No X200 Tablet panels in the US?

Long story short, I had a 1.5 inch strip of LCD that wouldn't respond to the stylus. It was a dead zone, so I opened a service ticket. I have on-site, NBD repair, so naturally I assumed that it would be a relatively speedy repair. Come to find out that the LCD is on backorder but would arrive last Thursday. Thursday came, and it was pushed to Friday. Friday came and I was told the part was on order with no ETA and there was NOTHING that could be done to expedite the order. Today I called back, to get the same response, which I was expecting. I pressed a bit to try to speak with a manager.

I was told that there was no manager to talk to, and the only thing I could do was file a complaint. Reluctantly, I asked to file a complaint. I understand that parts are sometimes hard to find, but it was hard for me to believe that there were absolutely ZERO replacement LCD's available.

So, the next person greets me, but it wasn't the complaints department. Apparently someone had done some research and MIGHT have found an LCD in Canada that they will try to ship by Wednesday. Yay! Although, I know I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Over the course of all of my calls, I was very courteous and very civil.

My question to you guys is, is there anything I can do in the meantime to ensure I actually get the repair done in a timely manner, or am I stuck waiting until Lenovo finds a part that I could have ordered from ebay and replaced myself last week?

Thanks!

 

being both experienced with the parts system and knowing how certain tablet panels can become scarce, i can say with confidence that you're best waiting this one out.

lenovo (technically IBM in this case) will try several parts repositories if the warehouses in mechanicsburg, PA and armonk, NY have become depleted of a specific FRU.   canada is usually the next in line, then japan and china after that.

give it until the end of the week.   if you still haven't found satisfaction in your system's repair then please post a note on the lenovo forum so it can be tracked and (hopefully) resolved.

 

Thanks, Erik! I appreciate you giving me some insight on the repair process. I just had a problem with "we don't have the part and can't give you any estimate on a timeline"
I'll definitely seek assistance on the Lenovo forums if there isn't any progress by Friday.


Luckily, I have a backup tablet so I can wait.

 

that's a standard response when hard-to-find parts aren't in inventory.   they are looking for it... it just might have to come from a land far, far away.

 

x200 tablet LCD's are already hard to find? I may need to stock up on parts then, ha!

 

Well... yeah. Nobody's making large runs of 16:10 panels any more (that I know of), and when you consider that the X200 used PVA or AFFS panels (which were a lot more scarce to begin with) it certainly makes sense that stock is starting to dwindle some three years after production...

 

Even today, they still have no ETA in sight for my replacement panel. I'm confused, though. Don't the x200 and x201 use the same panel? I see all of the ebay listings advertise x200/x201.

It's a bummer that the Hydis panel is going for 400. If it were cheaper I would pick one up just because.

 

after a quick parts lookup on danenick1212's X200T, it looks like he has an 300-nit LED samsung super bright panel.   those are quite possibly the most rare X200T panel right now.

but, it sounds like the wheels are turning on the project and IBM should have a replacement soon.

danenick1212 - to answer your question... yes, the X200T and X201T share many panels.   for the most part everything is interchangeable.

 

erik,
Indeed, the wheels are turning. I received a call from the service technician this morning setting up an appointment for tomorrow morning. I will update you guys after the replacement to let you know how it went.

Thanks again, erik!

 

Follow up:
The technician came yesterday morning and did the LCD replacement. The repair went very smoothly and everything is up and running, except for my hard drive, which is a completely different issue.

The only problem is, the tablet did not come with a webcam so the technician couldn't/forgot to replace the blank that covered the holes in the top of the new LCD bezel(which was intended for a tablet with webcam). He told me to call Lenovo to try to have proper panel sent and to do the replacement again.

This leaves me in a bit of a pickle. I have a neatly cut piece of electrical tape covering the holes right now to ensure that dust doesn't get into the LCD. I am going to call Lenovo Monday to see if it is even possible for them to send a plastic blank to replace the tape OR maybe I could just buy the parts and install the webcam myself.

Any suggestions?

 

you don't need a new panel.   i know with 100% certainty that the webcam cover isn't included with any of the panels.

if i'm not mistaken, the webcam cover is part of the system miscellaneous parts kit (FRU # 45N3138).   you can try calling tech, explaining what happened, and asking if they'll ship that FRU.

it also could be taken off of the old panel if that's still an option.

 

Erik,
The tech said he could bring the old panel by on Tuesday. He said he didn't think that he could remove it, and still advised me to call Lenovo. I had just assumed you could pop it off the old bezel and onto the new one. At any rate, he told me yesterday that he hasn't shipped the LCD back yet, so hopefully he doesn't "forget" about the webcam cover.

 

that's great news.

the cover is held on with double-sided tape.   there should be an opening on the back of the bezel where you can push the cover off using a blunt object.   it's difficult to explain but rather apparent when you see the parts in person.

alternatively, if you're very careful, a razor blade or x-acto knife can be used to carefully peel it off from the front.   i trust very few people to be able to do this though as many will wind up scratching something in the process.   if you trust your own ability more than the tech, do this method yourself.

 

Yeah, I can see from the new panel that a smaller philips head screwdriver would easily remove the piece from the old panel. I will let the technician know this. He was pretty insistent that it could not be removed and that special panels were made with the cover installed.

Thanks, again Erik.