Mark's dashboard

Okan,

I believe the sales team has followed up with you. Would you be so kind as to update the get satisfaction community on your resolution?

Thanks!

Okan,

This is a tough one. We want to be able to take price actions and offer discounts in order to be competitive, and to be able to change the options available based on availability and changes in a product roadmap while offering reasonable price protection to our customers.

I follow your logic - it's certainly worth taking another look.

Can you send me some contact details for yourself? You can reach me in our forums as Mark_Lenovo http://forums.lenovo.com

Maybe you can send me a PM there, or, if you feel comfortable, just respond with your order number here and I can look it up and contact you directly.

Best regards,

Mark

hrvoje,

Well, can you tell us a bit more? Did you buy the system direct from Lenovo, and if so, was it a refurbished system from the outlet?

If you bought from the outlet, it is possible that the warranty was not reset. If you have your proof of purchase, call support and you can fax over your proof of purchase and they can reset the warranty period.

Charles,

http://forums.lenovo.com

I would prefer that members post their questions in public to give the community a chance to respond to them as the forum is peer to peer. If a person has tried the forum or needs to get in touch with me, then they can use the private message function. PMs can be sent via the little envelope at the top of the forum, found in the header area.

On to your other questions...

1) The discussions above about XP and BIOS were a bit confusing because they were talking about IdeaPads, not ThinkPads. IdeaPads can run XP, and we have drivers for them, but they are officially supported with the Vista preloads, and many of the applications like veriface, etc are supported under Vista. IdeaPads ship with a Vista Home version rather than the business, 32,64, or ultimate versions that qualify for the XP downgrade option as part of their licenses. ThinkPads, like your W700 tend to ship with business 32,64, or Ultimate and generally qualify for an XP downgrade option you can select when you order them. I don't expect you to have any significant issues with XP on your W700.

2) I believe this is the discussion you are referencing.

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/me...

Longer discussion with more background
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/me...

3) On forums.lenovo.com, there is a specific board for the W series, and you should find members who have either W500 or W700 systems there. You may also want to check out http://forum.thinkpads.com

4) I'm primarily on the Lenovo forum and can be found as Mark_Lenovo there.

Best regards,

Mark

Michael,

I agree that your experience is unfortunate. The IdeaPads come with a Vista preload and technical support is tasked with supporting the preload environment. We recognize that some users may have their own legitimate XP licenses and wish to downgrade, so we've provided many of the drivers for XP on the support website. Unfortuneately, not all the pre-loaded applications are supported under Vista.

The BIOS shouldn't care whether Vista or XP are being used. Without seeing a screen shot of your BIOS and which fields are being marked as "Invalid", I can't really explain what has occured there. It could be that the wrong BIOS was flashed, the code was corrupt (either on our site or corrupted during download), or for some reason the flash didn't complete properly. None of these conditions would be your fault, and I would expect support to help you resolve the BIOS issues with your system, even if they are not able to provide support under XP.

In any event, if you are still stuck and want some help getting your machine back to proper working condition, please find me in our forum. http://forums.lenovo.com - you can find me as Mark_Lenovo there.

You can send me a private message, we can trade specific information as needed to arrange for your repair. I apologize for your experience thus far.

Mark

System update has been restored.

http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?...

Mieses,

You are entitled to your opinion, but I would just suggest that your opinion be held to the same standards as the one I expressed. I don't think it's fair to broadly discount the specific points of fact about the product - i.e.the inclusion of a magnesium rollcage, etc, simply by labeling my comment as marketing fluff. I work in a customer service position, I manage our forums, I interact regularly with product engineering and I hear from thousands of customers on a daily basis.

I do think the products, on whole, are equal or better than their predacessors. There are some puts and takes. IBM NEVER sold a ThinkPad in the sub thousand dollar price point. You get a lot of technology and quality for the price today. The systems weight less, have longer battery life, and perform better than their predacessors. Are there some design points available at points in time in the past which are no longer available today? Yes. But I think if we are all fair, that is the case with most things.

