I thought I was the only one. I was excited to get a Thinkpad because just about every nerd praises them all the time and I thought the AMD one would be a great experience, but it was terribly slow. Additionally, the trackpad, the screen and the camera broke independently of each other and needed to be replaced which makes me really doubt the build quality (though having a technician come to your home tk repair it is great).
All in all, it was a bad experience and didn't even last 2 years for me. I don't think I'll be buying another Thinkpad soon.
ThinkPads are coasting off the reputation that was built up under IBM ownership. If you're not married to the trackpoint, then a Dell Latitude/Precision or HP EliteBook/ZBook is equally as good.
Lenovo went down the route of trying to chase the MacBook Pro crowd and ended up compromising on durability, repairability (soldered components) and keyboard quality (traditionally the USP of ThinkPads).
That happened nearly two decades ago. I mean, there are college students about to enter the workforce who weren’t even born yet when IBM was making Thinkpads. Lenovo has been making Thinkpads for nearly twice as long as IBM did.
Lenovo makes missteps occasionally, but I think whatever the Thinkpads reputation is, Lenovo is more responsible for it than IBM.
I have an AMD L14. The damn keyboard has a hardware fault. I have to close and open the lid so it suspends then wakes up to get it working again. Not a great experience, obviously.
The Thinkpad I had previously had some wonky wifi chipset. Got it working, but it was a pain.
All in all, it was a bad experience and didn't even last 2 years for me. I don't think I'll be buying another Thinkpad soon.