T61P review - poor CS, defective screen,

This is why you set the font DPI.
I'm using a 1920x1200 screen on my older Sager notebook, I don't have problems reading the text, it actually looks a lot better and I'm quite sad that most of the major notebook manufacturers have a huge delay on those screens But oh well, I can live with the lower resolution screens.

 

Hey MonsterMaxx, my sympathies to you as well. My unit (14.1" T61) has exactly the same crappy light leakage problem, plus the horrible vertical viewing angle. I had used a T60 15.4" prior to that which did not have the problem, so I know this is a quality control issue. I even sent the 14.1" back complaining about the light leakage and asking for an LCD replacement. They just sent it back saying that it was "tested to spec". I share your dissapointment in their low standards.

I have to say, everything else about the machine is pretty good, or I only have minor gripes about. The light leakage affects me a lot as I like to set up my editor with a dark background. I suppose it doesn't bother the average user as much.

 

My Dell has worse light leakage than my T61. A lot of the LCD OEM industry is going downhill in my experience, since manufacturers do not quanity the specs of the LCD, they go super cheap on them

 

Well sir, lets get to the meat, so here's my book on the matter.

Short version:
Long story short, you're just as much at fault as Lenovo is in your situation. Uninformed consumers should not order customized or workstation-classed systems, and Lenovo should raise the QC standards on such systems if they intend to sell them as such. End of story.

1) Screen too thick.
FAULT: Yours, no fault to Lenovo.
--Problem is yours not Lenovos. HP consumer notebooks have some pretty thick screens. Sony's have some rather thin screens. It is your job as a consumer/customer to 'read the specs' of what you're buying. HP, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, and even Alienware (now Dell) post the dimensions of their systems. If you order and screen depth is important, and you don't do your homework and actually read what it is PRIOR to ordering, it's your own fault.

2) Light Leakage on LCD.
FAULT: Lenovo's + LCD Manufacturer + All other notebook OEMs + the industry. No fault to consumer.
--Lenovo's Quality Control could filter these out, so they can be held accountable to some degree. LCD Manufacturers have their own QA standards. They are low, so they can be blame. All notebook companies have 'settled' with many of these degraded 'features', so therefore they are all to blame for allowing LCD Manufacturers to let these systems slip by. Consumers can't be at fault in this case, but nor are they protected.

3) 1920x1200 resolution = too small to read.
FAULT: Yours, no fault to Lenovo.
---Hello? I've got a Dell Inspiron 8600 with this resolution and I -love- it. It's ideal for application development (in my opinion) as I can fit a considerable amount of code on the screen. It's also great working w/ Autocad (Assuming you have a decent GPU paired with the screen). Anyhow, that aside, 1920x1200 is not 'new' this year. The resolution (WUXGA) has been available for a few years now. It is YOUR job as a consumer/customer/business to determine what is best for you based on available knowledge. It's like buying a car. If you buy a new car without knowing if it's a manual or automatic, it ends up being manual and you don't know how to work a clutch, you don't blame the car manufacturer! Screen resolution is a 'personal preference'. If you don't know, go to a store and look. Can't find it in a store? Find a co-worker, student, teacher, IT professional, IT Consultant, whatever, it's your burden.

4) Slow boot times.
FAULT: Unknown...maybe Microsoft and consumer ignorance?
You can't argue this unless you can provide the following:
Different branded 'identically configured' system w/ an identical OS w/ identical Software that somehow boots considerably faster. Considering Vista boots slow compared to XP (based on a 2ghz Core 2 duo cpu, 1GB ram, 7200rpm sata drive, 256mb geforce 8600GT card) in the desktop arena may or may not directly translate to the notebook arena, but the only thing you could really pin on Lenovo would be the BIOS or motherboard as the root cause due to bad design as they have quite a bit of input on it. If it's any other factor(s) (not enough RAM, slow CPU, bad GPU, bloated software) it's your own fault. Uninstall bloated software, get higher specs, don't buy a system w/ low specs.
But Vista boots slow because it's the OS. Also, notebooks boot slower than desktops typically due to power reduction dependencies and limited cooling (slower hdd, ram performance).

