T410s plastics cracking

[Thinkpad4by3]

Hey my T410s is having some problems can I sell you on some hospital beds to fix it
Ok, just kidding.

The real issue is that the plastics are cracking like they are 701C parts. Hinges, palmrest, everything. It feels like a 1995 Toshiba plastic problems where they forogot to put in some chemical that prevents microfracturing. Anyway, it is like 7 years old but even over the life of the machine it cracked a lot. Any other people have problems with their T410s?

[TPFanatic]

I find the plastics especially brittle on T410s and other CS09 Thinkpads. Especially the palmrest on T520.

[Thinkpad4by3]

I find the plastics especially brittle on T410s and other CS09 Thinkpads. Especially the palmrest on T520.

I found other CS09 machines to be fine. Never had an issue on any of my T420, T430s, or T520 units.

Maybe it was just a few batches of plastic that went wrong? Who knows.

[TPFanatic]

Yeah my T430 as well as the T420 and T410 I used to own all feel very solid, I believe because the palmrests are held down by many plastic retention clips which helps keep things tightly in place, altho it can be a PITA to remove. T410s palmrest however is held in primarily by screws and I think the plastics are thinner in that model because it is supposed to be thin, of course. But I have also noticed a different feel to the plastics in the CS09 vs the *60-**00 models, which have a gritter surface feel but experience shows they are as prone to impact damage and cracking as well. The T40 series had much stronger palmrest designs and I know my 15" T42 palmrest was a plastic-metal hybrid of sorts, but this is because the palmrest is an integral part of the T40 series' structural integrity, and the need for strong palmrests to hold the case together is replaced by the magnesium structure frame.

[dr_st]

My recently returned T410 (non-s) had small cracks in both corners of the palmrest.

My X220 is fine, but many of them had experienced similar cracks on the left above the ExpressCard spot (weak spot due to design flaw) or the plastic strip at the top (front) of the lid would break off.

The plastics do not feel of particularly high quality on CS09 models, that's true.

[TonyJZX]

Out of the units I have, I have only see brittle plastics on my x300 and my t400s, especially bezels or wherever is thin.

Everything else is solid. Maybe they used a different composition on the lightweight units.

[Hans Gruber]

The plastic on the T410s has a tendency to crack. Its' mostly aesthetic in appearance only. It's still pretty sturdy and durable compared to other brands of laptops. I know people expect a Thinkpad to be built like a tank.

[dennismayr]

Fortunately, there are lots of T400/410/410s parts on AliExpress - I've almost completely refurbished my T410s from their body parts suppliers: LCD back cover + front bezel, palm rest, textured touchpad sticker cover, plus UltraBay caddy for a Crucial 480Gb SSD.

For about USD$70, you can get 2/3 of the whole shell plastics and keep the laptop working.