Do any of you have any experience with Lenovo laptops? Back when they were still branded IBM Thinkbooks, they usually got really good reviews. I may be in the market for a new laptop in the next 6 months or so, and I’m going to make a break from Dell. It only took me 15 years.
Thanks!
Their customer service is godawful horrible, their web site is almost intentionally difficult to use, their prices fluctuate like crazy so you always feel like you got screwed somehow… but the actual products are pretty solid.
I have one that I bought late last year. I like it. The only problem is that I ordered it from a reseller, so I had to open it up myself to add more RAM, and now things don’t quite fit together.
As much as I got to see (Not presonally) thinkpads remained thinkpads (i.e. you’re getting a similiar laptop with the word Lenovo imprinted on it instead of IBM). They also have other series of laptops, which I heard are decent as well (But probably not thinkpad quality)
Yeah, I should mention I have a Thinkpad. Seems basically the same as a Thinkpad I had 4 years ago.
The actual laptops are fine. Very reliable. The included Lenovo software is pretty horrible though. I would recommed reformatting when you get it.
I’m typing this post out on a Lenovo T61. I like it alot, but it has a huge fault IMO. The battery life is awful. I can tweak down everything I can and can’t get more than 2 hours out of it. Why they don’t offer an extended battery is beyond me.
I have one at work, and it’s rock-solid. It’s made like Apple Powerbooks were before their quality dropped. Just well thought out in every respect. Also, best keyboard I’ve ever used on a notebook.
I have the T61. They do offer extended two batteries; get the bigger one and you’ll get well over 3 hours. I also have the CD bay battery, and between the two of them I get 5 hours to 5:45, depending on what I’m doing.
I had an IBM t42p that I used for 3 years, utterly abusing it. Multiple, shit, daily 2-3 foot drops with some real 4-5 foot dandies too. Finally replaced it with a Lenovo X61 Tablet and the build quality is less, but not by anything drastic. It’s still a lot tougher than any of the Dell’s I buy for the employees. Those tend to disintegrate under my care.
More importantly it gives the trackpad the finger and replaces it with the infinitely more usable trackpoint. Still runs far to hot on the right palm rest though and there is a random bluescreen bug while waking from sleep mode in vista 64 with sp1. Not sure who is at fault, intel or lenovo, eitherway it’s annoying and I have yet to find a solution.
My Lenovo T61 ThinkPad has been hanging pretty nastily recently.
Open programs still run, but I can’t launch anything (including task manager) or kill anything (if task manager is already open).
My research so far seems to indicate that Intel TurboMemory is incompatible with Lenovo’s hard drive protection system (accelerometer that spins down the drive if you drop it).
I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it yet; I don’t want to disable either thing. So I’d be aware of that if you’re considering a system with TurboMemory.
I’m borrowing an HP Tablet PC and a ThinkPad from school, and I definitely like the ThinkPad more, hands down. On the ThinkPad, he display is crisp, the pointing devices (TouchPad and SatanNipple) are impeccable, the keyboard is great, and it’s rock-solid. On the other hand, the HP clicks too much, drops keystrokes, the mouse is kludgy at best – and all that is if I can even get it to boot up without crashing.
ThinkPad are some the best laptops I’ve used so far.
I’m about to buy one too, but supposedly, the next lineup of models is due June, so I’m waiting it out to see what it’ll offer.
As should you.
I have to support t43s and up, so I get to hear all the complaints that people have about them. Overall they’re relatively solid laptops with some really bizarre issues. For example, without the latest BIOS update, the 61 series will suddenly stop switching to battery power when you remove it from the docking station. One guy even complained that his docking station was shocking him.
It’s easy to get software updates, and they’re usually pretty up to date. I also like that I don’t have to sit there and wonder what kind of hardware is in the thing like I do with some other brands. I haven’t ever talked to their support, though.
edit: Our company is switching to Dell this year, if that tells you anything. They are much easier to support.
I work in IT support for a large company, and Lenovo is our preferred computer vendor. We have 800+ T41 and above laptops in our environment, and in the last four months we’ve ordered over 500 new T61s to gradually deploy throughout 2008.
For business use, I can easily recommend them, and the few times I’ve had to deal with their tech support, I’ve never had any issues (although it’s possible that their Canadian support is better than their US equivalent). Quality-wise, they’re far more reliable than the HP laptops we’ve used in the past.
If you want a laptop for home/personal use, though, I suggest you go with Apple. If your budget allows for it, get a MacBook Pro and dual-boot OS X and XP/Vista (whichever you prefer).
I’ve got a Lenovo X61 I’m typing this on - it’s my work laptop. I like it - nice and portable, reasonably powerful, decent battery life.
That being said - fuck their fucking keyboards. The “Fn” key is bottom lower left, where the control key is supposed to be. This screws me up to no end (I mostly navigate via keyboard). Likewise, the ESC key is out of place - which means when I’m using Vim I’m constantly pulling up help. :(
We have a lot scattered about here, as well as the older IBM branded former models. In general they hold up nearly as well as the old IBM branded Thinkpads, and are tougher than the Dells we purchase. Battery life is so-so, and they had a pretty big recall on the extended batteries not long ago (then again, so did everyone else.)
However their support isn’t great, especially internationally, and some of the techs have complained they are slow to update drivers.
The Lenovo direct sales experience has been disappointing.
My first order was cancelled. I saw an email saying the shipping and billing addresses did not match so I get one of those messages saying call my bank. The thing is the bank very much has these specific addresses on file. Lenovo just automatically bounces and tells me to do it. I email them back telling them so, and try to call but all I get is voicemail. For the sales department - Understand if I can’t reach customer service or tech support, you should always reach sales :) Anyway, they decide to auto cancel my order cause they didn’t bother listening to my message.
I notice a week later so I have to place another order since they wiped it from their system. I get the same stupid email. This time I leave three messages telling them it’s already fixed and they should just get on the frelling phone and check it themselves. Not a very pleasant experience. I coulda gotten a dell that does basically the same stuff for half the price. Finally they ship the thing out and I get a tracking number.
Shanghai -> Kentucky (customs lacks paperwork) -> Shanghai -> Anchorage -> Kentucky (customs lacks paperwork AGAIN)…
SHIPMENT DATA NOT AVAILABLE ON TIME TO BE PROCESSED WITHIN NORMAL PROCEDURE. SHIPMENT HAS NOT CLEARED CUSTOMS / BROKERAGE RELEASED SHIPMENT. SHIPMENT IS SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY FOR FURTHER CLEARANCE
Guys, release my laptop please. It’s got no porn, it’s brand new.
Anyway I’m ranting about this and a friend is like,
“Who’s Lenovo?”
“You ever heard of IBM?”
“Err, yeah, are you messing with me?”
“No no it’s just a dramatic way to introduce my point. You see, Lenovo pays a zillion dollars to purchase the Thinkpad brand from IBM. Then for some strange reason they decide to just start marketing with their own name which nobody has heard of.”
Edit: Moral of the story, listen to Stusser and get a Dell.
lenovo sucks.
I hear some pretty wonky things about people ordering theirs direct from Lenovo, so this isn’t terribly surprising. I still haven’t had a problem after half a dozen or more orders from them though.
I still love my X61 tablet, especially after I installed a SSD and reinstalled a clean vista64 image. Not a big fan of their software suite these days. If another manufacturer ever comes out with similar build quality and a trackpoint I wouldn’t mind switching, but till then, it’s Lenovo.