Are Lenovo laptops durable?

[Rickyyy369]

Im going to be picking up a new laptop soon and I want to get one with some decent build quality, but something that isnt too expensive. I came across this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-G505s-1...531973&sr=1-41

Its got some pretty decent specs for a $500 laptop. 6GB of memory, 1TB HDD, the CPU might not win any awards but it will be fine for the basic stuff I do with it. And the integrated graphics should give an extra punch for some light gaming.

What im really concerned about is build quality though. The last cheapo laptop I bought was a Toshiba Satellite and the chassis cracked in multiple places within a year.

Id really like this one to last me a while so can anyone who has ever owned a Lenovo product, preferably in the same series that this laptop is in, speak to the build quality? The surface appears to be brushed aluminum which would be great, I know everything else is plastic though. Im not expecting ultrabook quality here because I know thats not available with my budget. I just want something solid.

 

[gorcorps]

Yes, but not that one

That said, at your price point I wouldn't consider "durable" to be there with any brand

 

[Rickyyy369]

Yes, but not that one

That said, at your price point I wouldn't consider "durable" to be there with any brand

Why that one in particular?

 

[nehalem256]

http://outlet.lenovo.com/

Lenovo outlet is your friend. You can pick up a refurb thinkpad cheap. Awesome build quality.

Got a Thinkpad T410 refurb for $416 2.5 years ago. Still going strong :thumbsup:

 

[corkyg]

Thinkpads are very reliable. My personal example: A couple of years ago, I was flying out of Charlottesville, VA, and somehow, during the security inspection, when I retrieved my Thinkpad, it slipped from my grasp and fell about 3 feet to the concrete floor. Whoa! That was really a caca pasa moment. I picked it up, put it in the travel case, and gathered my stuff. I went immediately to a waiting area and pulled out the Thinkpad. I opened it, no visible damage anywhere. I then turned it on and it booted right up. Whew! Thank God for those soft rubber rails that embrace the HDD. It is still running to this day.

 

[Rickyyy369]

Thinkpads are very reliable. My personal example: A couple of years ago, I was flying out of Charlottesville, VA, and somehow, during the security inspection, when I retrieved my Thinkpad, it slipped from my grasp and fell about 3 feet to the concrete floor. Whoa! That was really a caca pasa moment. I picked it up, put it in the travel case, and gathered my stuff. I went immediately to a waiting area and pulled out the Thinkpad. I opened it, no visible damage anywhere. I then turned it on and it booted right up. Whew! Thank God for those soft rubber rails that embrace the HDD. It is still running to this day.

Thats awesome! Thinkpads sound like a good investment.

 

[pcgeek11]

The Thinkpad lines are awesome. The consumer grades are just that. They are fine for a cheap notebook, but if you want reliable go Thinkpad.

 

[Lanyap]

As with most laptops these days, the business models like Thinkpad, Probook, Latitude, etc.from the various manufacturers are good but basic consumer models are a big YMMV and generally only last a few years of normal use. The manufacturers are really cutting costs on the basic consumer models and it shows.

 

[Zodiark1593]

If you really want a strong laptop (and you have cash), you may want to go with a purpose-built rugged laptop. The ones I've seen don't run any sort of active cooling, instead, using the rather thick aluminum exterior as a heat sink. With an SSD, I'm sure those things can survive a drop or ten.

However, to achieve passive cooling, (guesswork here) I'd wager performance to be rather limited, and I doubt there's much in the way of dGPUs, so they're not exactly gaming machines.

 

[Rickyyy369]

As with most laptops these days, the business models like Thinkpad, Probook, Latitude, etc.from the various manufacturers are good but basic consumer models are a big YMMV and generally only last a few years of normal use. The manufacturers are really cutting costs on the basic consumer models and it shows.

Yeah I can tell. The laptop I have right now costs me about $300, which is pretty decent considering it came with a 2.3ghz i3 2350 (dual w/hyperthreading), 4GB ram and a 320GB HDD.

But the hard drive died on me suddenly after only 6 months, and the edge of the chassis cracked a couple months ago just from regular opening and closing. Its never been dropped any distance or stepped on.

I think I need to stop being a cheap bastard and throw a little bit more money at this if I want to get a decent machine.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Yeah I can tell. The laptop I have right now costs me about $300, which is pretty decent considering it came with a 2.3ghz i3 2350 (dual w/hyperthreading), 4GB ram and a 320GB HDD.

But the hard drive died on me suddenly after only 6 months, and the edge of the chassis cracked a couple months ago just from regular opening and closing. Its never been dropped any distance or stepped on.

I think I need to stop being a cheap bastard and throw a little bit more money at this if I want to get a decent machine.

The budget class is pretty hit-and-miss, especially going into the absolute bargain-bin. You get some winners sometimes though, my $800 HP Dv7 has lasted me about 3 years now, even with the abuse (gaming, 3d rendering, video encoding, etc) I put to it.

