Moving away from Dell. Lenovo?

[PaulPierce8]

Morning all,

 

We've been a partner with Dell for the last 10 years or so, and through the most part it has been a fairly successful partnership. We have spent over 1.3m in the last 3 years alone with them across our Trust for our latest device refresh, however within the last 18 months their support has completely vanished and their education team seems to have been dismantled to a point where we feel stranded. Our account manager has been AWOL for 7 weeks, and escalations are all talk no action.

 

Past behind, we're quite keen to explore what experience people have had working directly with Lenovo, including account manager support, and also their experience with on-site support (reliability and knowledge).

 

Many thanks

[Aprice]

We've not been all that impressed with Lenovo lately, longevity wise they just don't seem to be lasting all that well.

[Jawloms]

Never worked with them directly, just always never liked them but didn't know why. A few years ago we wanted to buy 130 laptops in one go. We went with Lenovo because the only reason not to was my personal, unjustifiable opinion of them. When the numbers are coming out that they are the best value, personal opinion goes to the side.

 

Worst decision ever. Garbage devices, very poor build quality, especially on the hinges, and we were in touch with their support team regularly for five months immediately after purchase as we had Wi-Fi issues with them. The first four months was us being totally ignored by them.

[Rob_D]

We always buy (and get support) through MSPs so I can't speak to rep and vendor support.

 

However, we've also found Lenovo don't stand up to the school environment as well as Dell or HP. And I've been told anecdotally by suppliers we aren't the only school that avoids them.

[Norphy]

I prefer Dell to the other tier 1s. Their support website is better, getting drivers and BIOS updates is easier. Driver support is better. Their tooling is better. Their integration into packages like SCCM and Intune via the Dell Command suite is better. Their automated driver update tools are better.

 

There has been talk about moving to Lenovo and Thinkpads, but my team and I are very resistant to it. Thinkpad hardware is good but the support... nah.

[Millgate_Jon]

Hi

 

I`ve got a lot of experience putting all different vendors into all different kinds of learning environments and over time, you do spot trends.

It wont be useful at all to hear this but one of those trends is very much........"get what you pay for"

There are exceptions of course but as a rule if a device costs more, it`s for a reason, not just because that vendor is inherently priced higher than equivalent competition.

Whether it`s a thicker stronger chassis, reinforced sockets, spill proofing etc, there is a always something to account for a higher price.

 

That said, there is a specific brand that is performing beyond expectations in the student device space.

 

A lot of my clients are very satisfied with them, particularly the after care.

Some of those clients also use the built in accidental damage which is helpful too (not mandatory though)

Usually we can arrange on site demo and trial devices if thats helpful?

Special bids available for volume purchasing.

 

Happy to help - Happy to discuss further if you wish

 

:-)

[PotNoodleTech]

No offence but Dell Hardware and Driver support is better than Lenovo in all areas. As far as the hardware goes, it would be a backwards step for your trust in my opinion.

 

If your moving because of support your gonna be needing to use Lenovo support a heck of a lot more so you'd better make darn sure the grass is greener the other side of the fence (I am not convinced it is).

 

If your moving because of lack of account management / purchase discounts etc then I totally understand that, I stopped buying direct from dell years ago for those types of reasons, as it wasn't worth while and in the end it was easier for me to just order from BT Business or Millgate etc - but I am afraid most tier 1 companies are shafting their education departments and getting rid of education discounts so not sure the grass is gonna be greener for you anywhere else.

 

I've just noticed you appear to be relying heavily on these manufacturers for daily support as in actual engineer visits to schools etc? Your totally at the mercy of their whims and decisions good or bad in that case. I would strongly suggest looking at building up your own team to do more technical repairs - it's easy when you learn how - we repair all in house from servers to chromebooks minimal cost maximum speed no extra warranty needed or yearly support charges.

 

just my 2p!

