Thinkpads Forum

Mine has some damage to the surface that has blurred around 8 square pixels and I'm thinking of having it replaced instead of getting an x220. Is it worth it? And if so, where do I get the parts? I'm totally off warranty.

A new screen is certainly less than a new notebook. The X220 is a fine machine, but it probably won't give you a performance boost for most uses. You can replace the screen on the X201 with a Hydis AFFS LCD. AFFS is a newer version of IPS and the screen itself is gorgeous. You'll have to replace the cable and LED sub card with a cable from the X200 CFFL and inverter. There's three versions of the Hydis HV121WX4 LCD - the 100 and 110 are glossy while the 120 is matte. The glossy versions are more plentiful and cheaper. You can get a new one here for $80, but you will have to remove the touch surface, which is a bit of a pain. There's one without the digitizer here, but it's more expensive. If you want the matte version, it can be found here without the digitizer, but is more expensive. The X200 part numbers can be found in the HMM. I've done this mod myself. It's not beginner level, but if you take your time, it's more than doable and it is a fantastic upgrade for the X201. Good Luck.

No way I can do this repair myself, don't have the confidence in my repair skill, nor the time. Where would I go to have this done? I'm in seacoast NH, and not sure how to find authorized Lenovo/Thinkpad repair shops. Also kind of annoying that the matte screen is so expensive IMO. Sheesh.

Hit the training and support web site. It has videos showing how to complete each step of the process, including how to put it back together. I agree the matte is expensive, but it's still cheap compared to a new notebook. Buy a screen from Lenovo, then you'll know what expensive is.

ZaZ wrote:A new screen is certainly less than a new notebook. The X220 is a fine machine, but it probably won't give you a performance boost for most uses. You can replace the screen on the X201 with a Hydis AFFS LCD. AFFS is a newer version of IPS and the screen itself is gorgeous. You'll have to replace the cable and LED sub card with a cable from the X200 CFFL and inverter. There's three versions of the Hydis HV121WX4 LCD - the 100 and 110 are glossy while the 120 is matte. The glossy versions are more plentiful and cheaper. You can get a new one here for $80, but you will have to remove the touch surface, which is a bit of a pain. There's one without the digitizer here, but it's more expensive. If you want the matte version, it can be found here without the digitizer, but is more expensive. The X200 part numbers can be found in the HMM. I've done this mod myself. It's not beginner level, but if you take your time, it's more than doable and it is a fantastic upgrade for the X201. Good Luck.

Btw, what do you mean by the "digitizer"?

The digitizer's the overlay on the screen used to make it pen-sensitive.

I believe removal requires a razor blade so you have to be careful not to scratch the gloss surface though I could be wrong.

I meant to say the touch surface. That is on the front of the screen and is what you right on. If you leave it attached, it will be too thick to fit. The digitizer sits on the back of the screen. I actually left it on my X200 when I did the upgrade.

Isn't this the matt version of the newer technology right here for much less? http://www.screentekinc.com/Hyundai-BOE ... -120.shtml

OOPS, I see now, this is the original technology.

Can you explain what you mean by this though:

You'll have to replace the cable and LED sub card with a cable from the X200 CFFL and inverter.

While that is the correct part number, I doubt it's the Hydis screen. There's a lot of knock-offs floating around and that's probably one of them.

Your X201 has a LED LCD while the Hydis screen is a CFFL screen. In order to use the CFFL Hydis screen in your X201 you'll need to replace the cable that connects the screen to the motherboard with a cable from a X200 that had a CFFL screen. The part number is 44C9909. The LED screen also uses a LED sub card. You'll need to replace that with an inverter from a X200 with CFFL screen. The part number is 42W8010.

Lastly, if you want to see how to do it, hit the training and support site. It has videos showing how to do it. The X201 isn't there, but the X200 is and they don't re-invent the wheel.

ZaZ wrote:While that is the correct part number, I doubt it's the Hydis screen. There's a lot of knock-offs floating around and that's probably one of them.

Your X201 has a LED LCD while the Hydis screen is a CFFL screen. In order to use the CFFL Hydis screen in your X201 you'll need to replace the cable that connects the screen to the motherboard with a cable from a X200 that had a CFFL screen. The part number is 44C9909. The LED screen also uses a LED sub card. You'll need to replace that with an inverter from a X200 with CFFL screen. The part number is 42W8010.

Lastly, if you want to see how to do it, hit the training and support site. It has videos showing how to do it. The X201 isn't there, but the X200 is and they don't re-invent the wheel.

Do you know whether or not the links earlier in this thread to eBay items are to legitimate versions of this screen, and not knock offs? Are there any differences in quality (safety?) from these to the official parts for these screens from Lenovo?

EDIT:

Also, where can I go to order these official replacement parts (the inverter and the card)? Is it possible to order from Lenovo directly?

The ones I linked in my first post are legit. You can order the parts directly from Lenovo. Sometimes they're decent price wise and others, they're really expensive. eBay and you can make a wanted to buy thread in the marketplace forum here to see if anyone's got an extra they want to part with.