[Kaenon]

I just received my playbook on Monday and it had an older serial # and a manufacturing date of April 19th, 2011.

It had a stuck pixel, recessed power button, bulge on back and a camera issue.

Blackberry overnighted me another playbook that I got today with a serial number 13436... and a date of January 10th, 2012. Did they just grab one off the line?

Bad news, new one has a hot pixel and things like that really bother me =/

I don't want to send this one out as well for another one because then I'll have 2 potential holds of $699 on my credit card if they somehow get lost in shipping back to BB.

Argh.

[peter9477]

You're under the mistaken assumption that's a manufacturing date printed on the box, but it's very unlikely it is.

Nobody who truly knows has ever reported what the date code means, but many of us figure it's merely the date the label was printed and, possibly, applied to the box in which, possibly, the PlayBook had only recently been placed. In other words, it's probably at best a packaging date, and at worst (least useful) a labelling date.

There's actually no evidence whatsoever (yet) that new PlayBooks have been manufactured any time in the last few months, and possibly not since much earlier last year.

[silversun10]

to add to that, they get made overseas, so for sure you are never going to get a date that says made yesterday

[Kaenon]

to add to that, they get made overseas, so for sure you are never going to get a date that says made yesterday

Ah, didn't notice the "Made in Taiwan," lol. Of course these things wouldn't be made in North America.

[kennyliu]

Besides, your replacement Playbook is most probably a refurb. The date you are seeing is potentially the date of recertification.

Why didn't you exchange the first unit at the store you got it from?

[app_Developer]

Ah, didn't notice the "Made in Taiwan," lol. Of course these things wouldn't be made in North America.

But did they overnight it from China?

I know with Apple products, most of the time if you order something overnight it comes direct from the factory in China (gaining 16 hours actually as it crosses the dateline).

So if something is packaged on the morning of the 10th, that's actually the evening of the 9th here.

[mithrazor]

Maybe a refurbished Playbook was repackaged and that's when it was repackaged?

But I think that would have to be done in the same factory as it was assembled right?

[peter9477]

Maybe a refurbished Playbook was repackaged and that's when it was repackaged?

But I think that would have to be done in the same factory as it was assembled right?

No reason for refurbs to have to be in the same place, and I doubt they are. It takes a different sort of training and equipment to triage defective devices than it does to assemble them in the first place. There's also the unnecessary cost of shipping them back overseas. I think it's likely there are regional centres for the refurbs.

The idea about it being a freshly labelled repackaged device isn't bad though... unless we see a pattern with the serial numbers on those all being very recent as well.