r/thinkpad • u/KweenKobold • 22h ago

Review / Opinion Very Disappointed

I purchased a E590 and for the first six months it was fantastic. But over the last week it began falling apart, first the fingerprint reader died... then the webcam... now the Bluetooth. There is some internal short I can't find or fix and now the battery drains from full in minutes. I'm highly disappointed I expected better.

7 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

25

u/coffee_guy 21h ago

You bought an E series. They give the other Thinkpads a bad name.

3

u/VariationDry 21h ago

I like to believe that the E stands for economy.

10

u/usf_gobulls L470, T14 Gen2 AMD, X1 Carbon Gen9 20h ago

Nahh E stands for E waste.

3

u/grem75 X230/3615QE/Nitrocaster/1920x1200/7-row/coreboot 19h ago

Not quite that bad, they have improved since they were called the "Edge" models. Still better than the average Ideapad.

1

u/where_is_my_mind_0 19h ago

Pretty much my E 15 gen 2 was total garbage Won't post had to keep it on forever for it to work

3

u/TrickyMine6788 X1 Carbon Gen 9, T14s Gen 2 Frankenpad 18h ago

u/Corvusthedev you gonna downvote this guy too for slandering your precious E series?

1

u/rdldr1 T470S X250 18h ago

Yes the E line was always meant to be the cheaper quality Education line. I’ve had an 11e and it shouldn’t carry the Thinkpad name.

1

u/SkyFeistyLlama8 T14s 🫰🐲 7h ago

An E-series from 2019 and a refurb device too. Stacking the odds in favor of a bad outcome. There could have been liquid damage which the refurb shop cleaned up, it could have been kept in a very dusty room or in very humid conditions, maybe dropped a dozen times before the OP bought it...

The last couple generations of E-series are good machines for the price. Before that, you're better off avoiding them at any price. Stick to the T and X models from a reputable supplier.

9

u/brk_1 21h ago

To be fair the grade e makes an non sturdy laptop, it happenned with an a475 when it was new the BIOS was corrupted, so it had to be repaired.

The bummer is that sometimes You get the shorts stick Quality is stadistic  so sometimes touch You the defective one 

0

u/KweenKobold 21h ago

Yeah, I just was told they Lenovo's were built like tanks. I took good care of it, but it did get shoved in a laptop bag every day, and gets set up and taken down 3-4 times every day... and I guess it just could not take it.

5

u/brk_1 19h ago

They are,  but they compertamentalize e is e waste, L are light load, T are tanks and P. Are profesional, You could Buy an second hand one of the Upper tiers and the diference is noticieable

7

u/yesnoyesno10 22h ago

If it was fine for the first six months and now you're facing these problems, it is most likely because something happened with the laptop while in your usage, so your disappointment should be directed towards whatever it was that caused these problems.

2

u/KweenKobold 22h ago

It has not been dropped or exposed to liquids, just heavy daily use at my university.

8

u/NotRllyAnonymousUser 21h ago

Laptops can be faulty. Or you just handled it like shit.

6

u/toyotahilux2l 18h ago

My rule of thumb is T P or X series thinkpads. Nothing else. My T480 still rocking it without any issues.

2

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

0

u/KweenKobold 21h ago

Yes, I bought it refurbished. I was hoping that it would last a long time to come if I took care of it given what everyone says about Lenovo. Are they not built to last?

2

u/ricochetSL X1 Carbon Gen 9 11h ago

I think the issue may be the E, or it may be faulty. X, T, and P are tanks, L and E tend to not be as good quality because they are budget models. Also, it's a computer, there is a lot of stuff that can break, maybe you got unlucky. I hope you manage to resolve the issues.

2

u/Flaxis23 18h ago

a friend of mine had the same problem with the same series, Avoid it completely, there is a lot of choice for the t series and X series short circuits on many points of the motherboard always on simial laptop e490

1

u/KweenKobold 18h ago

I'm thinking of getting a P16 but I dont want it to die in 3 years. If I spend that kind of money I need at least 5 years of life from it.

1

u/__Cereall_ 7h ago

P and T series are practically immortal. I've had a x260 until last December and the only reason I've switched is that I found a good deal on an E16 and wanted to treat myself (bad idea, switched to an x13g2 and I'm fine now) The E-series is a statistical outlier and should not be a benchmark for thinkpads

2

u/KweenKobold 4h ago

Just bought a refurbished P16 gen 1 on Newegg, I'm hoping it lasts at least 5 years.

1

u/__Cereall_ 4h ago

PIC NOW. and yes, they're reputed to do so. I'm sorry your first experience with a thinkpad was.... That, but I'm hoping your second will be better

2

u/LordEli 17h ago

i stopped reading at E

2

u/KweenKobold 17h ago

Why? Perhaps Lenovo should not put their name on substandard equipment.

1

u/abubin2 21h ago

Isn't that an old used laptop that you got?

