Laptop Guru's and lovers, opinions from consumers!

williamgoh · 10th June 2006, 9:08 PM

hi all,

im interested in what everyone thinks about the lenovo brand, in terms of laptop computing. If those who havent heard about lenovo, they are a chinese company who purchased a licence to sell ibm desktops & laptops, and as well as use ibm technology/components in their own brand under lenovo.

now, please, NO random, smartarse comments. all im asking for are genuine opinions from consumers about lenovo laptops only (who have or havent dealt/heard about them).

the end of financial sale link is as below:
http://www-604.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...oName=080506_2

here's my opinion about the brand:
1. they have alot to work on seeing they are seen as a 'no name'. selling products based on ibm thinkpads are merely not good enough.
2. ibm thinkpads were aimed at the market segment of being the 'best' business machines - and i agree, their laptops are just great - but lenovo wants to and is trying to aim them to the average joe consumer, who cant afford one. tell me, how mani consumers would afford a T42p or a T43p? seriously, if anything, it would be like dreaming about a ferrari (ibm) and owning a toyota (whatever brand).
3. lenovo has debut their new 'lenovo' brand laptops, and they are within pricepoints of other companies like toshiba/dell/asus/hpcompaq etc, but...they are just not being heard.
(just incase someone is wondering about lenovo laptops, its here)

mmm i guess thats all...i hope this is an interesting thread

cheerios amigos

mordy · 10th June 2006, 9:30 PM

apparently they arent bad, but its hard to tell, google for the laptop name and the word review, that should clear up most of ur questions

SLATYE · 10th June 2006, 11:22 PM

I agree with what you've said - except that the Thinkpad R50e has also been very attractively priced recently (around the $1000 mark, which puts it level with the Toshiba and Dell equivalents).

From what I've seen, the whole Thinkpad line is designed to keep IBM's basic idea - make it virtually un-breakable. A lot of them (maybe all) still use the TrackPoint instead of a touchpad too.

The cheaper "Lenovo" (non-Thinkpad) ones seem to be built to compete with Dell's Inspiron line, the cheap HP/Compaq laptops, and the Acers (not as solid).

Essentially: Thinkpad = good quality, expensive. If you can get one cheap and you don't mind TrackPoint, go for it. Non-Thinkpad Lenovos = same as Dell/HP/Compaq/Acer at the same price.

kiwimeat · 11th June 2006, 1:49 AM

For the record I work for a IT company that is an IBM partner. Firstly a couple of corrections.

Lenovo did not purchase a license to sell IBM desktops and laptops, they bought the whole PC division from IBM. As part of the deal, Lenovo can continue to use some of the IBM branding for a number of years.

Despite the change of ownership nothing has significantly changed as yet.
The same plants are manufacturing the Lenovo desktops and laptops as previously under IBM. In fact some plants were a joint venture with Lenovo.

They are not a no name brand. Lenovo are one of China's biggest PC manufacturers, and now one of the world's largest. In Australia they have moved quickly to maintain and built their channel and work with corporate customers. Unless you work in this section it is quite easy to miss the level of activity that Lenovo have undertaken. At this time, Lenovo are concentrating on the business market but have plans for the SOHO market later this year (at least that's what the Lenovo account manager I know said).

Sales and support in Australia is largely unchanged - which means good to excellent service continues.

Now as to the Lenovo laptops.

For the record I have never liked the R series laptops. Too many compromises to make it a worthy choice over the other OEMs.

However, a T-series or X-series is a worthy computer. I am on my second T series and 3rd IBM Thinkpad in 7 years. All of which I have personally bought for my own use (not paid for by work). My current machine is a T41p and is a fantastic laptop. Only thing missing is a DVD Burner.

Unfortunately given that you have posted links for a Z series, I'm still undecided on the new Z series. The two I have tried have felt a little bit un-Thinkpadish (is that a word?). However, build quality is good (although not on a par with a T series) and they worked well.

As for the Lenovo 3000 series laptops, they are competent but otherwise uninspiring, made for a price point not a design principle. Again other OEMs make equally good equivalents. Definately not a notch on a T series but then not priced to be.

