Lenovo X301 Bezel Crack

This is a repost from the IBM website, but I have no idea what to do. And I really can't have my computer dying right now

 

your system isn't dying.   your bike ride is likely the root cause.   excessive pressure could have been put on the system while in your backpack, ultimately cracking the bezel.   cracks don't just happen.

see my reply in your thread on the lenovo forum for more info.

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Cracked-X301-Bezel/td-p/485745

ultimately you'll need to buy a new bezel and replace it.   either that or live with the crack.   no harm will come of it aside from the aesthetics.

 

The reason that I am so nervous is two fold. First, I had a previous experience where a crack in a different place on my parents Macbook Pro, where the crack on the low right corner of the screen eventually damaged the antennas, the screen, and the hinges. So I hues fear number 1 is that happens. Thing 2 is that I bought the laptop refurbished, which means that I couldn't get a different warranty, something I have always done given the opportunity to do so. And I don't see any reputable resellers selling the screen bezel. I had purchased the laptop from microcenter, and they said that they couldn't sell me the part.

And I know that this won't kill my laptop, its damage that I am not responsible for that could spread. And I purchased a Thinkpad laptop for two primary reasons--service and durability. And this is making me question both.

Finally, I don't want to come across as the cheapest person ever. If I had done the damage, by dropping it or something of the like, I would recognize this. But a business grade laptop in a bag should be fine? Aren't they designed to be carried around in bags?

 

It depends on what you have in the bag. If the bag was tightly packed and there was a lot of pressure on the lid, then it will crack. On that same note, if there were a lot of hard objects hitting the laptop in the bag, then it would result in a crack.

 

The X301 is one of the best built machines Lenovo has a ever produced. Others haven't had problems like this, so you obviously damaged it without realizing so. Just replace the bezel, it's one of the easiest parts to replace; ook at how you're packing it in the bag, and move on.

It's cheap to buy from Lenovo/IBM:

44C0862

IBM Maintenance parts | Retail - Part order - United States

 

This post I am not as sure about. The bag was packed in such a way that there is always a book running parallel so that not all of the pressure is in the laptop, including the divider. My backpack is snug, but that's because I put a light rain jackets in to provide extra padding.

Thank you so much for that Mr awesome Senna picture. I'll order!

Edit: Seriously, thanks a ton for the link. 30 is really fair. I would also to get some of the screw covers and the plastic tabs on the sides of the screen. Parts numbers?

 

Is that book bigger or smaller than the laptop itself? Also, is it a hard cover book?

I personally like keeping my laptop somewhat loose inside bags, with some moving space between the laptop compartment and what's outside of it. Something knocking on the outer chassis of the laptop lightly is probably not as bad for it as constant pressure.

 

Glad to see some F1 fans on here. Here's the parts page. Anything that's not on the lcd parts page will be in the miscellaneous parts section.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70617.html

 

i haven't seen this crack coming up before, your book and the shock from bike ride probably exerted to much pressure on the front end of the bezel.

 

I have also noticed some extra flex around the hinges. The hinge itself wiggled in the chases. Any thougts about this? This time I have no explanation. Hinges would be compressed on a bike ride, not get wiggled around.

And I found the nylon screw set in the misc section of the parts website. Thanks again all!

 

I have the same problem and the computer has never been in dropped og received abuse. I think the problem is due to a design flaw. The screen is flexible and so is the lid/bezel assembly. The bezel itslef is hard plastic and cannot flex with the screen. When you open up the laptop you typically open the latch with your rigt hand (latch is located in the front, right side of the laptop), and open the lid with your left hand - probably in the left side of the lid. The lid will flex/bend a bit and the hard plastic bezel will not be able to absorb this. Voila: over time the tensions will create the cracks.

 

if it is design flaw then such cracks should occur more frequently, which is not the case and my X301 have none of these cracks despite abusive uses. And there is not many reports of such breakage on the other forums either.

 

I wonder if the bezel cracks have occurred on machines with still hinges (normally considered an asset). Differences in the hinge stiffness (which do occur) would result in different levels of bending stress on the display.

John

 

My X301 is opened and closed multiple times a day, and there's no cracks after 18 months of lugging it around.