Lenovo badge

I noticed the that the larger ThinkPads don't have the extremely large and noticeable Lenovo badge on the lid, but when do you think the Lenovo badge will disappear on the x2xx series. I know some of you will think I'm extremely picky, but when I see the lenovo sign it kind of takes away the ThinkPad feel, lol it feels so bad its a deal breaker for me.

 

X200 had the badge, then it was removed from the X201, now it came back again on the X220. I think Lenovo is trying to piggy back its brand on top of the Thinkpad brand. Many people whom i spoke to, still don't know who Lenovo is, and many more still associate Thinkpad with IBM.

 

Many people still don't know Lenovo bought out ThinkPad from IBM, just like not many people know Acer owns Gateway/eMachines, Dell owns Alienware.

In all honesty, the Lenovo brand laptops were horrid to service. The Lenovo 3000, ugh horrible we had to service so many.

When I think of ThinkPad, that IBM logo with the ThinkPad is the first picture that pops into mind.

 

I was somewhat surprised when Lenovo didn't shoehorn their name into the Thinkpad brand logo, in the same prominent fashion as the I B M letters were featured in the old logo. I like the X201's level of branding, and I wouldn't mind if Lenovo added their name to the Thinkpad badge in some way, but an EXTRA badge on the laptop goes too far for me.

On the other hand, as long as Lenovo thinks that the ThinkPad brand name can stand alone on the notebook, I'm not going to complain about the current design. I like the minimalism.

 

Thankfully IBM is still in the picture. Both my thinkpads have the lenovo badge on them, but I wish it had the colorful IBM instead. Oh well I missed the IBM train.

 

I also would rather Lenovo redesign or reposition their badge from the lid--it's a bit tacky compared to the nice inlaid-metal Thinkpad logo. The X120e is also missing this badge from the lid, which I like.

 

What do you mean?

 

Personally I don't like Badges on the lid of my laptop. I only want a Thinkpad logo on the chin of my laptop and the palm rest. I hate the colorful logo, which includes the old IBM logo.

 

That was my first thought when I saw the pictures of the x220 lid. Strange how it's back again.

What's even stranger is that the x200 I got doesn't have the Lenovo badge on it like the others. Perhaps it was one of the later models that was manufactured right before the x201 was being sold. Not that I'm complaining.

 

X200 and X200T models manufactured in early 2010 received X201/X201T lids.   my former X200T had no lenovo logo on the lid.   ZaZ's X200T is the same way.

 

NeeGo's X200 is the same way too.

 

My wife's X200 and my X301 has this badge.

 

My T400 has the badge. I actually think it looks pretty good - the glossy black on black has a kind of "stealth cool" vibe to it without being flashy.

Remember that Lenovo is the company that made it possible to get a mainstream ThinkPad for under $800. And as far as I can tell, they're better designed, cooler, quieter, and more durable than ever.

If Lenovo did all of that then they can put their name on the cover in my book.

 

I hadn't noticed before, but my T410s doesn't have a Lenovo badge on the outside of the lid. Review photos of the T400s show the badge on the lid so I pretty much just assumed the T410s had it too. I wonder if it will come back on the T420s.

As the saying goes, "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" Now that I noticed it, I like the nice, clean look without the Lenovo badge. The Thinkpad badge, however, is a must!

 

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think he means that IBM's ThinkPad design team migrated to Lenovo along with the ThinkPad brand.

If Lenovo didn't make ThinkPads, there isn't a laptop I'd buy from them. I'm not incredibly impressed with their other lines.

 

i don't care whose name is on the badge and don't have particular any nostalgic longing about the IBM branding.

i've either owned or handled the majority of thinkpad models released since 1997 and would echo what bsoft said. Lenovo has done a fairly consistent job of juggling price, design, feature set and quality construction and if they want to give more visibility to their company branding, i'm OK with it.

as long as they don't festoon the cover or palmrest with tons of logos, i'm good.

ps. i was using an old t20 the other day and gave some experimental pressure to the left & right side of the chassis and there was noticeable flex there, whereas there was no give at all when i tested those same areas on my x200s and x201. some people have overly rose-colored notions of the IBM thinkpad days.

 

Those other Lenovo lines are just ODM laptops that is similar to other ODM laptops released by toshiba, etc. There is nothing overtly different about them other than specs, casing design and aftersale support.

 

With that said, I'm not impressed with the similar ones by everyone else either, although I do believe that one or two vendors have moderately better after-sales support in that market.

 

They were meant to cheap and chic.. you weren't suppose to use it for a long period.

 

I think most people don't get the Thinkpad feel taken away when they see Lenovo. They associate the Thinkpad feel with Lenovo. Its still the same design team that worked for IBM, they are still very much Thinkpads and Lenovo really wants to be associated with them. What would you do if your primary product was associated with another company more than yours?

On the topic of IBM. Most of us have nostalgia filter for IBM. The Lenovo Thinkpads are definitely more durable than the IBM ones due to advances in technology, so please stop screaming to the contrary. Its still the same design team designing Thinkpads, just working for a different company.

 

"When I think of ThinkPad, that IBM logo with the ThinkPad is the first picture that pops into mind."

Well my T61p has the IBM logo on it. I do think I'd rather have the IBM label though.

Renee

 

True.

I don't think the issues anyone has are with the designs. The issues I see people experience are either with quality-control variances off the production line, logistics in shipping/receiving, and consistency of customer service, technical support, or depot repair. Those resources aren't necessarily the same as what IBM had in place.

I didn't own an IBM ThinkPad, so I can't say if those issues were there prior to Lenovo, but I think some of them were not, or were there to a lesser degree than now. Admittedly, ThinkPads are less expensive than they once were too. I do think some of the issues seem to stem from disorganization or lack of cohesion in "the human factor" (i.e., in sales and technical support), and perhaps in Lenovo (at least in the U.S.) needing to hold its EZServ repair depots to a higher standard than they may currently be doing.

 

Over the years, I've owned, been issued by an employer, supported or otherwise used the following:

240, 240X, 360Cse, 701C, 750Cs, 755C, 755Cs, 755CD, 755CE, 760, 760EL, 760L, 760XL, 765L, 600, 600E, 600X, 770, 770X, A30, T20, T21, T23, T30, T40, T43, T60p, X60 Tablet, X200 Tablet, X300, X301

Every single model in that list (and the ones I've forgotten) had its own unique problems no matter whose badge was on the lid. Just because we loved them didn't mean they were perfect (MWave modem or 760x keyboards, anyone?). What made them worth it was continued BIOS, driver and utility support after a model was discontinued and easy access to parts and documentation.

 

I wish T400/500 owners were getting that with their switchable graphics driver, but other than that, I do agree that bios and utility support has been good, and am glad they make the service manuals available.

 

Where I am, IBM still handles servicing for Thinkpads. So far, the service level has been top notch. Going to check my X61 in this week before the warranty expires, so let's see if the service level is still the same.

 

The same is the situation at my end - though the top notch service came after a lot of animated discussions on the phone/emails.