Screen issue. Will warranty cover it?

[kyle]

I recently bought a used T43p, with the SXGA+ screen. It's still under warranty until 2008. The screen had a spill that got inside it, and IBM/lenovo wouldn't fix it under warranty. So the person I bought it from replaced the screen with another SXGA+ screen, but he said it came from a T41. There's a problem with this screen, too.

When the screen powers on, say from the screensaver or waking the thinkpad up from stand-by, the whole screen has a red tint. After a few seconds, it seems to warm up - the red tint fades away, and the screen returns to normal. But if you do the same thing when the screen brightness is turned down, it stays red. In this situation, you can also see that the left half of the screen has noticably more red tint than the right. I've tried leaving it like this for ten minutes or so, and the red tint remained. There is also a very small patch of dark-area on the bottom right corner, which looks like a backlight problem.

Has anyone run into this problem before? Given that this isn't the original screen, but is still an IBM part, will IBM/lenovo replace this screen under warranty?

Thanks!
Kyle

[jjesusfreak01]

I would say the chances of IBM replacing that are remote, because they know your system has other damage (from the first incident), and only original parts are covered by their warranty.

[Talon88]

:::

Do the seller told you there is screen problem
before you buy? If not, return & get the money back.

:::

[kyle]

The seller didn't know the screen had this problem, or didn't tell me. He is advising me to try the warranty service first. The worst they can do is say "no" and send the thinkpad back to me, right?

After the previous attempt at getting the screen fixed, I asked IBM over the phone whether swapping in a different screen would void the warranty at all. The technician on the phone said that as long as it was a genuine IBM part, it should be fine. We'll see about that.

[Kyocera]

The technician on the phone said that as long as it was a genuine IBM part, it should be fine. We'll see about that.

Yeah, as long as there is some type of shiny black plastic thing attached to the base of the computer with some wires and the ibm logo on it somewhere the warranty should cover it.

[kyle]

Update: I just got the thinkpad back today, and it looks like they repaired it! Sweet! I guess IBM will replace swapped out parts. Either that, or they didn't notice.

[Dead1nside]

Will they refuse to service your warranty if you've e.g. replaced a processor?

[kyle]

Will they refuse to service your warranty if you've e.g. replaced a processor?

no idea. you can always try. when I asked them over the phone, they said that as long as you replace the part with a genuine thinkpad component, it'll be fine. that probably means a component directly from IBM/lenovo, or taken out of another thinkpad. if you bought a third party part and swapped it in, they probably won't replace it.

[egibbs]

Glad you got it fixed.

Ed Gibbs

[Dead1nside]

Thanks Kyle.