Lenovo Quality going down?

[Technerd108]

So I have a Lenovo 7i 14" laptop that I got in late summer early fall. It has a lot of nice specs and features. Build quality seemed excellent.

I was streaming some video and the laptop froze. I had to power down using the power button. Then I rebooted to a black screen.

I thought maybe it was some software glitch and tried using the novo button on the back of the laptop. Nothing. No boot up screen, nothing.

Called Lenovo customer service and they said it was most likely a bad motherboard and I would have to send the laptop in for repair.

During a black Friday sale I purchased a larger Lenovo 7i 16" with Intel arc graphics and that had a bad trackpad that was complete unresponsive. Had to return it.

Is it just my bad luck or has Lenovo's pretty reliable machines become really unreliable?

 

[bobcomer]

They're still good here, but we either buy X or T or L series thinkpad laptops. Given how bad Shanghai has been the last few months, I wouldn't be surprised that they slipped though. They'll be back good eventually..

 

[Technerd108]

They're still good here, but we either buy X or T or L series thinkpad laptops. Given how bad Shanghai has been the last few months, I wouldn't be surprised that they slipped though. They'll be back good eventually..

Mine was made in June of 2022 so I would not think current events would have affected it. I know the ThinkPad series is on a another level of quality and price from the consumer line line like yoga series. However, I have has Yoga series for a fee years and never had a problem with them and this past year 2 had issues fairly soon. Just seems odd. But maybe after Covid it messed up things. I just hope they can fix it and I don’t have any more issues. It is a great laptop overall.

 

[maflynn]

I think the thinkpad series laptops are by and large excellent. I do question their customer support, I've heard more complaints about that then about the quality of laptops.

I love their keyboards, but for me, the thinkpads are the minivans of the laptop world.

 

[Technerd108]

I think the thinkpad series laptops are by and large excellent. I do question their customer support, I've heard more complaints about that then about the quality of laptops.

I love their keyboards, but for me, the thinkpads are the minivans of the laptop world.

Customer support has been a mixed bag. With the laptop that had a faulty track pad on arrival new their support was probably the absolute worst I have ever experienced. They couldn't give me a replacement and for several weeks said they could and then could not. One agent would say I was approved and they would ship out a replacement then nothing would happen, I would call them and then they would say that my replacement was not in stock so I was denied and back and forth for a few weeks. Terrible experience.

With the laptop that I am sending in they quickly offered to repair under warranty and sent me a return label right away. We will see how the repair goes. They told me to take photos of my laptop in case there is any damage when I get it back which makes me a little worried but it is good advice.

I really like the laptop and design so I hope the repair goes well, there is no damage when I get it back and it works for several years after the repair. I am just worried that I may have the same problem again and then it will be out of warranty.

I have had the 7i series before and the cheaper flex series and never had a hardware issue. Two hardware issues on this new 7i series on two different laptops in a few months makes me worry. Hopefully it was just a one off thing.

 

[1BadManVan]

I unfortunately haven't had much luck with them either with their build quality. A shame because the specs on paper seem very nice for the price when they go on sale.

 

[theMarble]

I've found that Lenovo's higher-end devices, like my X270 (model is a few years old, got a refurb unit in 2021) are awesome. The build quality is really good, there isn't any deck flex and screen flex is something you will always see with plastic casings. Feels good in the hand, upgradability is super easy (RAM, multiple drives) and is still fast enough for daily use.

It's been triple-booted with Windows 10, Arch and Monterey (OpenCore) with no stability issues.

The Lenovo chromebooks and "budget" laptops certainly feel worse in hand than the X-series. Can't speak for the W and P-series since I've never used one.

 

[c0ppo]

X1 Carbon + X1 Extreme. Owned multiple of those.
Never failed me. Build quality is top notch. As is (almost) everything else.

Can't speak anything about their lower budget devices, or gaming laptops. Never used those.

 

[maflynn]

X1 Extreme

I still have Gen of the Extreme X1, and its a capable laptop. I absolutely love the keyboard. I just fired it up last week and I'm playing with it. Its a bit bulky, i.e., non-sexy design but its a good laptop. I'm actually working on reinstalling windows and making the X1 my laptop for when my wife watches tv and I want to play games or surf

 

[someoldguy]

Thinkbook 13s G4 AMD. Build date 8-8-22 . Got it last October to replace a 2015MBP13 that was showing it's age , and because I needed something that would run Windows . No problems as regards build quality so far . I thought I'd gotten a bad one when I first started it up but a multitude of Windows updates and driver updates over a few days got everything running right , and it remains so up to now.

 

[Technerd108]

Thinkbook 13s G4 AMD. Build date 8-8-22 . Got it last October to replace a 2015MBP13 that was showing it's age , and because I needed something that would run Windows . No problems as regards build quality so far . I thought I'd gotten a bad one when I first started it up but a multitude of Windows updates and driver updates over a few days got everything running right , and it remains so up to now.

It seems that a lot of people are commenting on devices that are older than a couple years or even a year.

I was specifically pointing out the quality of newer like less than a year old devices.

Also a lot of think devices which is not what I have ever owned except a Thinkpad Chromebook. Build quality seems to be really high on think devices.

I think the build quality hasn't changed but the internal quality of the motherboard or internal electronics has changed leading to a higher and quicker failure rate.

As I stated having a 2021 yoga 7i was rock solid. Something has changed in the 2022/23 devices and was wondering if anyone else that has a new device has experienced a similar issue.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lenovo and hope it is just a one off thing and temporary issue.

 

[maflynn]

It seems that a lot of people are commenting on devices that are older than a couple years or even a year.

No question, there seems to be something to be said about the current state of Lenovo's quality. I've had some less then positive interactions with support years ago. nothing major and no warranty work but I did reach out to them for some minor issues.

Overall my old thinkpad X1e is a tank, and like a tank, its slow - at least by 2023 standards. I reloaded windows and tried to play fallout 76 on it and it was painful. That game isn't even a modern game, but even that was not playable.

 

[c0ppo]

X1E isn't for gaming. At all.
Even newer generations with 3060/3070/3080.

X1E is simply really thin, so it can't stand prolonged gaming sessions due to heat. A fans ramp up like crazy.
I wish it weren't so, but it is

 

[maflynn]

X1E is simply really thin,

The first gen X1e is about the same thinness as my Razer and that’s a gaming pc.

 

[c0ppo]

The first gen X1e is about the same thinness as my Razer and that’s a gaming pc.

Touché

 

[furmonster]

I have roughly similar numbers of Apple and Lenovo devices. I have never had a new Apple device not be flawlessly perfect.

I have had multiple returns and even on-site maintenance visits to fairly new Thinkpads and my most recent one (E series) had a broken keyboard (failed key) on delivery. It also, infuriatingly, flattens its battery over a week or so in full shutdown (not suspend).

I agree that Thinkpads are higher quality than cheap "consumer" Lenovo devices but oddly my wife's cheap "consumer" Lenovo is still going after a decade, RAM and SSD upgraded.

I don't think they're any worse than other manufacturers kit *at a given price point*.

 

[Wizec]

I hope not. I just took delivery of my 9i 14" yesterday. So far, it's been amazing. Windows 11 on this 1260p feels a lot snappier than macOS on my M1 Air. I need to find a good place to sell my Air now.

 

[Technerd108]

I hope not. I just took delivery of my 9i 14" yesterday. So far, it's been amazing. Windows 11 on this 1260p feels a lot snappier than macOS on my M1 Air. I need to find a good place to sell my Air now.

You can try Swappa. Has been a good place for me.