below is a description of this process in the order the photographs are in:
- We start off by having a brief look at the laptop. This involves checking the overall build quality of the laptop, checking for any potential issues we will need to address when disassembling it.
- The laptop is then powered on to ensure it is working, at least to some degree. There would be no point in putting a lot of effort in to taking a laptop apart which had a serious motherboard-related fault.
- This laptop has a damaged screen, but it a positive indication that it still lights up.
- The hard drive is tested on another computer using diagnostics software. Unfortunately it has been well used and has low health. We won't use it as it will cause the computer to run extremely slowly and fail entirely very soon. If it was re-usable, we would securely wipe the drive overnight to ensure all the data is completely removed.
- We have a look underneath the keyboard. There are signs of previous fluid exposure underneath it, but it hasn't gone to the motherboard thankfully. We could test the keyboard is working, but it is quite worn and the laptop would look better with a shiny new one anyway we feel.
- We make it to the fan level, often the last stage you get to when you take a laptop apart. The fan has a lot of dust in it which is normal for a used laptop which wasn't regularly maintained. A dusty fan prevents efficient cooling within the laptop which can lead to over-heating and potential issues. We clean the fan completely.
- We now work on the screen lid assembly. The screen was replaced and the hinge screws are tightened to make the laptop more robust when it is put back together. We take the opportunity to clean the parts of the laptop as we reassemble it as it is easier to get to certain areas which may be difficult to get to when it is put back together.
- With the keyboard, hard drive and screen replaced the laptop is put back together and cleaned. Now all it needs is a system re-installation and software setup and it will be good to go.
- We perform a 'clean' install of the original operating system and spend around a day updating the system, installing drivers and putting on anti-virus and office software.
- The last stage involves putting the laptop through a series of tests to make sure everything is working as it should. The battery, audio, DVD (if present), outputs and inputs, webcam (if present) are tested as well as all of the other hardware.
- All things going smooth (as it should) we now have another laptop we can send off to a happy home.