NEC lays off 20,000, leaving LCD business

[rdtx2002]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339890,00.asp

thats too bad.. they made good LCDs

[nx6288]

WHYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

[Oversized Rooster]

And so...one of the last good sources for IPS panels walked off into the sunset...

[Siefer999]

maybe they will sell off their lcd division and another reputable company will pick it up

[Oversized Rooster]

maybe they will sell off their lcd division and another reputable company will pick it up

I sure hope that doesn't go the way that IBM sold Lenovo to some Chinese company. Never been the same since then of course...

[Frankie3s]

maybe they will sell off their lcd division and another reputable company will pick it up

Exactly. Someone out there will want it.

[Frankie3s]

I sure hope that doesn't go the way that IBM sold Lenovo to some Chinese company. Never been the same since then of course...

Ah so true. I still have two original IBM built notebooks and they just won't die.

[xpat]

I sure hope that doesn't go the way that IBM sold Lenovo to some Chinese company. Never been the same since then of course...

Ah so true. I still have two original IBM built notebooks and they just won't die.

I have two Lenovo computers from before they bought IBM, one when they were still known as Legend, and a new Thinkpad. All equally good computers.

It's a shame NEC is pulling out, they built some of my fav LCDs.

[Jon Lai]

I sure hope that doesn't go the way that IBM sold Lenovo to some Chinese company. Never been the same since then of course...

To be honest they're not that bad. We have 4 Thinkpads - 3 IBM and 1 Lenovo. The IBMs sure "feel" better than the newer ones but I would still recommend the current Thinkpads to others for the same purpose that the IBM Thinkpads served. There are things here and there that were compensated, but generally speaking I think it still lives to the Thinkpad name.

[KorruptioN]

And so...one of the last good sources for IPS panels walked off into the sunset...

[Oversized Rooster]

To be honest they're not that bad. We have 4 Thinkpads - 3 IBM and 1 Lenovo. The IBMs sure "feel" better than the newer ones but I would still recommend the current Thinkpads to others for the same purpose that the IBM Thinkpads served. There are things here and there that were compensated, but generally speaking I think it still lives to the Thinkpad name.

As long as Lenovo still rides their models on the initial IBM designs, quality, durability and reliability will be alright. Once Lenovo starts spitting out entirely new (from scratch) laptop models, this is when you'll see it go downhill. What I mean by downhill is that those laptops will come down to the level of mainstream machines and lose that "Thinkpad" feeling.

The majority of current Lenovo models are still just "improved" IBM designs.

[JAC]

The majority of current Lenovo models are still just "improved" IBM designs.

If by "improved", you mean reduced quality to cut costs, then yes, you are correct.

[Jon Lai]

If by "improved", you mean reduced quality to cut costs, then yes, you are correct.

To be fair they were improved. Correct me if I'm wrong, but IBM never released widescreen laptops - widescreen Thinkpads appeared after Lenovo took them over.

Of course costs were cut here and there, such as keyboard flex is now apparent (albeit very minimal) in current Thinkpads compared to previously.

[Jon Lai]

As long as Lenovo still rides their models on the initial IBM designs, quality, durability and reliability will be alright. Once Lenovo starts spitting out entirely new (from scratch) laptop models, this is when you'll see it go downhill. What I mean by downhill is that those laptops will come down to the level of mainstream machines and lose that "Thinkpad" feeling.

The majority of current Lenovo models are still just "improved" IBM designs.

I wasn't aware you were referring to the non-Thinkpad Lenovo laptops, because I don't think those are out in the Canadian markets anyways. I've seen friends with an IdeaPad, however. I haven't even touched it but it looked like a Dell to me.

I doubt they'll drop the Thinkpad line though, because the takeover from IBM was basically for the Thinkpads. For them to even manipulate the engineering behind Thinkpads would probably put their investments in the brand into thin air.

[Gee]

To be fair they were improved. Correct me if I'm wrong, but IBM never released widescreen laptops - widescreen Thinkpads appeared after Lenovo took them over.

Of course costs were cut here and there, such as keyboard flex is now apparent (albeit very minimal) in current Thinkpads compared to previously.

IBM would never have released a Wide Screen ThinkPad.

It is actually cheaper to buy a wide screen compared to standard ones. That is why Lenovo did it. To cut down the cost of the glass.

They have also close the premium gap on the ThinkPad line compared to traditional notebooks. They can only do that by cutting costs. I think the ThinkPads are still the best notebooks out there. But only the T and X series. Everything else is crap.

Even the current generation T and X Series are not as well built as the IBM ones.