T3X4S Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 I feel since I have posted so many times about the wonderful deals @ Microcenter with the $500 Carbon X1 Refurb, that I should post an update. One of the Carbon X1 I purchased for someone has come back to me - dead. After some research, I found some posts on lenovo's support pages - all with the same problem. Bad RAM. The threads dont mention it, but I have managed to figure out what it is. Basically, on the Gen2 Carbon X1, it will fall into a boot loop, with no image on the screen, some flashing lights. I took it apart, did a hard reset, of the BIOS (there is a BIOS reset button inside) and the emergency reset hole on the chassis. After several attempts, I was able to get an image back on the screen. I used a new version of memtest (man that program has changed a lot) and immediately, it started finding errors. The problem is, the RAM is soldered into the mobo. So, this laptop is toast, without a new mainboard. I am ordering the new board, because my friend's son needs this for school, and it is still cheaper than a new laptop. The board, with Core i7, 8GB RAM is $240. I feel I should mention this known issue, as I have told many people to get these. Lenovo's support pages, are a bunch of BS, all simply telling people to buy new AC adaptors, send them in to Lenovo for costly repairs, etc. Never mentioning what the problem is (of course, they just say the mobo needs to be replaced - which is true, but nobody ever says why) Also, I went on microcenter's website, and they are now selling the same exact model - now @ $600. It was good while it lasted. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odom Member Posted April 27, 2017 Member Share Posted April 27, 2017 In the related post about the Carbons, I mentioned that my experience with several throusand of them is awful. They fail a lot. I had 3 of them in one year as they kept breaking down, be it RAM ir the M.2 Sata or SSDs. Early last year I finally managed to convince the ones in charge to switch back to the T-series and we hardly have any problems with those. Plus they have the added benefit that for office work they have proper docking stations and not crappy port replicators. When the Carbon's work they are great, I like their design and portability, but for office work it was a bad decision and these models, at least in our place, have a very high failure rate. And at the price they come...... T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted April 27, 2017 Supervisor Share Posted April 27, 2017 Hello, It was no longer under warranty? Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted April 27, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 27, 2017 52 minutes ago, goretsky said: Hello, It was no longer under warranty? Regards, Aryeh Goretsky These were refurbs, Goretsky. goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 14 hours ago, Odom said: In the related post about the Carbons, I mentioned that my experience with several throusand of them is awful. They fail a lot. I had 3 of them in one year as they kept breaking down, be it RAM ir the M.2 Sata or SSDs. Early last year I finally managed to convince the ones in charge to switch back to the T-series and we hardly have any problems with those. Plus they have the added benefit that for office work they have proper docking stations and not crappy port replicators. When the Carbon's work they are great, I like their design and portability, but for office work it was a bad decision and these models, at least in our place, have a very high failure rate. And at the price they come...... Very true - @ $500 for a computer that was once $2000 - its a great deal. Chances are one wont have an issue. Of course, like you mention, when you have 1000 of them, you have see more problems. I have bought maybe 10-12 of them for people this is the 1st issue. But you are totally correct, in a professional environment, where reliability is the most important metric, there is a reason facebook, google, Oracle, and , NASA use T-series ThinkPads. 11 hours ago, goretsky said: Hello, It was no longer under warranty? Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Unfortunately, they forgot to get the extended warranty that was available for $70. If I would have reminded them, they would have done it for sure - but, it slipped their mind. (and mine) 10 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: These were refurbs, Goretsky. Exactly. It came with a 30-day warranty, then a 1 (or 2) year was $70 I think. They just forgot to do it. But I called them today, and they are fine with replacing the mobo. It will also upgrade them to a Core i7. goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 11 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: These were refurbs, Goretsky. Refurbs can still have warranties, you have 90 days of vendor support with the X1 from Microcenter. goretsky and Jim K 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Actually, there is typically no shortage in mobos for relatively new models and replacing an entire mobo is a simple operation so self-warranty is actually an option to consider. $240 for i7 mobo is nice price since although the total is more than expected, you still end up with a quality laptop. I paid $500 for a Dell XPS 9550 mobo (6700 + NVIDIA 960 chips) when I killed my mobo with some "Cursed Dr, Pepper (TM)" T3X4S and goretsky 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted April 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 28, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Circaflex said: Refurbs can still have warranties, you have 90 days of vendor support with the X1 from Microcenter. 2 hours ago, T3X4S said: Exactly. It came with a 30-day warranty, then a 1 (or 2) year was $70 I think. They just forgot to do it. T3X4S said 30-day. Think you are wrong, Circaflex... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted April 28, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted April 28, 2017 3 hours ago, T3X4S said: Exactly. It came with a 30-day warranty, then a 1 (or 2) year was $70 I think. They just forgot to do it. 30 days? Per the Micro Center website ... Vendor Warranty: Parts: 90 Days Limited Labor: 90 Days Limited Vendor Support: Main Website: www.lenovo.com/us/en/ Support Website: www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.do Support Phone #: 800-426-7378 Micro Center 15 Day Return Policy ....obviously I do not know if you're outside the 90 days. Just found it odd that you mentioned 30 days ... most refurbished products (from the manufacture...which I'm assuming Micro Center gets theirs from) have at least 90 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted April 28, 2017 Moderator Share Posted April 28, 2017 49 minutes ago, Jim K said: 30 days? Per the Micro Center website ... Vendor Warranty: Parts: 90 Days Limited Labor: 90 Days Limited Vendor Support: Main Website: www.lenovo.com/us/en/ Support Website: