X31 LCD woes - white spots

[JamesR]

Hey all! Been lurking these forums for ages, lots of great info on TPs that have kept me educated.

I've been having one major issue with my X31 though, which there doesn't seem to be any concensus on. White spots on the LCD screen! These are not pixels, but white spots and streaks that show up most readily with a white/grayish background.

They developed about 2 weeks after I got my X31, right near the middle of the screen. Normally I wouldn't be too bothered by such things, but I'm trying to keep the laptop in good condition in case I decide to sell it in the future. After doing some searches on these forums and google, it seems like the issue is caused by pressure on the back of the screen. I've been using the laptop in a commuter bag, and Bill Morrow mentioned this was a possible cause of this problem. So, I sent it in for warranty repair (I have accidental coverage thankfully) and got a brand new LCD plus keyboard replaced.

Now thinking I knew the cause of the problem, I immediately got a shaggymac screen protector to try and distribute any pressure the keyboard might be causing. I have also been extremely careful with handling the laptop, making sure not to put any pressure on the back of the screen. And I've kept it out of the commuter bag. I've treated this thing like a newborn infant for the past couple weeks. And now, all of a sudden, I'm getting little white spots on the side of the LCD!! I don't know how I could have been more careful - very frustrating, especially when one of the main reasons I got the TP was because I believed it was more "rugged" and tough than other laptops.

Anyone know if these sort of white spots are common, perhaps for the X31? A google search on 'lcd "white spots"' turns up two threads, one about Macs, the other about the X31 which leads me to believe they may be. Anyone know if there could be some other issue going on? Maybe I have a faulty LCD casing?

Thanks for any help.

[tryer]

Hi James,

I also have a white spot on my Thinkpad, though mine is a T42 (a little over a month old). Noticed it about a week ago; on my screen it's on the leftish side, and only really noticable when that area of the screen is white. Like you, I also tried to do a little research on the matter, and came up with the same results as you did.

I'm going to call IBM support about it, and see if they will be willing to check it out... unfortunately I didn't spring for the accidental protection, so I may be out of luck, though I will say that I don't know what event could have caused this issue, I've babied my TP since it was delivered. BTW, how large are your spots James? The one spot that I have is a little larger than the head of a ball point pen, which makes me wonder what could have caused it if indeed this is a result of pressure on the backside of the LCD.

[JamesR]

Hey Tryer-

The original spots before I sent it in for repair were very large. The diameter was about 3/4th of an inch, and there were streaks that were about 2-3 inches long. They all seemed concentrated near the middle of the screen.

To get an idea, check out this link: http://www.apple.com/support/powerbook/displayprogram/ It's a powerbook (that are known for these kind of issues), and the spots it shows on that image is similar to what I had, except on mine they were all near the middle.

These new spots are very tiny, just a bit bigger than the size of a ball-point pen, and they're situated near the right hand side of my screen. Not as bad as before thankfully, but still irritating. They seemed to appear out of nowhere yesterday. The only explanation I can think of is I accidently picked it up a tad too hard on the edge. But I'm so careful with this thing all the time, and it's supposed to be RUGGED dammit.

[K. Eng]

That should not be happening on your X31. I have seen strange white spots develop on the Dell 600m (oddly, the spot takes the shape of the Dell aviator logo on the back of the notebook LCD housing) and the Dell 300m (again very strange, the white spots coalesce into what can best be described as a smiley face

I've heard of the Apple problem, but I've not see it firsthand.

Anyone know if these sort of white spots are common, perhaps for the X31? A google search on 'lcd "white spots"' turns up two threads, one about Macs, the other about the X31 which leads me to believe they may be. Anyone know if there could be some other issue going on? Maybe I have a faulty LCD casing?

Thanks for any help.

[skuehne]

My X20 has a four areas in which these spots developed. Faint spray patterns of little dots. They are hard to see when you look directly at the display, but from an angle and on certain backgrounds they are visible.

Sven

[whizkid]

I've got a few white spots on my 600X. It seems to be a very common problem with laptops in general. Go to any used laptop shop and they will make note of especially bad laptops WRT "pressure marks."

[Voodle]

This is rather odd, my X31 doesn't get pressure damage at all since it seems it was designed to keep the casing away from the screen as much as it can manage.

The X20 series was affected by this problem more than the X30 series, my X20 had a bunch of light and dark patches because the slghtest pressure on the back of the monitor casing and it would show up as a pressure point on the screen. By the time I bought it, it was covered in the things.

