What an amazing screen - X220 IPS

My X220 just arrived an hour ago. I figured that I'd take advantage of the great resource that this forum offers, and say hello.

What incredible screen quality! They even threw in extra colors and a ghost for free!



And even better, it doesn't even boot!

I'm starting to regret my recent bargain. They tell me that they'll fix it, but I'm thinking that I'll have constant problems. Do they even QA these things?

 

Don't be so quick to blame quality control. Rough handling by the shipping company could be the explanation here. I'd reseat your hard drive and display cable.

 

I'm concerned that doing so will void the warranty (at least, the display cable). I'll try the HD, already reseated the RAM.

EDIT: reseated the drive. Will not boot. For some reason, I always get a boot device menu at each power-up, even after resetting the BIOS to defaults. Did they forget to put a OS on the machine?

I'm suspecting a fan issue, or maybe (a) bad cap(s). The display starts mostly normal, and gets more corrupted by the second.

 

call Lenovo warranty and report this problem (you would get a call reference number), then call up Lenovo customer support and quote that CRN. You can ask for a refund or a new one to be sent out.

 

I had a similar display issue on a T410s a while back with a banded display like in your picture. Reseating the display cable fixed it. You will not void the warranty by reseating the display cable. Just follow the X220 hardware maintenance manual and don't break any thing. As for always getting a boot menu, I would call Lenovo's tech support if reseating the HDD doesn't fix it.

 

They told me that depot repair was my only option. Is sending a new one out policy for DOAs? I have my call reference# from tech support.

Lenovo tech support was puzzled. That, combined with the screen issue screams "lemon" to me. I think I'm going to harangue them for a replacement unit and send this one back.

Oh, are replacements refurbs or new units?

 

strange, did you get the NBD warranty for it or not? Ive never heard of ths and would guess abuse in shipping peronally

 

replacement unit are just regular for sales unit AFAIK, they are shipped from the factory. Basically they put the money from your DOA refund to the replacement unit, and get it reshipped from the factory.

But given the problems you reported, there could be a hard knock during shipment and something got wacked out of place.

 

lol sweet IPS screen!

That's a bummer that your x220 got shipped like that. I saw one and used a couple in person with the IPS screen and it is truly a nice screen upgrade for such little money.

 

wow, was Thinkpads like this back in the IBM days?

 

Probably? Manufacturing defects happen to everyone.

No sane company is going to check every single machine. Especially not Lenovo now that they ship a PC a second.

 

My friend's T43 was damaged during shipping, had a large crack on the corner of screen. Not sure what the story was behind this machine. But things like this do happen, but this don't occur frequently, if it does then that would a problem in design, manufacturing, and/or bad handling procedures.

 

Ha I have a "friend" who works at Fed Ex and if the package says fragile on it, it is treated like a football.

Defective things happen, it doesn't happen just to Lenovo, it happens to all manufacturers. It sucks, but it happens.

 

And that's how it has been resolved - once I had a case number, as I was helpfully told here, the CSR was happy to issue an RMA for full refund, send a shipping label, and then sent me to sales. Sales adjusted the price on a new unit such that my replacement won't cost anything at all - except time

I stayed with the depot warranty, but put the new order on a card that offers double warranty extension. So at least there's that.

Thanks for everyone for their helpful replies, and for making a Thinkpad noob feel better.

 

Yes. Pretty much any mass-produced computer has its share of issues.

 

I bet it does happen, but they less frequent. I guess with the slim profit margin, there got to be cut somewhere.

 

x220 must have horrible quality control. the x220t has been awesome to me so far

 

I dunno. The first ThinkPad I ever used was a 750cs. The screen failed the very first time it was powered on. IBM fixed it, but it was a pretty memorable failure all the same. My memory of that is what tends to make me a little skeptical of the perennial "it's totally different than when IBM made the ThinkPad" threads...

 

While I'd agree, it was the severity of the DOA that tempered my enthusiasm for my purchase.

I've had more than a few DOAs in the past from all types of brands, but it is very unusual to see one where there are multiple failures of different crucial systems.

I find it hard to believe that shipping impact had anything to do with at least some of it. The display issue? OK, that could have been a popped-off cable.

But the drive is rated for 1000G (non-operating) shock. The box arrived in pristine shape, sharp corners, etc. If an impact that didn't leave any imperfections in the cardboard box pops off a display cable, well, perhaps the x220 isn't designed for great durability.

