Thinkpads Forum

The left hand hinge (as you face the display from the keyboard) is coming loose from the base. I thought maybe it was a loose screw, but tightening the screw did not fix it.

The part of the hinge right above the Esc key seems to stick out more than it should and seems to pop out a bit/click when I open the laptop. I can kinda push it back in place but it pretty much pops back out again.

Any chance this can be fixed without much a-do?

Appreciate any insights ....

the 390 x is a very stable notebook however the 15in screen version and possibly others were the weakest structual laptops ibm ever built.(even the best make a bad one)
areas that hold the hinges are weak,from a poor design .
what i had to do with mine is pull the thing apart look into the area that was cracked or broken,plastic weld with solder ,sand back the affected are ,then add loctite black glue with hardener spray to reinforce the area,clean out the screw hole than affix it all together ,i also purchased a mini dock real cheap,which added more support towards the hinges and never remove it ,unless i need to swap the hdd over or something.
i looked everywhere for a new base and screen lid.bezel because this laptop gave me perfect reliability otherwise and felt it warranted to be restored to as it used to be because its been a good workhorse.
but it seems you cant buy these new from ibm,therefore promised myself no matter what that i'll never uprade to a newer ibm laptop,unless i can source the components to fix this from ibm at a reasonable price from ibm first.
i refuse to comply to bad design monopoly by any company.
if they think i'll just give up and trash an otherwise perfect working
laptop ,thay got another thing comming
i can buy many dozens of their top of the range new laptops,but i won't
because of this principle.

jrfk2 wrote:The left hand hinge (as you face the display from the keyboard) is coming loose from the base. Appreciate any insights ....

I'm currently experiencing the same, although it does not bother me so much. All I do these days is open the 390X from the extreme right corner (to some ridiculous angle), then bring the cover back to the required position by pulling the screen towards myself by pulling on the top left corner. This sort-of ensures that the hinge is back in place.

Ironically, if there is one thing I really and totally admire the 390X for, it is its sturdiness. I've knowlingly abused it several times, but it has never disappointed me (except on some specific occasions, where the display would appear so dull even at maximum brightness giving me the impression that either the inverter or the backlight has failed; although almost automagically it would start working fine given a few weeks time).

There was another issue I was concerned about: This was the periodic clicking from the onboard Hitachi HDD. By my fears were alleviated when I found the answer in IBM's FAQ which clearly stated that the hard drive clicking noise was totally normal.