Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone,

I concluded a deal yesterday for a 15" T60 supposedly with a Flexview screen for a very nice price. I'm not entirely sure yet though, as it was just shipped - I expect USPS to deliver it on Monday. Anyway, this T60 was to replace an old T42 I had (also 15" Flexview) that had multiple failures.

Rather than pay IBM $575 to repair it, I opted to use the funds toward buying a replacement. Part of the T42's problems appeared to be that the LCD was failing. There was this odd yellow tint all around the sides of the LCD. I'm not sure what caused it, or if it's even fixable, but it seems a waste of a good LCD.

I don't want that to happen again, so I was trying to look for something to protect the LCD of my incoming T60, especially if it's a Flexview as advertised. I'm not sure where to begin, but I remember a friend of mine had a piece of cloth or something that came with his Alienware laptop. I looked it up and it seems to be some sort of thin microfiber cloth. I have some microfiber cloth available but it's quite thick and may put pressure on the LCD when sandwiched between the LCD and Keyboard and probably cause more harm than good.

Some Google searching reveals that people do use some sort of microfiber cloth, but I'm not sure which ones people use, or if they're any good. Two products I saw people claim worked great were the ShaggyMac products (http://www.shaggymac.com/index.php?main ... ucts_id=36) and the LappyMat products (http://www.lappymats.com/pc15.html).

The one pictured with the Shaggymac, if I'm not mistaken, is an IBM Thinkpad.
The one on the LappyMat site isn't quite the right size though, but I assume I can cut them down. They're both quite expensive though, does anyone here use something similar or a cheaper alternative?

Thanks in advance.

Err...

lol wow, 100+ views and not a single reply?
Either I was too vague, or I guess I can assume that no one actually bothers with this since it's largely a non-issue..

Sorry, the most relevant input I can offer here is a story of how my A31p landed closed-screen-corner-first after a fall from 50 cm onto soft carpet last Friday. I think that would fall under "how not to protect your Flexview", though.

(It's working fine as ever.)

lol, well how my T42's Flexview turned yellow is a complete mystery to me. At least you know what happened to yours

I'm not sure how often/frequent this is a problem though, where the keyboard/trackpoint scratches the LCD and leaves marks.. That's the only reason to use one of these microfiber cloths. I don't think it happens all too frequently if you use common sense and handle it carefully, but I'm paranoid because I don't want to lose another Flexview.

Although, if it really isn't a common occurrence, I seem to see people state there are scratches on the LCD on a lot of sale descriptions..

Don't allow ANYBODY to touch your screen and press the screen cover/lid. That is the only best way to protect your screen.

This link might help you fix your T42's flexview screen.

The Shaggymac laptop screen protector has been around for 5 years. Pretty sure they even made an OEM model exclusively for the Allienware ALX.

Minimize opening and closing of the lid. This still doesn't mean that you won't get pressure marks and dark specs, but is worth a try.

I have the shaggymac for my 15.4 t61p. Perfect fit, protects the screen from the trackpoint nipple and buttons, both of which made indelible marks on the screen of my old X31.

Not familiar with that problem (yellow color) on my 15" flexview T42 screen, however, I did suffer the pink screen on a previous 14" T40 screen. The pink screen is the hallmark of a dying backlight, which can be replaced by Jamiphar on this forum for about $150. You might want to contact him regarding the "Yellow" color of you 15" screen - might be the same backlight issue.

Yellow colour comes from the screen itself (not the backlight) aging less than gracefully. Older type FlexViews (as on A3x series) are notorious for that, and they get worse if they've been exposed to a bad backlight in the process...not fun...so unlike pink/red, there is no known cure for yellow screens...

Ah, OK, thanks George. Live a little, learn a little, every day!

Thanks for the information everyone.

I'd like to protect the screen from the possible smudges caused by the trackpoint/keyboard, but I'm not sure how it would happen outside of me putting stuff on top of the laptop.. there should be clearance between the LCD and keyboard when closed.

As for the information about the yellowing problem, that unfortunately might explain it.. I was afraid of that though, since it's not fixable.

I get the nipple mark on my screen as well.