Miscellaneous laptop discussions : What Is The Fate of ThinkPads?
What Is The Fate of ThinkPads?
by Fouad Bakht - 10/2/05 12:59 AMWith IBM's PC division sold off to Lenevo, and the contract for 5 years, what do you think will be the fate of ThinkPads?
1. Will IBM Logo disappear after that altogether or be replaced with Lenovo ThinkPad?
2. Will the quality of the products in terms of construction and performance remain the same?
My limited experience so for
by Steven Haninger - 10/2/05 5:53 AM In reply to: What Is The Fate of ThinkPads? by Fouad Bakhtis that quality and customer service have not degraded. IBM has been around for a long time and they have a vested interest in their products. Another example of IBM divesiture has been their Deskstar and other hard drive business. I bought many of these and they, for a time, were some of the very best performers. They ran into a problem with a particular line and technology which caused too many product failures. IBM stood firmly behind their customers and replaced the hard drives under warranty as they failed. That business now belongs to Hitachi. You will still find IBM chips on these HD controllers. My "gut" is that these drives and service have improved and not faltered but others may argue this. If you look at side by side performance ratings, the Hitachi branded drives are still near the top. I had a couple of IBM branded drives that failed after Hitachi took over support and found that replacement through Hitachi was actually a bit easier than it was through IBM....and the IBM service was already outstanding. My two cents.
But What About The Brand Name?
by Fouad Bakht - 10/2/05 6:30 AM In reply to: My limited experience so for by Steven HaningerAlthough most people would say "Whats in a name?" yet it would be interesting to know as to whether the IBM logo would disappear and get replaced with Lenovo? Of course ThinkPad would remain the same.
I'd say your question remains more a rhetorical one
by Steven Haninger - 10/2/05 9:25 AM In reply to: But What About The Brand Name? by Fouad BakhtThere is no answer from anyone in these forums. It's up to Lenovo and IBM. As for what they are producing now....it's fine. As for what anyone is producing now the answer is known. Predicting the past and knowing the present is easy but the future is still guesswork.
bad experience with lenovo thinkpad
by jason12125 - 2/26/08 9:45 PM In reply to: But What About The Brand Name? by Fouad Bakhtlenovo - bad purchase experience with unstable thinkpad x61s and bad customer service. i just brought this brand new X61s, and i was very disappointed. first i had to wait 5 weeks before lenovo can ship it since it was out of stock. once it arrived, it kept crashing on me, i literally had to reboot couple of times a day. i tried calling lenovo for support, it took forever to get thru to someone live, and they were not much help. this is very disappointing since i paid about USD1800 for it and it would even freeze on me every 2 minutes whenever i use msn messenger. they have also shorten the warrantee from 3 years to 1 year, so now i am stuck with it. i will never buy from lenovo/ibm ever again! you just lost a loyal customer !
Thinkpads fate
by Nooorm - 10/5/05 7:42 AM In reply to: What Is The Fate of ThinkPads? by Fouad Bakht>1. Will IBM Logo disappear after that altogether or be replaced with Lenovo ThinkPad?
Yes, sorta. According to Lenovo press releases, the IBM Logo will disappear from the Thinkpads and Thinkcentres within 18 months, not five years.
Lenovo has a five year contract with IBM to provide technical and sales support.
>2. Will the quality of the products in terms of construction and performance remain the same?
Nope. All the people who were responsible for Thinkpad design and quality at IBM now work for Lenovo. The Thinkpad design centers in Japan and the US are now part fo Lenovo and the Lenovo China parent company is known for innovation and quality in China, where they are the biggest PC maker in the country.
Since the buy by Lenovo, they've introduced a tablet and the new widescreen Z. I'd say Lenovo hasn't missed a beat.
http://www.lenovo.com/lenovo/us/en/index.html
Lenovo's Rise
by chinese_fury - 10/8/05 9:32 AM In reply to: Thinkpads fate by NooormActually you are correct. The same people who used to work under the IBM moniker now work under the Lenovo name here in the U.S.
The supplier or producer of the Thinkpads is still the same company in China, IIPC; regardless of the name change from IBM to Lenovo.
IBM wants out of the personal pc business because there is not enough profit to be made and it's getting harder and harder for them to make a profit. They are focusing on the Business end, servers, networks, and service for business. That is where the big money is today.
I visited Lenovo in China back last March of this year. They, unknown to outside of China, make everything from cellphones, mp3 players, electric shavers, pda's you name it and they sell it in China.
Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping
by Fouad Bakht - 10/8/05 10:57 AM In reply to: Lenovo's Rise by chinese_furyTo tell you just one shocking aspect. Many people are facing problems like after ordering T-43, they get a T-42 in the box, or vice versa, you order a T-43 with 60GB HDD and you get a 40GB, you order a notebook with ATI graphics and instead, you get integrated controller. Much of the problems are arising in the T and R Series of ThinkPads. This is not all. The interesting things follow.
A company ordered 15 T43 ThinkPad Notebooks. Nine (9) of them when unpacked, varied greatly in specs. Seven out of them had problems like Ethernet controllers were not being detected. Modems not being able to connect or detected. Whats worse, wi-fi not working despite that fact that OS updated, patches applied, BIOS and other certified drivers updated and installed. Some Hardware not being able to be detected/recognized by the OS/machine despite fixes being applied.