 

[ph2000]

i have the 405s version with A8 processor
quite nice for the price
but a bit hot on heavy load since it's a slim version and dual graphics
the cooler just not enough

 

[taq8ojh]

While the only experience with Lenovo I have is Thinkpad L530 (which is awesome, btw) I bought for my mother, I am not afraid to say any Lenovo beats HP hands down. I had to deal with Elitebooks for almost a year on almost daily basis, and I'd never touch that brand again. The build quality is just sh... and so is everything else about it

 

[RobS10]

My philosophy is to stretch your budget a little if you can and get something fast, durable, and nicer to use, and keep it for a while before upgrading. They extra money you'll have spent will be forgotten in a year or so.

If you have access to Dell's Business side, take a look at the Latitude E5530s. They won't have a dedicated GPU, but they're built pretty solidly from mostly metal. If you want a dedicated GPU and even more solid build, look at the Latitude E6530, though in may blow your budget to get the configuration you want.

 

[unokitty]

http://outlet.lenovo.com/

Lenovo outlet is your friend. You can pick up a refurb thinkpad cheap. Awesome build quality.

Got a Thinkpad T410 refurb for $416 2.5 years ago. Still going strong :thumbsup:

I've carried my Thinkpad X200 daily for several years. It has never let me down. Though, I can't comment on the consumer grade Lenovos.

As nehalem has said, outlet is your friend.

Uno

 

[mikeymikec]

The only niggle I have with Lenovo is their customer service. I had to send one back recently for a reason not related to the disk at all, and they told me that they would wipe the disk regardless "because they have to test it" (*facepalm*).

 

[corkyg]

The only niggle I have with Lenovo is their customer service. I had to send one back recently for a reason not related to the disk at all, and they told me that they would wipe the disk regardless "because they have to test it" (*facepalm*).

That's a good point. I always change drives after receipt. Now, I replace the HDD with SSD. I then put the original HDD away, and should I need to send it in (so far, no) I would send it with the original drive which they are welcome to wipe.

 

[alien42]

i bought a T61 Thinkpad around Christmas 2007 which has served me well for almost six years. i did have to replace the CPU fan a year or two ago and the battery kicked it a couple of years ago. it was around $1k which was pricey but well worth it considering that's around $15 a month over its lifetime.

in need of a replacement, i just took advantage of Lenovo's recent 20% off sale a couple of days ago and ordered a Thinkpad X1 Carbon TS for around $1250. i wouldn't hesitate to recommend Thinkpads to anyone.

 

[holden j caufield]

I have used every kind of laptop from the thinkpad, probook, elitebook, latitude, precision, toshiba tecra.

The only two that really stand out are the thinkpad and tecra.

And not the e thinkpad, you want a t or w series. I still have a t21 still running and a t61p used everyday since 2008 (note avoid the nvidia gpu before 08/08 date, though this is not lenovo's fault it's nvidia's faulty manufacturing). I use the t61p everyday and it is my choice on trips. Even though I've have a w520, w530, tecra m11 a11, Probook 8570b, Samsung Chronos series 7 all with newer quad core to choose from the t61p wins out. Ridiculously sturdy and the wuxga put it over the top. There is a middleton bios hack that speeds it up and removes the whitelist for parts also for this model.

 

[gorcorps]

Why that one in particular?

http://outlet.lenovo.com/

Lenovo outlet is your friend. You can pick up a refurb thinkpad cheap. Awesome build quality.

Got a Thinkpad T410 refurb for $416 2.5 years ago. Still going strong :thumbsup:

Sorry OP, was on my phone and couldn't go into details. The one you linked is not part of their Thinkpad line, and like others mention that's where the better quality is on Lenovo's side. The outlet is also a very good source for cheaper prices on such things.

 

[paul878]

The only niggle I have with Lenovo is their customer service. I had to send one back recently for a reason not related to the disk at all, and they told me that they would wipe the disk regardless "because they have to test it" (*facepalm*).

Take out the HD before you send it in, they don't need it to fix your laptop's hardware issues.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

My last two laptops have been used Thinkpads. An T60 and an X200s. They're still going strong despite being manufactured in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

Even buying new, if you find a decent promo you can get the latest T-series for $600-700.

 

[Rickyyy369]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I still have a week or two to make my decision but all this high speak of the Thinkpad line has really pretty much sealed the deal for me.

 

[crashtech]

You can get a used T520 (Sandy Bridge) in your price range. I found a T510 to replace my T60p for $200 and put a $100 SSD in it. I think it's the nicest $300 laptop anyone could ask for, aside from the low-end integrated graphics. The T420 and T520 are the last Thinkpads to have the traditional keyboard, which I happen to like.

 

[dstevod]

I have an x220 - my first Thinkpad. It's streets ahead of previous laptops, Sony Z and Dell Precision. Next machine will be a Thinkpad.

That's a good point. I always change drives after receipt. Now, I replace the HDD with SSD. I then put the original HDD away, and should I need to send it in (so far, no) I would send it with the original drive which they are welcome to wipe.

^superb advice.

S