Lenovo is terrible

As someone who works in the technology field, I'm going to shed some light on some of the terrible tactics used by some computer companies (in this case Lenovo) in order to get you to spend more money than you should.

Lenovo is a company that bought out IBM's personal computer department. That means that if you get an IBM Thinkpad, or Netvista computer it's coming from Lenovo now. While the majority of the time you'll never experience what I'm about to tell you, it's good that you know so you won't be as shocked as I was.

When I have to purchase computers, the first thing that I look for is the manufacturer's warranty. Most computer companies offer a one or three year warranty. Of course with the three year warranty you will pay a bit more for the same computer, but it's better to go this route. When your purchasing computers, the best thing to ask about any warranty is "What does this cover".

I say this because I purchased a computer about a year ago with a three year warranty. As it turns out the battery on this computer went bad. It's not that the battery worn itself out as I've had other older computers still work with their existing batteries. The actual battery just died out for no apparent reason.

So the first thing I do is check the status on the warranty. The computer is still in warranty till the year 2010. I call Lenovo tech support to get the battery replaced and the guy on the other line tells me that the battery is out of warranty. I tell the guy, "I think you're wrong. I just checked the status of the warranty online and it's valid till the year 2010". The guy then proceeds to tell me that the computer is in warranty till 2010, but the battery has it's own warranty.

You can imagine the look on my face at this point as I try to have this person explain to me how the battery is not part of the computer. The tech then tells me that the battery is considered a "wear and tear" component and thus not part of the hardware. I ask the tech if the hard drive, keyboard, and LCD display don't incur wear and tear, because they often have to be replaced and are always covered under the warranty. The dummy of course had no answer.

As it turns out, your computer is broken up into pieces that the warranty can differentiate when it comes time to get them fixed or replaced. It seems like the hard drive which also experiences "wear and tear" can be covered by warranties but not a battery which you would figure is one of the most essential pieces to a laptop computer.

The lesson in all this folks: Don't ever buy from Lenovo. Before Lenovo purchased IBM's laptop and desktop department's I'd say IBM was great. Now I would recommend you either get an HP or any other brand and make sure you check on that warranty before you buy.