5) Customer Service 'lost' the order.
FAULT: Lenovo Customer Service
--Assuming this happened, then of course Lenovo is to blame. They shouldn't 'lose' orders.

6) Hibernate + Standby issues
FAULT: EVERYONE
--First, Vista has issues w/ them, so Microsoft is at fault. Second, Lenovo should have addressed this by either disabling the functionality, working around it, or documenting it so prospective buyers can make their determinations appropriately. Third, as a consumer, you need to research the OS limitations and go from there. I agree you can get on Lenovo's case about it not working, but they're not completely at fault here.

To Repeat:
Long story short, you're just as much at fault as Lenovo is in your situation. Uninformed consumers should not order customized or workstation-classed systems, and Lenovo should raise the QC standards on such systems if they intend to sell them as such. End of story.

P.s. Sorry for spelling errors and typos

 

I'm mostly worried about the screen quality on my T61p. I've never had problems with customized laptops, and I hope it doesn't start with Lenovo.

I've come from using Sager notebooks for ages, been pretty satisfied with them and their customized notebooks, never a problem, but I'm just disappointed at their current mobility notebook setups this year which Apple and Lenovo outclass them by a small margin.

Just hearing these horror stories from people buying Lenovo is enough to discourage me as a customer, but hearing their return policies are pretty excellent, I might still stick out with my order and hope it's not a lemon (assuming it's not going to take two weeks, I'm not that patient)

I've seen people pretty satisfied with their T61p, so I'm sure these are just small percentage of bad cases, but their delays and lack of information is pretty lame.

 

Sympathies for not doing research while constantly badmouthing Lenovo for not meeting his elevated expectations?
How nice of you!
Hey, since your screen looks exactly the same (so as mine and many others) then how in the world can he and the rest of you call it to be "defective"?
Some screens by design are worse than others.
Nothing we can do about that.
The "problem" with Lenovo is that it's still using the non-glossy ones, seems to be the only manufacturer left in the sea of high-gloss.
It's so much easier to mask the screen's shortcomings with the high-contrast coatings.
Maybe you guys should do some research first and stop BSing Lenovo for no apparent reason.
Or move on and get a Dell.
I heard its colorfull Inspirons are so *&%$ing rad....

 

Dude, how about you getting banned from these forums?
Sounds like a great idea... Long time overdue...

 

That's really uncalled for. It's quite possible that there is a legitimate problem with the screen which Lenovo is unwilling to fix (it's happened before, and it will happen again). And many people like matte screens, FWIW.

 

There are many things possible.
Just one suggestion. Go to your local BestBuy or CircuitCity and take a good look at the state of the current display technology. Pay attention to such details as viewing angles, backlight leakage etc.
It's quite possible that his panel is dimmer than it's supposed to be.
But the rest of the claims are unfounded. Judging by his pictures the amount of backlight leakage is nothing special.

 

hey guys umm.. quick question what are the chances of any other laptops (t61p in particular) being as eff'ed up his? because if this is pretty common im gonna go with someother company...

 

Exactly! This guy has been using insults at whoever disagrees with him and comes up with a valid argument, I can't understand why the mods aren't deleting his insults at other members or warning him at least. He is complaining about the Thinkpads design when every person knows what it looks like be it these forums or the lenovo website and yet he is acting as if Lenovo sent him a totally different design just to spite him. Four months of waiting, having to call BBB, waiting on the phone for a long time to speak to CSR and yet he never canceled his order.

What was so special about this laptop that he couldn't find the exact specs (if not better) elsewhere? Im not even arguing about the screen as it does seem faulty, but the form factor and not being thin and light? What the hell was he smoking when he ordered from their website? Wasn't he paying attention to the weight, size, design before dropping $2500 for it?

 

Trust me, I know about the current display technology.

If that photo accurately displays the amount of light leakage, then it is far from normal.

