Hinges on X1C (4th gen)

[bittercactus]

I received my x1 carbon 4th gen a couple weeks ago in the mail. I love everything about this laptop but the screen hinges annoy the hell out of me. Even when typing on a completely flat surface my screen still wobbles when I type. If I type on my lap it wobbles a lot.

Do you guys know of any fixes for this? Is it really that big of a deal or am I just too fixated on it cause it's new? Also, do you think Lenovo would ever consider accepting a restocking fee for the loose hinges? I anticipate that they already knew about this and would not consider it a major technical difficulty that count for any type of refund.

Thanks. But if you guys have any questions for me on how the actual computer is feel free to ask. Aside from the wobble itself I think this is the perfect machine. Maybe I should have gotten the t460s cause I hear it has a stronger hinge but I also hear that the battery life on it is not so good.

Thanks for reading.

[w0qj]

Is there a screw to tighten this hinge for X1C (4th gen)?
You Warranty means you probably need Lenovo technician to tighten this for you, if there is such a screw to tighten your hinge.

For my X1C (3rd gen), I just had Lenovo technician to tighten this screw to greatly reduce this LCD cover wobbling when I am on boat, taxi, or bus
FYI, you can also tighten this for my previous Thinkpads models T410 and T42.

Again, not sure about yours.
Is there a screw to tighten this hinge for X1C (4th gen)?

[brchan]

I am not completely sure of the X1 Carbon 4th gen in particular, but AFAIK, all T440 era models and newer have adjustable hinges (T/W510 - T/W530 also have them). There are outer hinge nuts connected to them that you can make adjustments. The ones on my W530 needed a 5.5mm socket wrench for the job.

If you take off the bottom cover, you might be able to see whether or not there are bolts on the hinges. However, because the unit is very thin, they might be located in an inconvenient spot and require a lot of work. In this case, sending to lenovo and replacing them under warranty would be easier.

FYI, you can also tighten this for my previous Thinkpads models T410 and T42.

I am curious as to how you did this. Neither model has hinge nuts.

[w0qj]

FYI, you can also tighten this for my previous Thinkpads models T410 and T42.

I am curious as to how you did this. Neither model has hinge nuts.

We complained of LCD cover wobbling excessively for both T410 and T42, and Lenovo technician said they will try to improve on this for us.
Voila, LCD hinge much tighter!

Not sure what Lenovo technicians did?

[bittercactus]

The screws I am referring to are the one's on the base of the device for the bottom cover. I had another question related to that. Is there any chance that tightening the screws on the base would affect the keyboard? Since I did that, the keys have felt a lot more stiff and less easy to push down. It requires more force and effort to type. This observation could really be happening or I may have just noticed it now but I was interested to see what you guys thought about that.

To my knowledge though, there really are no screws that you can simply tighten for the hinges. I really think it would require some additional work to resolve. I am not sure whether or not my warranty would cover the technician visit so I probably would have to do it myself. But ya, I really just have a feeling that the hinges on most of the 4th gen x1 carbon's are not as stiff as the previous 3rd gen model. There are numerous reports of screen wobble when you are not typing on a flat surface. I even get the wobble on a flat surface. I made a little video to demonstrate the wobble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai1ZrpCZWuI

Do you guys think this is that big of a deal? I am a little obsessive compulsive, and it honestly does annoy the [censored] out of me. I really like to hammer down on the keys and when I do that it sort of lightly vibrates the screen. It makes me kind of annoying cause having a more stiff hinge makes typing feel a lot more secure.

Tell me what you guys think.

[brchan]

Calling Lenovo Thinkpad support will answer your question as to whether or not the warranty covers the hinge issue. Most likely it will, since it came like that from the factory and is so new. If you wait 6 or 7 months later, Lenovo might say that it is normal due to 'wear and tear' which is really unacceptable.

Tightening the hinge yourself probably won't be covered under warranty, but shouldn't be too difficult to do. Lenovo has started followed apple designs in the past few years, but thankfully they haven't implemented tamper-proof screws.

[bittercactus]

My theory is that they simply designed the hinges that way and it is not an actual error. Lots of people on reddit and even the laptop review channel I watch on youtube reported this hinge issue. I don't even think tightening any screws would do anything. I will contact Lenovo Friday and if there is nothing to do I am not gonna risk sending it back and paying the restocking fee and get the t460s (which has sturdier hinges). The t460s too apprently has the screen lottery issue.

It just sucks though if the surface is not completely flat the screen just moves around a ton when I type and really triggers my OCD.