Lenovo launched its two super-light LaVie Z Windows 8.1 notebooks last week, but now one of those models is shipping to customers with known flaws. Specifically, the LaVie Z 360, with its display that flips 360 degrees on a hinge, has problems in both its tent and stand modes.
Consumer Reports bought the 2.04-pound 13.3-inch Lenovo LaVie Z 360 but afterward it received an email from the the company's Web Sales Manager, who admits that "in our haste to bring the product to market, we have made a couple missteps along the way." The report stated:
"Apparently, when the computer is used in tent mode, the display doesn't auto-rotate. Yep, that means you'd see an upside-down image. The letter explained that you could use Windows commands to fix that, but that "this is not a great user experience." And that's not all, Lenovo continued. In stand mode, the keyboard doesn't automatically deactivate. "A user may be okay in Stand Mode with LaVie Z lying flat on a table, but if it were on your lap for example, the keys may depress and once again cause an unsatisfactory user experience."
The letter said that the Lenovo LaVie Z 360 would continue to ship, with these flaws, but that customers would receive a 5% refund of their purchase price. In addition, the description of the laptop on Lenovo's website has been changed so that it only shows and talks about its notebook and tablet modes. There's no word yet if Lenovo plans to issue a patch that might fix these problems with the notebook. There's also no indication that the company plans to delay shipments until this problem has been resolved.
To be clear, this problem seems to only be with the LaVie Z 360. The regular 1.87-pound version of the LaVie Z notebook, which does not have a touchscreen nor a display that can flip 360 degrees, seems to be free of any known issues.
Check out the LaVie Z notebooks at the Lenovo online store
Source: Consumer Reports; Via: CNET
