T42P Woes.... any comments, advice, and fellow rants welcome

[gene303]

Guys, I've had a t42p with 15" 1600x1200 flexview screen for two years and this past year its been nothing but trouble, having been to the center for repair at least 4 times and once to a authorized center.

1. Screen dead video/mobo replaced
2. Screen dead video/mobo replaced and screen replaced due to pressure spots
3. sent in with a long letter and explanation of recurring pressure spot reappearance in EXACTLY the same place as before and requesting the whole screen cover replaced. Got laptop back with a screw missing in the back, panels popping off it and a PLANAR CARD replacement instead of having my screen replaced.
4. Sent it back to have the screen and cover replaced next week. They replaced the screen and cover but forgot to reattach my trackpad and i had to it myself. No big deal, but an annoyance.

Now it is one week later and again I am having a pressure mark appear on the display, which are aligned with the handrest no trackpoint or the spacebar as some people have theorized. These marks are not cool. They impair my ability to work with word documents on white backgrounds. I handle this thing more gently than a newborn, but c'mon, its a laptop, its made for travel, it should be able to withstand at least 10 pounds worth of books or other things being placed on its cover, and i doubt it experiences even that much in my bag, which has a special padded laptop compartment. I really can not deal with these pressure marks and I am not sure how to handle this thing to make sure that the pressure marks dont grow as they usually do, like a fungus on my screen. Note: I always put a layer of cloth between the keyboard and the screen.

Furthermore, I have a 9 cell battery, which now lasts just about 40 minutes without power saving features. It has a remaining capacity, according to the battery utility of 34.8, but I don't even believe that.
Prior to reconditioning it last night with the ibm utility it last about 1 hour and 30 minutes on a full charge and afterwards it doesnt even do that. It has a CYCLE COUNT of 59. Is this normal for a battery with such a cycle count? Please advise.

Also, I totally don't understand why the cpu fan is ALWAYS on at full blast, is there not a temparture gauge which regulates the fan? I understand there is a utility for it which may or may not kill my thinkpad, but no thank you.

My biggest gripe is the screen, really, the pressure marks ARE NOT OKAY. If anyone from Lenovo reads this thread, they should know IT IS NOT OKAY. I have used apple laptops, dell laptops, compaq laptops, and toshiba laptops, none of which had this pressure mark problem. So much for durable ibm laptops. What a joke. THE VERY SOLE REASON THAT I STILL OWN a THINKCRAP is that i am so used to its keyboard and trackpoint. If there was a thinkpad keyboard and trackpoint on another laptop i'd switch in a heartbeat.

I am just waiting until the pressure marks get a bit more unsightly(probably another week) from REGULAR GENTLE USE and then I will contact either a manager, the better business bureau, the ftc, or a combination of the three.

Sorry, for the rant. Just really upset that my thinkpad spends a quarter of its life being repaired.

[sugo]

I have a 9 cell battery, which now lasts just about 40 minutes without power saving features.

If you can set cpu speed to be dynamic and enable ATI powerplay, then your fan shouldn't be on full blast.

[gene303]

Sugo,

Thanks for your feedback. I am using the IBM batterymaximizer and graphic device power management function is checkboxed. I don't have any powerplay features installed. I don't understand how with such a low cycle count my battery can be degraded so much and even more so that reconditioning has degraded it even more. How is that possible. I just ordered a new battery, as I don't really have the time to much around with it(im a first year law sudent going through the summer)

I don't see why i need to step down the cpu clock speed in order to enjoy a quite computer. The fan should not run constant but should speed up when the cpu usage spikes and the cpu becomes hotter, please correct me if i'm wrong.

Gene

[Thinkpaddict]

Gene,

The pressure marks are not OK, and are not characteristic of the 15'' models. Even any other Thinkpad treated with care (which seems to be they way you are treating yours) should not exhibit that problem, although 14'' models are more prone to it, and especially the X2X series were quite prone to it (I know, having an X24). Would it be possible that the computer is not assembled correctly, causing the LCD to touch the palmrest when closed?
There's a couple of preemptive measures that you can take, and which could ameliorate the problem. Do a search on Shaggymac and Radtech here in the forum. These products are thin microfiber clothes that you can lay on top of the keyboard/palmrest of your computer before closing the lid. Many people swear by them.

