[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by carboy

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ml#post3171031

And I am pretty sure Lenovo support is outsourced to either Wipro or HCL. I had talked to them during my issue, but I don't remember which of the 2 it was, right now.

Terribly sorry to hear that! A Thinkpad owner would have definitely expected more from their services knowing they had to shell out a lot for the laptop. Not that the other users deserve any less!

Customer support in India with many such establishments and e-commerce portals have been a mixed bag. Sometimes the support exceeded their expectations and sometimes it has been pathetic.

Sending you a PM about the recent Dell experiences, couple of our forum members had to face. Do not want to derail the thread!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by carboy

Been more than a year. So you probably know better.



My experience with Lenovo in the last 6 months - it's pathetic.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ml#post3171031

And I am pretty sure Lenovo support is outsourced to either Wipro or HCL. I had talked to them during my issue, but I don't remember which of the 2 it was, right now.

Well at least in Metros where IBM had its service centre Thinkpad service is excellent, but it is a walk in and not onsite.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Well at least in Metros where IBM had its service centre Thinkpad service is excellent, but it is a walk in and not onsite.

Thinkpad is Lenovo - I don't think IBM is involved any more. And I am in a Metro called Bombay :-) All my experiences happened there. There are many Lenovo service centers here and they aren't very good both onsite and walkin. First of all, Lenovo databases had the wrong Pin code for the center nearest to my house. So kept directing my call to a center which is far off. The center far off didn't take up the case because they knew they weren't the nearest to my house. This was after the case was 2 weeks old - the part took 2 weeks to arrive & then this confusion started. That's the reason I struggled for a week more on the phone. Finally after 3 weeks, I walked in to the center and they also took a week to get the motherboard & then took 8 hours to replace. They had told me that it will take 2 hours to replace & hence I waited around the place - and every time they said it will take an hour more. First because technicians went on lunch break, then there was namaz, then tea break. Finally got it late in the evening. A whole day got screwed. And the service center knew that their Pin code was wrongly listed in the Lenovo databases. They said they were trying to get Lenovo to change it for quite some time. They also asked for my help to get it changed with Lenovo - they said the customer care people may take the matter more seriously if it comes from a customer.

Another thing is during the 1 month & I got hold as my customer care email ids they have and complained to each of them - the complaints were largely ignored.

And just a month back, a colleague of mine had a hard disk issue with a 6 month old Thinkpad. It took 10 days for Lenovo to fix the issue.

As I said, my next laptop (business or personal) will be a Dell.

[drsingh]

Are there any "bad quality " laptops being made now? The internals CPU /Chipset/ram/hard disk is all similar. Only difference seems to be more rugged hinges/chassis/ports on "pro models " like thinkpad.

The "bad laptops I've seen are hcl with poor hinges and plastic quality.

The only thing to look out for seems to be service and RMA. I've seen that optical drives invariably fail on every laptop these days.

I preferred dell when I bought my laptop 5 years ago mainly because their chassis /build quality /service was excellent and price differences were down to difference in CPU/ram/graphics etc. and not cutting on hinges/chassis/casing.

But now there is so much competition and market has grown bigger, it just comes down to the best service available at your place..

[shinuak]

My lenovo ideapad touch laptop developed a snag in the first month of buying. The telephone support was excellent but the folks from the service center was not very responsive will not come as promised. The support was an onsite one per my warranty and that is with TATA. I got email from Lenovo support saying the part has been dispatched to the center , but finally it took over a month for them to turn up and replace the faulty part and that too after numerous emails and phone calls. I even mailed the Lenovo md finally , but dint see a response from him. This was below expectation and was not a good experience from Lenovo. Will think twice in future before buying a Lenovo product.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by gsurya

I also ordered a Dell Latitude 6530 this week to replace my HP 6730b which was lousy.. hinges broke, keyboard came apart.. plus rubbish service in India.

I had a Compaq-HP with a hinge that 'jammed' and eventually broke on the inside so the screen would no longer stay up. This was shortly after the warranty expired. Then, another Compaq-HP had a power connector go bad, again after the warranty expired. During the warranty, I had the hinges tightened and battery replaced on both laptops.

On the other hand, I had 2 Thinkpads and neither of them needed any repairs or replacements.

Originally Posted by drsingh

Are there any "bad quality " laptops being made now?

The quality probably depends on the handling of components during manufacture, but you are right - it's the casing that really matters in most cases. In many of the cheaper HP laptops, the case feels very delicate.