Edited June 5, 2024 by PotNoodleTech

[Chris_Cook]

Also not that impressed by Lenovo in recent years. There stuff used to be solid, but we've had a higher failure rate on last years chromebooks and the year before.

 

We've moved to Asus this year for student chromebooks and they seem a bit better. Screen breakages are a bit higher than I'd like though.

[RobD]

The company I work for (none educatrion) went from Dell to Lenovo and we've really regretted it, we're not happy with the spec and build quality. We're moving back to Dell shortly.

[MrEprise]

I've noticed Lenovo moving more and more towards soldered-in RAM with no upgrade route if you've bought Windows-based devices with not enough RAM (much like Apple) whereas the likes of Dell & HP still have devices with at least 1 slot, something else to factor in.

[johnfermor]

Was quite an advocate of Lenovo until recently.

 

Reported a damaged laptop screen to them within the guarantee period as there was a couple of lines stretched from left to right. Lenovo refused to repair it siting "damage to the bezel"; there was no damage whatsoever. I sent close-up photos of the device and pointed out that there was clearly no damage but they wouldn't budge.

 

When I explained that the laptop also had 1 year accidental damage cover and it was covered, they replaced the screen.

 

I expressed my dissatisfaction with their original assessment and was told "It all depends from damage to damage we would consult with out managers before making a final decision." They made it quite clear that they were not going to cover it under the normal guarantee and that was the end of it.

 

This behaviour really worries me as they weren't even prepared to discuss it's repair without the accidental damage cover.

 

I get it. Physical damage, drops, scrapes, etc aren't normally covered but this had no physical damage at all - the panel was faulty and they would have done nothing to honour their guarantee.

Edited June 5, 2024 by johnfermor

[PotNoodleTech]

Lenovo refused to repair it siting "damage to the bezel"; there was no damage whatsoever.

 

Welcome to the modern age.

[synaesthesia]

I've found recent Lenovo products and service quite awful, to the point we are have just replaced 60 fully supported (yet bargain basement end) Lenovo laptops with HP Probooks. Worth every penny. The lenovos were the chinesium grade V15 series, but the higher end T series don't seem to be fairing much better these days. I've never seen laptops where the screws just wander out themselves leaving a trail that would lead Hansel and Gretel all the way back to Shenzen.

[mikes]

Had loads of smashed LCD's on the gen3/gen4 100e chromebooks, they are cheap but the older gen1/gen2 are much more robust. Prob replaced 10 smashed panels in the last few months which is more than I had to replace on the gen1/2 in 4+ years

[Squelch]

I bought Lenovo V15's during the lock-down madness, I can't say they've been particularly bad however I agree about the self removing screws and poor Wi-Fi driver support for the first few months. Would I buy Lenovo in bulk again? Nope. They give me the ick for reasons I can't explain.

 

I'm just about to buy HP ProBooks again, they have been rock solid and end up being worth the price you pay, particularly if you take advantage of the cash back promotions.

[MatthewL]

We have used Dell for years but moved to Lenovo some time back, the support is shocking. Our hand had been forced and in a good way and we have moved back to Dell. Having used Dell for nearly 20 years I cannot fault them.

 

The Lenovo kit was ok but support was shocking and the quality poor in places but would use them at home and do recommend them as they are slightly cheaper at times but Dell for corporate all the way.

[PotNoodleTech]

Wow I am quite surprised so many people have learned the same as me I thought I was just a grumpy old moaner! :D

[Squelch]

You may be right, I too am a grumpy old moaner.

[Cat_Jam148]

I feel like I'm going against the grain here but I've had the exact opposite experience.

 

Primarily a Lenovo house here, haven't really ever had any issues with the support. All cases raised have been dealt with, and repair work has been good.

 

I can't fault the machines either. We run a fleet of ThinkPads and desktops, they've always been great. Drivers are easy to get a hold of, and I find the Lenovo update software straight forward enough. Staff like the machines, they feel premium and the build quality is good for the price point.