For example, we've gone wide screen as has most of the industry and a number of customers prefer the 4:3 ratio displays. On this point, the new machines may be judged as "not as good" as the old ones because the design went in a direction that not everyone prefers. Also on displays, IPS was a favored and oft-commented technology that is no longer available in our product line due to supplier roadmaps and likely price competitiveness.
On balance, we have some 400 nit brightness display panels available on some of our models which is twice the standard brightness spec. We have also implement LED backlighting on some models. Some technologies become obsolete, and new ones are introduced.

There are other details - stereo mix, implementation of audio on display port, stripes on all the trackpoing buttons, etc, etc as some of those "details" that you reference. We try to listen to customers who make articulate points based in fact which can be considered for present and future systems.

I'm not looking to start a pitched debate here - it's fair that we have our detractors, and those who prefer other brands.

Best regards,

Mark

ilias,

Thanks for sharing your story. Unless there was evidence of spills or tampering, I would have expected the system board (shutdown & USB) issues, and the wifi card issues to be addressed under warranty.

The screen may well be the right call - the black patches are indicative of pressure damage and the LCD liquid is leaking.

The AC adapter is a difficult call without looking at it to see where the material is missing, and how this came to happen. You mentioned having previously replaced the AC adapter several times? I would generally give the customer the benefit of the doubt unless there was a pattern of replacements or evidence that indicated abuse or some environmental issues (chew marks from family dog, etc). ; )

I would suggest you call the technical support number back - give them your prior repair case numbers and ask that they open a formal complaint on your behalf so that the system can be re-examined and independently reviewed by the customer relations team.

If you get stuck, you can find me on the lenovo forum and may send me a private message there with your contact details, case number and system type and serial number and I'll ensure your situation is reviewed.

http://forums.lenovo.com

Mark

Rsud,

Well, if you are in warranty, then simply call support. If you are out of warranty, we can try some things to check it out.

You note this happens when plugged in to AC. Does it also occur if only running off the battery? Try to see what changes in condition there are running just on battery, on AC with battery installed, and just on AC with battery removed.

Does the system fan run normally? Does is seem to run faster than normal? If the fan is running fast all the time, it could indicate dust build up. If it never runs, it could be a defective fan.

You can remove the keyboard carefully with the system off to observe the fan. There are several screws on the bottom marked with the keyboard symbol which will need to be removed. Be very careful when unplugging the keyboard from the system board as it is easy to damage the connector if one isn't careful.

With the keyboard out, inspect the fan for evidence of excessive dust build up and also check the heat sink fins on the output of the fan to be sure there is no dust build up clogging the fins.

It does sound like the thermal protection is kicking in for some reason.

Mark

Andy,

You can enter the first 4 digits of the type number from the system on this page to determine all countries were the system is service elligible under the International Warranty Coverage Program here - > http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/sit...

Upgrading the length of coverage or the type (going from depot to onsite) do not affect change what countries are covered, nor the way the coverage will be provided outside your home country.

For example, if you purchased a model in the US with a 1 year warranty and noted that it also had coverage in UK, Germany, and France where you frequently travel, then upgrading to a 3 year term would allow your system to be covered in those countries for the extended period, but would not add coverage in additional countries beyond those listed on the IWS page for your particular system model.

In addition, service will be provided by the method standard in the visited country outside your home country. So, if you upgraded to onsite, while in the US you could select either onsite or depot repair, but as you travel to other countries, repairs would be provided by local depot facilities or business partners as per the prevailing coverage method in those countries.

Mark,

Andy,

No worries - the outlet combines part of the model type and serial number into the listing and in the sales record for machines sold through that route. The system you actually receive will still have it's original 7 digit model/type numer on the bottom along with the serial number. You will be able to look them up on line as normal once you receive the system.

