Squeaky T60

So far I have no complains with my new C2D T60. The only few annoyances is with a keyboard where you can "feel" its a different plastic material (not as solid as T42, even so it *clicks* like NMB) and that "squeaky" lower right corner in the area of fingerprint reader where the hard drive is located. Feels like there is a gap between the plastic and a hard drive enclosure which creates this squeaky flex. Anybody else noticed that?

 

the worst squeaky flex on mine is right below the touchpad buttons; that thin strip of plastic there flexes and squeaks quite a bit

 

Try tightening all the screws on the bottom of your laptop. Though, the point on the upper bezel right next to the arrow keys will always squeak because of how they designed it. Maybe a thin rubber pad would fix it though.

 

By squeak, how much of a noticable noise are these machines making?

 

My "squeaky" part in the area of the hard drive is very annoying. Its not a problem when I'm typing since this area don't fall into a wrist rest. Only when I pick up the laptop with open lid/display, that is the place where I usualy hold it. Also, when I use a Backspace, the hand naturally rest in that area. The flex is very loud and annoying. In the oposite lower left corner where PC cards go, you can also feel how thin and flexible the piece of plastic is when you put your finger inside of the slot and grab it. I assume its all part of making the laptop lighter and some cost reduction. Thinkpad is still miles ahead of any other competition in terms of durability and reliability. When you close the lid, machine is brick solid. Don't get me wrong, machine is incredible, just that nothing could be 100% perfect

BTW, my plastic strip below touchpad buttons doesn't flex.

 

Very interesting - No other part of my T60 squeaks, including the HDD area. The plastic strip below the touchpad squeaks and flexes pretty horribly though

 

What does it sound like? Perhaps comparing to some everyday familiar sound.

 

Hard to describe the sound, just a regular plastic flex/squeak. Maybe something like when you flex a can of soda/beer but its not an aluminum but rather plastic flex. I'm curious if some pad is missing in there. I will take out hard drive of my T60 from work (that one doesn't have this flex sound) and my T60 at home to see what is different. Of course, my work T60 doesn't have a fingerprint reader versus the one at home. Will let you guy know what I find. Maybe I can record this flexing sound later and post it here.

 

PROBLEM SOLVED: it was a loose screw that holds hard drive side panel. After tightening the screw, no squeaks and no flex. Perfect!!!

@ the Oatman: try tightening all the screw on the bottom of the laptop. There are two screws close to the front that might take care of your flex?

 

I thought this too after I put the palm rest back into place and screwed that HD cover back on. Turns out that was short lived, and I think I managed to finally make it stop rubbing. You need to loosen the HD cover screw a little bit, and then use your fingernail to pull the HD tray out a fraction of a millimeter, then tighten the screw again. This brings the cover just far enough away from the palm rest edge that they no longer rub or squeak against each other

 

I tried tightening all the screws on the bottom of the laptop but as expected it did not help. There seem to be no screws holding that area in place anyway :-(

 

I have a R60, and it had the same "sqeaky" area as Twister's T60. It turns out that it wasn't any loose screw. My R60 wasn't exactly "even" on its 4 points on the bottom. My front right of the laptop was very slightly raised. If I place two sheet of paper on the front right corner, the squeak disappeared completely. So I ended up "solving" this problem by placing two thin layers of scotch tape on the front right stand of the laptop, and now the noise is gone.

I am beginning to question the legendary build-quality of Thinkpads... Oh well, R60 is a cheaper model. I still love that new-laptop smell...

 

That new laptop smell is toxic chemicals from the plastics Just like "that new car smell"

 

I don't like TPs because of a lack of squeaks, although they do make less creaking noises than most others I've used..I like them because i can drop them and not have a heart attack...

 

I decided to take off the palm rest and find out why that area was so squeaky. There is absolutely no support for that thin strip of plastic. It seems that it could be easily addressed by fixing a bar of hard rubber or something similar right on the highlighted area. I did not have anything appropriate available so it will have to wait. Any ideas?

Note: this is on the 15" T60

 

Does it sound like when you bend a flexible straw or bending of a plastic 3-ring binder?

 

err, I forget what a plastic 3 ring binder sounds like but it does kind of sound like a flexible straw.

 

I love the smell of toxic chemicals in the morning. It smells like.... victory.

 

my point of creaking is on the left side, right by the Fn key. Quite annoying actually. It's just loose. and I can't tighten the screw from the botom any tighter. Am I the only one who has a problem in this area?

 

It's not a good idea to over tighten the screws. To fix that you might have to take off the palm rest and put it back on, playing around with it to see what works.

 

the creaking is from the thin strips of plastic on the two sides of the keyboard, and is the 'loudest' when you tap on the plastic sides right by the Fn key and the right arrow key.

i took out the palmrest, and reinstall it. however the creaking is not from the palmrest part, but the parts above it. there is a little bit of give in the plastic and hence the creaking. I don't think there's anything one can do.

my gf has an old powerbook g4 12 inch. That piece of machine feels quality, absolutely (although running a little bit hot at times). I hope Lenovo can produce that kind of feel in all of its machines.

 

Although the 12 inch g4 feels pretty solid and looks great, the T60 is a more solid machine, much more utilitarian. It trades the illusion of sturdiness for actual sturdiness. I have used those 12 inch powerbooks on many occasions and not only do they overheat but it has a crappy keyboard and touchpad.

 

what i absolutely cannot stand on the powerbook my gf has is the stupid one-button touchpad. Lacking the 'right button' essentially cut the usability of the nav to half in my opinion.

anyway. sidings of the keyboard continues to creak. The left side of the keyboard (thin strip of plastic on top of the mic / headphone jack and ethernet jack) contines to be loose -- both in the up/down axis and the left-right axis.

If anyone's experienced the same problem, it'd be nice to share your thoughts. If anyone's found a way to fix it, it'll be even better. happy new year!