I've more or less decided to buy a Lenovo Thinkpad R 14.1" -

Core 2 DUO T8100
160 GB 5400 RPM
2 GB PC2-5300 (2 Dimm)
14.1", DVD RW, webcam, etc
3 year warranty
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M 128MB

Primary use for this computer will be 2D graphics editing, occasional video/audio editing, the usual browsing/wordprocessing etc. with a bit more usage volume multi-tasking than the average user. Total cost comes to around $1500 CDN after tax and shipping.

The actual question: I've been burned pretty badly before in the past with a refurb Gateway and their nonexistent customer service. Doing research into Lenovo's customer service generates as many "Lenovo is a world-class first rate company" from most likely paid reviews as "Lenovo SUCKS and I HATE THE WORLD."

So: what is your opinion on Lenovo's quality, service and reputation? Anecdotes welcome.

I have a 15 inch R52 and prior to that, i had a R42, and i can honestly tell you i am disappointed with Lenovo, but hear me out: I've worked in IT and i've seen and heard many a horror stories about Toshiba, HP, Apple, and Dell(to name the major ones). If there is some end all be all solution the "which laptop is the best?" I would have found it by now. There is no perfect laptop, Apple spews lies that people believe about their relability(look on any mac forums if you dont believe me). Toshiba fans sound like jet engines and then fail..causing thermal damage. Sony...well sony has the lowest failure rate(according to consumer reports), but their customer service/tech support/warranty are some of the worst in the industry. Dell repairs everything they break(generally, if you can get a hold of them).

I am never buying a lenovo again, but here's why i will still recommend you do... They will never fail on you in the ways that all the other brands can. Thinkpads are constructed out of excellent material and even if something does go wrong(which on a laptop, it inevitably may) your computer will still be running and operational, but performance, battery, and overheating may vary... in terms of what may go wrong(but it wont ever die on you like many other laptop brands).

If you are doing 2D graphics work, i suggest a Dell Latitude or Thinkpad, but i would wait until July 15-August for the new montevina chips, the quadro 140 is in fact based on GeForce 8-series...which are faulty chips(NVidia released a message to stockholders about it). So i would avoid them.

Also for just 2D work, you may not need anything but an integrated GPU, intel will be releasing the GMA x4500HD and x4500 which should be sufficient for low level editing such as photoshop. (my Radeon x300 is fine for it as was may radeon 7500 before it)