My new X60s disappointing

[neutron]

I just got my new X60s after a long waiting over one month.
But within a few hours, I found two significant defects which convinced me to return it and even consider to buy any other brand.

The first defect is about dead pixels, I found 8 dead pixels in my new X60s, which is quite disappointing, I'm doubting if Lenovo's quality control for its laptop lines is as good as IBM's.

The second issue is about high temperature (not that hot but quite warm) on the right palm area, which is a little annoying to me. I'm wondering if this problem is really inevitable for any ultramobile laptops in which things are so densely packed and thus the cooling efficiency could be low. Was this also an issue for previous X series of IBM ?

[christopher_wolf]

8 Dead pixels? If it meets the IBM/ISO standard on their website, you can always have them ship another model to you; or you could take the 30-day option.

Dead pixels on LCDs nowadays are far more common than one would be lead to believe, everything ranging from Sony's PSPs to their Vaios have, at times, been plagued by dead/stuck pixels. Nothing much about this seems to have changed between IBM and Lenovo from all the models I have seen thus far.

The heating has been noted, although it varies depending on the model. Most of it, if I am not mistaken, comes from the type of wireless card used and other WWAN cards in there as well.

I can't say for sure about the change from the X4X Series even though I have used them. The X60s differs in more than just the placement of the various components that generate heat. At times, I noticed there was slight variation with the X40 models, some were just a tad cooler and some ran a tad hotter but didn't fluctuate enough. In all cases though, it never became hot enough where I couldn't put my hand on the palmrest.

I will be trying out an X60 that a friend of mine got over the weekend and I will see what I can note about it.

[foodle]

Download tpfancontrol so that you can read the temperature sensors on the machine. The sensor closest to the right palmrest is the APS sensor. My X60s is going back as the APS sensor reads as high as 61C.

[BillMorrow]

my X60s is terrific..
not hot at all esp. in comparison to some other thinkpad models of the past..
the 760E series would press your pants and leave a heat rash on on your lap..

from that plateau most all succeeding thinkpad models were cooler..

other brands did not fare so well..
a friend had a different brand notebook that actually melted the PCMCIA card that was unfortunate enough to be in the PCMCIA slot for a day..
actually fried that card..!!

so when you say the X60s is hot i wonder if you really know HOT..?

dead pixels or stuck on pixels..?
either way if there are 8 iwould sure request a replacement..
or return under the 30 day return priviledge and get another one..

[ThinkPad]

8 dead pixels is a pretty bad dead. I would call up Lenovo and see what they have to say about that. I believe 7+ dead pixels is a replacement.

[ArtDove]

You may be right that heat is inevitable if one wants a fast processor in a small notebook.
My x60s has a wireless card and bluetooth, it does not have a cellular modem card. It is tolerably warm at the right palm rest when the computer is running either in the battery mode or a/c mode, but it gets hot when the a/c is charging the 8-cell battery and running the computer at the same time. I get around the problem by charging the battery only when Ithe computer is not in use. I set the charge threshold to 10% so the a/c only powers the computer but does not charge the battery when the adapter is plugged in.

[foodle]

so when you say the X60s is hot i wonder if you really know HOT..?

Judging by the APS sensor numbers that have been posted, there is a lot of variation in palmrest temperature from sample to sample. Archer6's machine never reaches above 50C, while my machine will routinely get to 61C. So while some samples may be fine, others get significantly warmer.

Sure, this is not that hot compared to the 80C that MacBook Pro users were reporting, but it's hot enough for the palmrest to become uncomfortable.

[neutron]

Thanks for all of your feedback,
I would return the current one and give it a one more chance.

I think the heating on the keyboard can be an issue for any laptop as it gets older, but just don't like the fact that it's happening for a brand-new one.

[archer6]

so when you say the X60s is hot i wonder if you really know HOT..?

