READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY A THINKPAD A SERIES!
Written: Nov 02 '01
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Pros: best laptop keyboard, bright display
Cons: very mediocre build quality
The Bottom Line: Avoid all ThinkPad A series models (A20, A21, A22). An excellent keyboard and very good performance do not make up for a flimsy, problem-prone case.
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| roncron's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad A20 2629 (262962U) PC Notebook |
I purchased a ThinkPad A series laptop a year ago. (It's an A21m, which I couldn't find on Epinions.com, I could only find the A20, but the entire A series shares the same case & build, just different innards.)
I have had serious problems with the build quality and with IBM's service department.
The RJ11 jack holds the plug from the phone line just a wee little bit loosely. So, if the phone line moves at all while I'm online, the connection is lost. This doesn't happen much when you're sitting at a desk, but it happens a LOT when you're jacked into an airport payphone.
The hinge assembly on the right side started coming undone, which caused these problems:
1) pc-cards could not be inserted into their slots, as their slots are on the right side of the
unit very close to the hinge
2) the display got slightly out of alignment with the body of the laptop, so when I closed the
display, it didn't quite line up perfectly with the body. At first, this misalignment was so small
(a couple millimeters) that I didn't notice it. But when I closed the display one day, one of the
hooks (on top of the display that hold the display closed) broke off because it wasn't aligned with
the place on the body where it normally hooks into. As the days went on, the hinge came looser
and the display got more and more out of alignment with the body.
I called IBM's 800 number for warranty service. They promised me that they would fix these
problems at their expense and overnight the laptop back to me, so I'd only be without it
for five days, seven at most.
They had the laptop for 2 weeks. Starting on Day 5, I called them every day to find out
when they'd get it back to me, and they had no idea.
Also, they decided that these problems were due to customer abuse, went ahead and fixed them
without my consent, and tried to charge me $380. If I didn't agree to pay, they were going to
"undo" the repairs (!!!!!) and return the unit to me at my expense.
But I'm EXTREMELY careful with my laptops! I've owned four, all by different manufacturers (Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, and now the IBM) and have NEVER damaged any, nor had any such problems. I debated with them and eventually got them to drop the charges. But they never admitted that it was faulty build quality, they still held to their position that it was customer abuse, but they were going to "do me a favor" by covering the charges for me. Hrrmmph!!
When I got the unit back, it seemed fine (though not quite perfect). But now, about two
months later, the RJ11 jack (the NEW one that they installed to replace the faulty one) is having the same problem as the old one did, and the alignment of the display to the body, while not nearly as bad as before, is not quite perfect.
In other respects, it's a fine computer: the celebrated ThinkPad keyboard really is the best I've ever used on a laptop. The display is excellent (though, in the past couple of years, the display quality of Dells and other makers has improved, so you should expect an excellent display no matter what brand you buy). The processor and ram and hard drive are all very good. It only has one USB port, I'd prefer two, but that's a minor quibble.
ThinkPads usually cost a couple hundred more than similarly configured laptops from other companies. If I didn't have the problems described above, I would say it's well worth the extra money. But I've never owned nor used a laptop that was as flimsy as my ThinkPad A series laptop.
It's possible I just had bad luck, and that you won't. But it wouldn't surprise me if the A series (all models of which share the same case) are prone to such problems. So I would encourage you to stay away from the A series.
I suspect that the reliability of other ThinkPad series (T, X, etc.) is much better. But just be careful before you fork out the big bucks! A year ago, I paid $2500, and now I'm stuck with a problem-prone ThinkPad.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 701-800
Screen Size: 15
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
roncron
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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