Issues with cracking with the T400s series

Giving thought of a new notebook and looked at the T400s series, (T410s) but now have read on the Lenovo's forum linked below of an on going issue with cracking near the palm rests by a number of owners. Not good if this is not properly addressed and causing me some worries.

Anyone else beside the list of dissatisfied customers of the T400s/T410s notebooks having the same issue ? But what about the new T420s system ? Kind of worried about this one as well for the palm rest cracking over time.

Is this a so-called hidden feature of T400s? - Lenovo Community

 

I can't say about the T400 and T400s, but through my first-hand experience with machines in our design lab, the T410, T410s, T510 and W510 all exhibit varying annoyances (degrees and locations) of palmrest cracking -- or crackling, creaking, squeaking, whatever people call it.

There are various DIY fixes, but why the customers -- individual and corporate -- have to muck around with screwdriver and masking tape when such problems can be verified and eliminated by proper Quality Assurance practice?

 

Interesting you don't mention the X series. In your lab do you also get X201 machines that crack and creak?

 

I have the "new" t410s, they say they have replaced the palmrest with newer material that won't crack. Mine kind of flex though, flexing is better than cracking imo.

 

The T510 that sits on my office desk used to have a palmrest that showed "flex" between the touchpad and the ThinkPad logo, near the latch. It turned out that there was a "hole" right underneath and the plastic above it had zero support. That area now feels solid after some foam padding was placed at the hole.

No, not with the ones I have direct access to.

 

Well my old T400s cracked two times before I got it replaced with a W510 for a small fee and this thing feels quite a bit more sturdy around the keyboard overall if you ask me.

I have no idea why the T400s cracked twice in the lower left part of the palm rest but it did happen twice within a period of a few months so I was never really convinced about the palm rest quality of the T400s but things might have changed with the T410s and the new T420s.

 

@RamGuy: We might be talking about two different phenomena: (1) making creaking sound, related to hearing; (2) causing a tiny line of gap, related to seeing. That's the best I could render them.

 

There is a new palmrest FRU designed to stop the palmest cracking issues.

forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - T410s are they still cracking?)
[T410s] ... schon wieder ein Haarriss (linke Ecke - Handauflage) - Seite 3 - T - Serie - ThinkPad-Forum.de
Betreff: T400s und T410s: Haarrisse im Palm Rest - Lenovo Community

75Y5573 is the new one. I ordered it for my T400s and put doublesided tape underneath to tighten it up. It flexes (the tape is a bit thick) but no cracks since replacement.

Mine was also cracked on the lower left of the palmrest. It usually cracks near the mounting screw underneath there.

 

The T400s and T410s share the same mechanical design and both are prone to cracking (although the new FRU is reported to fix this). The T420s uses an all-new mechanical and shouldn't suffer from the defect in the first place.

 

I have found that those palmrests on the T4x0s with the fingerprint reader are more prone to cracking. I am wondering whether the OP's palmrest had the fingerprint reader on it.