[gene303]

Thinkpad Addict,

I've been told that the pressure marks are caused by pressure to the back of lcd cover, not from the buttons or the trackpad, as those stains are usually removable. Plus, i always put cloth between the keyboard and the lcd.

The thing that bothers me is that it is my third lcd and my second cover and the pressure marks always show up in the exact same spots, which might indicate a manufacturing problem in the integrity of the cover in that exact spot, or elsewhere, but something that causes a consistent problem.

Any theories, solutions, or nods are welcome. Thanks.

Gene

[Thinkpaddict]

By all means, I understand now what you are saying. Not a common problem amongst 15'' thinkpads that I know of, but that is surely of no relief to you (it always sucks to be the one with the problem, especially when the problem is not a common one).

Just to make sure I understand what you are saying: Do you think that the spots are from the LCD cover flexing and putting pressure on the LCD itself, without the keyboard or keyboard bezel acting as intervening factors? If you are adventurous, you might want to press on the back of the LCD while the lid is open (and the LCD is on) and see if you see any effects on the screen. Don't go wild though, I'm no responsible for any damages.

As for theories, the only theory I have is that your LCD cover is deffective or unusual in some way. Perhaps it has a piece of residual plastic from the manufacturing process in the inside surface? However, if somebody has dismounted your laptop they should have been able to notice that.

Another question: What type of cloth do you put in your keyboard? Is it a thin microfiber one, or a thicker one? A thick enough cloth might be making the problem worse by actually putting more pressure on the LCD.

[gene303]

its not microfiber, just a thin soft material. i dont know what it is, im not a tailor. Regardless, when i press on back, there is some "flexing" in the spot where the pressure mark is. Keep in mind this is my 3rd lcd on this thinkpad, and my second cover. i'm just so sick and tired of sending it back to the repair depot and having them muck things up even worse, such as not tightening it properly, forgetting screws, and forgetting to connect the touchpad, and replacing non-problematic parts. the fun part of all this is that i have the protection service warranty, which should cover all accidental damage from drops, spills and the like. should i ask them to replace my thinkpad in its entirety? or should i just pray that it gets stolen so that i can get a replacement? i dont understand what i have to do to get a normal looking screen... maybe if i hop in circles on one leg that will do the trick, or even worse, maybe ill just switch to a macbook pro, which in all honesty i wouldve if they had a trackpoint, or at the very least a second mouse button for us pc users.

gene

[JaneL]

Since it's your 3rd LCD and 2nd cover, I'm inclined to think it's something about the way it's being handled rather than a flaw in the lid itself. Earlier in the thread, you mentioned

c'mon, its a laptop, its made for travel, it should be able to withstand at least 10 pounds worth of books or other things being placed on its cover

Here's a suggestion: try not putting any pressure on the lid, and see if that makes any difference.

There is a trade-off that has to be made in newer models to get the lightness and thin-ness that buyers are looking for. They're still tough, but the tanklike qualities (and weight) are gone unless you go towards something like a Panasonic Toughbook.

[gene303]

Nonny,

I, don't stack books on it. When I carry it in my bag, I usually carry a single book in addition to my laptop. The laptop in the padded compartment and the laptop in the adjacent one. Whenever i take of my bag i make sure that the laptop is laying on the book not the other way around. I've got to say it say it again, it needs to take every day wear and tear like a pro without giving me a bruised screen a week into use. That is simply absurd for a laptop that had a sticker value of $4200 when I bought it.
I've used plenty of laptops(LIGHTER and CHEAPER) without any problems. I would've gladly switched away from the thinkpad, but im addicted to the keyboard and the trackpoint.

By the way. THe thinkpad, while not a tank, is certainly not light by any means. With the extended battery it is a 6 pound laptop. There are 3 pound laptops which don't have this problem. It seems that the only way I'd be able to prevent this is by keeping the laptop at home and not carrying it around. This is not an option.

[sktn77a]

If you are sure (?) that it's not the way you are caring for the thinkpad, then it might be time to escalate the problem and push for a replacement computer.

[gene303]

sktn,

i am pretty sure that it is not the way I am treating the laptop. i am pretty compulsive obsessive when it comes to keeping my things in good shape. I am that kid who never took his comic books out of the plastic because he thought the corners would crease and the value would be reduced. Are there suggestions that you have for me in negotiating a new laptop?