Frustrated buy of thinkpad x60

[ylim]

I am freaking frustrated over my purchase of my new x60. It is a miserable procurement.

In my country, there is a IT show where there will be a great bargain. Before this fair, I got to know this manager of a Lenovo distribution company. Beforehand, I reserve a unit of x60 (T7200 2ghz, 1gb ddr 667, intel wireless, 12'', 120gb hdd etc..) from her. I got her to let me do software testing for dead pixel and that I will buy if there is no dead pixel/bright pixel. She agrees. I am rather disturbed by bright pixel because my former Toshiba satellite s2400 of 4 yrs (which lasted through my UG days) has a 1 bright pixel (red).

Software I used: Dead pixel buddy. (please google it up).

On thursday, the 1st day of fair:
The 1st set that I tested was alright for 5 mins or so. But when I did a time cycle test at 1hz (1 colour per sec) (it oscillates through black, white, yellow, blue, etc.) And then suddenly 4 bright red pixels appear in the centre of the 12'' panel. I was thinking luckily I have paid up and did the test. I then got to have another set which I tested and have no trouble.

The nightmare occurs when last night, I got 1 bright red at the left middle part of the panel. I was freaking out. I am sure that I have tested it properly. Why would it just plainly appear suddenly? Arghhh... Like why would bright pixel just appear out of blue and it is okay with the start.

I then spoke to the manager. She was [censored] with me and said that she would refund my money (I am fussy according to her). I relent and said that I would appreciate that she can let me have another unit and that if anything do occur again. I will not contact them.

The 3rd set was okay until now. Crossing my finger. I note that this fellow x60 user too has a bright pixel (he did note it at the begin, i guess because it is an online purchase for him so he is left with no choice (and that lenovo policy for lcd panel replacement is 8 onwards).

I am rather [censored]. Lenovo or thinkpad x60 should be a high end product and why out of 2/3 laptops has bright pixel? Am I plainly unluckily. I really hope that my 3rd x60 unit is perfect and no bright pixel will appear.

Please let me know if anyone of you have such trouble before? I note that Asus has a zero bright pixel guarantee. My lcd monitor units are too equipped with such similar guarantee.

[Comage]

The trouble all seemed to begin when the L-company took over.

I purchased my X60 a while ago, and a patch appeared a couple of months later on my screen. It refused to be cleaned away with a lint-free cloth and some isopropyl alcohol and distilled water in a 50-50 mixture (like they recommend in the guides online).

I ended up rubbing too hard, and there's a circular mark on my screen now where I rubbed it.

I will be ordering a replacement part from eBay anytime soon, since I know that Lenovo does not cover these sort of damages under its warranty policy.

I called up Lenovo and they quoted me USD$600+ for the screen alone, not factoring in labour costs.

[ylim]

I hate China products. I have this friend working in AMD and she told me that L-company is famous for cost cutting.

I am so afraid of this, that I got this lcd sheet protector and got it install in 1 hr. A great wastage of time.

You still going to the fair tomrrow?

[Comage]

Don't worry about it too much, you will learn that the X60 is a good buy.

As for the IT Show over here in Singapore, there's nothing much worth going there for. Prices are rarely cheaper.

Welcome to the X60 club.

[pianowizard]

My T60 has a dead pixel. The X60s that I owned until two months ago also had a dead pixel. But I couldn't care less.

[Ken Fox]

My T60 has a dead pixel. The X60s that I owned until two months ago also had a dead pixel. But I couldn't care less.

They could make perfect Thinkpads. The only problem is that they would cost four or five thousand dollars each, like what decent laptops used to cost a few years ago.

[tian]

i'm probably pouring petrol on the flame here

out of all the screens i've had: 3 dell (12" 1024X786 for x300), 1 x viewsonic (vp17prob), i have never had any dead pixels. i know in china you can purchase thinkpads with dead pixel-free guarantee. unfortunately this isnt the case for the US (where my father is shipping over a X60 for me in the next couple of weeks). suffice it to say that i wont be impressed if i get any dead pixels - the x60 will cost a lot more than my x300 from dell 3 years ago.

...i'm sure i'm just being paranoid

i wonder where thinkpads more expensive when IBM was in charge? if not, then where's the money going?

[stylinexpat]

Asus and others apparently were offering a No Dead Pixel Guarantee in Singapore. Did IBM offer this?
http://event.asus.com/sg/2007/itshow/index.html

[tyanlion]

yeah man how come there is no dead pixel guarantee thingy i would pay more to know if there won't be a dead pixel on my laptop. When i received my x60s i was like keeping my fingers crossed that there won't be any dead pixels. Does a consumer really need to go through that excruciating anxiety of hoping that the lcd is perfect? can't they just give us a guarantee??

