Mushy palmrest, etc.

I received my T61p this week and have been really enjoying it. One thing that "bothers" me about it is the mushy palmrest, especially on the right-hand side. It seems like it's mushy mainly because there is a gap between the plastic and the material below on the right side but not the left. It's frustrating only because it seems that many people claim that the palmrest has no flex. Others say they hate the plastic that's used on the palmrest *because* it flexes and creaks. Is Lenovo selling some Thinkpads with crappy palmrests and others with good, strong ones?? Even the $500 crappy Acer I had previously wasn't mushy like this.
Also, there is a small strip of plastic directly below the spacebar and above the trackpoint buttons that is slightly "warped". It's not that it's warped, it just has that appearance because whats below it pushes it up in the middle. Is this like that on anyone elses T61p?
These things don't really bother me that much, I'm sure that I won't even notice it in a week. But, I want to make sure that this is normal and that I didn't get a crappy palmrest.

 

Probably normal. Quality control varies, it was probably put together hastily. My palmrest has a tiny bit of flex, but nothing significant - still feels very solid. If it continues to bother you, call them?

 

i don't know where you heard someone has a solid palmrest since that is impossible due to the hollow space created by the pcmcia slot. it is usually solid over where the hard drive is since there is reinforcement. almost everyone has some sort of palm rest problem....the people who say they don't probably have never owned a thinkpad so they dont know what to compare to.

for those who have previously owned TP's, the palm rest 'slop' is immedietly noticeable

 

It tends to fit better if you unscrew it, remove it, and replace it. Mine used to be mushy before I upgraded my ram and now it feels pretty solid. It is still a little hallow feeling but the flexiness when apply pressure is gone.

 

Mine doesn't seem mushy at all but I maybe mistaken.

 

Mine too, rock solid. Of course the area right over the card slot has a lsight flex to it, but that is expected. The fit and finish on my T61p is down right good. Nothing out of alignment or loose. The only thing that matches up with some of the other threads is there is a extremely slight movement (maybe 1mm or less) of play in the right corner of the screen when closed. But, I can live with that!

 

Once again, a variety of responses. I replaced the RAM in mine right off the bat, and it was after replacing the palmrest that I noticed the mushiness. The mushiness is not extreme, but it's certainly not solid. The only thing is this is fairly flexible plastic, so I can't understand how some of you are saying that it's rock solid unless we're getting palmrests of different materials. I would say that what's under the plastic of the palmrest is solid, but the plastic itself is certainly not!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think there is an extra card under that right palm rest that is an upgrade. so if you have the upgrade, that mushy space is filled in. not sure what that card is though, maybe someone else knows.. Also between the 14 inch wide, the 14 inch standard, and the 15 inch wide, there is 3 different sized palmrests for the T series.

 

Left side: rock solid until about 1cm from the left edge.

Right side: okay until near the fingerprint reader and the area around the logo is the worst. There is some space underneath the palm rest to allow routing of the fingerprint reader cable which is why it feels mushy.

 

I agree that is it a bit creaky on the right hand side. I don't have the fingerprint reader. However, I only notice it when using the UltraNav pointng device. I tend to press down firmly with my right palm when using this device.

 

Sorry to revive a somewhat dated thread, but I just got my thinkpad r61 (14.1") and I've noticed a bit of flex on the lower right corner of the palm rest. I put in a new stick of ram and the cover seemed to go on without problem. But after typing on it more, and using the arrow keys for navigation, I can't help but notice this persistent flex and clicking coming from a somewhat loose corner section of the palm rest. Has anyone discovered a fix for this? I don't think it's a problem of re-seating the palm rest, as I've tried re-removing and replacing and can't make it go away. Right now I've got a couple pieces of electrical tape holding it in place--this works, but I'd love to know about something a little less makeshift.

EDIT/UPDATE: for anyone who's interested: I've just been experimenting with the electrical tape fix. By removing the palm rest and the HD bay cover (the larger screw underneath the far left palm rest screw, when the notebook is lying upside down), and putting a four-ply "pad" of tape around the problem corner, I was able to make the problem go away entirely. This also keeps the tape away from the exterior, so no aesthetic grossness. Again, though, if there is something more structurally sound than this fix, let me know.

 

bump. Anyone have other suggestions?

 

That sounds like a pretty good temp. fix for now.

 

That mushy feel and creaking sound wasn't what I was expecting from a Thinkpad, but I fixed it.

I wanted to use some small rubber pads that i thought I had laying around - couldn't find them. So I just took a few 1cm diameter sticky felt pads about 1.5mm thick and stuck them on the underside on my palmrest. Here are the photos:

Felt Pads (click pic to enlarge):


See the white dots (click pic to enlarge):


There is still a slight flex under the fingerprint reader, but I didn't want to mess under there because of the electronics. The Left side was ok for me. I tried a couple pads near the edge, but it didn't really help.

Hope this helps.

 

awesome!! ill have to try that

 

I had wondered about doing that. Since I originally posted here, I've just gotten used to the flex. The unit is really pretty solid structurally, it's just that the plastic or carbon fiber or whatever they use around the chassis is pretty flexible stuff (doesn't neccessarily mean it's not strong though). A friend of mine has an old T42, and it's just as bad if not worse. On his, there was a crack in the outer material at the bottom right-handside of the keyboard (obviously he picked it up from that corner). On the T61p, it can't crack there because of the separation that goes from the right edge of the right arrow key to the right edge of the laptop. So, I just stopped worrying about it. The machine works great, it's quiet and cool, and I bet it's really pretty strong underneath this flexible outer casing.

 

I've had my T61 for 2 days now, and I had not choice but to perform the "surgery" detailed above. I had a difficult time feeling my right palm sink into the keyboard case.

Now it feels much more solid

 

Not sure if this is the cause, since for one thing I don't have a fingerprint sensor.

I found it a challenge to click the palmrest home, especially on the right front and back, after adding RAM. If I hadn't, it would have had a mushy feel and I would have seen a gap between the palmrest and the bottom of the computer. The assemblers might have had the same problem.

If this is the cause, the solution might be to undo the palmrest screws and reseat it properly.