Let me apprise you of one more thing. These models were CTOs (Customize To Order). Not the regular models. Even then, do you expect IBM or Lenovo to be slipping like this?
Bad experience with Lenovo
by wonghfoong - 10/9/05 8:50 AM In reply to: Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping by Fouad BakhtIt is true that Lenovo is famous in China and it does sell all kinds of electronic appliances such as notebooks, cell phones and etc. However, you have to really be careful when buying as their QC is so cheap. My friend bought one Lenovo cell phone and he had it head to the factory in a month for twice!
I doubt it.
by Nooorm - 10/10/05 12:30 PM In reply to: Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping by Fouad Bakht>Many people are facing problems like after ordering T-43, they get a T-42 in the box, or vice versa, you order a T-43 with 60GB HDD and you get a 40GB, you order a notebook with ATI graphics and instead, you get integrated controller.
I would challenge your "many" claim. I doubt that what you're referring to is happening anymore now than it did at any prior time when IBM owned ThinkPad. Do things like this happen occasionally, sure...they happen to any manufacturer who make and shipping 1000s of products a day.
>A company ordered 15 T43 ThinkPad Notebooks. Nine (9) of them when unpacked, varied greatly in specs. Seven out of them had problems like Ethernet controllers were not being detected. Modems not being able to connect or detected. Whats worse, wi-fi not working despite that fact that OS updated, patches applied, BIOS and other certified drivers updated and installed. Some Hardware not being able to be detected/recognized by the OS/machine despite fixes being applied.
What sort of solution did Lenovo provide?
When did this occur?
What country?
What company?
What was the part number of the T43's ordered?
It seems rather incredible to me that one small shipment of ThinkPads had this many problems.
>Let me apprise you of one more thing. These models were CTOs (Customize To Order). Not the regular models. Even then, do you expect IBM or Lenovo to be slipping like this?
CTO or prebuilt, nothing has changed for ThinkPad since it was bought by Lenovo. The same parts are being supplied by the same suppliers. The assembly of the laptops are being done at the same places, by the same people who were making ThinkPads before they were bought by Lenovo.
I've read a lot about ThinkPad on the web since they were bought by Lenovo and your story is the first of its kind I've read. I know a lot of people are complaining about short supply and long delivery of their new products (tablets & Z widescreens), but this is the first product quality problem I've seen.
Me Too....But I Had To Face It
by Fouad Bakht - 10/10/05 11:25 PM In reply to: I doubt it. by NooormI own an IBM ThinkPad R51 (2887K2G) which I bought in March 2005 after having tried various models from Acer, HP/Compaq, Toshiba. I feel fully content and satisfied with this machine presently. In fact I love it. I recommend ThinkPads to everyone. My bro needed a notebook and he was all for Acer. I convinced him and wanted to give him my ThinkPad. But I could not part with it so I approached the main/major distributors of IBM, for a T43 max or a T42 min. I was even gonna settle down for an R51/R52 but were not available. Despite the problems I described in my post, I would still go for ThinkPad T43. I repeat, I AM A THINKPAD LOVER. But my dear Nooorm, not everyone who posts here is a brand-specific basher. You dont believe it because it never happened to you. But this is one bitter fact thats there. Despite that fact, I am still gonna buy a ThinkPad. I hope this will sooth your toothache. 
Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping
by terrybell - 10/11/05 12:52 PM In reply to: Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping by Fouad BakhtI am curently ordereing 20 T43 CTO's every month. So far I haven't seen the problems you reported. I will be checking more throughlly 2 C if the problems show up. I just ordered a V60t to evaluate. I will put to the test. Thanks for the warning.
Specifically
by Fouad Bakht - 10/12/05 10:06 PM In reply to: Well, IBM/Lenovo is slipping by terrybellI just collected some more information and to be more specific, I thought I'll type in a few lines. Following are the problems that were experienced:
1. Differences in the specs ordered and machines received.
2. Modem not being able to be detected and/or configured.
3. Ethernet controller not being able to be detected and/or configured.
4. Wireless LAN unable to connect.
Fortunately, Lenovo offered few patches/fixes which worked on most of the notebooks. Thats the information do far.
Worried about the Thinkpad: my T-60
by scotth0 - 6/17/06 10:12 PM In reply to: Specifically by Fouad BakhtI bought a T-60 in April '06. What struck me - especially once I began looking at various forums on the subject - is how inconsistent the product seems to have become. Slipping is a thing that can happen a millimeter at a time. A few things were noticable right away:
One: The keyboard. Most folks revere the Thinkpad for its fine keyboard - something of a gold standard among notebooks. IBM / Lenovo uses three vendors for its keyboards - and they differ considerably in feel, appearance, and quality. The worst of them is the dreaded Chicony - Chinese-made, very 'clickety', and prone to problems. This seems the one in widest use currently. The best is the NMB, long in use by IBM, made in Thailand - and now phased out. The Alps seems midway between the two. I got the Chicony. I'm not
thrilled. I'm hoping to get a replacement.
Two: The battery latch is loose. Small thing? Some say that this depends on the brand of battery you happen to get. But, of course, it shouldn't.
Three: The unit doesn't close as snugly as you would expect. Minor point, but - all these things create an impression.
Even if the company is using fifty vendors for each component, these components should all be hitting the same specs. Whatever happened to consistency? If the outside of the unit reflects inconsistency, what of the inside?
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