Thinkpads Forum

bowkatz wrote:Hello my friends, I purchased a X61t on the 25th of August, On the 13th of September (yesterday) it arrived(at my house in (Austria (no kangaroos)). I packed it out already expecting the screen coming unglued from bezel problem. And I was right the bezel was coming of the screen. It was fabricated 2007-08-26.... So I called lenovo there was no problem (I waited two mins till smoe guy picked up the phne) and they gave me a trouble ticked and said that I have to bring my laptop to TNT to airdeliver it to the repaircentre. He said the new screen (so a sxga+ screen with fixed bugs such as the bezel prob and the lower third prob)
was shipped with notebooks which were buit oone week ago(2007-9-07)
so im bringing it in next tuesday (2007-9-21) I will edit this post when I arrive the new model

I posted the same message on another forum too, but if I was to give an educated opinion on this I would say that the Lenovo rep was either intentionally lieing or speaking with relatively little knowledge as to whether the problem has been fixed. My reasoning behind this is that at the time I had an x61t waiting in the pipeline that had already been delayed. Given that I was one of the last to order an SXGA+ screen, there couldn't have been many more before or after me waiting for such a tablet. Therefore, if they had actually shipped a new pack on 9/7, I would assume that mine would be within that shipment. Yet it wasn't. I had actually called on that day to ask about my order; they had told me that they were working on minimizing the delays and then went on to tell me that my shipping date had been brought a bit closer.

Just my thoughts on the above quoted observation.

Safe to buy XGA model?

I want to order an X61T with XGA display. Buy now or would you recommend to wait? (seems like the problem is with SXGA only, when reading through this post)

My company has a fleet of 30 X61 Tablets.

29 of them are XGA, and we haven't had a single problem with them, except for a failed battery (resolved VERY quickly by IBM support) and some performance issues.

I had to be the odd one out, and get SXGA+.

I have the bezel problem.

So far, this problem only exists on SXGA+ models. I have yet to hear an XGA owner complain of this problem.

In my opinion, this is further evidence that this is a design flaw that needs a redesign to be corrected. Until Lenovo speaks to this, there is no way I would order an SXGA+ model.

As for sending your laptop in for repair, I believe you are making a huge mistake! What can they do?! This is a design flaw, and until Lenovo addresses that flaw, anything they do will be a "bandaid". You will be wasting your time and risking further damage to your machine as low-level repair techs HACK AWAY at the problem to placate you.

Personally, as an owner of this flawed machine, I will not be sending my machine in for repair until Lenovo explains exactly what they intend to do to fix it. In fact, I will wait for that, and for someone to post to this thread stating that their machine has been repaired to their satisfaction, before I will even think of sending my machine for repair.

Now here's the funny part.

Before we ordered these X61ts, Lenovo sent us a demo model, a 7762-95U. That's SXGA+, FWIW.

It had a perfectly fine bezel. I forget what the build date was, but I believe I've got that documentation SOMEWHERE, if it didn't get lost in the move. (Our company moved this summer.)

From another user...

I had my bezel and LCD replaced today by the on-site guy. The bezel had different adhesive tape than original bezel. This new bezel has insulation tape rather than just the regular tape. The only thing that sucks about getting the bezel replaced is that they don't send a new inlay (the sticker thing that says Lenovo X61 and has all the lights) so the guy had to peel it off the old one and like parts of it ripped so now the green lights are coming through holes in the inlay. Lets see how long this screen stays glued.

If this is Lenovo's idea of a solution, they are crazy. I will not accept it.

Toekiller wrote:From another user...

I had my bezel and LCD replaced today by the on-site guy. The bezel had different adhesive tape than original bezel. This new bezel has insulation tape rather than just the regular tape. The only thing that sucks about getting the bezel replaced is that they don't send a new inlay (the sticker thing that says Lenovo X61 and has all the lights) so the guy had to peel it off the old one and like parts of it ripped so now the green lights are coming through holes in the inlay. Lets see how long this screen stays glued.

Well... at least is kind of safe to presume that the newly manufactured models don't have the problem anymore ... or did the "other" user report back yet?

I am anxious to hear from one of the "blessed" forum users who claim to have been "working with Lenovo" on this problem. People posted to this thread saying all is well - that Lenovo is working with them to find a solution to this problem. I believe that until we hear from one of these people, every machine going back to Lenovo for repair is just being experimented with, and the owner is a guinea pig.