Judging by the APS sensor numbers that have been posted, there is a lot of variation in palmrest temperature from sample to sample. Archer6's machine never reaches above 50C, while my machine will routinely get to 61C. So while some samples may be fine, others get significantly warmer.

Sure, this is not that hot compared to the 80C that MacBook Pro users were reporting, but it's hot enough for the palmrest to become uncomfortable.

I have done some additional testing since first reporting my experience with APS temps.
In my company we have about 20, X60 / X60s models at this time. There are three different chip sets in ours, according to model.

Here are the temps for the ones I tested:

Qty of 4 = T2400 1.83: 62 - 69C
Qty of 4 = L2400 1.66: 58 - 63C
Qty of 1 = L2300 1.50: 48 - 50C

Mine is the L2300. I purposely chose this model since it has the slowest low voltage processor in the lineup. I routinely go on long flights and like to have the coolest running model with the best battery life. Since this is secondary to my T60 for business, I do not do heaving duting resource intensive computing. Just reports, spreadsheets, email, web reasearch etc.

A few of my employees have their T2400's quite optimized with lots of ram and 7200 rpm drives. Under heavy rduty, resource intensive work they routine run in the 65C range.

Another important point for me to note here is that every one of these models have the fan running nearly constantly. After seeing all the complaints here I made a point to notice if the fans were running as quite frankly the fans on our X models are barely noticeable. In the particular case of my personal X60s, the only way I could confirm this was to listen to it by putting it up to my ear while sitting in in my extremely quite office at home.

[superhob]

Hi archer6,

I'm considering getting the same model you have and I have a quick question. How much hard drive space is available when it comes in from the factory? Or how much space does the recovery partition and the installed software take up?


Also, about the heat issue. I'm wondering if the 8-cell battery blocking the intake vents of the cooling fan has anything to do with the high temps on some. Since you have access to so many X60/s can you test the temps of the same systems but using different batteries? I believe the 8-cell and the enhanced4-cell both block the intake vent on the bottom while the slim 4-cell does not block the vents.

Thanks for your input! It's much appreciated in helping me make my purchase decision.

[archer6]

Hi archer6,

I'm considering getting the same model you have and I have a quick question. How much hard drive space is available when it comes in from the factory? Or how much space does the recovery partition and the installed software take up?

Hi superhob, sorry for the delay in responding here I missed this post until now.

I forgot to look remaining hard drive space when new. However here is what I did. I removed all the Google stuff, the Diskeeper prog, then I installed a full version of Office Pro, & OneNote. After reading your post here I checked it and there is 35GB of the original 40GB remaining.

Also, about the heat issue. I'm wondering if the 8-cell battery blocking the intake vents of the cooling fan has anything to do with the high temps on some. Since you have access to so many X60/s can you test the temps of the same systems but using different batteries? I believe the 8-cell and the enhanced4-cell both block the intake vent on the bottom while the slim 4-cell does not block the vents.

10 Points to you for being so alert to this fit of the large battery. It does not seem to make any difference in temps as there is some air space between the battery and the intake vents. I checked it and it's the same with all three batteries.

Hope this helps.....

[ritou]

I called the support and get a brand new one when I found there was one dead pixel. Just call them and ask for exchange.

[neutron]

I returned my defective X60s. But, I'm not sure yet whether I would like to try another X60s or not, mainly due to the serious heating problem.
I hope Lenovo would fix or improve this issue as soon as possible, or at least in the later version of X series.

[archer6]

I returned my defective X60s. But, I'm not sure yet whether I would like to try another X60s or not, mainly due to the serious heating problem.

There is no such thing as a serious heat issue. Perhaps a few units, however that is why they give a generous 30 day return policy and robust warranty.

ThinkPads are a mass produced item. Therefore it's impossible that every one is perfect. If they were perfect they would not have a warranty or service center.

I have purchased nearly 25 as of today for my company, and they are all working out quite well. So perhaps you simply got a defective computer.