Screen Ripple, Is this normal?

Hi,

I just purchased a 14 inch T43 thinkpad with a SXGA+ screen. My main reason for purchasing this laptop was for its durability and portability. So I was a little disturbed to find out that I can easily cause the screen to ripple when i put a slight amount of pressure on the back of the laptop. (slightly off center of the screen) Now any pressure applied on the corners , the edge, or dead center cause no ripple effects. So did lenovo possibly do something wrong or is this normal?

One more thing, I noticed that any solid grey areas when not viewed headon have noticable blocking and banding. Again, is this normal?

Thanks,

-SteveSH

 

That ripple is most certainly not good and may indicate other issues. I'd definitely send it back. I'm sure other T owners will tell you they see nothing like this.

 

No such effects on my T42. I'd assume that the T43s should be the same, so it seems like a problem.

 

that's really odd, I've never had any ThinkPad that's had that problem. How hard are you pushing...any laptop will do that if you push hard enough, some it takes more pressure than others. I suggest sneakily trying it on laptops at a retail store to see how easy it is to cause ripples relative to the T43. As I said, in my experience the ThinkPad series has always been in the top tier for design ruggedness and screen protection.

 

I can tell you that I am not pushing very hard at all. I have used the t42 as well as the t40 and did not notice this problem. All the other non-IBM laptops I have used have the screen ripple problem to some degree except for the sony vaio's with metal alloy shells. So it is possible that the t43 is not built to the same standards as previous t-series but I won't be convinced until I see another t43 to compare. And if that's the case I might think about returning the t43 and just pick up a t42 instead.

 

No, that's not the case, I've seen plenty of well made T43's.

 

Well I was about to return the laptop but I now have a dilemma. I purchased this laptop from IBM Direct for college and while I can return it in 30 days no questions asked as long as I pay shipping, there is the possibility that the specific model I ordered will not be in stock for at least a month. Unfortunately in a month I will already be at college. So while there is a problem with the laptop I might not have a choice in returning it. Now my question is if down the road the screen gets damaged or warped it would not get covered by the standard warranty and in order to get it protected I would need to buy their protection plan warranty, correct?