Thinkpads Forum

The best way to determine if the unit has a Flexview panel is by the vertical viewing angles. It's a difference of night and day between a screen whose colors get all messed up and a screen whose colors stay perfect. If you cannot determine based on the viewing angles, you probably shouldn't care anyways.

Just went to IBM's site linked in the OP. I wanted to confirm these units were equipped with the UXGA FlexView displays. The Live Chat rep told me these units have a 15" XGA display. Makes no sense if they are actually selling T60p units.

Hmmm...I doubt the validity of that statement for two reasons:

a)
Product: ThinkPad T60p 2007-WUK [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: Based on 2007-CTO: T2600(2.16GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 15in 1600x1200 LCD, 256MB ATI FireGL V5200, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 9c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

b) If you recall, mattbiernat got one of those, and posted a thread (in "off-topic" I believe) about the horrible shape that the machine had arrived in. However, LCD was UXGA FlexView...

Well, IBM/Lenovo websites aren't known for being the most accurate. I'm not sure I want to take a ~$500 chance.

goofyGAguy wrote:Well, IBM/Lenovo websites aren't known for being the most accurate. I'm not sure I want to take a ~$500 chance.

I called and actually spoke to a rep. She was well aware of what Flexview was all about and said there was a good chance that I would get one that had it, but she told me there was a chance of getting one without Flexview - WTF? Sounds like this may be a prepared response! She did say you have 7 days to return it (or exchange it) it you are not happy with it. My brother-in-law got one a month ago and it was in perfect shape and a Flexview.

asusi wrote: I called and actually spoke to a rep.

Was her name Nikki?

asusi wrote: but she told me there was a chance of getting one without Flexview - WTF?

I would be fit to be tied if I spent that much cabbage on what I thought was a T60p and got a machine with an XGA display.

ajkula66 wrote:You'd be getting the exact same deal as you would've any time in the past.

Incorrect! Kindly call 1-800-334-9693 Opt 1, then Opt2 and tell the tech support folks who handle IBM refurbs that they are also wrong. Maybe you will have better luck than I did in trying to convince them. There are no repairs on IBM certified pre-owned laptops. Period.

nN

First of all, the number to call would be 1-800-426-7378 since my understanding (from the page that I linked) is that these machines - along with other IBM refurbs - are entitled to Ez Serv. There is no mention of "partial" coverage anywhere. If it's in the small print, it was written in invisible ink.

Secondly, I came to this thread to help, not to argue and bang heads. All your responses have shown a limited amount of knowledge regarding IPS/AFFS and far less limited amount of attitude, so all I can do is just wish you the very best of luck with whatever decision you end up making in the end. I'm out.

ajkula66 wrote:First of all, the number to call would be 1-800-426-7378 since my understanding (from the page that I linked) is that these machines - along with other IBM refurbs - are entitled to Ez Serv. There is no mention of "partial" coverage anywhere. If it's in the small print, it was written in invisible ink.

Secondly, I came to this thread to help, not to argue and bang heads. All your responses have shown a limited amount of knowledge regarding IPS/AFFS and far less limited amount of attitude, so all I can do is just wish you the very best of luck with whatever decision you end up making in the end.

Read the op carefully -- I never asked for advice about which flexview screen to procure, nor did I suggest that I was unclear on the no-repair policy that's in place today. If you didn't understand the two questions that I raised in post #1, I would have clarified.

The tech support number that I encourage the interested reader to call is the official support number that is sent out to all IBM refurb customers in their shipment confirmation email. Please try to stay on topic and try not to be rude.

nN

So I have one suggestion.

You have the machine in front of you, I assume, with the type and serial number.

Plug both into Lenovo's warranty lookup page and see what it comes up with.

If it shows any warranty left there, you should get the same full coverage of any Lenovo laptop in any of Lenovo's service centers anywhere in the world.

dr_st wrote:So I have one suggestion.

You have the machine in front of you, I assume, with the type and serial number.

Plug both into Lenovo's warranty lookup page and see what it comes up with.

If it shows any warranty left there, you should get the same full coverage of any Lenovo laptop in any of Lenovo's service centers anywhere in the world.

The unit had a three year EZServe which expired 12/15/2009. If I had any traditional warranty left, I would purchase an extension to cover repairs. The IBM tech support people advised me that I could get an additional 1 year extension with a refund-replace option under limited warranty, and that this extension would not show up on the IBM warranty lookup page. Additionally, the refurb shipped from IBM with a very broad Disclaimer of Warranties notice on the outside of the box where one would expect to find a packing list.

I fault IBM for not making the terrms and conditions of their limited warranty easily understood. If veteran Thinkpaders like ajkula66 are getting it wrong, it supports the case that IBM needs to better clarify their terms and conditions online.

nN

Just purchased a Lenovo warranty (PN 41C9278, 1YR Depot Post Warranty) for $149 via direct sales. It becomes effective in 30 days.
This should provide the flexView protection that I was looking for.

nN

Troels wrote: True, but at diagonal off-angle views (i.e. UR, LR, LL, UL) , the Hydis panel is inferior to the IDtech models. U/D/L/R the Hydis panels are surely better, but in overall usage i felt i got better viewing angles from the IDtechs. When using the laptop with the Hydis AFFS panel it seemed a bit like my eyes were not seeing the same tone when displaying dark images. While it was completely acceptable, the IDtech still fared better in this regard. Black is black, and not the "black crush" type of black. It's surely just a matter of applying the right polarizers, and it's always some sort of trade-off.

The Hydis panel is slightly better at producing "red" colors, but neither of them are anywhere near close to 72% NTSC (most laptop LCDs aren't).

Clearly, I too need to conduct a side-by-side comparison and draw my own conclusions -- which I can now do.

Cheers,
nN