Thinkpads Forum

I sent my T60P (2623ddu) for repair and got it back 4 days later. Attached was a note saying that the 1 stuck pixel was within specs. Uh, hello? I told at least 3 people on the phone that there was exactly 1 stuck pixel. Why the hell didn't they tell me that they wouldn't service it over the phone instead of consuming 4 days of life? Freaking idiots.

So now I'm going to return this thing or exchange it. I used an EPP price to buy it the first time, and that price has since gone up by $100. Hopefully I can get the same price in an exchange. Freaking idiots.

zephyr wrote:I sent my T60P (2623ddu) for repair and got it back 4 days later. Attached was a note saying that the 1 stuck pixel was within specs. Uh, hello? I told at least 3 people on the phone that there was exactly 1 stuck pixel. Why the hell didn't they tell me that they wouldn't service it over the phone instead of consuming 4 days of life? Freaking idiots.

So now I'm going to return this thing or exchange it. I used an EPP price to buy it the first time, and that price has since gone up by $100. Hopefully I can get the same price in an exchange. Freaking idiots.

According to the ISO 13406-2 standard and IBM/Lenovo's dead/stuck pixel policy, one dead pixel isn't cause to have it fixed. According to that standard, it is still "within specs." You would need about 11 stuck/dead pixels in a cluster for them to actually deem it defective under that ISO norm.

HTH

See; http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4U9P53

Doesn't matter what you tell them, how you tell them, or what manufacturer you have got...Still the same standard across the board.

zephyr wrote:So now I'm going to return this thing or exchange it. I used an EPP price to buy ...

As part of epp purchase program you are losing your right to 30 days no questions asked return policy. And based on experience - they will not do any exchanges - they will tell you to call repair services.

The OP's point about the telephone support not informing him of the (admittedly well-known) dead pixel policy is valid, however.

I suspect that whoever he had on the phone wanted to avoid a confrontation, so they took the easy route of of setting up an EZ-Serv and letting them disappoint him. That was the wrong way to handle it and he's right to be miffed.

Ed Gibbs

This was exactly my experience as well. Send it back, exchange it, refund it, whatever.

If anyone hassles you, request that they review the recordings of your conversations with whomever you talked to to verify the commitment Lenovo/EasyServ/IBM made to you. Don't take "no" for an answer--they are the ones who have added insult to injury.

Mine: 2623-D8U, 1 stuck pixel, red, center.

I agree with egibbs, that the OP has a right to be mad about being given the run-around. However, to return a laptop for one dead/stuck pixel is dishonest, since the terms of sale clearly state the policy on malfunctioning pixels. You agree to this when you buy-- it's not a try-before-you-buy sort of transaction.

zephyr wrote:So now I'm going to return this thing or exchange it. I used an EPP price to buy it the first time, and that price has since gone up by $100. Hopefully I can get the same price in an exchange. Freaking idiots.

You can expect prices to go up quite a bit more if everybody starts returning laptops for one freaking dead pixel.

jvarszegi wrote:

zephyr wrote:So now I'm going to return this thing or exchange it. I used an EPP price to buy it the first time, and that price has since gone up by $100. Hopefully I can get the same price in an exchange. Freaking idiots.

You can expect prices to go up quite a bit more if everybody starts returning laptops for one freaking dead pixel.

Improvements in technology and manufacturing will continue to benefit the consumer, as they have for the last several decades, so don't worry about that. And if Lenovo will not fix my dead pixel, I will return the laptop and give my $2500 to another company; it's as simple as that.

zephyr wrote:

jvarszegi wrote: You can expect prices to go up quite a bit more if everybody starts returning laptops for one freaking dead pixel.

Improvements in technology and manufacturing will continue to benefit the consumer, as they have for the last several decades, so don't worry about that. And if Lenovo will not fix my dead pixel, I will return the laptop and give my $2500 to another company; it's as simple as that.

Oh, I understand-- but you'll be dishonest to do it. Where did I say anything about slowing technological progress?

zephyr wrote:

jvarszegi wrote: You can expect prices to go up quite a bit more if everybody starts returning laptops for one freaking dead pixel.

Improvements in technology and manufacturing will continue to benefit the consumer, as they have for the last several decades, so don't worry about that. And if Lenovo will not fix my dead pixel, I will return the laptop and give my $2500 to another company; it's as simple as that.

I understand your frustration. However this is not unique to Lenovo. It's a fact of life, a by product if you will, of TFT display panel manufacturing. This is why the policy from Lenovo and other brands specifically state that you must have __ number of dead pixels. I have personally had the same experience with dead/stuck pixels, and this was with Dell, Sony, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Apple, and on and on... the point is in my personal experience there are only two models that "generally" deliver displays with no or few pixel issues and in order they are: ThinkPad & PowerBook (oops-MacBook).

So my experience suggests to me that you have a far better chance of getting a good display from Lenovo than anyone else. Finally I do not know any of them that will replace a computer with less than the number of pixels listed in their replacement policy guidelines.

So just remember that if you take your money elsewhere there is no guarantee you will be satisfied. In addition, you may find that your next ____ brand laptop has no dead/stuck pixels, but a poor keyboard, more heat & noise, less battery life, squeeks and flex from the plastic case, well... I think you get my point. If there was a better notebook out there than the ThinkPad I would be using it.

Cheers...

This is going to go on in TFT manufacturing for awhile; always has been and always well. There is no easy way to check for dead or stuck pixels on a large shipment of TFTs and there *certainly* isn't a way to correct the hardware defect easily without affecting the rest of the panel in an inexpensive manner either. That ISO standard was created because the industry wanted to set a minimum level of acceptible operation for the TFTs to benefit the consumers. You will get that at any manufacturer, be it Apple, Toshiba, HP, etc; I had a stuck/dead pixel on my HP ze5170, same response as it was "within specs."

IBM/Lenovo had the 30-day deal for a long time for the Thinkpads and still do, just not with EPP pricing since it costs them more to do that on a whim; this is also why other companies won't touch it because it involves real use of resources in shipping the thing back, checking and re-packing it, then shipping the customer a new one that has been checked and deemed within specifications.