what does Remanufacture mean

[sony mavica]

looking at selling my old laptops and getting a new one there is a very good deal at the moment for one for $300 original price $425 has 500gb hdd 4gb ram Intel Pentium N3540 15.6" screen and 1 year warranty

all laptops in this price range or a bit higher all use eMMC storage and most are only 32gb

for the price its a really good deal as i have never seen a laptop with these kinds of specs sold for this cheap where i live

but i just wanted to know what Remanufacture is

[Nusa]

Means it is a used product that was reconditioned to original specs to be sold again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remanufacturing

[digsys]

... but i just wanted to know what Remanufacture is

It can mean 100 things from different people ! Is it a proper 2nd hand shop you're buying it from? Or dealer etc? If you're lucky, it means it was a demo and they just
reformatted the HDD and cleaned it. Or it may have been a lease, usually company leases can be up to 10s+. Again, they throw in a fresh Image and clean it up.
Sometimes, it can be a returned repair, and then it's really tricky. As long as you can get a warranty, it should be ok.
I've bought heaps of refurbs from reboot-it.com.au over many years, and on rare occasions, when I found a fault, they swapped it no hassle.

[sony mavica]

... but i just wanted to know what Remanufacture is

It can mean 100 things from different people ! Is it a proper 2nd hand shop you're buying it from? Or dealer etc? If you're lucky, it means it was a demo and they just
reformatted the HDD and cleaned it. Or it may have been a lease, usually company leases can be up to 10s+. Again, they throw in a fresh Image and clean it up.
Sometimes, it can be a returned repair, and then it's really tricky. As long as you can get a warranty, it should be ok.
I've bought heaps of refurbs from reboot-it.com.au over many years, and on rare occasions, when I found a fault, they swapped it no hassle.

its a computer/electronics store but on there site they do list other computers and laptops as ex lease

[digsys]

... its a computer/electronics store but on there site they do list other computers and laptops as ex lease ...

Then, by OZ law, you get a 30day to 3month warranty. Depends on how nice they are. You're pretty safe. Since they do company leases, they may often get 10s - 100s
in, as an upgrade. Usually, these are considered too old for many, so they just want to get rid of them. They've made their margins on the sale / qty anyway.

[shteii01]

It actually means very little.
The only moving parts in laptop are: hdd, cpu fan, cd/dvd drive.
All other parts are electronic components, usually surface mounted which means very very small, very labor intensive.  Nobody is stupid enough to actually mess with them.
Therefore nothing is really done manufacture-wise.  At best they replace the hdd, replace or clean up cpu fan. 
I can sort of hope that they put new heat transfer compound on cpu and resit the heat sink, but I doubt it.

In conclusion.  Remanufactured means that it is Used, pay accordingly.

[sleemanj]

... its a computer/electronics store but on there site they do list other computers and laptops as ex lease ...

Then, by OZ law, you get a 30day to 3month warranty. Depends on how nice they are. You're pretty safe. Since they do company leases, they may often get 10s - 100s
in, as an upgrade. Usually, these are considered too old for many, so they just want to get rid of them. They've made their margins on the sale / qty anyway.

You'll note that mavica is in NZ, not Australia, at least according to his flag.

However our Consumer Guarantees Act mandates that even for secondhand items, they must (amongst other things) be durable and last for "a reasonable time", although it's left up to a case-by-case basis the definition of "reasonable time", 3 months would not likely be seen as "reasonable" for a failure to arise in most secondhand laptops especially if marketed as "manufactured", 12 months perhaps is more reasonable.  The price paid and age can be factors in deciding "reasonable".  More or less if you asked a hundred people on the street "how long do you think is reasonable for this to last", that's a reasonable time.

With that said, like any warranty/guarantee, mandated by law or not, if a company wishes to shirk their responsibilities, it could take some work, time and expense of going to a Disputes Tribunal (roughly analogous to small claims court) to force them to sort the problem out.

[digsys]

... You'll note that mavica is in NZ, not Australia, at least according to his flag.

Did miss that originally, the flags look alike :-) Anyway, they have slightly better consumer laws than us.

... be durable and last for "a reasonable time" ... it could take some work, time and expense of going to a Disputes Tribunal  ...
to force them to sort the problem out.

I was quoting the MIN "reasonable" warranty that would give you enough time to find any serious faults. As for expense? I've taken dozens of issues to the ACCC,
and have always had them sorted VERY quickly !! FOC. Sometimes 1-2 days. Ensure you write up a clear and accurate description of the issue, and your / others
qualified reason for the conclusion. Provide references etc. The less work they have to do, the quicker they adjudicate.