 

Care to take a picture of yours under the same conditions?
No you can't, since the amount of visible leakage greatly depends on the viewing angle.
One picture doesn't do justice.
Even a great display can be made look bad at some particular angle.

 

No, there are plenty of quality displays out there that show little light leakage at any angle. And that picture was not some weird angle, it appeard to be a perfectly normal shot, showing considerable light leakage. I would gladly take a similar picture, although I don't currently have my 15.4" WUXGA available, so I'm not sure what good it would do.

 

If I may address this OP's first post.

If you find the resolution uncomfortable then adjust the resolution to your liking. You are not restricted to the screen's native resolution.

Slow booting times and issues such as that usually stem from the software side. Please re-evaluate your software and what is need/not needed.

Thinness of the screen is a feature that IBM offers and boasts. What it lacks in slimness it makes up for hardiness. If you are more in favor to slimmer laptops than consider another series/manufacture - try not to shop for business class laptops.

If the light leakage is a major issue than please contact customer support. There is nothing that we can suggest to remedy your situation.

This brings me to my other point. Your poor customer service experience may reflect on how you asked them and responded. Reading your other posts you tend to get offended easily and seem rude in your speech. No offense intended.

Remember: People only want to be treated the same way you would treat yourself.

I'm not a IBM fan boy but I am a believer in a good quality business laptop with a good balance between performance and portability. If this is not what you look for in laptop please consider other manufactures for your next purchase.

 

Yes the screen leakage looks bad. This is a valid complaint. Hopefully you will get it sorted.

But considering your 20+ years in the computer industry I must say I am very surprised by the rest of your complaints. Without going into detail, many of the so-called issues you address, I could understand from a first time PC user - but not from someone who apparently has been in the computer industry for ages.

I think it is about time the moderators or admin step in. Regardless of the issues/disputes/opinions, there should be no room for calling people names and using foul language at them. This is far from the first time and I too cannot understand how this can pass through the radar of the moderators.

 

monstermaxx goes playmaker returns

 

I’m surprised that no one noticed that the pictures of the light leakage were taken with a camera at a slow shutter speed – allows more light and makes the problem appear to be much worse than it is.

Look at how washed out with light the icons on the other monitor are, then toggle to your own desktop. You really have problems if the icons on your desktop are that bright (in fact, his are so bright the icons are unrecognizable). The pictures are not accurate representations of light to the naked eye.

You may well still have a problem, I don’t know, but I think you’re exaggerating.

 

That tone is not needed or wanted on this forum. I don't believe that Jaxx said a single incorrect thing.

All of this information is readily available from Lenovo itself. If you want a sleek, thin and light computer, I really have to ask, why did you buy a Thinkpad in the first place. Being built "like a brick" is actually a selling point.

We agree that the leakage sucks. Get over it.

WUXGA on a 15.4" screen is perfectly legible to many people. The DPI settings in Vista and Linux are great, play with them and most will find the WUXGA res not that bad at all. It is not by any stretch of the imagination "entirely unsuitable for anything else [besides CAD]". Again, WUXGA on a 15.4" screen has been known about for a long time, and such screens have been reviewed numerous times. If you did your research on that, and still decided to buy it, why are you bringing it up like it's a huge negative now? Mentioning it is fine to warn the casual buyer, but harping on it as "unusable" is unwanted and unnecessary.

Slow boot times on untweaked Vista machines is a wide spread and widely known about problem. You act as if you've never heard of it before, or as if it's something Lenovo did to spite it's customers. I would call that possible consumer ignorance, yes.

He's merely saying that if it happened as you say it did, then that sucks. However, your credibility on this forum is not what it could be, hence the disclaimer.

Correct, this does seem to be a Lenovo problem. As you said, lot's of people are complaining about it, so any future buyers who do their research need not be suprised.

Again, this kind of talk is highly subjective and emotional, and is just asking for others to flame you. I believe you've adequately reported on the problems you've encountered by now, so further tirades will not be necessary, thank you.