www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.do Support Phone #: 800-426-7378 Micro Center 15 Day Return Policy ....obviously I do not know if you're outside the 90 days. Just found it odd that you mentioned 30 days ... most refurbished products (from the manufacture...which I'm assuming Micro Center gets theirs from) have at least 90 days. Could be it was 30 back when he got a different bash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted April 28, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted April 28, 2017 11 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said: Could be it was 30 back when he got a different bash. ...or maybe he is mistaken (not saying he is)....just to double check ... which is why I brought it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 2 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: T3X4S said 30-day. Think you are wrong, Circaflex... I am quoting directly off of the Microcenter webpage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 3 hours ago, Circaflex said: I am quoting directly off of the Microcenter webpage. 4 hours ago, Jim K said: ...or maybe he is mistaken (not saying he is)....just to double check ... which is why I brought it up. 4 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: Could be it was 30 back when he got a different bash. 90 DAYS !!! Woohoo !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 I am cancelling the mobo purchase, and calling microcenter tomorrow to see where I need to send this broken piece of camel dung. Thanks everyone for bringing it to my attention... thx @Circaflex goretsky and Circaflex 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 7 hours ago, T3X4S said: I am cancelling the mobo purchase, and calling microcenter tomorrow to see where I need to send this broken piece of camel dung. Thanks everyone for bringing it to my attention... thx @Circaflex Excellent end result @T3X4S. Summer is almost here my friend, well not that it matters for either of us considering our locations, but I am excited to be playing twice a week very soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 5 hours ago, Circaflex said: Excellent end result @T3X4S. Summer is almost here my friend, well not that it matters for either of us considering our locations, but I am excited to be playing twice a week very soon! Dude !! I am so sorry - I have completely forgotten about the 3-iron I owe you - I will make that happen - my apologies. I hope you can hit it pure... I cant LOL Circaflex 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 Good news, this laptop was still under the original warranty purchased - which is apparently transferrable. So, onsite next day service was available. I filled out a form, provided the technical info, and a tech will swap the mobo on Tuesday @ my house. Thanks to everyone for having me go back and check warranty info. Not only did it save my friend $250, but it will be fixed much faster, and by someone else ! Thanks @Circaflex Furthermore, it had a small blemish on the screen, only noticeable under certain colors, I thought it might have been a stuck pixel, and tried fixing it with this site: http://www.jscreenfix.com/ (dont even know if that is bogus or not) But, looks like screen will be replaced as well - so win/win . goretsky and Circaflex 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 On 4/28/2017 at 2:41 PM, T3X4S said: Dude !! I am so sorry - I have completely forgotten about the 3-iron I owe you - I will make that happen - my apologies. I hope you can hit it pure... I cant LOL On 4/29/2017 at 7:06 PM, T3X4S said: Good news, this laptop was still under the original warranty purchased - which is apparently transferrable. So, onsite next day service was available. I filled out a form, provided the technical info, and a tech will swap the mobo on Tuesday @ my house. Thanks to everyone for having me go back and check warranty info. Not only did it save my friend $250, but it will be fixed much faster, and by someone else ! Thanks @Circaflex Furthermore, it had a small blemish on the screen, only noticeable under certain colors, I thought it might have been a stuck pixel, and tried fixing it with this site: http://www.jscreenfix.com/ (dont even know if that is bogus or not) But, looks like screen will be replaced as well - so win/win . Great outcome and don't even feel bad T3X. It is all good my friend. Super OT but, for my 30th this summer my parents are treating me to an iron fitting at the PING facility in Phoenix, I am hoping the iBlades, i200's or S55's will outperform my current gamers! I hope you're jealous Hope everything is good with you bud! T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 10 hours ago, Circaflex said: Great outcome and don't even feel bad T3X. It is all good my friend. Super OT but, for my 30th this summer my parents are treating me to an iron fitting at the PING facility in Phoenix, I am hoping the iBlades, i200's or S55's will outperform my current gamers! I hope you're jealous Hope everything is good with you bud! Super Jelly ! Getting custom fit by a pro is the best game improvement one can do. I always tell people, "its not the arrow - its the indian." But if you have an indian with skill, giving him custom arrows will make him his best. They used to have a Titleist club fitting @ our club, used to love sitting on the range all day with those guys, trying out stuff - getting free shwag Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 UPDATE: I had to cancel the tech because of conflicting appointments. So, I called Lenovo tech support to schedule to just have the parts sent to me, no need to bother a tech. After reading all of the comments about how awful Lenovo's customer service is, I was expecting the worst. However, the girl who helped was great, verified the correct parts were ordered (wanted her to verify it had the 2560x1440 touchscreen), and got a supervisor's approval to have the mobo and the LCD screen sent directly to me. Whole thing, including wait time took about 15 minutes. Parts will arrive tomorrow by 10:30am - not too shabby IMO. goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted May 2, 2017 Moderator Share Posted May 2, 2017 All those horror stories about bad customer service... They're all malcontent customers who don't know squat about tech. T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted May 3, 2017 Author Share Posted May 3, 2017 On 5/2/2017 at 0:34 PM, Mindovermaster said: All those horror stories about bad customer service... They're all malcontent customers who don't know squat about tech. I realize I have had only 1 encounter, but I have zero complaints. The parts arrived this morning, I have already swapped out the LCD, and the motherboard - and the laptop is running great - screen looks beautiful - no complaints. They sent an email asking about their customer service, I gave them a great review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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