[HELP] Thinkpad X250 HD to FHD screen replacement issues

[itch]

hello fellow thinkpad users,

recently i acquired a thinkpad x250 notebook.
it came with a TN 1366x768 panel which was quite frankly horrible in every sense. so i've decided to swap it for a IPS FHD one.

i looked up the the parts numbers from Lenovo's page and went to ebay to track me one down.

I decided i will go for IPS FHD AG non-touch screen, part number FRUM 00HN899. found one seller (with many reviews and a 95+ rating) and ordered it.
the panel in question is a genuine LG Philips LP125WF2(SP)(B2) LCD.

all nice and good until i actually installed it in my x250.
it seems that after about 30 minutes of screen-on time (especially if the brightness is cranked up to max), the screen becomes really hot. and i do mean HOT - to the point that I can't hold the hand over the back of the lid cover more than a couple of seconds.
most the of heat is coming from the bottom part of display (bottom 3-5 cm), where the logic board and LEDs are situated.

now .. i know IPS tend to use a bit more power and get a little warm-ish to the touch, but this was way beyond that.

i've contacted the seller to report the issue and ask about RMA or a refund.
they told me that, apparently this is normal because of the swap from HD to FHD (??), and also that i ordered the wrong panel type and this will no be covered by waranty. (??)


now, my 3 questions to you:
1 - if the panel was advertised as IBM LENOVO FRU 00HN899 should not that mean that it should be a compatible part, as specified by lenovo's FRU sheet?
2 - if I did ordered the wrong panel type (which somehow i doubt), how can I find out which panel type should I look for as lenovo only specifies FRU number not a specific model of panel from a specific vendor
3 - isn't the whole point of FRU number to point to compatible parts from different vendors?

thank you!

[Thinkpad4by3]

hello fellow thinkpad users,

recently i acquired a thinkpad x250 notebook.
it came with a TN 1366x768 panel which was quite frankly horrible in every sense. so i've decided to swap it for a IPS FHD one.

i looked up the the parts numbers from Lenovo's page and went to ebay to track me one down.

I decided i will go for IPS FHD AG non-touch screen, part number FRUM 00HN899. found one seller (with many reviews and a 95+ rating) and ordered it.
the panel in question is a genuine LG Philips LP125WF2(SP)(B2) LCD.

all nice and good until i actually installed it in my x250.
it seems that after about 30 minutes of screen-on time (especially if the brightness is cranked up to max), the screen becomes really hot. and i do mean HOT - to the point that I can't hold the hand over the back of the lid cover more than a couple of seconds.
most the of heat is coming from the bottom part of display (bottom 3-5 cm), where the logic board and LEDs are situated.

now .. i know IPS tend to use a bit more power and get a little warm-ish to the touch, but this was way beyond that.

i've contacted the seller to report the issue and ask about RMA or a refund.
they told me that, apparently this is normal because of the swap from HD to FHD (??), and also that i ordered the wrong panel type and this will no be covered by waranty. (??)


now, my 3 questions to you:
1 - if the panel was advertised as IBM LENOVO FRU 00HN899 should not that mean that it should be a compatible part, as specified by lenovo's FRU sheet?
2 - if I did ordered the wrong panel type (which somehow i doubt), how can I find out which panel type should I look for as lenovo only specifies FRU number not a specific model of panel from a specific vendor
3 - isn't the whole point of FRU number to point to compatible parts from different vendors?

thank you!

Welcome to the Fourms,

I've dealt with replacing my X240 to IPS FHD from TN HD and it was a disaster. Your panel has a serious defect because my panel never did that, actually for that matter NO panel should get that hot. Also, I got panel that had the FRU correct but it was defective because it made lines everywhere. Somethings on the internet are just plain labeled wrong. I have a feeling you got a panel that is shorting somewhere due to the incompatibility. Send back the panel and get a new one ASAP.

So to answer your questions:

1:eBay sellers can be a little tricky and seem to send an OEM panel but actually a slightly different panel. These panels probably works for 95% of the people, and the might explain why there is only a 95% rating.

2: Are you sure that the panel you got is a GENUINE LP125WF2 (SP) (B2). I've ordered from sellers that advertised a motherboard being in proper working condition and compatible but got a broken pile of junk that wouldn't boot.

3: Yes, that is what FRUs are for. Now what stops me from posting a picture of a Quad Core Motherboard, giving a Quad Core FRU, and shipping out a Dual Core Motherboard? Absolutely nothing.

[itch]

hey,

thank your for the reply.

to answer your second question, yes, i'm sure (as much as I can be) that is a genuine LG display.

edid shows the following:

Code: Select all

# get-edid | edid-decode
This is read-edid version 3.0.2. Prepare for some fun.
.....

ASCII string: LG
ASCII string: LP125WF2
Checksum: 0xdd (valid)
....

other than the overheating issue, the panel seems fine .. for now.
thing is, something is really wrong for it to overheat that much. less can happen is the display dying on me in a couple of months. worst - short out and fry my MB. which i REALLY don't want happening.


what really threw me off is the answer i got from the seller:
"The information on the Systems Service Parts will simply mean that the Thinkpad X250 model may have been manufactured with a different resolution screens, not that you can simply swap them....
That FRU number may well be a compatible part number, for a Thinkpad X250 that was originally manufactured with an FHD screen."

so apparently because mine came with a HD screen, it can't be upgraded to a FHD panel.
somehow i refuse to bite into that ..

[Thinkpad4by3]

Can you try and run the screen for a little while at very low brightness and see what it does?

[richk]

An FHD screen should not run hotter than an HD screen

[itch]

Can you try and run the screen for a little while at very low brightness and see what it does?

already did that. tried it at different brightness settings.
at around 50% brightness it gest warm-ish-to-hot.
anything lower than 50% it's ok.
anything higher than that, it starts to run on the HOT side of things.

today i'll borrow a laser thermometer from a friend and try to do it again at different brightness, see the actual temps it's gets.
anyway, i decided i will RMA the panel, just in case.

now i need to see how i can deal with the seller, because he insists the panel is OK (and apparently was even tested before shipping it to me) and that I ordered the wrong type of panel because those FRU numbers are not relevant and i should not take them into account.

even more strange, last night i was looking at the seller's page, and the same screen now it's 4 times more than it was one week ago when i placed the order.
it went from 66 GPB to 266 GBP in the course of on week. a bit shady if you ask me. more reason to think that i was shipped a faulty unit, and they knew about it ...
or maybe i'm just paranoid. i don't know.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Its eBay, what better can you expect than slightly less shady than craigslist.