Broken Frame/Roll Cage T60p - Common Problem?

[PC-T60p-Oz]

I have a t60p that had a relatively small drop of about 3 feet onto my concrete garage floor. The outside plastics looked ok but the mag alloy frame inside broke off a piece that supports the rear left corner just above the fan outlet.

The nett result is now that the left hinge flexes and I get lines thru the screen depending on the angle of the screen (preseumably this dues to the motherboard being flexed as the lid opens/closes. The piece of mag alloy that broke is very skinny and looks far too weak to me (it measures approx 1mm x 3mm x 45mm).

I contacted IBM in Australia, where I am, and can you beleive it, they are out of stock of the $52 frame (that is way cheaper than I thought it would be!) they have 49 on back order, seems to me that I am not the only one!

I have had t41p & t40 units before and they were also frequently dropped and never suffered a frame break. Also the tens of HP laptops that I have used over the years have never had this problem.

I personally think that the t60 has a weak point in the frame and of course you can forget warranty.

PC
Sydney

PC

[aviography]

Does your hard drive still work? If it does then consider yourself very fortunate!

3 feet drop onto concrete is a pretty nasty jolt and it depends on where it hit, i.e. did it hit on a corner rather than on the flat surface of the ThinkPad?

That said it is interesting that IBM Down Under has 49 on back order.

[PC-T60p-Oz]

It was off at the time and landed on on the back where the battery sticks out and on the rear left corner. Hard drive any everything elso works ok, hust the rear left corner flexes and the left hinge is not firm like the right one.

It really sux because I am forever having to adjust the screen angle to get rid of all the lines and it is getting worse, I imagine some of the components on the rear left of the motherboard might need resoldering after I fit the new frame, if it is possible to get one at all.

I wonder how many are on backorder in the US?

Part Number Frame 41V9988

PC
Sydney