Additionally, while changes in the BIOS setup could be saved, they didn't change functionality. For example, it was impossible to turn off PXE boot. It was impossible to turn off the boot menu coming up every single time. This was the case with with me following tech supports explicit directions for the setup screens (although I know my way around a BIOS setup rather well).

And yet the machine functioned - the BIOS setup ran. I'd expect that a system board that took enough impact damage such that it'd explain the drive, to simply not function at all; certainly not well enough to run anything.

So I believe that the machine possibly shipped with one or more of the following issues:

+ DOA drive
+ Drive without OS loaded
+ Defective system board

None of which inspires confidence for Lenovo's QA efforts.

Hopefully this will all be dispelled by the new unit, which I hope to be perfect, lilac-scented and displaying a unicorn upon bootup

 

So why do we all buy ThinkPad's then, if there's no advantage in being more sturdy or reliable than the competition, and consequently has fewer fail or DOA rates?

I mean what am I supposed to tell my friends with lattitudes and elitebooks now... "Yeah when my laptop is working it's most definitely the best, but theres an equally good chance that it'll be defective and/or break as quickly as yours"...

You know the accounting department could answer this for us. Give us there total allowances for returns over the past 20 years to get the IBM info there. We can see then percentage wise if lenovo's increase in units shipped has decreased QC.

 

Because they're sturdier and more reliable than consumer notebooks, have more standard hardware, are unique designs (not just ODM re-badges), and have DOA/failure rates that are competitive with other business laptops. (In other words: because while forums have been crowing about the end of ThinkPad greatness since at least 2003 or so, reality hasn't yet been adjusted to match the sentiment of the threads.)

If you think ThinkPads aren't for you, well... don't buy one. Buy something else. Maybe you'll get a flawless machine, and that will confirm (in your mind) that ThinkPads are junk and the other brand is superior. Or maybe you'll be one of the unlucky percentage that get a machine with issues.

(For the record, I vividly remember, a few years ago, the exact same sort of stuff being said over on the MacRumors forums about Apple's QC...)

 

I think you guys are throwing around the term "QC" a bit haphazardly. "QA" less so. They're different methods of achieving the same result. Lots of you are presuming Lenovo uses QC instead of QA.

 

QA is where you optimise the processes to ensure what you produce, can consistently meet the set quality target. So this usually occur in the planning stage.

While, QC is a review procedure where you check everything involved in the production, to ensure that the products/services that you produce meets the expected quality target you have set. So this is a review process, and the result of which can be used to change the QA to ensures suitable changes are made to meet the quality target.

Lenovo uses Six Sigma System to manage all these quality based stuffs.

 

I purposely dropped my ThinkPad 380ED 8ft and it chipped my tile

 

Paging Scott Adams...

 

Six Sigma? really? 99.99966% are free from defects?

The amount of complaint on the forum, I doubt their failure rate even satisfy a three sigma rule.

 

@Noob, i think that is their aim.... rather than what is actually happening.

 

I think that they need to apply Six Sigma to their customer service and IT department.

My saga continues, sadly. I re-reviewed the configuration for my replacement unit, and found that it was short a couple of features - not bluetooth, 4-cell vs. 9-cell battery, etc.

And, most remarkably - I emailed the person listed in my original order. Here's a snippet that probably is familar to some of you:

And this is what comes back:

I'm about to explode! They can't even maintain their customer support email? How incompetent is this company?

I finally sent a complaint letter to Rory Read's office. I got a call today, but the person calling wasn't optimistic about getting a suitable replacement in my hand any time soon.

I'm starting to think that Lenovo isn't interested in my business. My original order was placed on 6/16, and any machine that I may end up using isn't even in queue to be built.

 

The fact that I am a long-time user/owner of ThinkPad notebooks does not mean that (1) said notebooks don't have any problems, or (2) other users are not entitled to feel pissed at certain problems while I choose to overlook/downplay them.

My ThinkPad preference does not mean that ThinkPad notebooks are superior. I need no Lenovo/ThinkPad badge to feel good about myself. YMMV.

I find it inappropriate to bring Apple, Sony or any other manufacturer into the discussion when ThinkPad issues are being considered.

I, as a customer, have no need to defend for Lenovo and its business practices. Lenovo should fend for itself.

 

A letter to Rory Read's office worked. I was assigned someone that actually cared.

They offered a memory upgrade to make up for my experiences, plus expedition if at all possible.

I suggested that a bump up across the board would be acceptable - processor, memory, hard drive, warranty. They agreed.

The new machine arrived today. So far, so good, keeping my fingers crossed

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

 

Wow what a deal! Nice!

 

Holy crap. What country are you in?