How many thinkpads have you purchased recently? Multiple orders stuck for months? Granted I have only had 3 thinkpads in 8 years but I have never had any problems.
In my experience "Lenovo thinkpads are bad" is a meme that started as a prediction ("Lenovo thinkpads will be bad") and somehow kept on being trotted out on rare occasion for reasons unknown. The T and X series from Lenovo are both brilliant. The only complaint I can muster is the unfortunate trend in screen resolutions.
My T60p is a rock solid machine, and the T420 I have right now only improves on that. It is without a doubt the same machine, it has an unbelievable sense of identity, but it is better.
Just got my T430s 6 weeks after ordering. Lenovo charged and uncharged my debit card and revised their shipping estimate 5+ times. 5 days before receiving the machine, I received an email telling me that federal regulations did not permit them to continue to keep the order 'pending' and that if I did not respond and waive my rights under these regulations, they would cancel my order for me. I did not respond.
T61: Died one week out of warranty. Lenovo later did a recall and out-of-warranty repair of a design flaw, but forgot to tell us before the recall window closed.
T420: Weeks on order, canceled, resurrected, re-canceled, repeat. Took about three months for delivery.
T420: Overheated and died. Fixed under warranty.
X100e: Runs very, very hot. Expecting this to die soon.
Lesson: Get the warranty or you'll be sorry.
Another lesson: Given the cost of the warranty, there are better machines out there.
