X Series Tablet ThinkPad Laptops

[#1]

Folks,

Same problem here, a Lenovo battery with FRU: 93P5032 and ASM: 42T5209 also made by Sanyo.-

Same symptoms, Power Manager says "please replace...", blinking led, the works after what must be less than 35/40 cycles (cannot tell exactly, was Power Management is non-functional, but that was the ballpark figure...

This IS obviously a quality problem, or can we reasonable expect a 1 or 1 1/2 year battery to suddenly go defective and leave users stranded?

Needless to say, apart from the obvious issues having to do with diminished portability, BIOS updates (such as the necessary ones to support Wiindows 7 - Win 7 become impossible without a working battery...

This FRU -should- be included in the recall, and should be replaced...

... lest people start considering that Lenovo has really dropped the ball in terms of quality versus the good 'ol IBM Thinkpad series.-

I cannot recommend Lenovo  as freely as I have in the past, unless it steps up to the plate and starts living up to the value one would expect from a major player, with otherwise superb products.-

I am of course willing to provide moderators a S/N for the machine (a refurb. X61 Tablet) should anybody from Lenovo want to help out...

It is not as much an issue with the battery per-se (one would be relatively inexpensive, given how it extends the total life of the device, and even inexpensive "no-brand" batteries are available) ...

... but more of an issue of trust, and of having thought of the X60 line as a reliable "work tank" that could take a beating and keep on ticking.-

Rather disappointing...

[#2]

Exactly the same problem here. The sudden death happened on 10/31/2009.  Lenovo battery with FRU: 93P5032 and ASM: 42T5209.  Purchased in 2007 and warranty run out.  The battery is charged at 45% and cannot charge or discharge. Called Customer Service and cannot help since I run a linux system and cannot even use their battery meter. This is obviously a quality problem of battery since batter is supposed to be eventually dying and not suddenly died out. Also, I suspect this is very likely a problem of the imcompatability of the battery charging circuit and the battery condition. I really demand Lenovo to look into this and give everyone who are affected here an equitable solution. 

[#3]

Three days ago, my X61 Tablet's 93P5032 became hit with the same symptoms (flashing orange battery light, no charge/discharge at 94%).

I also run Linux, and wasted a huge amount of time to reinstall Windows onto another disk just to install the diagnosis utilities. I get "Unknown Error" when trying to run Lenovo's recall eligibility tool (under Windows 7).

Screenshot of the symptoms in Lenovo's Power Manager: My dead Lenovo X61 tablet battery

[#4]

I have a Lenovo x61 tablet and I have (had) the same battery" FRU 93P5032.

I am a professor at a university, and my university convinced me to get a 4 year warranty on the machine, which brought the total cost to about $2500.

About 5 weeks back, a day after giving me 3 hours 15 min of life, the battery died.The tablet was about 2 years old at that point.

I was patient at first and even asked a replacement to be ordered. After a long wait, I received a replacement yesterday.

Guess what? That battery does not even fit.

Today I am realizing that this is a fairly common problem and I am outraged that Lenovo has chosen to not recall/replace these batteries.

It appears that all I can do is to tell my colleagues and students about this episode. Fortunately, at least they are willing to listen to me. After explaining the problem to my colleague, I have stopped him from spending $3000 on a lenovo laptop. He is now looking at Dell, HP and Sony for alternatives. If Lenovo does not address this issue more directly, I have no alternative but to continue to tell this to everyone who'd care to listen.

After all, many buyers are willing to spend so much on a Lenovo only because of the reliability. I don't see the point of paying 2-3 times the price of a basic laptop if even catastrophic failures are not rectified by the company.

Disappointed,

- University Professor.

[#5]

KarthikR--I feel your pain. I bought a Lenovo based on my previous experience with "IBM" laptops. My wife has a IBM ThinkPad T41 that is still going strong even though it is more than 4 years old. That thing is built like a tank.

My experience with Lenovo however is so horrible that I have started telling my friends and the IT department at work about it. I had the battery problem with my X61 tablet. My brother has an IdeaPad Y550 and its hinge broke after 14 months. Again, a common problem if you google it. Now his laptop has gone completely dead and we suspect it is the video card or the motherboard.

Based on all these experiences, I cannot recommend Lenovo any more. I've had better experience with HP and Dell, whose laptops cost half as much.

[#6]

I had a IBM Thinkpad that I (a)used for nearly 6 years. Then I bought two Lenovo laptops in 07/08

Batteries in both laptops have stopped working. 

Lenovo is going down hill. 

[#7]

Something is defiantly going on, I had the exact same issue, full life battery life, turned it on and BAM blinking battery light.

I also had 3 T61's (Different Battery)  had there batteries go bad & replaced in the same 3 week period.

None of these systems flagged anything with the recall tool.  

Note from Moderator:  A comment which violated the forum rules was removed.

[#8]

I was the first in line to buy these x60t tablets when they launched and I paid for the 3-year onsite warranty.

I also own two batteries which were affected by recall; FRU 42T5251

I understand, and appreciate, that Lenovo replaced these failing batteries. I have always had outstanding service from Lenovo.

However, both of my batteries failed within a week of each other in early October with the "battery cannot be charged" error. The amber battery light blinks and the machine works fine on AC Power.

When I first called support about this problem there were apparently unaware of the issue because they sent a field tech to replace my system board. The tech was professional and the repair went smoothly but it didn't correct the problem.

So here I am stuck with failed batteries. 

I understand that I will need to pay out of pocket to replace them; ok, whatever, I missed the deadline... from what I understand the deadline was extended for some machines including the x60t. 

But is there anything else I can do here? The new battery FRU 93P5032 is $213.

I want this laptop to work, do I just need to bite the bullet and hand over the cash?

Is there any way I can be included in the recall? Is there any way to get a discount on replacements for these recalled parts?

My software is all updated (with the exception of the BIOS, which will not update without a new battery)

Thank for any advice you can give.

[#9]

Additionally, it's interesting to see this FRU is failing as well.

When I spoke with Lenovo today they told me that FRU 93P5032 was the current replacement part for my FRU 42T5251. If the new FRU is having problems, then perhaps I should be concerned about buying it. My machine is under warranty, but of course my batteries are not. I wonder if I should buy some sort of extended battery warranty...

I'll try PM'ing the admin who posted in the thread about it.

Again, I've historically had nothing but great experiences with Lenovo. They are a class act; but this battery issue is sort of a slap in the face

EDIT:

Interestingly, this page shows additional recalls. It's slightly confusing to have different battery FRU's strewn over various pages:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-67765.html

Of course, this data is no long applicable after September 1 2009... so a month late

[#10]

AFAIK Lenovo does not offer extended warranties on batteries. I'm not aware of any companies that do.

HP has 3-yr warranties on their new Long Life batteries, which I believe is the longest in the industry, but that's it.

I bought a replacement Lenovo battery for my failed battery because I needed it immediately (I really fail to see how going from 2/3 battery life remaining to ZERO is considered normal!?), but assured, I'm never buying another Lenovo battery again. For the price difference, I could have bought a non-genuine battery, have it risk failing within a year as many typically do and bought a new one, and still saved money overall!

After this incident there's absolutely no indication that Lenovo batteries are any better than third party ones, especially since Lenovo is not even willing to stand by them when they clearly have defects.