T400 Dead Pixel Upon Delivery

I just wanted to share in my frustration with the new ThinkPad I recently ordered. I should start off by saying that I'm new to the whole Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad scene. I've been using a Dell laptop for quite some time now but I've always heard good things about the ThinkPad. After reading the T400 review posted on this site I broke down and ordered one directly from Lenovo. Considering that the estimated ship date was 9/25 I was pleasantly surprised when the laptop arrived today on my doorstep. I was filled with a wonderful sense of anticipation as I ripped open the box, installed the battery, connected the adapter and powered up the system for the first time. That feeling of joy was short lived however when upon power up I discovered a dead pixel on the LCD.

I have also noticed one other problem, that the palm rest above the audio and mic jacks is very loose. Every time I place my right palm down in that area there is quite a bit of give. It also squeaks. Needless to say my first impression of the T400 has been a negative one.

Any thoughts?

 

sorry where is it?
hopefully not in the middle

 

Return it? I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

 

"Considering that the estimated ship date was 9/25 I was pleasantly surprised when the laptop arrived today on my doorstep." Didnt you recieve an e-mail the date that it actually shipped?

 

Making LCDs is unfortunately not an exact science. On occasion some do come with dead/stuck pixels. Is your pixel stuck or dead? If it's stuck there are various remedys. You can google it to find. Sometimes they work. Your other choice is to send it back and eat the re-stocking fee. This is not just a Lenovo problem. Any notebook you get has a fair chance of having some.

I know it sucks. I've got a few desktop LCDs with stuck pixels. They personally don't bother me. Manufacturer's other choice is to throw out all the screens with dead/stuck pixels which would greatly increase the cost of the machine you just purchased.

 

If the dead pixel is smack in the center of the screen, it really bugs me.. Off to the side and I'm ok with 1 or 2.. Most of the time they are stuck on one color which you can try to massage it back to work.. However a dead pixel will be black and emitting no light..

 

I also had a dead pixel, about 1 inch from center.


But my eyesight isn't top notch, so I only see it if I really look for it.

 

Same here (but on a desktop LCD). GO MYOPIA!

 

My bad, I should have said stuck. The pixel is stuck red. I've tried this with no success. It's located near the upper right of the screen. I guess you can say I lucked out in that it wasn't near the center.

 

Yeah mine has a stuck pixel too. I've tried software, rubbing, tapping, hugging, licking...nothing works. I'm just going to leave the screen alone before I do anymore damage to it.

 

Yeah, I got a purple dead pixel on mine, a few inches off center. I usually don't notice it, and don't let it bother me.

 

If you have that big of a fear of dead pixels order your laptop from Costco, they will take back anything regardless within 90 days. But seriously guy, any LCD panel is liable to come with dead pixels.

 

Return it, but Lenovo will charge you a restocking fee most likely.
It's a matter of huge debate whether stuck pixels are defects or should qualify as normal variant. I 'm with the former camp.

 

I'm with the former camp as well, but if we're to believe what the manufacturers tell us, prices would be higher if they were to adopt a zero-tolerance policy. I suppose that's reasonable, considering the exponential nature of quality control.

 

In my personal experience, I have noticed that new LCD displays, for both notebooks and desktops, usually exhibit stuck pixels within the first few months/weeks of ownership.

Most of the time, they eventually fix themselves. However, in some cases, they do not.