Wait or ditch Lenovo?

So I'm posting here in the Lenovo forum for a reason.... I have a T61P and I love it. It's been reliable, I like the build, everything about it has been good. I need to buy a new laptop however and Lenovo has, well, frankly they've nearly struck out on their current round of laptops.

The 2 big things I don't like:
1) You can't mate the nicer 880 graphics card with a dual core processor. I really don't know if I see the point of the 3100. It's really a pretty crappy video card (consider that my current 2.5 year old laptop has faster video then it) and if I decided to go without the 880 I'd just get the Intel graphics. The 3100 is just an excercise in futility, but that's just my opinion.
2) FHD availability..... FAIL. Just, not available.

So I've actually considered getting a Dell Latitude/Precision.

We use these at work, things they have going for them....

1) You can put ANY video card with ANY processor.
2) FHD is available (not wide gamut, but that's ok).
3) They have a no questions asked, no restocking fee return policy on these machines.
4) The build quality is respectable. Our work machines are relativley solid and I believe I'd be happy with it.

So... now it's your turn to talk me out of it. I'm really struggling to figure out why I shouldn't pull the trigger on one of the Latitudes instead of playing this endless waiting game with Lenovo. I'd like to hear some opinions, even if they are biased towards Lenovo.

 

just buy the laptop that fits your need, be that Thinkpad or Latitude or elitebook for that matter.

 

Get the W510, which offer the 880m. Dell (Precision) 14" has weaker graphic card the Lenovo.

As for screen and restocking fee, Dell win in this category, but you will lose the durability of the Thinkpad.

 

IMO the Precision is at least as good as the Lenovo laptops.

 

I gave up waiting for a FHD option to be available and got a Macbook Pro 17. Couldn't be happier. 1920 screen 16:10 ratio 500:1 contrast. Apple are finally using decent SSD drives also.

 

Buy the Dell. You've already convinced yourself that's what you want, and you'll never be happy with anything else if someone else sways you.

 

Yeah, as a T61p owner I know where you are. Unless the FHD screen comes back there is no point in a Lenovo at this end. I personally liek the Elitebooks better than the Dell's but that is just a preferance. When the w510 gets FHD again, it could be an option - I dread the day that my 61p dies and I can't get a 1200x1920 replacement. The quality of my t400 screen is not even close.

 

There must be some FHD screens available. We are getting 30 day lead times on corp quotes for the W510 from our reseller. We've received a bunch already.

Might be prudent to start calling the channel partners.

 

Lenovo has the best hinges!

 

If you dislike Lenovo so much, there's alternatives, like Dell, HP, Acer, Asus. Of all the notebooks I've owned (check my sig), Lenovo has been the best by far. Great build quality, solid, reliable, quiet and efficient cooling system. I couldn't be happier and I would recommend a thinkpad to anyone. It's not our job to talk you out of anything, just get what suits you best.

 

I don't dislike Lenovo, I've had great experiences with them, I'm disappointed that for a mobile user like myself you either have to go all or nothing (ie: quad core w/880 or dual core with the 3100). If FHD did become available I'd probably just have to live with the crappy video card because I want battery life. Right now it's more of a waiting question. Do I wait for who knows how long for a Lenovo configuration that's close to what I want, but not exactly what I want? Or do I go with a different brand that I haven't purchased from for a long time which actually offers the exact configuration I want? I think a dual core with 880 would be a great balance for performance and mobility.

 

>> Get the W510, which offer the 880m. Dell (Precision) 14" has weaker graphic card the Lenovo.

How heavy is the W510?
Their specs say about 2.6 Kg (6 pounds)
But there is a YouTube video that says they are 3.2Kg (7 pounds).

avi

 

"How heavy is the W510?
Their specs say about 2.6 Kg (6 pounds)
But there is a YouTube video that says they are 3.2Kg (7 pounds)."

Are those specs for the same battery or do you know?

Renee

 

>> Are those specs for the same battery or do you know?

Have not got a clue. Wish I did.

I was hanging around waiting for the T510 with FHD to come out...

Then when I saw the specs for the W510 say it's also only ~2.7 Kg, I started to think "why not?". But it had never ever occurred to me to get a W- series. I need both power and mobility, but the W- seemed to be a bit of overkill even for me. So I thought … just have to pay a 1000 shekels more than I intended. But once in 3 years is not so bad. After 2 or 3 months I won't even think of it.

But 3.2 Kg is a bit overboard … and I hear its Power Supply is over 0.5 Kg.

While January and February both came and went, I still had my eyes on the T410s machine. But when it finally got to Israel this month, it finally dawned on me that it's a bit too small for me. Meanwhile--if any T510s+FHD had arrived in Israel I missed them. Only this month did I finally wake up.

- avi

 

my x200 tablet has been nightmarish.

it seems to 'fry' network cards every couple of months. i replaced the stock 5100 card with a 5300, and it happened again!

the card just disappears from the device manager (win7) and lspci (linux) until a hard power cycle. its accelerated to the point where it breaks within 30 seconds of startup

my 380D thinkpad also fried PCMCIA cards, and any CF cards in adaptors. i actually heard zaps. +19V into a part requiring 3.3V or something? really f'd up.

X200 takes 20 minutes to POST, after a BIOS upgrade i ran hoping to fix the wireless. i keep upgrading t the new BIOSes and the problem still isnt fixed, and BIOS downgrades fail.

what about never rebooting? well hard freezes occur at least once a day.

its 2 years old,cant even figure out if its covered on warranty, support wants a Serial/SKU which unfortunately i peeled off soon after purchasing and none of my email addys pop up on lenovo's direct-purchase 'forgot my password' option..

my Thinkpad A21m fell apart, quite quickly. granted it was one of the cheap plastic ones, the modern equivalent being ideapad.

i guess you can say i havent experienced the "Thinkpad Quality". in fact theyre hitting 0 for 3

i should just go back to Apple, my 1992 Mac LCII still runs fine on NetBSD

 

the serial number is also existent on your bios, you can view it in your bios menu.

PC-Doctor software in windows can also read the serial and model/type number.