The true 'rugged' laptops are quite expensive and are sold by Panasonic, Dell, and Getac, among others. These too are not indestructible - I've seen a Panasonic Toughbook missing a part of the case after a drop onto concrete, but at least it was still working.

Originally Posted by shinuak

My lenovo ideapad touch laptop developed a snag in the first month of buying. This was below expectation and was not a good experience from Lenovo.

The poor customer service in India is quite common for most laptop brands. The most common issue is with parts being unavailable even during the warranty period.

[Aroy]

I have only experienced by laptops from HP. Apart from that all the problems I have seen are attributable to users - dropped, drenched, sat on etc.

[sheetumanu]

Friends,

Anyone having any idea on Asus performance and after sales service?

I just fell in love with their Vivobook and really want to buy one. I also liked acer aspire but have heard horrible stories about acer service.

[khoj]

Taking a cue from the Melody advert.

"Asus Lao Khud Jaan Jao"

And adding to it

"Baad Mein Hummey Bhi Batao"

Originally Posted by sheetumanu

Friends,

Anyone having any idea on Asus performance and after sales service?

I just fell in love with their Vivobook and really want to buy one. I also liked acer aspire but have heard horrible stories about acer service.

[ashis89]

I have had a wonderful experience with a Thinkpad. Have been using it for the last 6+ yrs and felt it to be rugged. I broke a hinge once and the 1st battery lasted 1.5 yrs due to my ignorance. The 2nd original battery is 3.5 yrs old and still gives a backup of 3-4 hrs. Apart from this nothing has gone bad, touchwood. It was a bit slow when using graphic application (no graphics card). I have got a Vaio for myself. The Thinkpad still does duty at home. I wanted another Thinkpad but it isn't available easily in my city.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by ashis89

I have had a wonderful experience with a Thinkpad. Have been using it for the last 6+ yrs and felt it to be rugged. I broke a hinge once. I wanted another Thinkpad but it isn't available easily in my city.

I have a Thinkpad from 2006 too. Is yours the Thinkpad T60? How did the hinge break? My Thinkpads are the only ones that have been going and going and going for over half a decade while the others that I've had barely lasted 2 years. The Thinkpad is no longer available at retail stores, but you can order them from Lenovo dealers and they would be more than happy to deliver a unit to you. Lenovo still sells to corporate customers - I saw a whole lot of Thinkpads used by employees at a bank.

Thinkpads aren't truly rugged, but have a quality build. Having said that, even some rugged laptops have the case break off from falling onto concrete so Thinkpads have a balance between ruggedness and price.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by sheetumanu

I just fell in love with their Vivobook and really want to buy one. I also liked acer aspire but have heard horrible stories about acer service.

I like the Asus ultrabooks too, and can't decide between Toshiba's U-series and Asus' Vivobook.

Acer is an economy brand and they manage to undercut everyone else on price. The dealer warranty is probably something you may be able to check (i.e. you take it to the store if there's a problem, and they fix it for you or deal with Acer on your behalf). Or, get a discount for a unit without warranty or insurance and just call it a write-off if something fails.

Note: Sorry, I just realized I made 2 back-to-back posts and I can't delete this one. Mods, can you please merge this with my previous post?

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

I have a Thinkpad from 2006 too. Is yours the Thinkpad T60? How did the hinge break? My Thinkpads are the only ones that have been going .....

I have a R60 model with a Centrino Duo processor, 1 GB RAM and 120 HDD. Even I have dropped my laptop a couple of times and nothing happened. The hinge broke when my sister was using it so i don't know how it broke.

Even I was under the impression that Thinkpads are available for corporate purchase. My previous organisation gave Thinkpad to all the employees. I didn't try procuring it as I was skeptical about the service when laptop is not getting sold on a regular basis.

[Aroy]

Thinkpads are there on the Lenovo site. http://shopap.lenovo.com/in/en/laptops/thinkpad/

You can either buy them online or as in my case I just go to Nehru Place in Delhi and get it.

[sheetumanu]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

I like the Asus ultrabooks too, and can't decide between Toshiba's U-series and Asus' Vivobook.

Acer is an economy brand and they manage to undercut everyone else on price. The dealer warranty is probably something you may be able to check (i.e. you take it to the store if there's a problem, and they fix it for you or deal with Acer on your behalf). Or, get a discount for a unit without warranty or insurance and just call it a write-off if something fails.

True about Acer; the acer guy here said that the they take up the service issues with acer directly in case required. I am, however, still skeptical.

Do let me know what you end up choosing between Toshiba and Asus.