Mark

Eric,

I've responded to you now through private message in the forum. We don't have a part number for these 4 small rubber nubs (there are 2 sizes - the outer pair are larger in diameter and the two near the center are smaller)

Since there is no service p/n they aren't directly orderable, which is why the proceedure would be to replace the entire bezel.

I'm trying to get some sent from our supplier in a small quantity and will mail to you as soon as I receive. I realize that missing 1 out of 4 of these stops can be a detractor in your user experience and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Best regards,

Mark

Brine,

What model system is this? It is possible the audio subsystem failed and you need service. When you say you re-loaded the system, did you use the rescure & recovery function (If this is a ThinkPad), or did you use external backup CDs? Or, are you using a "clean" install of Vista or XP, in which case, have you downloaded the appropriate drivers from our support site?

Also, have you called technical support and explained the steps you have already taken? If so, did they offer to provide service, either through the repair depot or onsite, depending on which warranty you have?

Mark

Alexander,

It will be difficult to work this issue beyond a certain point here on this site.
I do appreciate your concern in your last response. What I would suggest is to escalate your case - probably to get engineering to evaluate your system and work to resolve it. You can start this process through the number I mentioned above as an escalation, or if you would like to contact me in our forum, you can find me as Mark_Lenovo, and send me a Private Message. We can exchange more of your relevant information - contact info, case numbers, etc and work this to resolution.

Mark

Alexander,

I can see how that would be frustrating...

I'll assume you have already done the following before sending in for service, but thought I would ask:

Have you updated BIOS, the power manager application, and the power management driver to the lattest level? You can find all the latest drivers at this page and check them against your installed versions. Updated versions were published to our support site in Jan '09.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/sit...

If the problem persists after these updates (if different than installed versions) I might suggest you check out the following tip that relates to some T series Thinkpads which exhibited high pitched squealing related to USB controller. While I realize you have an X61 as stated, this may still be worth exploring as a potential solution as some of the components are common.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/sit...

If you have tried these things and still have the issue, then I would suggest contact support again and having them escalate the case at 800-426-7378.

Best regards,

Mark

Eric,

Thanks for the feedback! - I've crawled through those pages today and found that there are two navigation flows there and some of the listings are downlevel or missing in one of the flows. I've apprised the responsible team, and expect that we will update this as soon as possible.

Mark

Eric,

If you have the S10e model, the support numbers are different. Try calling 800-426-7378 and choose the option for Lenovo support from the VRU.

The 877-453-6686 number is the right number for most of the consumer IdeaPad line and it is supposed to be 24 / 7. I would assume some kind of glitch in the phone switch, but we would like to investigate further to ensure we are available to all our customers. Could you share when you tried this number? (date and time?) This will help us track down the possibility of an outage.

If you have any trouble getting this issue resolved, please contact me in the company forum - http://forums.lenovo.com I'm Mark_Lenovo there.

Best regards,

Mark

Sean,

Sorry to hear that this has been your experience thus far. Can you post your case # here? I'll follow up.

Thanks for letting us know.

Mark

Yes,

Upgraded warranty packages can be purchased while the system is under warranty - this would included packages that extend the warranty to 2 years or 3 years total, and may be for Depot service, or Onsite service.

Packages that contain the ThinkPad Protection (accidental damage) coverage must be purchased within 30 days of your initial purchase (or when the system ships).

Only one upgrade package can be applied at a time, so it's good to look through the options on the Lenovo website and decide which package would be right for you.

Additionally, all these packages commence based on the purchase date, so if you buy a 2 year warranty, it means your adding a second year. If you purchased it in the 11th month of your first warranty, you would still only be adding an additional year, it wouldn't bring the total to 3 years.

Hopefully this helps!

Please consider joining the Lenovo forum to share your experiences with over 25 thousand other members (and growing). It's a great source for help from others who may have had similar experiences. http://forums.lenovo.com

Mark