Your Take On The Great Lenovo FHD Display Debacle?

[archer6]

I'm so sick of waiting for Lenovo to get their act together and bring back the 15.6” FHD 1920 x 1080 display.

For what seemed like the shortest time ever, they were originally offered when one was configuring their new CTO T510 and W510 ThinkPad orders. I know, as I have this very display on my W510.

Now... as I'm sure nearly everyone knows, we have not seen this choice in many, many weeks.

I called Lenovo _again_ today, spoke to a trusted source, only to hear the same refrain. We "should" have them in about a month, but nothing is certain. NO KIDDING! I've been hearing "in about a month" for far too long.

Why is it, that I can order nearly every other good brand of laptop with this display?
Or even better... a 15.4" 16:10, 1680 x 1050.

Lenovo (in my eyes) is sliding back into the realm of a love / hate relationship. Hello Lenovo? Anyone home?

I'm inviting others to check in here with their opinions. I'd love to hear what YOU Think?

Cheers...

[GrandMasterKhan]

Because the mass consumer notebook manufacturers like Acer have hoarded all screens. Their is a supply/demand imbalance and unfortunately the big orders win out. If Ford needed tires versus Porsche, who do you think would get priority on a rush order? You will get your screen as desired. Be patient.

[archer6]

It's not about getting an single ThinkPad or patience. It's an observation of the way Lenovo has chosen to operate. While there is a certain shortage from time to time, only Lenovo has been unable to offer the FHD displays in the 15.6" size for such an extended period of time. Now going on four long months, a recent call to them was met with the same worn out response. "We have no idea of when they will be available". An unthinkable way for a company of their size to operate. It's as though they simply don't care. One thing is for certain, they're losing sales, and customers in the process.

[RealBlackStuff]

How about contacting Mark_Lenovo on the Lenovo forum?
Hi is usually capable of getting things going!

[archer6]

Here's the latest on the FHD displays for T510 and W510 ThinkPads.

I spoke with Lenovo today and they are estimating a late July delivery of these displays. They said that once they have received these, the option will be put back on the configuration pages of those two models.

I remain a bit taken aback that it's taking them this long to procure these, but perhaps it's a price issue with Lenovo. Who knows? Other manufacturers are not having this problem.

I can only guess, as they are very tight lipped and do not seem to be the least bit concerned that FHD is "not on the menu" so to speak. They are so casual about this, one is left with the feeling that business is so good they don't care to compete in this model sector.

[NClens]

I'm completely guessing, but I can only imagine that over time the Chinese management team is gaining more and more control over the Thinkpad group. Lenovo "classic" has a history of making below average electronic goods for the Chinese market, and I assume their old school local managers don't really care about FHD or other higher end components since there are a billion potential customers on their home turf. HP is building better laptops all the time, so it's not really going to take long for them to surpass Lenovo in the upper-end market in non-China if Lenovo keeps sleeping.

[infinus]

Thanks for the update.

So correct me if I'm wrong but do any other vendors have a FHD in 15.6" that's also wide color gamut that's currently available?

I believe Lenovo's mistake was not offering a standard FHD panel for those that just want the resolution but don't need the wide color gamut. That seems to be the panel type that most other vendors have available currently.

[pianowizard]

HP is building better laptops all the time

Nope, HP makes the worst laptops. See these recent large-scale surveys:

http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871 ... 801,00.asp

http://www.electronista.com/articles/09 ... 4th.place/

[archer6]

Thanks for the update.

So correct me if I'm wrong but do any other vendors have a FHD in 15.6" that's also wide color gamut that's currently available?

I believe Lenovo's mistake was not offering a standard FHD panel for those that just want the resolution but don't need the wide color gamut. That seems to be the panel type that most other vendors have available currently.

Yes, the wide color gamut was available from HP and Dell, at the same time that Lenovo offered it for the T and W510's. Because I was watching the Lenovo site a few times each day, I was lucky enough to get the FHD wide color gamut (non-touch screen) display on my W510. Mine arrived on Jan 19th, 2010, little did I know it would end up being such a rare model.

A few days later my best friend saw mine and decided to buy one. Upon going to the Lenovo site, they were already gone. I haven't see them since. In the mean time he bought an HP with the identical display to mine. HP had them for at least 8 weeks straight before they ran out. Now they are offering the FHD (sans the wide color gamut) which is what I think Lenovo should do. They've got to be losing a lot of sales, as I alone know many people that would buy one if they could. In fact there was a very long period of time when Lenovo couldn't even offer the HD+ display. This is the worst I've seen it at Lenovo.

They seem to be focused on cheap consumer "IdeaPads" based on all the new models they have been introducing. They appear to be taking the entire line "down market" a move that makes me cringe. At this rate they'll be in the local WalMart by the end of the year.

[NClens]

The PC Mag survey is laughable. I hardly consider a sample size of 75 for Asus really sufficient to give them a ranking. Asus must buy a lot of advertising. I don't have a HP laptop, but their specs certainly seem to be getting better over time. As for reliability, I don't know but HP's Elitebook machines supposedly are built better than their consumer laptops. Lenovo must be losing mucho business on the higher end. What kind of person buys something like a 15-inch W510 with a 1366x768 screen?

[carmstrong86]

I have been waiting for this option to be available for 4+ months now (since late January)! I find it hard to believe that a supply issue has caused this long of a wait and yet every other manufacturer is able to supply them with a week or less lead time? I realize Dell and HP are bigger than Lenovo but does that equate to 4+ months of waiting? I dont think so. It is ridiculous for a manufacturer to release a product and not have a Plan B (or Plan C) for where the components will be coming from? It is bad business practice and shows a lack of competency on Lenovo's part (I got this lecture from my boss when he asked why i hadn't ordered new laptops yet). I have called sales once a month since February and get the same response every time "some time next month". This not only keeps customers unfairly waiting, (i would have ordered elitebooks sooner had i known Lenovo never planned on getting their act together) but it makes sales look like fools because they say the same useless statement every time. I just spoke with a sales rep today and i get the impression they will never have this option again, he didnt even give the "one month" line, but rather said he had no info whatsoever on the status of these monitors. If you are in the same position as i was, do yourself a favor and buy Dell or HP. You may be waiting for an option that isn't coming back.

[san40k]

Looks like the FHD option is back on ordering page, the question remains when it's going to be delivered

[GrandMasterKhan]

Braddah TPs are a niche product line. Kind of like a Porsche instead of Audi. If you want a mass product then go Sony Vaio. BTW HP I have owned only for two weeks. So called "business" netbook had bent keyboard frame and a memory door which would not open.

[infinus]

I ordered a FHD T series when it reappeared a couple weeks ago and just got shipping notification today! Can't wait!