Thinkpads Forum

Apparently in the last month and a half, Lenovo has instituted a new policy of declining to repair any broken plastic on laptops under warranty - even when the breaks are due to manufacturer defects. Anyone know a way around this? I recently purchased a laptop with a hairline crack in the palm-rest and it's under warranty for 2 years more but it would appear that I"m out of luck.

It sure would be nice not to be out $60+ more because of a lackluster policy like that!

Well, if the laptop is new (less than 90 days) I would press your concern up the ladder. Otherwise, palm rests do not crack themselves in my experience, so there is some likelihood that some excess pressure somewhere cracked it, and then it would not be down to Lenovo.

In my own experience, cracked plastic is the users' (plural) fault. ... JDH

If we were talking about the T40s, I would agree but I've seen a fair bit of brittle plastic on the T400s. I know for a fact that my first one was NEVER abused but the bezel around the screen developed a crack.

Only if you have accidental coverage...

Are the newer models more fragile (plastics)?

I also have a hairline fracture on the palm rest on my T410s. Too much lugging around on intercontinental flights, perhaps. The plastic isn't a load-bearing part, so its purely cosmetical. Either embrace wabi-sabi or pay 40$ for a new plastic part

Unknown_K wrote:Are the newer models more fragile (plastics)?

Depends on the model. The X6x's plastics are definitely more fragile than the X40's. The Tx00's plastics seem a lot more resilient than the T4x's. (Yes, they're thinner -- but since they're more flexible they tend to bend rather than break in my experience.)

I think the X200s and X201s are more fragile than the X61s. 3 year accident coverage (for USA only) is about $170 as I recall.

There are loads of people with cracked T400s/410s palmrests that appear for no reason even when used gently. It's a structural defect.

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-an ... m-p/250295

dfumento wrote:I think the X200s and X201s are more fragile than the X61s. 3 year accident coverage (for USA only) is about $170 as I recall.

I'm not so sure about that. My X200 and X200s didn't seem any more fragile than the X61s, and the only machine I've ever had have issues with cracked plastic was my X61s, which suffered from cracks in the usual spots (near the PCMCIA slot.)

Note that Toshiba has lost one class action suit because of laptop shells that crack an is in the process of losing a 2nd case, just because they refused to do the repairs under warranty.

philbob57 wrote:Note that Toshiba has lost one class action suit because of laptop shells that crack an is in the process of losing a 2nd case, just because they refused to do the repairs under warranty.

I'm sure that some enterprising ambulance chaser could manage to build a case against most manufacturers (including Lenovo) for something like this. The question is: is it worth it?

In this case, I can't help but think that it would serve little purpose other than to line the pockets of the attorney(s) in question.

IMO this is reason enough not to buy a warranty in the future. it's pretty unlikely your cpu or mobo are going to fry under normal use, and the rest isnt covered.

bradsh wrote:IMO this is reason enough not to buy a warranty in the future. it's pretty unlikely your cpu or mobo are going to fry under normal use, and the rest isnt covered.

I don't agree with that at all. I have had the T41 motherboard failure (warranty), hard drive failures (warranty), PCMCIA hardware problem (warranty), CD ROM failures (client issues - warranty). I have not had to replace hinges but others have and that can be warranty.

I did not have to think very hard to get a 4 year warranty on my T61p when I purchased it in 2008 and my M90p desktop when I purchased it this year.

All this stuff can fail in normal use and the loss of a motherboard out of warranty after 2 or 3 years generally means buying a new PC which may or may not be convenient for some people. .... JDH

T400s/T410s palmrest's cracks is not due to quality or choice of material issues, but rather a design issue associated with the way the palmrest is designed. Cracking of the palmrest is especially prominent in people holding the T4x0s by the corner with the LCD open.

lead_org wrote:T400s/T410s palmrest's cracks is not due to quality or choice of material issues, but rather a design issue associated with the way the palmrest is designed. Cracking of the palmrest is especially prominent in people holding the T4x0s by the corner with the LCD open.

Gee, almost as though it were... say... user-induced damage?

I'm being a bit cynical here, as that sort of widespread failure does indicate *something* about the design might be amiss -- but if it's actually due to that sort of use, then I can certainly understand Lenovo's stance.

ThinkRob wrote:
I'm being a bit cynical here, as that sort of widespread failure does indicate *something* about the design might be amiss -- but if it's actually due to that sort of use, then I can certainly understand Lenovo's stance.

it is a bit of both really.

Firstly, the T400s have to minimise the usage of reinforcing materials in order to keep its thickness profile and weight down. (You would better appreciate the igneous of the T400s design, when you compare it to the X20x laptop, which weighs about the same as the T4x0s minus the ultrabay slim drive).

This means that if you hold the laptop by the edge with the screen open, the laptop bottom casing would actually slightly bend/arch under its own weight (similar to what T4x 14.1 inch laptop do in the same situation).

The bending of the T400s bottom casing is what causes the cracking on the palmrest (from my personal observations).

So basically modifying your usage behaviour helps to prevent or at least minimise this sort of cracking from re-occuring.