[ylim]

The trouble all seemed to begin when the L-company took over.

I purchased my X60 a while ago, and a patch appeared a couple of months later on my screen. It refused to be cleaned away with a lint-free cloth and some isopropyl alcohol and distilled water in a 50-50 mixture (like they recommend in the guides online).

I ended up rubbing too hard, and there's a circular mark on my screen now where I rubbed it.

I will be ordering a replacement part from eBay anytime soon, since I know that Lenovo does not cover these sort of damages under its warranty policy.

I called up Lenovo and they quoted me USD$600+ for the screen alone, not factoring in labour costs.

1.Are panels of ebay reliable? You know how to install the panel?
2.Got a 1gb ddr2 ram at sg104 at the fair and it is freaking cheap.
I am sorry to hear about this rather sad episode. Do wish you the very best.
3.Can pm me your msn address.?

[ylim]

Asus and others apparently were offering a No Dead Pixel Guarantee in Singapore. Did IBM offer this?
http://event.asus.com/sg/2007/itshow/index.html

In the just ended today's IT fair at the Suntec, only ASUS offers the bright pixel warranty. But it seems rather misleading. Pixelation fault can generally be either dead or bright pixel. I read through the online's Zero bright pixel warranty and there is no mention that this will cover the dead pixel problem. And it seems that this do not cover for units sold NOT during the fair.

[Comage]

As far as I know, IBM/Lenovo is the only laptop company that offers manuals that teach you how to disassemble your Thinkpad (Hardware Maintenance Manuals). You won't go wrong if you read it carefully again and again before doing any stripping of the parts.

eBay panels are mostly refurbished, with a 30-day guarantee against blemishes and bright/dead pixels.

Even though Asus offers a zero bright dot warranty, their warranty is only 2 years. Give and take all the factors, I would still take IBM laptops anytime.

[tomh009]

As much as I personally detest Dell laptops, I have to admit that they also have their hardware maintenance manuals available on their web site.

[Comage]

Hi tom, I don't mean to sound like a IBM die-hard fan or something.

Thanks for the heads up. That's two in my list of vendors that provide such resources (which is a good thing).

[smvp6459]

HP/Compaq makes their hardware/service manuals available online.

[Comage]

Sorry about the statement made above. I should've been more specific.

By "disassemble", I meant to refer to even stripping down the laptop to every last part, even parts like the LCD screen and the CPU and fan assembly.

There's not a lot of vendors around who provide that kind of information, or are there?

[smvp6459]

There's not a lot of vendors around who provide that kind of information, or are there?

I'm pretty sure Dell & HP/Compaq provide you that kind of information. Companies I know who don't release that information (and void your warranty if you disassemble your machine) include Apple and Sony. I'm not sure what other manufacturers are equally restrictive.

[Comage]

From my own experience, I know of Fujitsu and Acer to not have any resources on those, except for the usual changing of battery, installing of memory modules information.

PS: I guess this is getting OT already.

[pianowizard]

By "disassemble", I meant to refer to even stripping down the laptop to every last part, even parts like the LCD screen and the CPU and fan assembly.

Yes, Dell's website certainly offers instructions for that. I used their instructions for disassembling an Inspiron 700m that I had.

Companies I know who don't release that information (and void your warranty if you disassemble your machine) include Apple and Sony.

Panasonic doesn't seem to either.

[gunston]

I am so afraid of this, that I got this lcd sheet protector and got it install in 1 hr. A great wastage of time.

where did you get a LCD sheet proctector for 12' in your X60/s ?
i am in singapore now, it is rarely to get one here.

[lev]

In the case of Apple, not only do they not give you the instructions you need, but the procedure for simple upgrades and repairs is anything but simple. For example, I will compare the procedure for upgrading/replacing the harddrive in the 12" powerbook G4 aluminium with the same procedure in a thinkpad X60/s. Both are 12" notebooks, so this seems a somewhat fair comparison...