Frankly, I would not hold my breath waiting for a solution. I don't think Lenovo has one and I don't think they care. If they truly cared, they would have notified every owner of this machine to let them know that Lenovo was working to find a solution for what is clearly a serious design flaw. Since Lenovo is silent, I think we are screwed.

I will repeat myself. Anyone ordering a new X61T with an SXGA+ screen is purchasing a defective product. In fact, I see that option is no longer available at thinkpad.com. I don't think they have a solution yet.

Ratchet down the rhetoric a few notches.

They're still working on it.

timendres wrote:Anyone ordering a new X61T with an SXGA+ screen is purchasing a defective product.

I don't have any issues with mine, which I received in late August.

Same here - for now. I have SXGA+, model 7762-95G, received: end of august.

RS_003 wrote:

Toekiller wrote:From another user...

I had my bezel and LCD replaced today by the on-site guy. The bezel had different adhesive tape than original bezel. This new bezel has insulation tape rather than just the regular tape. The only thing that sucks about getting the bezel replaced is that they don't send a new inlay (the sticker thing that says Lenovo X61 and has all the lights) so the guy had to peel it off the old one and like parts of it ripped so now the green lights are coming through holes in the inlay. Lets see how long this screen stays glued.

Well... at least is kind of safe to presume that the newly manufactured models don't have the problem anymore ... or did the "other" user report back yet?

I'm that "other" user and the screen is coming unglued yet again.

DavidNY wrote:

timendres wrote:Anyone ordering a new X61T with an SXGA+ screen is purchasing a defective product.

I don't have any issues with mine, which I received in late August.

...Or so I thought. I took it out for a nice day of tablet fun and the bezel became a little unglued. I pushed it back into position but yes, there is an issue, though a minor one at this point.

So, frankly, I feel justified in saying that this is a serious design flaw, and not just some occasional monte-carlo tolerance out-lier. Which is why I believe that Lenovo needs to treat this problem much more seriously than they appear. And why I caution those considering purchasing this model to wait until they see some resolution to this thread. I am still amazed that Lenovo refuses to contact owners of this model to let them know that Lenovo intends to resolve this specific problem. Very bad customer relations in my opinion.

I have been waiting for quite a while for Lenovo to fix this issue. It appalls me that Lenovo is taking such a long time to fix this problem. I am sure there are many bright engineers there who can do some analysis on the stresses and find out what is the cause of the ungluing problem in a few days. Come on, give that X61T to a college mechanical engineering senior and he can probably do it in a couple of weeks if he work on it full-time.

As much as I love ThinkPads, I am greatly disappointed and I am leaning more towards a Fujitsu T4220 everyday.

I've just got to ask the two posters above - how do you figure this is a serious flaw? OK clearly it shouldn't happen and I'd be [censored] if I just spend that much money on a machine, but how is it a serious design flaw? From all info available, it sounds like the bezel trim just pops loose a little. The LCD isn't going to fall off, nothing is "structurally" compromised - the worst that will happen is some dust will build up.

Again I understand the frustration over this happening in the first place, but it takes time to develop an engineering fix and given this isn't a safety issue or serious defect (i.e. effects usability), I would expect it not to take 100% top priority. Companies like this handle many more important issues on a regular basis - the good ones prioritize and address all issues as efficiently as possible.

Just my $0.02

It's actually not a design flaw but a manufacturing flaw.

And it is a serious flaw.

The core brand value of a Thinkpad is that it's well built, if the adhesives are subpar and your brand new laptop is separating into it's component parts, that's a very serious problem and makes the whole idea of a Thinkpad worthless.

This happening right now before Lenovo has solidly established their reputation as a worthy manufacturer of Thinkapds is really dropping the ball. The $3 per unit they saved on going with the cheaper contractor is going to cost them hundreds of millions in revenue if they can't demonstrate that they're on top of their game and just as good as IBM in making hardware.

This is usually what happens though when you start contracting out to the lowest bidder. They're usually the most inexperienced, using the cheapest parts possible, and have horrible QA - if at all.

flypenfly wrote:It's actually not a design flaw but a manufacturing flaw.

And it is a serious flaw.

