Lenovo -- Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

J

jenkins

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
340
After searching the web for days, I believe I've come up with a laptop I can live with. Anyways, I'm having trouble finding a lot of information on this system that is not completely contridicted elsewhere. I've heard it has lousy battery life, only to be told later that it can go up to 5 hours. So, what's the deal? If anyone has any experience with these laptops, or Lenovo in general, please let me know. Thanks,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834146153

(there's a $100 rebate on lenovo til the 31st, and page computer has them for $817)

-jenkins
 
Seems like a good deal. Levono is tops on customer service. I got a thinkpad T60, made by lenovo now, and am happy with it. I had a problem with the screen, they told me to send it in and I got it fixed and back within 5 business days. BTW their help center is in Georgia so you won't be getting Mohammad (aka Steve when you call) or Hadji (aka John when you call) like you would if you got a dell.
 
Lenovo is a really good company with costumer service, and products, but there quality control has been slipping slightly since the switch away from IBM
 
I will have to agree with Biest. Where I work we've bought over 50 Thinkpads within the last 2 years ranging from the T40-43, T60, z60t, and X series. And ever since the Lenovo takeover the build quality of their laptops have declined. Even the materials seem cheaper.
 
HydrasunGQ, what did you think of the z60t in particular? Getting evenhanded reviews of it besides notebookreview.com seem to be harder than most other laptops!
 
HydrasunGQ said:
I will have to agree with Biest. Where I work we've bought over 50 Thinkpads within the last 2 years ranging from the T40-43, T60, z60t, and X series. And ever since the Lenovo takeover the build quality of their laptops have declined. Even the materials seem cheaper.
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same where i work, but i dont beleive the build quality has slipped much..

the customer service is still as good as ever :]
 
ScreamingBroccoli said:
Seems like a good deal. Levono is tops on customer service. I got a thinkpad T60, made by lenovo now, and am happy with it. I had a problem with the screen, they told me to send it in and I got it fixed and back within 5 business days. BTW their help center is in Georgia so you won't be getting Mohammad (aka Steve when you call) or Hadji (aka John when you call) like you would if you got a dell.
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i love it!
 
Liver said:
i love it!
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Damn it why does your handle have to be liver? I have had a huge craving for liver and onions since yesterday, but the only places that serve it are diners, and you really look like a loser going into a diner anytime but morning, and no one orders liver and onions for breakfast...

anyway, back on topic, as I have said many time Thinkpads are just overpriced. A Dell Latitude line notebook is just as hardy in the real world, and a lot cheaper.
 
HydrasunGQ said:
I will have to agree with Biest. Where I work we've bought over 50 Thinkpads within the last 2 years ranging from the T40-43, T60, z60t, and X series. And ever since the Lenovo takeover the build quality of their laptops have declined. Even the materials seem cheaper.
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Its all in you head, lenovo had been producing the thinkpad line long before IBM sold the division to them
 
WaterIsTasty said:
Its all in you head, lenovo had been producing the thinkpad line long before IBM sold the division to them
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Yeah, I'm holding a T23 here and it says manufactured by Lenovo - albeit in really small letters :p



ScreamingBroccoli said:
Seems like a good deal. Levono is tops on customer service. I got a thinkpad T60, made by lenovo now, and am happy with it. I had a problem with the screen, they told me to send it in and I got it fixed and back within 5 business days. BTW their help center is in Georgia so you won't be getting Mohammad (aka Steve when you call) or Hadji (aka John when you call) like you would if you got a dell.
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Meh, there language is my second-language, so it's all good for me :)
 
I just purchased a z60t and I have to say I love it!. I've had 4 thinkpads in the past (T20, A31p, R52 and T42p) and so far this one is my favorite of them all. The widescreen is great, and the build quality is as always excellent. I got the 7 cell battery and I get about 4.5 hours on a full charge with wireless on and the screen at about 1 tick over half brightness. :D
 
We give out Lenovo Thinkpads at work as permanent laptops because the damn things NEVER fail. I have not serviced one, and we have at least 5x more Thinkpads than Toshibas. The Toshibas break down all the time :rolleyes:
 
My Z61m came in today and I cant say enough about it. Everyone at work loves it and I have to say I dont have a single complaint. The notebook is solid and doesnt have an even relatively cheap feel to it compared to other notebooks I've felt. Mine has a T2500, 1gb ram, a dvdrw, I picked up an advanced dock, a 100gb hdd, and the x1400. The display is great, at 1680x1050 its higher res than my desktop display yet a very easy to read display. Overall its great, Ill post more impresisons after I've had a chance to use it a bit more! The Thinkvantage suite is pretty nice as well and I cant talk well enough about the finger print reader because its actually alot more practical than you'd think (and you can lock the notebook bios level with it which is pretty cool). It also has the verizon WWAN adapter, I'm debating signing up for the verizon service just havent thought about it much yet.
 
I just received a T60 from them and it came with the wrong hard drive :rolleyes: It also looks like it might an adventure to get the correct one sent (at first they wanted me to return the entire computer). Other than that, the laptop is very nice.
 
Lenovo has been making the IBM thinkpad series for years, the quality has not changed at all, if anything they have made the t60 better with designs such as the roll cage and the spill holes and such.
 
WaterIsTasty said:
Its all in you head, lenovo had been producing the thinkpad line long before IBM sold the division to them
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It's not in my head, everyone else in our IT department agrees. And even if they have been producing the Thinkpads before IBM sold the division, my opinion and experience still stands that their build quality has declined from a few years back.

