Ooops! I dropped my T43 on the hard Floor!

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yskim4him · #1 Post by **yskim4him** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:47 pm

I accidently dropped my T43 on the hard floor today.
The left side silver hinge is broken, but everything else seems working OK so far. It is still under the warranty, but I doubt it is covered.
What are my options?
1. Can I replace the hinge by myself? with what degree of difficulty? how to locate and order the part? so on....
2. If I call Lenovo Tech service, how much are they going to charge? can you give me some rough estimates? or is it not wise to do so?

and furthermore, what else should I check into the machich to make sure the machine has survived the drop.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

YK

gunston · #2 Post by **gunston** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:57 pm

try to call the ibm services center and find out.
i did replace the hinges myself due to looseness.
there is certain level of dfficulty, enjoy it...

#3 Post by **richk** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:24 pm

If it boots, the motherboard is probably OK. i would run a drive fitness test to make sure the disk is OK.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:52 pm

It depends on which type of warranty coverage you have as to whether you are covered or not. Thinkpad protection should cover it. Check here: http://www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/system ... nd=5000008
If you change the hinge yourself you will need the Hardware Maintenance Manual for your unit http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 39298.html
If you are running a factory preload of windows it should have PC Doctor installed, it can check out your system for you. If you press the blue button at bootup you will go into Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery which may have system diagnostics available.

yskim4him · #5 Post by **yskim4him** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:50 pm

I called IBM/Lenovo Service.
The guy I talked to issued me a ref. number and told me DHL returned box will be arrived shortly.
I repeated told him that I DROPPED the machine and everything seems OK expect the left side silver LCD hinge which is broken.
He asked me couple times to make sure that is the hinge and I confimed. and he said my warranty coveres this repair.

I looked up my warranty and it is EZServ service until next July.
I called local depot service provider and they said it is not covered with my warranty.

what should I do?

1. would it be OK to ship the machine when I get the return box?
( I've heard some horrible stories of depot services. how much should I worry in my case? will they charge me later when they receive it?)

2. or this EZServ service does cover my case?

YK

#6 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:53 pm

Ship it. They must contact you prior to conducting a billable repair. If your luck goes well it will be fixed free as the agent indicated at Lenovo. If they contact you because it's billable, then you can make a decision then. It's a cheap 'self repair' to replace a hinge. Personally I'd tackle it, but that's me.

yskim4him · #7 Post by **yskim4him** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:16 pm

PC-Doctor test passed without a problem.

And I called tech supprot again with my ref. number to make sure it is covered.
to my surprise, he told me that replecement of hinge is covered since it can be broken within normal usage. I said I dropped it. but he confrimed the warranty will cover the replacement of hinge and only the hinge and nothing else ( i.e. cracks, broken ports, etc due to the drop).

so I guess I'll ship my TP out to them.

Oh, BTW would it be wise to remove HD, extra ram, battery, AC adapter when I ship the machine to them?

Thanks for all your advice.

Let me know if I miss anything...

YK

#8 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:30 pm

Yes remove them

.

sktn77a · #9 Post by **sktn77a** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:11 pm

"Oops, I dropped my T43."

Sounds like a Britney Spears song..............

Seriously though, go for it, and let IBM replace the hinges - that's why we pay a premium price for Thinkpads - this probably won't last much longer!

I returned my T42 for warranty repair earlier this year and was quite anxious, given some of the horror stories I'd read about Solectron service. But it came back working just fine (complete motherboard reeplacement). The hard drive, extra memory, wifi card, etc, were all returned just fine, too. Shipping it with the hard drive installed also allows them to bench test it before they return it to you.

chan_man · #10 Post by **chan_man** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:42 pm

I do have to agree, IBM service is the best. Normal cycle time is three days from when you ship it out, I was able to get one back in two days. Normally, I take the HDD, optical and battery out when I ship it. Memory I would leave in. I'm sure they have all the extra parts to test the repair before shipping it back.

yskim4him · #11 Post by **yskim4him** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:13 pm

Thank you all for your kind and prompt advices.
YOu made me feel like I'm in a great community of people who cares each other.

I sent it out today.

yskim4him · #12 Post by **yskim4him** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:23 am

Guess what!
I have received my T43 back on Thursday morning meaning 3 days turn around!!
They replaced the hinge and apparently everything seems as it was.
I'm thinking that the depot service has been improved well now.
or is it just me being lucky?

#13 Post by **carbon_unit** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:38 am

I don't think that the depot service was that bad, there were just a few squeaky wheels squeaking rather loudly for a while.
I would consider myself lucky that they replaced that part for free since it was dropped.
Congrats on you new found luck!

Ooops! I dropped my T43 on the hard Floor!

Ooops! I dropped my T43 on the hard Floor!

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