Thinkpads Forum

I took out the palm rest to add in some memory, and now I can't get the the palm rest to lock in perfectly--the right side always pops a little bit out of place (although it may have been like that to begin with, I didn't check) and the whole thing seems a little bit too high. The far right screw never goes all the way in if I start from the left, and if I start from the right the far left screw doesn't go all the way in and the palm rest doesn't line up--I've tried for two hours to fix it. Is there any secret to this or did I juts get a flimsy Thinkpad?

There are some tabs at the front of the palm rest that have to slide under a piece on the base of the chassis, if you don't get them to slide in then it sit's too high and somewhat loose.

I found it easiest to get the front to latch in first and then the rear (closest to the keyboard).

Try angling in the front, then close it, towards the keyboard.

Also, to the immediate right of the trackpoint buttons, there is a plastic piece that has to fit precisely into a groove in the chassis. If it is not fit in properly, while you can still screw the palmrest in, that side will have a weird hump where the plastic bit is not fitting in properly.

chances are, the fault lies in how you put it back together, and not in the thinkpad. too many people here blame their thinkpads and not themselves when something goes wrong.

in any case, try this. remove all the screws, angle the palm rest so that it tilts with the end closest to you pointed down. then, play with it until things lock into place. lower the palm rest down, and it should fit properly. it'll stick up just a tiny bit, so press/squeeze it firmly with your hand while screwing in the screws with the other hand.