 

Now Dell...we made the decision to branch out and run Dell a few years back. I regretted every second that those machines were in the wild. Battery life was poor, build quality was questionable (Broken hinges, power connectors detaching from the motherboards, etc...). Support cases were unnecessarily convoluted and frankly useless at times. I did like the driver support, and technical docs available, but nothing which blew me away compared to Lenovo.

 

Just my two cents.

[synaesthesia]

Wow I am quite surprised so many people have learned the same as me I thought I was just a grumpy old moaner! :D

 

That's the thing - those of us at a certain "vintage" remember what Thinkpad's used to be. If a member of staff run over one with their Citreon 2CV, they'd need to replace their suspension. You could play cricket with them with real cricket balls, and they would still be intact. They could even be used by teachers and held by the edge of the screen whilst being swung in the direction of an errant pupil, and wouldn't have a scratch. Plus the excellent keyboards and trackpads miles better than anything else.

 

What we have now, even the higher end stuff is a Temu approximation of what they used to be.

[Chris_Cook]

There's certainly worse companies to deal with. Some I'd rather bang my head against the wall repeatedly than ever have to call them again.

 

These are big companies, so they probably all have some decent account managers and technicians and some not so. But the last 2 lenovo onsite repair guys didn't know how to reset the Serial number on the mainboard on a chromebook.

 

There's a video somewhere of someone actually trying to run over a lenovo thinkpad. It didn't go well for the laptop. Theres a satisfying 'Crack' sound and the silence of disappointment in themselves. I do like the way they do the drainage holes on the keyboards.

 

We've still got some T420's kicking around that would work fine if they were fast enough and supported W11. Dell, Lenovo and HP kit from a decade or 2 ago refused to die. Some of it these days, your lucky if it works when you get it out of the box.

Edited June 7, 2024 by Chris_Cook

[Dos_Box]

After reading through this thread, I do have to ask if anyone is using HP anymore? They used to be one of the top three, but in recent years there has been a decided lack of talk about them as a laptop (and desktop) provider on here I feel.

[midweek]

We use HP (Scottish Procurement Framework so pricing is pretty good). Elitebooks and Elitedesks mostly. Solid kit and support has been good.

[synaesthesia]

After reading through this thread, I do have to ask if anyone is using HP anymore? They used to be one of the top three, but in recent years there has been a decided lack of talk about them as a laptop (and desktop) provider on here I feel.

 

We've just replaced ours with Probook 445's. Lovely devices, and don't have the ruddy awful Iris graphics chipsets some of the Latitudes seem to have been lumbered with which cause issues with any HDMI cable not purchased from Harrods on a silver platter.

Sturdy, nice to look at and use.

[psydii]

Lenovo ThinkPad is not the same as "Lenovo", except when it is.

 

The V range is low-end value for small business who don't yet need/realize the benefits of the 'enterprise' firmware/driver support. A few years ago they were physical reasonable, just below the lower end HP ProBook, in my opinion.

The ThinkPad range is where quality has definitely been a bit variable recently. Their value-enterprise range (L Series) is definitely at the lower-edge of reliability/robustness in the hands of teachers, and a fleet wouldn't last 18 months with students.

Interestingly the E series (which is below enterprise-grade in terms of software/driver support) has proved somewhat more physically robust that the L Series.

We had a few T series, all of which developed faults due to inadequate chassis strength.

 

The non-Thinkpad 11e/11w N100 / 13 series devices - aimed at K12 only are the sweet spot for us. Incredibly reliable and quite robust - but we don't have kids taking them home in school bags.. so my opinion might be different if we did. These units also seem to have all the benefits that are supposed to come with the ThinkPad brand, but without the price.

 

Dell dropped me in a hole in 2009 with a complete lemon of a product, which consumed 80% of the budget over 5 years. They would literally have to give me a fleet before I'd consider them again.

 

HP, fine no issues, but no recent experience. Looked promising with their unified new EUFI firmware back in 2016 or so.