Boltaction said:
What about the z60 series? Are they any good? The z60t in particular.
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The z60 seemed like a very nice laptop actually. I liked it very much. Although our first z60t had a mainboard short somewhere that caused it to lock up and shutdown. After we RMA'ed it and got the replacement it was rock solid and is my favorite of all Thinkpads and then the T60.
 
My lenovo thinkpad failed right away and so the have replacements. I've never had a bad expirience with thinkpads until now. You can go to thinkpad forums and see for yourself how many users complain about poor quality, it's a lot higher than in pre-lenovo days

Lenovo customer service is good because IBM is doing it. The notebook division purchase included IBM servicing and supporting lenovo product for the next 5 yrs. Expect their tech support and service to go downhill just like their hardware did after that.

Yes it's true that Lenovo manufactured thinkpads before the purchase but Lenovo wasn't in charge of design and setting quality control standards, now they are and it shows.

Think about it, the thinkpad division was never profitable because their standards were too high. The quality was beyond what the asking price was. Lenovo's goal is the make thinkpads profitable again, that involves cost cutting somewhere.
 
beesquee said:
My lenovo thinkpad failed right away and so the have replacements. I've never had a bad expirience with thinkpads until now. You can go to thinkpad forums and see for yourself how many users complain about poor quality, it's a lot higher than in pre-lenovo days

Lenovo customer service is good because IBM is doing it. The notebook division purchase included IBM servicing and supporting lenovo product for the next 5 yrs. Expect their tech support and service to go downhill just like their hardware did after that.

Yes it's true that Lenovo manufactured thinkpads before the purchase but Lenovo wasn't in charge of design and setting quality control standards, now they are and it shows.

Think about it, the thinkpad division was never profitable because their standards were too high. The quality was beyond what the asking price was. Lenovo's goal is the make thinkpads profitable again, that involves cost cutting somewhere.
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Lenovo is still not in charge of the design of the thinkpad it is still the same thinkpad engineers up in rhode island
 
Scotch77 said:
Lenovo is still not in charge of the design of the thinkpad it is still the same thinkpad engineers up in rhode island
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True,some of the same engineers are the same but they are now employed by lenovo instead of IBM. Even a good engineer can design a crappy product if told by their bosses to cut costs.
 
Well it happened again, my lenovo failed for the third time in the past 2 weeks and it will take approximately 5-6weeks to get the part they need. It's sad really, I loved the machine when it worked but this is getting ridiculous, even my dells never had these kind of problems. I'm going to call monday and see if I can arrange a return.
 
I have two T43s, both from china, got one last summer and another beginning of this year. I have had no problems with either of them. The quality is incredible. I'm not sure how you see the quality degrading, mind giving us some examples? Last I checked the materials all seem to be the same as previous T4x?! Now you got me interested I wanna know if/how they are different lol
 
ranger0900 said:
I have two T43s, both from china, got one last summer and another beginning of this year. I have had no problems with either of them. The quality is incredible. I'm not sure how you see the quality degrading, mind giving us some examples? Last I checked the materials all seem to be the same as previous T4x?! Now you got me interested I wanna know if/how they are different lol
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Sure just look at my X-series, it's been crap hardware wise ever since I got it. Just look at my service call record:

1.Shipped without wireless card when wireless ordered
2. Sent back to install card
3. Laptop recieved, card cuts out in signal, sent back for service, faulty card replaced
4. Computer works for one day then won't power up, sent in for service, planar card replaced
5. Recieved laptop, dies again in 2 days, sent back for service, faulty ram and hard drive, will take 5-6weeks to replace.

Last laptop: IBM x31, 3 years, zero service calls
Current laptop: Lenovo x60s, 2 weeks, 5 service calls, 3 major hardware failures.
 
Well my Z60t should be here tomorrow!!!! Hopefully all goes well. Anyone want feedback on it?
 
ranger0900 said:
I have two T43s, both from china, got one last summer and another beginning of this year. I have had no problems with either of them. The quality is incredible. I'm not sure how you see the quality degrading, mind giving us some examples? Last I checked the materials all seem to be the same as previous T4x?! Now you got me interested I wanna know if/how they are different lol
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Well the earlier T Series had a nice glossy plastic around the power and Access buttons that and the later versions switched to a matte finish that felt like cheaper plastic. Also even the Access button changed to a somewhat cheaper button. I also think that the earlier keyboards had a nicer feel to them.
 
HydrasunGQ said:
Well the earlier T Series had a nice glossy plastic around the power and Access buttons that and the later versions switched to a matte finish that felt like cheaper plastic. Also even the Access button changed to a somewhat cheaper button. I also think that the earlier keyboards had a nicer feel to them.
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ok basically they have cut costs and used a bit more plastic and changed a button?

Well I love mine! the keyboard rocks, everything works very well, the software that comes with it is great, the top feels strong enough to last for a while and the battery life... ooo the battery life... I love it

I do suggest anyone interested in a TP go over to the thinkpad forums and read up there. It is independent of Lenovo/IBM lLink The more and more of these IBM vs Lenovo threads I almost always come away with the same conclusion: Lenovo has cut costs, changed the quality of a few things, but the grand quality of the Think Pads reamains the top of the line even though Lenovo took over.
 
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