Why you should get a Lenovo/IBM

[esun]

I spent much of yesterday re-installing Windows on my IBM T43, which I purchased almost two years ago. The reason is my Seagate hard drive, 160GB, died, so I sent it out for RMA and stuck in my original 40GB drive (which was being used as an external for some time).

I formatted, re-installed, was loading on a bunch of software when suddenly it froze pretty hard. I had to hard reset it, and upon booting Windows I had corrupted system files. I grew suspicious since this was a fresh install, and since I'd just made a boot CD with a hard drive test on it (Seagate's Seatools), I decided to test this hard drive too. Sure enough, it failed the drive tests (also failed Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test, which I used to double-check).

So I filled out a form on IBM's website requesting service. I explained the problem as follows:

HARD DRIVE FAILS TO PASS SEAGATE'S SEATOOLS TESTS. TESTED AFTER IT SHOWED CORRUPTED SYSTEM FILES, AROUSING MY SUSPICION. I BELIEVE IT IS DEFECTIVE.

That was about 10PM last night. I got a call about 10AM today from IBM tech support. They confirmed that I had this problem, and told me they'd send me a new hard drive tomorrow. So tomorrow morning I should have a working hard drive replacement at my door (plus recovery CDs). I don't think any other notebook manufacturer would do that for a non-corporate customer.

No getting put on hold for 30 minutes, no fighting with tech support to convince them there actually is a problem.

 

[happyhelper]

Dell has done this for me in the past, but I've heard their legendary customer support has decreased as their sales have increased.

 

[AmigaMan]

was the laptop still under warranty? Dell replaced the LCD of my Inspiron 9200 a year out of warranty. To be fair, it was a recall, and I did have to jump through a couple tech support people. But it was replaced and only out of my hands for less than a week.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: happyhelper
Dell has done this for me in the past, but I've heard their legendary customer support has decreased as their sales have increased.

Sales are not too good either. Dell has a serious problem. Don't look for better customer support.

Dell

Let's get the topic back on track - Lenovo/IBM. I just received a new T60 Thinkpad, and the only disappointment is crappy manuals and no recover CD. They put all that in a EISA hidden partition on the HDD. So - if the HDD fails, what good is that?

 

[esun]

If you want recovery CDs, just give 'em a call.

 

[corkyg]

Actually, I don't need any - I have duplicated the HDD using an adapter and the Ultrabay, and it works perfectly. I have put a "reserve" HDD away - ready for any emergency.

 

[Mattster]

Actually, you can make your own set of recovery media. Look for the Create Rescue Media option in your start menu ...... 🙂 No need to pay for discs from them or bother ghosting ....

Matt

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: happyhelper
Dell has done this for me in the past, but I've heard their legendary customer support has decreased as their sales have increased.

Sales are not too good either. Dell has a serious problem. Don't look for better customer support.

Dell

Let's get the topic back on track - Lenovo/IBM. I just received a new T60 Thinkpad, and the only disappointment is crappy manuals and no recover CD. They put all that in a EISA hidden partition on the HDD. So - if the HDD fails, what good is that?

Start > Programs > ThinkVantage........ You will find a utility to create your very own recovery media. Hard isn't it? 😛

 

[esun]

Didn't know that. But nonetheless IBM should send you them for free, so if you don't have CDs around you can still call 'em.

 

[coolVariable]

I just got a Lenovo but sofar they yet have to impress me. their Customer Support is lacking and l find it unbelievable how complicated they are if your new purchase is defective on arrival.
Essentially had of bay a new laptop while waiting for them to credit back The original laptop purchase. that should people do that don't have $2000 just sitting there?


Dell is much better!

Also just ordered a new Dell and received if essentially next day!

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: WackyDan
Start > Programs > ThinkVantage........ You will find a utility to create your very own recovery media. Hard isn't it? 😛

I did better than that! I got the Ultrabay adapter and put a second HDD in it, same as the main drive. Then I booted with a flash memory device created by Acronis TrueImage 10.4942, and cloned the main drive to the Ultaray bay HDD. When done (13 minutes!) I powered down, removed the Ultrabay adapter, put the DVD back in, and replaced the original HDD with the duplicate. The T60 booted and I now have a pair of identical good HDDs. That is far better than a backup and restore operation.

It includes all software, programs, drivers, etc., and is ready to go. It only takes about 3 minutes to swap HDDs.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
I just got a Lenovo but sofar they yet have to impress me. their Customer Support is lacking and l find it unbelievable how complicated they are if your new purchase is defective on arrival.
Essentially had of bay a new laptop while waiting for them to credit back The original laptop purchase. that should people do that don't have $2000 just sitting there?

It's funny you should mention that - I bought a defective T60 from Lenovo about six months ago and they were unbelievably bad to deal with. The technical support was rude, ignorant, and completely unhelpful. Honestly I wasn't blown away by the machine itself either, particularly given what it cost.

 

[zig3695]

i liked the t40 but they are flimsy. well they dont seem like it but they have numerous problems with minor flexing causing havoc.