To remove the HDD in a 12" aluminium g4

1. Remove the battery
2. Remove 4 screws from the memory door
3. Remove the memory door
4. Remove the long screw holding the EMI finger.
5. Remove the EMI finger
6. (Carefully) prise the F1, F2, F11, F12 keys off the keyboard
7. Peel off the stickers covering 2 screws
8. Remove the 2 screws
9. Pull out the keyboard
10. Disconnect the keyboard cable
11. Remove 3 screws from inside the battery compartment, 2 screws from the left of the machine, 2 screws at on the bottom of the hinges, 2 screws from the right of the machine
12. From inside the machine, remove 6 2.5mm screws, 5 4.5mm screws, one 7mm hex screw, one 15mm screw, one 16mm hex screw
13. Peel off two pieces of foil tape
14. Using a dental pick, carefully disconnect the microphone and power cables
15. Disconnect the trackpad cable
16. Work the upper case free from the lower case, and remove it
17. Remove 2 screws from the hard drive bracket
18. Disconnect the hard drive cable
19. Remove the hard drive and bracket from the computer
20. Remove 4 screws from the brackets
21. Remove the rubber bumpers and the metal bracket
22. Peel off the cable and disconnect the connector

To remove the HDD in a thinkpad X60/s

1. Remove the battery
2. Remove the screw from the HDD cover
3. Remove the HDD cover
4. Pull out the HDD
5. Remove the rubber rails from the HDD

Comparison
Screws Removed: Thinkpad:1 Powerbook:36 (of several different kinds, so don't mix them up)
Cables disconnected:Thinkpad:0 Powerbook:6
Tools needed: Thinkpad:Phillips screwdriver Powerbook: Phillips screwdriver, flat screwdriver, tweezers, dental pick, T6 Torx driver
Information provided: Thinkpad:manuals/videos/website/printed labelling on the machine itself telling you which screw to remove Powerbook:lecture about voiding warranty

[agarza]

To my opinion, I bought a supposedly new T42p manufactured in 2006 (laptop made in Mexico) and there was 2 annoying stuck pixels (1 red, 1 blue) after a few weeks. I was so frustrated to have those stuck pixels in a brand new laptop.
However, I can tell that 100% all the stuck pixels can be gone rubbing the LCD (pressing too) and the stuck pixel will be gone.

But what if a new laptop comes with dead pixels (I would talk about serious Quality Assurance procedures after Lenovo took over IBM)

[iMav]

In the case of Apple, not only do they not give you the instructions you need, but the procedure for simple upgrades and repairs is anything but simple. For example, I will compare the procedure for upgrading/replacing the harddrive in the 12" powerbook G4 aluminium with the same procedure in a thinkpad X60/s. Both are 12" notebooks, so this seems a somewhat fair comparison...

To be fair, the current generation portable notebook from Apple (the MacBook), is extremely easy to upgrade both RAM and hard drive.

[pphilipko]

The policy covers both dead and bright pixels for all ASUS laptops. My cousin has a V6V laptop with a dead pixel, and the screen was exchanged for a "perfect" one. Hopefully, Lenovo will follow ASUS's lead in their pixel policy!

[NS]

gunston wrote:

where did you get a LCD sheet proctector for 12\' in your X60/s ?
i am in singapore now, it is rarely to get one here.

You go buy the LCD protector sheet from any of the popular bookstore or Sim Lim Sq and cut out the sheet to 12\". They *do* sell those sheets at $16-$20 depending on the quality and you need to change the sheet once in every 6 months.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the rest of the singaporean forummers in this thread:

The next upcoming fair is PC Show 2007 which will be held in suntec city on the 31 May 2007. Most pf the laptops listed there are not that cheap as it may seemed to be. Most of the booth sellers are from Sim Lim or Funan.

[gunston]

hi NS,
is it mandatory to change the protector sheet every 6 months. i know this is the instruction given from the sheet cover.

[sugo]

I have a glossy LCD protector on both my T42 and X60s. It's attached via static (like the ones used for cell phone LCDs). The one on T42 is over 1 year old and it looks like new with no peeling off.

It takes quite a bit effort to attach them without dust in between. But once that's done, you no longer need to worry about people touching the screen with fingers since it's 10 times easier to clear than the original matte finish.

edit: fixed typos

[gunston]

I have a glossy LCD protector on both my T42 and X60s. It's attached via static (like the ones used for cell phone LCDs). The one on T42 is over 1 year old and it's looks like new with no peeling off.

It takes quit a bit effort to attach them without dust in between. But once that's done, you no longer need to worry about people touching the screen with fingers since it's 10 times easier to clear than the original matte finish.

can post your X60s picture with glossy LCD protector.

[NS]

I know that the LCD protector people will always advise you to change the sheet once in every 6 months but i did not follow their advise.

I changed my LCD screen protector when i started seeing it becoming yellowish.

[sugo]

edit