The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    T400 screen, light leakage problem

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by afatman, Mar 19, 2009.

  1. afatman

    afatman Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I just got my T400. To be honest, I am very disappointed at the cheap-plastic build quality. And I found that there might be light leakage at the bottom of the screen. Mine is a CCFL. I don't know whether your machine has the same problem. :mad:
     

    Attached Files:

    afatman, Mar 19, 2009
    #1
  2. zeusmd

    zeusmd Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    What exactly to you consider to be the 'problem'?
    It pisses me of, when I hear the 'smart' word everybody uses "cheap-plastic build quality", as if it should be golden or something!
    Wake-up, it's crisis outdoors, soon enough you might not have neither this (as some people don't have houses any more), and quit complaining about nothing. That's all IMHO
     
    zeusmd, Mar 19, 2009
    #2
  3. QualitySeeker

    QualitySeeker Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    221
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Maybe your eye sight? :p
     
    QualitySeeker, Mar 20, 2009
    #3
  4. jaredy

    jaredy Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    793
    Messages:
    2,876
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    The leakage could be seen as an issue, but it is not that uncommon. However...cheap plastic build quality...? Have you ever touched a thinkpad before? I think you're mistaking simple rough plastics to "cheap." Go pick up some consumer grade dell or hp.
     
    jaredy, Mar 20, 2009
    #4
  5. visiom88

    visiom88 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    631
    Messages:
    375
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    31
    That amount of leakage is present on almost all laptops and the plastic used on thinkpads may look unpolished, but it can handle much more abuse than those fancy looking glossy plastics on other brands.
     
    visiom88, Mar 20, 2009
    #5
  6. zeusmd

    zeusmd Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    It's like buying a BMW while being a Mercedes fan and afterwards complaining that it's not like a Mercedes... or vice versa.
     
    zeusmd, Mar 20, 2009
    #6
  7. afatman

    afatman Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    This is my first thinkpad. But my wife used a R51 for several years. I didn't find the light leakage problem at all on R51. Well, I admit maybe my expectation is too high, considering the reputation of thinkpad.
     
    afatman, Mar 20, 2009
    #7
  8. jaredy

    jaredy Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    793
    Messages:
    2,876
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    The screens aren't that great that's for sure, but you don't really buy thinkpads for that (except the w700 maybe). We WISH there was nicer screens of course.
     
    jaredy, Mar 20, 2009
    #8
  9. afatman

    afatman Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I don't think it is too hard to improve the assembly of the screen. Why doesn't the great lenovo do that?
     
    afatman, Mar 20, 2009
    #9
  10. Snakecharmed

    Snakecharmed Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    298
    Messages:
    289
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The T43 with the IPS screen that I had for two days had no backlight bleed. My T500 has some on the bottom edge, but it's nowhere near as bad as yours.
     
    Snakecharmed, Mar 20, 2009
    #10
  11. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    That seems a bit abnormal. I didn't notice any backlight bleed on a black screen on my T500.
     
    MidnightSun, Mar 20, 2009
    #11
  12. afatman

    afatman Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So can I send my machine back to lenovo to change the screen?
     
    afatman, Mar 20, 2009
    #12
  13. Snakecharmed

    Snakecharmed Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    298
    Messages:
    289
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    If it's as severe as it looks in the photo, I think you would be well within reason to send it back or at least call them about it to see what can be done.

    Personally, I've been pretty disgusted with LCD screens in general that I quit caring about how my T500 screen looks because I'm not going to do any photographic work on it and I imagine that I'm not going to keep this laptop long enough to waste my time with the screen, although I would like to do what ojosch did by swapping it out for a better non-Lenovo OEM model. At least it has no dead pixels. That's more than I can say for my 27" Dell monitor with which I've played panel lottery four times already in under a year and am about to go for number five.
     
    Snakecharmed, Mar 20, 2009
    #13