R61 build quality, Palm rest creaks

My purchase of the R61 14.1" widescreen model was pretty much based on the fact that i read everywhere that the build quality on this product is the best and has no comparison to any other laptop manufacturer.

With this premise, now that i have received my R61 my expectations were quite high. I have been a laptop user for more than three years now and have used several models such as HP, Sony, Toshiba, dell and now finally lenovo. However, I find that the build quality is not as high as generally perceived. I would like to point out my observations and people can add their experiences;

a) The palm rest to the right of the touchpad creaks whenever i put my hand on it. Not only the palm rest but also the complete cover on the front has a pretty noticeable "play", which is very annoying.

b) The touchpad when tapped a little hard to simulate a left mouse click, causes the complete top cover to move down a bit, thereby producing a hollow sound.

c) When the laptop is closed and properly latched, pressing down on the top lid produces a definite travel of the lid before it touches the base. This is quite odd as the purpose of the latch is to ensure that the screen is properly locked and secured. This becomes particularly annoying if you are carrying your laptop in your hand, by your side and while walking it thumps your leg producing strange noises.

In the end, i will just like to say that I am pretty much disappointed by the build quality, keeping in mind the image created by LENOVO in this regard.

 

I am almost positive to say that most users experience C. ( I know my T61 does that anyway). My laptop also has a little of A as well, but not so that it's terribly unbearable.
I've owned laptops for the past 9 years, with owning a Compaq, Dell, HP, Toshiba, and now my T61, and I must say, you simply cannot beat Lenovo ! Again, I am a very picky person when it comes to spending $1,000 + on a laptop, but these situations would definitely not keep me up at night The thing that really bothers me about this computer is about how off center the screen is though (lol, just kidding, that does not bother me at ALL !! ).
Enjoy your new R61. When your friends HP's, and Dells are all in for service, and yours is still ticking away, you'll see who has the better computer

 

Unscrew the palmrest and rescrew it in. Helps.

 

I have A and C on my T61p. I'm also a little disappointed as I expected a solid notebook built like a tank. Guess my expectations were too high from reading some reviews on the net.
I've actually tried to unscrew the palmrest and rescrew it in, but it didn't help
I also notice that out of the 4 screws that hold the palmrest, the 2 that are closer to the express card slot go in further than the 2 closer to the DVD/hard drive. The one screw that's near the hard drive sits almost flat to the bottom surface.

 

Thanks a lot for your replies.

Can someone please suggest, what would be the best way to stop the creaking of palm rest as this is the worst of the distractions.

Thanks

 

You insert a small piece of foam or plastic (anything non-conductive) in the areas where you feel the greatest travel. You need to take off the palm rest cover to do this.

In the past, if you bought a Thinkpad and were expecting exceptionally high build quality, you would also be paying well over $1000 for the laptop. Not saying that that is an excuse for any current faults in build quality but just to realign expectations a little. I actually have only noticed the palm rest issue on mine. The palm rest is only an issue because of where Lenovo has chosen to place the RAM slots. The entire top cover would probably be sealed and screwed in very tight if they had chosen to have slots accessible from the bottom.

 

Thanks for your suggestion and i will follow your advise.

However, i do not agree to your comments about the build quality deteriorating because of the price. If this is the case then lenovo should stop advertising "best engineered PCs".

 

The build quality does not deteriorate because of the price. I have had lenovos for years and they have always excelled in the quality of laptops

 

Maybe there are unrealistic product quality perceptions at play?

I bought a ThinkPad as I was sick and tired of having little superfluous parts break and fall off my other non-ThinkPad laptops. Parts like those little rubber bumpers that keep the LCD lid from banging against the laptop case--until they fell off, palm rests that didn't flex at all--but instead developed stress cracks, and casings that were completely squeak-free--until they freaking split and broke because they weren't adequately reinforced internally.

IOW I wanted a no-frills laptop without all that extra consumer grade crap that makes the long-term laptop ownership experience suck.

That said, in my personal experience, ThinkPads deliver: there are no rubber bumpers to lose, the palm rests flex instead of crack and the casings are very well reinforced internally.

 

Thanks for your comments, i guess this addresses some of my concerns.

 

Actually, the only thing I dont like about build quality is the rubbery cover on the case. Its rubbing off already on the corners.