I have an R60, my wife has an R61, and many of my clients are using fairly recent R and T series ThinkPads.
Yes, there has been a little bit of reduction in quality, especially in QC; I've seen more lemons than I used to when IBM made them, or so it seems. And customer service and support has gotten somewhat worse, although everyone I have ever spoken to is 100% American, for whatever that is worth.
So - episodically, my experience over the past 18 months has been that most of them are just fine, but if you get a lemon, you are better off getting the thing replaced if you can get it sorted out within the 30 day limit, than sending it off for repair or refurbishment. I had to send one R60 back THREE times, although it has worked fine since the last repair, about 14 months ago.
All that said, I'll still take a ThinkPad over a Dell or HP - in my experience they have become even cheesier, with rotten design and manufacture.
Discussion on:
Message 14 of 1
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