Would I buy one? Well unless something changes dramatically my next laptop will likely be a high end T60 (but not another "p" model unless the Gods are kind again).

williamgoh · 11th June 2006, 2:34 PM

good one kiwimeat. but yes, pardon my wrongfulness on how the change of hands occured. now, seeing they purchased the whole personal computing division, i was just wondering as to what will happen to the the 'ibm thinkpad' brand. seeing you mentioned that they can sell the ibm name for the next couple of years, what will happen after that? will it just simply be lenovo thinkpad? or will they name it somethin totally different. it would be a shame if that happened.

with regards to the soho market, they have obviously started in planing that market. but currently, from what ive heard from ppl @ lenovo melbourne, they are having 'difficulties' as to how to go about it. and that also might be the case for the whole of lenovo australia. in the more consumer market, they also have tried & looked @ tier 1 national retailers (ie HN & dicky powerhouse), but all have failed in attempts to introduce the 'lenovo' brand of laptops due to the problem of 'apparent ridiculous margins' set by those retailers. so currently, lenovo staff are pointed towards computer storefronts...which my in opinion...is...ok, but i dont know about u, but there arent that mani computer stores in vic that give u the 'advice and recommendations' compared to the tier 1's - not to mention small ass comp stores which are over congested. customers who visit a computer store normally (not all of them) have come prepared with what they want to purchase, and do so without any further need of in deepth advice. and even if a customer visits a store, 9 times out of then they wouldnt touch the thinkpads or the new lenovo range because their are more affordable machines from asus,toshiba,lg who are right within the consumer market. so in that respect, lenovo in my opinion, would be classed as a no namer.but then again, i might be wrong in saying that as previous ibm thinkpads were never really focused on the consumer market.

did i mention i hate the r-series?

i am a huge lover or the t's and x's, and i have been on my t40 for years. i have an r31 as spare

i think i would love the my next one to be an x60

EDIT: oh, and hey, u surf on dba forums too. but that link on your signature doesnt work

afraan · 12th June 2006, 9:14 PM

most home users may not have heard of lenovo but in the corporate world im sure a lot of IT departments are dealing with them (those who lease comps from IBM anyway).

williamgoh · 13th June 2006, 2:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afraan

most home users may not have heard of lenovo but in the corporate world im sure a lot of IT departments are dealing with them (those who lease comps from IBM anyway).

yea
eg. the victorian education dept. ibm won a bid to lease their machines. i think it was for a term of 3 or 5 years. most, if not all use r40 to r50s. nothing grand

10th June 2006, 9:08 PM	#1
williamgoh Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Melb, Endeavour Hills Posts: 460	Laptop Guru's and lovers, opinions from consumers! hi all, im interested in what everyone thinks about the lenovo brand, in terms of laptop computing. If those who havent heard about lenovo, they are a chinese company who purchased a licence to sell ibm desktops & laptops, and as well as use ibm technology/components in their own brand under lenovo. now, please, NO random, smartarse comments. all im asking for are genuine opinions from consumers about lenovo laptops only (who have or havent dealt/heard about them). the end of financial sale link is as below: http://www-604.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...oName=080506_2 here's my opinion about the brand: 1. they have alot to work on seeing they are seen as a 'no name'. selling products based on ibm thinkpads are merely not good enough. 2. ibm thinkpads were aimed at the market segment of being the 'best' business machines - and i agree, their laptops are just great - but lenovo wants to and is trying to aim them to the average joe consumer, who cant afford one. tell me, how mani consumers would afford a T42p or a T43p? seriously, if anything, it would be like dreaming about a ferrari (ibm) and owning a toyota (whatever brand). 3. lenovo has debut their new 'lenovo' brand laptops, and they are within pricepoints of other companies like toshiba/dell/asus/hpcompaq etc, but...they are just not being heard. (just incase someone is wondering about lenovo laptops, its here) mmm i guess thats all...i hope this is an interesting thread cheerios amigos __________________ My HT

10th June 2006, 11:22 PM	#3
SLATYE SLATYE, not SLAYTE Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Canberra Posts: 21,040	I agree with what you've said - except that the Thinkpad R50e has also been very attractively priced recently (around the $1000 mark, which puts it level with the Toshiba and Dell equivalents). From what I've seen, the whole Thinkpad line is designed to keep IBM's basic idea - make it virtually un-breakable. A lot of them (maybe all) still use the TrackPoint instead of a touchpad too. The cheaper "Lenovo" (non-Thinkpad) ones seem to be built to compete with Dell's Inspiron line, the cheap HP/Compaq laptops, and the Acers (not as solid). Essentially: Thinkpad = good quality, expensive. If you can get one cheap and you don't mind TrackPoint, go for it. Non-Thinkpad Lenovos = same as Dell/HP/Compaq/Acer at the same price. __________________ Main system: Pentium-D 805 \| 1GB (2x 512MB) PQI DDR400 \| Gigabyte 8I865GMK-775 \| Xtreama Radeon 9800Pro with Zalman ZM-80HP-D \| 320GB WD SATA HDD \| Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w Laptop: Compal EL80 \| C2D T7200 \| 320GB Fujistu HDD \| 2GB DDR2-667 \| GF Go 7600

