A change is coming - next chapter in e-support at Lenovo [ Edited ]

[Mark_Lenovo Former Administrator]

For those that have been with us as customers for a number of years, you may recall that several years ago we had multiple e-support sites; one for Think products and one for Idea products.   In 2011, we consolidated the content from those different sites into a new website with a consistent design  that you know today as support.lenovo.com

While that was a step forward in simplifying the customer experience, we wanted to provide an e-support site that was faster and easier to use, and would work well with our growing portfolio of products - smart phones, tablets, and of course, PCs.

So, in April of 2013, we began planning the transition to a new web platform and launched it for our mobile products in September 30, 2013.  The new site was mobilesupport.lenovo.com   In December, we implemented a responsive design for the site.  This optimized the site for multiple types of devices and screen resolutions, automatically scaling content and navigation features to provide the best experience on phone, tablet, or PC.

Now, we are getting ready to move our PC products to the new site.  Idea branded PCs will move to the new site on April 28th, followed by all Think products by the end of July.  Once everything is complete, we will once again have a single, easy to use support website for all Lenovo products.

Click here to learn more about the transition

Over the next few months, I expect there will be questions and suggestions and I hope that you will share them here on this board.  

Best regards,

Mark

[VerityBanks]

Hi all!

Thanks to our Forum moderators & advocates who were able to meet with me today to discuss the new website. I look forward to hearing your feedback here in the Forum.

Just wanted to let you all know - we fixed the Forum link so it is now the #1 tile appearing as an option under Contact Us, in all countries except Japan:

So there's the first fix! I'll be watching for more so keep it coming

Cheers,

Brooke

[Puppy]

How can I create direct link (stored in browser bookmarks) to driver matrix of parcitular model ? It was possible before.

[zoltanthegypsy]

Hi,

Quick test:  it's still possible using the driver matrix.  SUPPORT (above) -> Drivers and Software -> Driver Matrix (mid way down the right side)
.

I'll let Mark or other admin address whether this will remain available.

Z.

[Puppy]

I wanted a direct link to particular model http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/research/hints-or-tips/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-77280

The link works again after clearing cookies and browser cache.

[AtliJarl Guru]

My goodness... 

The support site just changed today for me, and I'm utterly at a loss over the vast decrease of usability it presented to me as a technician.

Looking at just one model. My W520. The initial page shows 18 pages to flip through, and filtering it down to the OS it was shipped with, 10 pages. This is a huge step back from the older support sites. Could you at least have the fancy new GUI run on one page as the older one did once the filtering modules were placed?

I'm very irritated about this as this is a huge increase in a time consuming page flipping to find the correct drivers for the systems I'm working on.

Footnote, I discovered the new site while clean installing my M90 system, and it took me a long time to get all I needed.

Cheers! Atli Jarl.

[dr_st]

I agree as well - the old layout with everything on a single page seemed more convenient. But that's a minor issue. The bigger issue - is that information for old models seems to be gone entirely.

For example - on http://support.lenovo.com/us/en - laptops older than T40/R50 (circa 2004) do not appear, and when searching by model number - on http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/search - even newer models (e.g., T60 2007-QPG) bring up no results.

I really hope it is just a temporary transition issue, and not a conscious decision by Lenovo to remove completely the support information, documents and drivers for the old models.

[Cleo_Lenovo Lenovo Staff]

AtliJarl, dr_st,

Flipping through 18 pages indeed requires more click from me. Whereas the support content for older machines, it seems like a limitation.

Anyway, I've noted your feedback and will convey the same to eSupport team. You can also feedback the same in the support site survey.

Thanks for your comments.

Best regards,
Cleo

[Mornsgrans]

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Flipping through 18 pages indeed requires more click from me. Whereas the support content for older machines, it seems like a limitation.

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The 18 pages are the minor problem because you can display the drivers by group with the listbox above.

A greater problem are the missing contents for notebooks previous generation T40, because many very old ThinkPads still are in use. I've just repaired a T20 and prepared a T21 and now can't get the drivers anymore. ;(

[Mark_Lenovo Former Administrator]

dr_st,

Lenovo is maintaining system information and files / downloads going back 7 years.   This should cover back through about the T60 era systems.  

I realize there are individuals who maintain older systems as part of a collection or may want to reload and repurpose them for other tasks and we may receive requests / feedback on these.

As this conversation continues, it will be helpful to get a sense of what content, drivers are still needed for systems more than 7 years old.  There may be some exceptions, and the feedback will help in identifying areas where this is still customer interest / need.

Thanks

Mark