Real, Honest Photos Of Real, Honest Toughbooks
Posted by Ed on 14th Dec 2014
Updated September 9/4/2024
One of the biggest questions we get over the phone is, “Are the product pictures of your inventory?” They are! We take a lot of pride in showcasing our actual inventory. You know what they say: "A picture is worth a thousand words." What a cliché! But, like many tired adages, there's a grain of truth. Who doesn't want to see something before they buy it?
Ordering a product online and receiving something that is not what you expected can be one of the worst feelings. That’s why we take pictures of at least one laptop from each batch that we get. This way, you can flip through the photos on the product page and see exactly what you are purchasing.
We could sit here and explain every knick and scratch on our refurbished rugged computers, but a picture would illustrate it much better, especially on a refurbished computer.
How We Take Our Pictures
Other refurbishers like to say their products are indistinguishable from new, but that's subjective and unrealistic. When you're shopping for a refurbished rugged laptop or tablet online, and all the product images are the same sparkling new computer straight from the manufacturer, how can you be sure about what you're buying? That's why we take pictures of our inventory to show you precisely what you are getting.
Every rugged computer you see for sale on our site is from our inventory. After they get refurbished and tested, one of the laptops or tablets from the batch gets passed over to our marketing department.
We use a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 with a Sigma 24-105mm lens to take pictures of our product. Once the computer is cleaned up and ready for pictures, we put the camera on one of our tripods and place the camera in our photo booth. The tripod helps give us the same angle for all the pictures, and the photo booth provides a neutral background. Fun fact: this is the same camera we use to record our YouTube videos!
What About Photoshop?
We do use Photoshop on our images. Below are the before and after edits of our Photoshop.
The main focus in Photoshop is to remove the background from the picture. Removing the background makes the website look better. The photo booth background ends up being off-white and does not match the pure white background on our category pages.
Pictures of Our Scratch and Dent Specials
Our scratch and dent applies to laptops that are cosmetically challenged, so to speak. This category on our website refers to rugged computers with signs from previous use, limiting them from being considered Grade A.
We focus on taking accurate pictures of these batches of computers so that our potential customers can see the extent to which the laptop was used. Think about it: what is a dent? What is a scratch? We could have differing opinions on the definition of what a dent or a scratch is on a laptop. Showing our customers is easier than explaining it to them.
Since these laptops still function perfectly, scraping them apart doesn't make sense. So, instead, we list them for a discounted price.