11th June 2006, 1:49 AM	#4
kiwimeat Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia Posts: 1,753	For the record I work for a IT company that is an IBM partner. Firstly a couple of corrections. Lenovo did not purchase a license to sell IBM desktops and laptops, they bought the whole PC division from IBM. As part of the deal, Lenovo can continue to use some of the IBM branding for a number of years. Despite the change of ownership nothing has significantly changed as yet. The same plants are manufacturing the Lenovo desktops and laptops as previously under IBM. In fact some plants were a joint venture with Lenovo. They are not a no name brand. Lenovo are one of China's biggest PC manufacturers, and now one of the world's largest. In Australia they have moved quickly to maintain and built their channel and work with corporate customers. Unless you work in this section it is quite easy to miss the level of activity that Lenovo have undertaken. At this time, Lenovo are concentrating on the business market but have plans for the SOHO market later this year (at least that's what the Lenovo account manager I know said). Sales and support in Australia is largely unchanged - which means good to excellent service continues. Now as to the Lenovo laptops. For the record I have never liked the R series laptops. Too many compromises to make it a worthy choice over the other OEMs. However, a T-series or X-series is a worthy computer. I am on my second T series and 3rd IBM Thinkpad in 7 years. All of which I have personally bought for my own use (not paid for by work). My current machine is a T41p and is a fantastic laptop. Only thing missing is a DVD Burner. Unfortunately given that you have posted links for a Z series, I'm still undecided on the new Z series. The two I have tried have felt a little bit un-Thinkpadish (is that a word?). However, build quality is good (although not on a par with a T series) and they worked well. As for the Lenovo 3000 series laptops, they are competent but otherwise uninspiring, made for a price point not a design principle. Again other OEMs make equally good equivalents. Definately not a notch on a T series but then not priced to be. Would I buy one? Well unless something changes dramatically my next laptop will likely be a high end T60 (but not another "p" model unless the Gods are kind again). __________________ Car 2006 Audi A3 2.0T FSI Quattro - APR Stage I ECU, Carbonio CAI, Oettinger Body Kit, 18" S3 Alloys, RNS-E Home Theatre My Blog New purchase Oppo BDP-83 Region Modded BD universal player Notebooks Lenovo X200s & T400Other PCs Too many

11th June 2006, 2:34 PM	#5
williamgoh Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Melb, Endeavour Hills Posts: 460	good one kiwimeat. but yes, pardon my wrongfulness on how the change of hands occured. now, seeing they purchased the whole personal computing division, i was just wondering as to what will happen to the the 'ibm thinkpad' brand. seeing you mentioned that they can sell the ibm name for the next couple of years, what will happen after that? will it just simply be lenovo thinkpad? or will they name it somethin totally different. it would be a shame if that happened. with regards to the soho market, they have obviously started in planing that market. but currently, from what ive heard from ppl @ lenovo melbourne, they are having 'difficulties' as to how to go about it. and that also might be the case for the whole of lenovo australia. in the more consumer market, they also have tried & looked @ tier 1 national retailers (ie HN & dicky powerhouse), but all have failed in attempts to introduce the 'lenovo' brand of laptops due to the problem of 'apparent ridiculous margins' set by those retailers. so currently, lenovo staff are pointed towards computer storefronts...which my in opinion...is...ok, but i dont know about u, but there arent that mani computer stores in vic that give u the 'advice and recommendations' compared to the tier 1's - not to mention small ass comp stores which are over congested. customers who visit a computer store normally (not all of them) have come prepared with what they want to purchase, and do so without any further need of in deepth advice. and even if a customer visits a store, 9 times out of then they wouldnt touch the thinkpads or the new lenovo range because their are more affordable machines from asus,toshiba,lg who are right within the consumer market. so in that respect, lenovo in my opinion, would be classed as a no namer.but then again, i might be wrong in saying that as previous ibm thinkpads were never really focused on the consumer market. did i mention i hate the r-series? i am a huge lover or the t's and x's, and i have been on my t40 for years. i have an r31 as spare i think i would love the my next one to be an x60 EDIT: oh, and hey, u surf on dba forums too. but that link on your signature doesnt work __________________ My HT Last edited by williamgoh; 11th June 2006 at 2:40 PM.

10th June 2006, 9:30 PM	#2
mordy Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: melb Posts: 5,070	apparently they arent bad, but its hard to tell, google for the laptop name and the word review, that should clear up most of ur questions

12th June 2006, 9:14 PM	#6
afraan Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 24	most home users may not have heard of lenovo but in the corporate world im sure a lot of IT departments are dealing with them (those who lease comps from IBM anyway).