The core brand value of a Thinkpad is that it's well built, if the adhesives are subpar and your brand new laptop is separating into it's component parts, that's a very serious problem and makes the whole idea of a Thinkpad worthless.

This happening right now before Lenovo has solidly established their reputation as a worthy manufacturer of Thinkapds is really dropping the ball. The $3 per unit they saved on going with the cheaper contractor is going to cost them hundreds of millions in revenue if they can't demonstrate that they're on top of their game and just as good as IBM in making hardware.

This is usually what happens though when you start contracting out to the lowest bidder. They're usually the most inexperienced, using the cheapest parts possible, and have horrible QA - if at all.

Couldn't have said it better. Users - especially businesses - are very conscious about quality and reliability. IBM established the ThinkPad as the icon of quality and reliability, which is why so many businesses are using them. When Lenovo took over the PC business from IBM, we all wanted to know if the quality and reliability of ThinkPads would be kept intact. Apparently that is not the case.

The X61T just happens to be the last straw for many of us. There have been other problems in the past (T43 fan issues, for example) but they were not as glaring as this one.

To make it worse, other manufacturers are stepping up their games in the business market. The new Dell Latitudes are pretty well built and I have used one personally. So are the Fujitsu Lifebooks, which I got to use at work last year. It is a mystery why Lenovo is not doing anything, except cutting prices.

rhema83 wrote:I have been waiting for quite a while for Lenovo to fix this issue. It appalls me that Lenovo is taking such a long time to fix this problem. I am sure there are many bright engineers there who can do some analysis on the stresses and find out what is the cause of the ungluing problem in a few days. Come on, give that X61T to a college mechanical engineering senior and he can probably do it in a couple of weeks if he work on it full-time.

As much as I love ThinkPads, I am greatly disappointed and I am leaning more towards a Fujitsu T4220 everyday.

It's a bit more complicated then just determining the problem. They have to get sample machines from customers, then they can work ! find the solution, then ship it back and do other testing to make sure the problem is actually fixed, and then go and have a ton of replacement parts manufactured

I can confirm that the problems is worldwide. My brand new X61T (Model: 7762-95G) also has this issue.

My X61T is produced in Sep. 07 and I live in Denmark, Europe.

Is it a safe assumption that X60T's with SXGA+ don't have this bezel problem?

Biggs wrote:Is it a safe assumption that X60T's with SXGA+ don't have this bezel problem?

Not entirely. I have read cases of X60T owners having a similar problem. They also have the display corruption problem. If you are in the market for a tablet, I say either hold on to your cash a little longer.

As for me... I am getting sick of waiting. Maybe a X61 the next time a 25% + 15% deal comes around.

rhema83 wrote:

Biggs wrote:Is it a safe assumption that X60T's with SXGA+ don't have this bezel problem?

Not entirely. I have read cases of X60T owners having a similar problem. They also have the display corruption problem. If you are in the market for a tablet, I say either hold on to your cash a little longer.

As for me... I am getting sick of waiting. Maybe a X61 the next time a 25% + 15% deal comes around.

Can you show me where, all I've read is that the X60T SXGA+ uses the G5 series of screens which seem to be ok.

flypenfly wrote: Can you show me where, all I've read is that the X60T SXGA+ uses the G5 series of screens which seem to be ok.

Go to http://www.notebookreview.com and go to the Lenovo forum there.

Biggs wrote:Is it a safe assumption that X60T's with SXGA+ don't have this bezel problem?

Safe fact.

Any way to confirm this because I need to cancel my order if this is not the case.

ryengineer wrote:

Biggs wrote:Is it a safe assumption that X60T's with SXGA+ don't have this bezel problem?

Safe fact.

flypenfly wrote:Any way to confirm this because I need to cancel my order if this is not the case.

ryengineer wrote: Safe fact.

You don't have anything to worry about. All the incidents I have read about have been with the x61 Tablet.

I have an x61 tablet that had the bezel come off (has since been fixed by Lenovo).. my brother has an X60 Tablet... he never had any trouble. We got our laptops at about the same time. I almost wish I had gotten the x60.

For those of you who had this problem, and had it fixed by IBM, does the fix work?

I'm thinking of getting a new X61t, don't really want to wait, but don't also want an expensive brick either.

flypenfly wrote:Any way to confirm this because I need to cancel my order if this is not the case.

We had X60 and X61 (Tablets) coming in, both had zero issue.