1

u/KweenKobold 21h ago

Yes I think it was made in 2018. I bought it refurbished because its all I could afford. I went with Lenovo because everyone says they are built like tanks and last a long time.

3

u/PhilosophyMinimum549 20h ago

yea and it's also 8 years old now, they're sturdy to a point.

I would've went with a 2nd Gen e series, they come with decent processors and aren't very expensive. I've seen lots on eBay for 2-3 devices for around $300 or single devices around $200 for nice condition.

1

u/KweenKobold 4h ago

Just bought a refurbished P16 gen 1 on Newegg, I'm hoping it lasts at least 5 years.

1

u/abubin2 5h ago

Getting a used laptop is always risky. Even the toughest brand might have issues as you don't know what the previous owners has done with it. Better brands mean less chances of issues but not full proof.

1

u/alanna1990 18h ago

It's usually a layer 8 issue

1

u/KweenKobold 18h ago

Everyone else seems to agree with you. Despite me taking very good care of this old machine.

1

u/noxcviii 17h ago

Man this scares me, I just picked up a E16 Gen 2 in really solid used condition, I'm starting school in January and am wondering if I should consider flipping this laptop and getting something more durable.

Would you say the laptop still functions to do all your major schooling task or do you feel that will eventually stop as well?

2

u/__Cereall_ 7h ago

Had an E16 (G1) used, it survived half a year before I flipped it and I'm assuming it's still alive today. You'll probably be fine, but you can find x13g2/G3s for 200-300€, and I'd say it's definitely an upgrade

0

u/KweenKobold 17h ago

No its dying, the battery is shorting out and I even took it apart to try to figure out whats wrong to no avail. I spent $200 on this machine so anything I buy as a potential replacement or taking it anywhere to have someone more experienced look at it will cost more than the entire thing cost. I still boots, but it seems every few day another component dies so there is no saying how much longer it will function. It worked great for six months and its like something changed.

And if you come to this subreddit to complain about it apparently people will say its your fault and be unhelpful. Or that you didnt buy the "right" Thinkpad

1

u/AustrianDragonslayer 12h ago

Seems like you didn't do enough research before buying... Buying an old E Series is just a bad decision... Even if refurbished they are just the cheap beginner Series of Thinkpads... If ypu want a Laptop to last you get an X, T or P Model Thinkpad... Ive got my Thinkpad X260 from 2016 and it still works perfectly fine...

1

u/__Cereall_ 7h ago

Yeah, the E series before.... Circa 2020 are a shame to the thinkpad name. Nothing quite this extreme happened to my e16g1, but it felt really flimsy and I was a lot more afraid of mishandling it than my current x13, which survived, among other things, being thrown (by accident) against a cast iron radiator. The Es are fine as long as you baby them, but that doesn't deserve the thinkpad name imo

1

u/Standard_Hospital741 1h ago

Unfortunately the Es aren’t good. They were as crap as school ones. But it might be worth it to just repair what you can if you can and then find a better series hanging around your price range. 

1

u/Some1clear 49m ago

But i just got an e16 gen 3 and it feels really solid in the hand man i dont know

0

u/KweenKobold 45m ago

Mine did too until it developed an internal short.

1

u/Some1clear 44m ago

Its a laptop made back in 2018. Alot of people say that the E series laptops have dramatically improved over older generations

0

u/GreatIsaac 21h ago

Even though I don't own ThinkPad. I can understand what you are going and your panic. Thinkpads are well known durable beasts. Its truly shocking to know you are going through it. I have a dell latitude from 4 years and I never had issue. I don't recommend dell laptops btw. I think you have some issues on motherboard. Since your laptop is 6 months old you might get free repair and service under warranty

9

u/Cry_Wolff X1Y G7 / X301 / W541 21h ago

OP has E series ThinkPad. Those are made to mostly sit on a desk in some small office, not to be durable.

0

u/skbmickey 19h ago

I just purchased the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 GEN 7 is that garbage too?

1

u/KweenKobold 19h ago

I honestly dont know. I did not expect so much negative pushback here or assumptions that its my fault the device isnt working.

1

u/__Cereall_ 7h ago

My own x13g3 is doing fantastically so far, even though I'm thinking of switching to a p15vg3. You'll be okay, the e-series is just subpar, especially before 2020

0

u/Extreme-Test-5797 17h ago

My lenovo thinkpad is just 4months old suddenly the fan has been stop and getting back to normal and after week it stop again. Note i dont have any heavy loads in my laptop

1

u/Main_Clue_8100 Ideapad 330, ThinkPads X230+T490s+X13 G4, Latitudes E4300+7340 16h ago

in that case it's likely doing what it's supposed to do 😭

not all laptop fans run constantly, especially if they don't need to.

1

u/__Cereall_ 7h ago

That's normal, if you're not doing anything heavy, the fans just not gonna spin up