You may have seen the commercials for Lenovo. Who are they? Should I consider their PC products (Laptops and Desktops)?
Lenovo is a Worldwide Olympic Partner and the ”Official Computing Equipment provider” for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. They are publicly traded (in the US - ADR's/OTC): (http://www.otcbb.com/asp/Info_Center.asp?symbol=LNVGY). The stock has outperformed IBM by a factor of 2 since 2006 Lenovo purchased the IBM desktop and Laptop business in 2005 for $1.27 billion. Last annual (2007-8) reported sales for the company was $16.4 billion USD.
So how are the Lenovo laptops? They are VERY GOOD. The current offerings are a mix of 2 brands; the ThinkPad (for the business market) and the IdeaPad (for home and home/office). BUT, the interesting fact that I learned in the course of my research for this post is that the vast majority of their laptops are assembled by OEM laptop manufactures! Well, HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, and Toshiba, and Asus also outsource assembly.
The majority of LCD screens are made by 5 OEM companies). CPU's are made by two CPU suppliers (Intel and AMD). The "chipsets" are made by Intel, AMD (bought ATI), NVIDIA and VIA. NVIDIA and VIA are leaving the chipset market. As a result there will be 2 chipset component manufactures.
If most laptops are assembled in the same assembly plants, with the same CPU's, chipsets, and LCD screens, running mostly Vista as an operating system what can we base a buying decision on?
Here are some ideas on how to make a “rational” Laptop buying decision:
* "Google" for specific reviews for the Brand / model you are considering.
* Check the specifications: Each seller puts creates their own specifications for the final product to be assembled, each have unique internal and external designs, so product specifications are very important.
* What is the warranty (Buy your laptop from Costco and you get a 2 year warranty rather than the usual 1 year usually at the same or lower price than the manufactures site.) Take a look at the forums that some manufactures have. What is the tone of the forum, what is the nature of problems reported?
* Bundled software: Laptop manufactures include bundled software such as Microsoft Works in the laptops. Do you need the bundled software, if not don't consider if a factor in your decision.
* Finally look at the diagnostic software included. Does it make sense to you? Could you use it if you needed it? Some manufactures just include a link to their web site, not a real help if you have a problem that prevents you from accessing the Internet.
ALL of the above aside, product reviews as well, most of us will make the buying decision based on non-technical issues of look, feel, color, and brand familiarity.
My thoughts are that you won’t be disappointed by purchasing a HP (not the "HP Compact" brand), or a Lenovo laptop.
Sorry to incur the wrath of the Dell and Apple fans. Sales of Apple laptops and desktops are soaring as a result of the move to Intel based processors (lower retail price) and the ability to boot both the Apple operating system and Windows (more software available). Apple, in the past, was a very expensive choice, and less software was available for the Apple operating system in the marketplace. I have used several Dells and found them all disappointing in some way. To be fair there is an army of loyal customers in the market place for both Dell and Apple.
Enjoy your new laptop!
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