I guess my X31 was lucky because it was well treated in the first year of its life (before I bought it) and it's still well treated and I avoid sticking it in bags without some rigid supports (a folder) around the laptop.


LCDs are just very prone to this, applying any great amount of pressure to the screen for any prolonged time will leave pressure marks on the screen permanently.

[beerak]

Could you take a look on your keyboard from the side ? If it is not deformed and making pressure on the LCD ? I think you could demand new machine from IBM.

[jun412]

I have a Thinkpad X40 and I have a same problem as well!

I am thinking that it's a bad engineering/designing because whenever I close or open my laptop, it will give pressure on certain area. And strangly only that spot will be pressured even though other area is touched. You can't tell this when the screen is off but you can easily see it when you put the screen on bright color background and try to open and close the lid.

All this time, I thought my laptop is very solid but now I am starting to getting a mixed feeling. I feel like this titanium won't do any good rather than damaging my LCD everytime I open and close my lid.

I have called tech support and I got replacement with like couple dead pixels but no white spots. And now I have same area developing white spots on LCD. Same spot as last time! Also, after I got the replacement, I been extremely careful and I never even carried around with me.

It's getting really irratating and frustrating like James said. Can anyone give us any help or any connections through IBM for this problem? I really think that I really deserve a perfect LCD with problem solved with white spots.

Thank you very much.

Jun

[dmdsoftware]

I have a Thinkpad X40 and I have a same problem as well!

I am thinking that it's a bad engineering/designing because whenever I close or open my laptop, it will give pressure on certain area. And strangly only that spot will be pressured even though other area is touched. You can't tell this when the screen is off but you can easily see it when you put the screen on bright color background and try to open and close the lid.

All this time, I thought my laptop is very solid but now I am starting to getting a mixed feeling. I feel like this titanium won't do any good rather than damaging my LCD everytime I open and close my lid.

I have called tech support and I got replacement with like couple dead pixels but no white spots. And now I have same area developing white spots on LCD. Same spot as last time! Also, after I got the replacement, I been extremely careful and I never even carried around with me.

It's getting really irratating and frustrating like James said. Can anyone give us any help or any connections through IBM for this problem? I really think that I really deserve a perfect LCD with problem solved with white spots.

Thank you very much.

Jun

I'm starting to think the problem originates not because of the LCD or casing, but the keyboard. It's hard to determine, but you may have a keyboard that is sticking out slightly in one particular area. I've seen it on one of my x20s. If I remove all the keyboard screws, it's really noticable that the left side of the keyboard is slighty higher in an area then the right. Of course, even a slight irregularity may, over time, be enough pressure on the screen to create "white spots".

It would explain why replace the LCD didn't eliminate the problem from reoccuring. Eliminate the cause and you'll eliminate the problem.

[jun412]

No they actually replaced the keyboard as well because my scrollbar was broken. And I really don't think it's the keyboard. It's really the engineering's fault on the lid.

As I said, you can see the pressure on the certain spot on my LCD when I close and open the lid. I just find really good example on cnet.com

http://www.cnet.com/2001-10107_1-0.html ... navtab#top

Thinkpad T43

Look really close when he tries to twist the LCD. You will see at left on the LCD turns all weird (0:00:43)

Same thing happens when I just gently close my LCD.

Screenshot if you missed it
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jun ... xample.JPG
Funny Screenshot too! lol


Again any help or connection thru IBM would be a great help! Thank you very much

[jun412]

Bill? Anyone? Please help?

[beerak]

Bill? Anyone? Please help?

I think you should return your machine back to IBM and get a new one.

I've seen a lot of machines from several manufacturers other than IBM and lots of them have this problem. My friend's Sony Vaio has white spots all over the screen he made it himself by touching the back side of the chassis.

[bhtooefr]

Not a case with IBM, but it's still a white-spot-like issue...

I can see a roughly 3/4" x 1/4" whitish streak in the middle of my screen, but only with a black background. This is NOT where I grab the screen to pull it down (I know, not the best practice...), but rather, right at the (from the back of the LCD) upper left corner of the Dell emblem.

When I'm showing a light-gray background (like Apple suggests for PowerBook diagnosis), it shows as a slightly dark streak, along with one at the top that's longer. Now, THAT I can explain by my pulling the screen down...

I guess when I get my X21, I'll be sure to grab by both sides, without touching the back much.

When I was shopping for laptops, the site where I got my X21 DID list a lot of T22s with "Lots of eraser-size white pressure marks", and graded them "B" for cosmetic condition. The X21 was graded "A", with no comments on condition, though, so I didn't worry.