X220t and it's various common faults (updating on support)

[Ole]

So, I got a X220 Tablet from an online reseller in the UK. Upon receipt I noticed some battlescars that had already been mentioned by the seller. However, after a few days of use I noticed quite a few unmentioned issues. My power connector is loose (common fault according to the lenovo forums), the metal hinges that keeps the screen from moving about in tablet mode and when closed are missing, one of my usb ports are not working, and the always-on-usb port is loose.

Since I received the X220 in the UK and are currently in Norway, it's a bit hard to ship it back to the seller without incurring a shipping of chost of around 15-20 % of the actual price of the tablet. So, I decided to phone up the Norwegian Lenovo support line to see if they could do anything about.

Now, these faults are quite common if judging by the Lenovo forums. However, there is a chance that at least the usb problems was caused by abuse from the former owner, and I'm a bit afraid the warranty centre (which is in Praha of all places) will not fix it for free because of that.

I was thinking I should live-blog this encounter with support, just in case anyone else faces the same issues.



DAY 1:

Phoned support centre. Took roughly 2-3 minutes to get connected to a person. Was greeted by a very polite and helpful guy, who took a while to understand what the metal hinges I was talking about was. This I expected, since there is no real name for those things, and when I explained it a bit further he understood, and noted that he'd never noticed them before, which gave me the impression that this was a guy that was quite accustomed to the Thinkpad-line of computers. That the computer was originally purchased in the UK wasn't a problem at all, neither did he need any other information about the purchase than the machine number and the serial number.

We discussed the possibilities of the support centre deeming the usb-problems to be a non-warranty repair, but assured me that I would be informed if so, and that if I chose not to pay for the repair the computer would simply be returned at no fee. He also quickly surmised that the repair would probably be a motherboard swap for the usb ports, and a keyboard bezel swap for the broken/missing metal hinges. All in all an intelligent and helpsome guy.

During the call he sent me two emails, one with a form for me to complete, and the other with a link to choose a time for a courier to pick up my machine. I'm planning on shipping it in tomorrow or the day after, and will update as we go!

[bluefruit]

Loose power connector
Do you mean that the connector does not go all the way in?


"Metal" hinges
Both of them came off from my x220t 9 months in, tried to superglue them back but they came off in a few months. Eventually I gave up on them. There are quite a number of threads and pictures of x220t/x230t around various forums with this problem. IMO this is a design flaw.

[Ole]

@bluefruit, the connector goes enough in to power the machine, it however doesn't feel as thight as on my X61. Regarding the metal hinges I see a lot of people complaining about them on the official forums, and yes, in my mind it's a design flaw, which I would hope they cover under warranty


Day 3:

I was being a bit busy at work, so I didn't schedule a pickup before today. I followed the link in the email, and got the pickup scheduled for tomorrow. It didn't ask me for a time, and since I gave the customer support guy my home address it seems it'll be picked up from there. For me that's no problem as I was planning on working from home tomorrow, but that may be something one should be aware of. Just after I scheduled the pickup I got an email telling me they plan to fix the computer in 5 work days, and gave me a link to track the process.

[bluefruit]

My power connector also feels tighter in my T61 as it goes in deeper than on the x220t. A google search reveals that various 220 series of Thinkpads, even non-tablets, also suffer from the same issue, which lead me to believe this is by design.

Hope your warranty process goes well. And enjoy your X220t

[Ole]

Yeah, I think it might be the design, we'll find out! And thank you


Day 4:

Courier picked up the laptop at 10:00, status as of day 5 20:30 is that it's not yet in Prague (as is to be expected).

[Ole]

Day 8:

I got an email from the support center 8 hours ago, noticing me that my thinkpad had arrived at their center. It also provided me with a link to see how my repair is coming along. However, on this link it says "Repair On Hold - Contact Call Center". No idea what this might mean, but I'll give the call center a call tomorrow afternoon if I don't hear from them during the day.

[Ole]

Day 9:

I call the customer center, and is advised that the missing metal hinges holding the screen in place will be repaired as part of the warranty (good news for x220 tablet owners!). However, the USB-ports are deemed to be out of warranty, and requires a change of planar (IBM-speak for motherboard I guess). The person at the call center says that the team leader is not available at the moment, but calls me up after a few hours saying that the team leader will provide give a price for repairing the rest of the computer, and email it to me shortly.


Day 10:

Half the workday is done, and no email from the team leader with repairment costs. On the tracking website it says "Awaiting shipment to customer". Will be interesting to see what comes out of it!

[RealBlackStuff]

Talk to the manager and convince him that USB ports are part of the warranty.
Otherwise a replacement planar (motherboard) is going to cost you anywhere from $300-$700! BEWARE!

[emeraldgirl08]

I noticed that all the ThinkPads I have worked on have a 'loose' power connector to some degree. If OP has taken a ThinkPad apart then what will be noticeable is that the power connector is not directly soldered to the motherboard. It is connected via a pigtail connector. The loose part seems to be only slack. I am thankful that the ThinkPads I have worked on do not have the power connector directly soldered to the motherboard. Once the integrity of the solder goes then what would be a simple disconnect-extract-and-replacement of the power plug pigtail is no longer possible. One would have to be handy with a soldering iron or seek someone who has experience. I've worked with enough electronics to know that a direct solder to the motherboard is a PITA for external input devices (think of loose headphone jacks that are...were directly soldered to the motherboard). I do think that Lenovo should have made the port on the housing tighter for a more quality feel regardless of whether or not it is not directly connected to the motherboard.

It appears that the x220tablet also has the pigtail power connector as well (X220T HMM, pg. 86).

As for your other issues I hope the reseller has made some type of amelioration in your favor.

Source:

X220T HMM. Page 86. http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 175_04.pdf

[Ole]

@RealBlackStuff, yeah, I would imagine it's expensive. However, I haven't heard back from the team manager for a price quote (and cleverly specified in the recorded phone call that I would probably not be interested in paying for repairs, as I've got the option of shipping it back to the reseller).

@emeraldgirl08, I've taken a few thinkpads apart, but never to that point, only to the point of a fully bare motherboard, and didn't check the power connection setup. The looseness is liveable, it's just a bit more noticable than on my X61, to the point where I'm not sure if it's properly in. However, it's not a big issue, but as you say it's probably a lot better that it isn't soldered.


Day 10 update 2:

Received no invoice or price quote for repair from Lenovo. Neither did I receive any email on what repairs were undertaken. However, at 20:50 I got an email saying the repair was finished, and that the laptop was sent from the repair center in Prague. The shipping is estimated for delivery tomorrow, with a helping delivery time notification of between 08:00 and 19:00... However, even though Prague is only 2-3 hours away by plane, I'm a bit sceptical that it'll be delivered tomorrow, and if so probably late afternoon. Will update on receipt.

[Ole]

Day 11:

Got a phone call from a friendly DHL courier, and received the laptop from the repair center a few hours ago. The motherboard (planar in IBM-speak) was changed, along with the upper keyboard bezel which contains the flimsy rubber/metal-hinges that keeps the tablet screen in place. I've received no invoice for this repair, even though Lenovo said the motherboard/planar damage wasn't covered by the warranty. Neither have I received any email from the team leader that were supposed to contact me yesterday. So, I'm assuming they decided to be nice and fix the motherboard as well. I now have a X220 tablet with all USB-ports working, a freshly cleaned keyboard it seems, and a more firm power supply connector.

Pretty happy about the whole deal!