Thinkpads Forum

Today (9/14) the UPS fellow dropped off my new Thinkpad T400. As I unpacked the unit from the Lenovo branded box, I noticed a good deal of bowing along the back and left side. Bowing along the back where the battery sits is especially noticeable; the Thinkpad doesn't quite look like a smiley face, but it comes subtly close. I attempted to talk with sales about a replacement unit, but they mentioned that it needs to go through technical support to see if it's Lenovo's fault or not. The packaging looked pristine from what I saw-- didn't look comprised. I also ordered 3 yr. Onsite, but they didn't even show that with my order. Furthermore, the keyboard is damaged on the unit, where any key will stick and have the character run in a row, i.e. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa or ffffffffffffff, doesn't matter which letter.

I looked through the forums and found that 400s owners described a similar bow or flex to what I have, but it was mentioned after a couple weeks that their laptop will finally return to form and look normal.

Should I have support attempt to fix it, or should I continue with my attempt for replacement? If replacement, how would I go about this; the sales dept says they can only refund on return, then I would need to reorder.

My current and previous Thinkpad both suffered from this. In fact the machine I'm typing on now has this bowing at the back, as you describe. I was concerned at first but this machine works fine.

It's funny that I never noticed it before; my wifes T60p also has the same bowing near the back. I'm in the process of getting the warranty thing straighten out, but also arranged for a new t60 series keyboard sent straight from lenovo. It's coming together nicely. Now I can finally test the Intel X-25 Gen 2 I purchased on the T400.

Did you complain to support about your keyboard? They used to send out the T61 keyboards to T400 customers who just mentioned it, however I saw they supposedly ended that since they brought in the reinforcements beneath the keyboard.

Yeh the bowing at first looks problematic but is completely benign.

cjsimokat wrote:Today (9/14) the UPS fellow dropped off my new Thinkpad T400. As I unpacked the unit from the Lenovo branded box, I noticed a good deal of bowing along the back and left side. Bowing along the back where the battery sits is especially noticeable; the Thinkpad doesn't quite look like a smiley face, but it comes subtly close. I attempted to talk with sales about a replacement unit, but they mentioned that it needs to go through technical support to see if it's Lenovo's fault or not.

See -> It’s a feature, not a defect for an explanation of the bow.

Yeah, needed to specifically mention the part number for the Keyboard. Got Windows 7 and X-25 G2 installed. Windows 7 shows 7.6 for the hard drive-that is-after moving to intel ACHI drivers; the stock MS ACHI drivers were giving 5.9.

Everything is working great and solid state!

It's a feature. They should totally market that: Thinkpad T400, now with bowing ThinkVangtage technologies. It's thinking... wait that was the dreamcast.

JaneL wrote: See -> It’s a feature, not a defect for an explanation of the bow.

I am a bit confused. If I understand correctly, OP mentioned that their machine bowed upwards on the ends like a smiling face. The article referenced in the above link, however, states, "What we've done is add an arch to the top of the display." This seems to be the exact opposite of the OP's machine. While its probably not a big issue, the article leads me to believe that the OP's machine is not a good examaple of what a brand new screen should look like if they were specifically designed with an arch at the top of the display.

--Ken

JaneL wrote:
See -> It’s a feature, not a defect for an explanation of the bow.

Wow, thanks for solving the mystery for me. My last two machines haven't been defective!

Changed the thread title. haha.

That really is interesting, it still shows that a lot of thought still goes into making a Thinkpad. I just wish some thought would go back into its displays. How about e-IPS /w LED High-nit? I think that would rock someones socks off at Lenovo.

cjsimokat wrote:Changed the thread title. haha.

That really is interesting, it still shows that a lot of thought still goes into making a Thinkpad. I just wish some thought would go back into its displays. How about e-IPS /w LED High-nit? I think that would rock someones socks off at Lenovo.

I think we all bemoan the loss of such high quality displays, but from what I gather it appears to be a display industry issue (unless I'm getting this entangled with the shift to widescreen).