[SeanB]

Ex lease means they ( hopefully) did a complete nuke and pave, but otherwise it is as it came from the customer, perhaps with a case wiped down and a basic function check that it booted and ran. Reconditioned would be the same, just they took it apart and cleaned out the dust from the usual places, like fans, case inside and keyboard. Recon should come with a better warranty, but here you typically get a 3 month warranty on Ex lease, and a year on a recon, though you will still get the old hard drive. So long as the drive has no reallocated sectors, or pending ones, it will last a year or so extra, as it typically was never turned off in a business machine. Power supply might be getting old, but they are cheap to replace in a desktop, certain models excluded. Laptop a similar thing, though a ex lease generally will have some case wear, and a refurb only very light scuffing after the cleaning is done.

[MarkS]

I worked for a company that remanufactured transmission (gear boxes for those across the pond). Due to the very real dangers from a transmission failing at speed, the process was tightly controlled by the engineering staff in close conjunction with the various automakers. The automakers had guidelines that must be followed, including what parts could be reused, what condition was allowed for their reuse and what parts were mandatory replace. The end result was a transmission that was close to new.

As to how that relates to computers, I do not know. They wear differently and the processes are far more different. Still, remanufactured should mean nearly new, as in parts known to wear/deteriorate should be replaced with new and the rest cleaned and tested.

[shteii01]

As to how that relates to computers, I do not know. They wear differently and the processes are far more different. Still, remanufactured should mean nearly new, as in parts known to wear/deteriorate should be replaced with new and the rest cleaned and tested.

Nobody sane will desolder surface mounted parts, test them and then solder them back onto the motherboard.  Like you said, electronics "wear" is very different from your example of transmission wear.  That is why in modern electronics words like: refurbished, re manufactured, rebuilt are worthless, it is used electronic device.  And most of those are a generation or two behind the latest greatest so paying even half of the price of new is too much.

[MarkS]

Nobody sane will desolder surface mounted parts, test them and then solder them back onto the motherboard.

I never suggested that! lol I mean test the individual removable, swapable components, like RAM, CPU, motherboard, graphics card, power supply, drives, etc.

::must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... ::   

[shteii01]

Nobody sane will desolder surface mounted parts, test them and then solder them back onto the motherboard.

I never suggested that! lol I mean test the individual removable, swapable components, like RAM, CPU, motherboard, graphics card, power supply, drives, etc.

I did not mean to single you out.  Your example with transmission was excellent.  Unfortunately, electronics, particularly modern surface mounted electronics found in laptops, are not transmissions and different rules apply.

[MarkS]

...are not transmissions and different rules apply.

That goes without saying. Never the less, the OP asked what "remanufactured" means. It's meaning is broad, depends on the industry doing the remanufacturing and it was the only example I could give.

[calexanian]

+1 for re-manufactured means a broad verity of things. If you are buying a re-manufactured automotive alternator, by all means. buy with confidence and most likely a 90 day warranty or something like that. If you are buying a re-manufactured computer, proceed with extreme caution and verify the return policy. Something that can and is put on a test stand and verified like new performance is good where as a computer somebody knocks the dust off of it, formats the hard drive, and calls it a day. Generally that's it, unless it was a known run with one specific fixable problem such as faulty drive or power supply or other such thing where they just replace them all in the batch and on they go. Generally this is a less likely scenario than getting a retail return that was sold off to a wholesaler and is now being dumped on the marker.

[james_s]

Usually "remanufactured" means the item has been disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, tested, any parts that show signs of wear or damage have been replaced, and the item contains used components but is in essentially new condition. For a laptop that might mean replace the keyboard and touchpad if there is any wear, replace any cracked, scratched or missing parts, test it, wipe the drive(s) and install a fresh OS.

As others have said though, the term may or may not have a proper legal definition but it is generally a step above "reconditioned" which could just mean it was cleaned up and hopefully tested.

[MarkS]

As others have said though, the term may or may not have a proper legal definition but it is generally a step above "reconditioned" which could just mean it was cleaned up and hopefully tested.

Agreed. The inclusion of the word "manufactured" should indicate an attempt to recondition to like-new factory specs. It should have a similar warranty and should be as reliable as new. How that happens and the process by which it happens are determined by the OEM.

[Harb]

It can mean anything from the smoke has been put back in to cosmetic items have been changed to hide the abuse it has suffered in the past.......

[TommyR]

It was used, it is not new. That's how I always understand it. However, if the price is good and it still has a warranty, you should probably buy it and do not worry about anything. I've bought a couple of "remanufactured" things in my life and I don't regret it.

[james_s]

The laptop I had before this one was purchased remanufactured. It arrived in a sealed carton from Lenovo, externally it looked brand new, pretty sure the casing and keyboard had been replaced. I used it for several years and never had a problem with it, the person I passed it down to when I upgraded is still using it. I wouldn't worry too much about buying a remanufactured computer from a reputable source. Generally speaking, electronic parts don't wear out the way mechanical parts do.

[sony mavica]

thanks guys looked online and can get a better one for like $350NZD including shipping same specs but has a 1080p screen and 64gb ssd and 500gb hdd