Small dark place on screen....what's causing this?

[likesspace]

Hi guys,
First time poster here, but fairly long time lurker.
I am now the owner of 4 T23's but I have nowhere near the knowledge of these machines as most of you.
The last one I picked up is not in quite as good shape as the other three I've purchased used.
For one, there is some noticeable flex to the keyboard on the left side. It's not that annoying, but I do notice it while typing.
The really annoying thing to me is a small darker area of the screen at the bottom. It's about two inches tall and 1 - 2 inches wide, and although it's really only slightly darker than the rest of the screen it is very noticeable, to me.
I was wondering if someone would tell me what causes this darkened area and also if this is something that I should be concerned about. Will it just get worse and worse until the screen is no longer useable?
Another question is if the screen does need replaced, is this a difficult job? I've found some used screens on Evilbay at what I consider to be a reasonable price. I'm just not sure if I have the ability to do the replacement.
I bought this computer for $295.00 including shipping. It came with the laptop unit (512MB, 40GB hard drive, CDRW/DVD)....a USB 2.0 card....Microsoft wireless card..two AC adapters.....two batteries (both good)...dock....Windows XP Pro loaded and with the original CD, Windows fully up to date, Thinkpad software up to date and antivirus software installed.
All in all I'm happy with my purchase, but this dark place on the screen is bugging the crap out of me. The other three we've purchased (in the $300.00 - $325.00 range) are absolutely perfect.
Even with this defect I'd rather have this T23 than one of the newer HP or other "big box" store laptops. I just hope I don't hear that my screen is dying on me.
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated and thanks for this great resource.
Dave

[phool@round]

Welcome to the Forum! It's official, your no longer a lurker, what took you so long?

Do the hinges feel tighter on this one than the other 3? Sometimes the dark area is just from deformation of the lid and screen supports running up from the hinges, usually from over tight hinges *or if someone set something on top with the lid down. I usually remove the lid to check for a warpage of the hinges and the long screen mounts that run up the sides......

Try gently flexing the lid to see if the dark spots change. If they do you'll know what to do.

[likesspace]

Hi Phool@round....
First of all, thanks for the welcome. I think the main reason it took so long to post is simply be I'm intimidated by the knowledge on this board. I've been using computers since the mid 80's, but I've never done a bit of work on them.
I'm happy to hear that my problem is not something serious. I did gently flex the screen as you suggested and the dark spot did change (although it did not go away). After having used the computer most of tonight the spot is not bothering me as much as it did so I might not do anything about it right now. I'm still a little leary about trying to tear into a working machine. Thanks a lot for the suggestion. At least now I know that my screen isn't dying. Everything else works really well and as I said before I'm happy with my purchase and feel that I got a decent deal on it. With four of these machines I'm sure I will have more questions in the future.
Thanks again,
Dave

[phool@round]

By the username you've chosen I'll give you as much as you need.....lol. It's intimidating to tear into a perfectly good machine but it can be done with a very simple approach of equal parts patience and logic. I learned on systems that where already in disrepair, anything I could do to them had already been done in magnification et.al by a previous owner.

If you feel the need to pursue a look "inside" then just hollar and someone will be of assistance pronto. I will point you to one site with good information. thinkwiki.org. There you can look up your type of TP and download a copy of the H.M.M..

I too have been mucking around with computers since way back when..... I became a Unix Sys Admin so that I could "talk" to my OS instead of it "complaining" to me.