Thinkpads Forum

Why is the case on the T450S so hard to open?? I spent $1500(cnd) on the laptop and decided I would add a SSD and extra 4gb ram myself so I could choose the parts. I've been working in IT for over 20 years as a technician and never have I come across a laptop so hard to open. I used the plastic tools, and spent well over an hour *carefully prying the clips up so as to not damage anything... and I still did! It's impossible to open this thing without damaging at least some plastic clip. None of the plastic hooks broke, but at the front of the laptop, there are 2 tiny plastic latches and those both broke. Before I even started this process I read countless posts and watched a few youtube videos to make sure I did it right, and started in the right area's. So now I have a $1500 new laptop and the front of the case isn't 100% closed since those 2 hooks broke. Really disappointed in this build design. My wife has the T440P and that's a breeze to open.

Same topic here http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=117187 It is the same bad design as T440s http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads ... en.773988/

Because of
- hunt for unnecessary thinnes
- cutting costs

I understand you because I had the same issue opening ThinkPad 8 tablet.

dave343, I bet you bought the T450s because it is so thin and light. Had Lenovo designed it to be easy to open, this laptop would have been much thicker and heavier, and you wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

All super thin and light laptops are like this. It's unrealistic to expect otherwise.

T450 (not s) has the same design. Is it super thin ? I don't get why few old-fashioned screws can not work for thin laptop. HP 840 G1 ultrabook has similar mechanism to battery latch https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Disassembl ... 0+G1/39152

pianowizard wrote:dave343, I bet you bought the T450s because it is so thin and light. Had Lenovo designed it to be easy to open, this laptop would have been much thicker and heavier, and you wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

All super thin and light laptops are like this. It's unrealistic to expect otherwise.

X300/X301 is thinner (.73 in) than the T450s (.83 in), if you use the flush battery. Sure, the screen size is smaller and the performance category is very different on the X300/X301, but they are pretty easy to dissasemble and rock solid.

pianowizard wrote:dave343, I bet you bought the T450s because it is so thin and light. Had Lenovo designed it to be easy to open, this laptop would have been much thicker and heavier, and you wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

All super thin and light laptops are like this. It's unrealistic to expect otherwise.

They couldn't have added a trap door for the memory and hdd then? How about the HP Elitebook 1020, look it up. Super thin and light, and yet the back case slides right off, so don't tell me it can't be done when so many other manufactures do it. HP, Apple... just because something is thin, doesn't mean it can't be designed to have easy access. I love this T450s regardless, but cheap plastic hooks to hold the bottom case on... that's lazy engineering. They could have made the hooks from a stronger material at the very least!

Most likely, Lenovo used this design to cut costs. It also seems like they are rushing out new models without enough testing and QC.

brchan wrote:Most likely, Lenovo used this design to cut costs. It also seems like they are rushing out new models without enough testing and QC.

Lenovo have admitted it at least for P70 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P ... rue#M54539

You have the new PCIe/NVMe SSD, and just being honest with you, some bugs are still being worked out between the SSD/firmware/BIOS.

Basically early customers paying up to $7000 for workstation are beta testers.

This design was implemented to ensure maximum stability and to ensure that the base-cover is tightly connected to the palmrest. As the devices get thinner, its becoming more difficult to keep them repairable and durable at the same time.

Based on the concerns Lenovo got from some customers, they changed up the mechanical design with the T460s, which is supposed to have a design thats easier to open.

Puppy wrote:T450 (not s) has the same design. Is it super thin ?

T450 is as thin as the T450s. T450s is smaller and lighter, but not thinner.

dave343 wrote:They couldn't have added a trap door for the memory and hdd then? How about the HP Elitebook 1020, look it up. Super thin and light, and yet the back case slides right off, so don't tell me it can't be done when so many other manufactures do it. HP

Look at their latest models. For example, this one: http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-EliteBo ... 278.0.html Due to concern with build quality with the old design, they removed the trap door on the newest models it seem.

Ibthink wrote:Based on the concerns Lenovo got from some customers, they changed up the mechanical design with the T460s, which is supposed to have a design thats easier to open.

Any details ? The goal is not to have it easy to open (to fall apart here and there) just not to have to break it to open.

https://translate.google.de/translate?h ... 39602.html (I know Google translator sucks, but sadly thats the only way)

"Emphasis on ease of assembly and easy decomposition in order to improve the maintenance was a problem in the conventional model
...
...'CS13 generation, feedback that it is difficult to open from the maintenance personnel were many. So, it is easy to most decomposition T460s in ThinkPad history of CS15, soon be able to access parts of the CRU, and assembly in the street with easy aiming the product', remove the eight screws in the CS13 generation, back lid that did not take off and not Ika remove the further hard claws, and remove the five screws in the T460s, on the back side back a gap in the lid, there that is adapted to present and soon as you the finger....
..."

If you take a look at the palmrest (with the internals removed) and the bottom cover, it does not look like there are any clips to open, besides maybe on the front - not sure from the pictures:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/d ... 7.jpg.html
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/d ... 8.jpg.html

Also look into the T460s HMM: https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobi ... k04862.pdf

For me, anything Lenovo from T430/T530/W530/X230 onwards is a big NO-NO!

Never been a big fan of s series. I know how annoying it is to reach couple parts on the s series. I did the CPU ball solder on t430s and it was really pain in the [censored] to get it done.
I have t440p myself and I do agree its very easy to open it.

Ibthink wrote:Also look into the T460s HMM: https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobi ... k04862.pdf

Good, at least a little improvement after all.

Also, a major reason why I wait and see how laptops are to maintain in the field before buying. I saw how the T 450s was to get into, and wound up for work fleet recommending T440s refurbs. I tend towards conservative on laptops. And would rather have a bit thicker and heavier as I need something more easily repaired when clumsiness or upgrades happen. And I need Cerebral Palsy resistant. Muscles with a mind of their own lead to laptops which get jarred more often and occasional bounces.