T400 users: Right side palmrest-> how secure is it?

A question for you T400 owners:

How secure is your palmrest on the right side corner (closest to user corner)?

I just noticed mine is actually fairly loose. I can lift the right side corner of the palmrest up and down by 0.5 to 1 mm. I also checked by unscrewing the bottom 4 screws and resitting the palmrest. I also studied it very carefully. It appears it has nothing to do with the screws, because the corner is mechanically secured by interlocking and the tightness is not influenced by the screw. The looseness in my case appears to be issues with tolerancing leading to a loose fitting. Do you guys have this problem or just me?

 

Mine's also loose. Part of the new and improved design of the Cheap-pad T400

However, I cannot pull it up further and it makes no noise so I'll live with it.

 

Does it actually go up and down for you though? Mine I think it pretty severe. I can effortlessly put my fingernails into the gap easily and raise the corner of the palmrest.

 

Don't have this problem on my T500.

 

Boy, this is depressing to hear thread after thread of palmrest complaints on the T400

 

I too have the loose palmrest issue on that side. Yes it is somewhat disappointing, but really in the grand scheme of things doesn't bother/worry me. I would like to see this change in the future though as I do plan on sticking with lenovo and dell products. If little things like this continue to make it through quality control I might find my self with only a dell.

 

I am starting to get a little disappointed too. My first worry came when I noticed the battery was flimy as I was putting the notebook into my bag by holding onto the back. Now I noticed the right palmrest corner. Just now I have basically given the notebook my own quality control assessment. I noticed that the plastic ribbon frame between the keyboard and the notebook screen is very loose. Try pushing on it. Mine is basically not secured to the notebook at all. It is basically a loose 'ribbon'. I also noticed my screen doesnt close completely leaving some gap. The right side holding the DVD drive is kind of wobbly also (only on the right side and not the left side where the keyboard is probably provding support).

Only thing I commend on its design is the plastic is very flush fit to the actual LCD screen (like desktop monitors) with no dust gap. But the lack of symmetry in screen location is very silly though. The closing and opening of lid however is very high resistance, which I prefer. Non-glossy indicator lights is better than the old glossy type.

 

Yeah, I can get my fingernail under it but it snaps straight back and flush afterwards.

 

Mine looks flush too after I pull back out. Except it is probably only because of gravity that it is flush. Its just that when I pick up my notebook in the front I will notice a quick 'drop' on the right side because the palmrest will slide first before gaining resistance.

 

I hear you. On the one hand I agree that all these little issues really don't really have much, if any, impact when it comes to using the computer but IMO they point to a worrying trend of cost- and corner-cutting when it comes to design.

Thinkpads got their reputation by being boring, a little behind the technology curve, but utterly bombproof build-wise. Dells would fall apart, Thinkpads would keep soldiering on (at least in my office). I see that advantage fading away.

I like the fact that every time I buy a new TP it's hundreds of dollars less than its equivalent last time I bought one, but I'd rather pay more and get good build quality. The T400s sounds like it is filling that quality-at-a-price gap but it offers no discrete graphics and, frankly, I really can't fathom why Lenovo is further statifying the Thinkpad line. The T-series used to be the best quality IBM offered. The R series was cheaper and cut a few corners. Now we have three layers -- Ts series, T series, and R series. Makes no sense to me.

 

Mine definitely has that 'snap' back and doesn't otherwise move in any direction, so it clearly fits right. Maybe give Lenovo a call and see if you can have them send out a new palmrest that might be a better fit (don't send them your machine if you can help it... the palmrest is an FRU). Maybe yours is slightly warped.

 

But I don't believe that keeping low cost means producing low quality products though. I just dont believe I should have to worry about wobbly parts on products I buy nowadays. For example, I would never even question whether the metal back plate fit snugly with the front plastic on my ipod nano. I wouldnt need to check it as it wouldnt even be an issue at all. I can take it for granted. Or if I would check it, it will reassure me its very tight fit. Here, I basically gave my notebook the same level of benefit also. Except that I am slowly discovering little issues here and there as I start using it more and get more familiar with it. Plus, doesnt it cost them pretty much the same to make this same notebook but everything is fit without gaps or loose parts? I am also burdened by the additonal issue I have above normal users with the sleep issue.

 

Oh, so it sounds like yours is within acceptable standards then. Mine if upside down will slide down a little.

But I have taken the palmrest out to check. How it works is, the screws secure the top of the palmrest (near the keyboard) and the region of the palmrest closest to the user is secured by these mechanical latches that catches onto slots in the alloy frame. It appears the most right latch on my palmrest is just loose leading to being able to slide up and down. I have refit it many times. I also carefully checked the plastic latch on the palmrest and there is no 'wearing' of any form. It does not appear to be warped either as that is the corner region which seems impossible to have much warpage. Plus, the surfaces look fairly flat.

 

Didn't read the whole thread. Just reporting.

My T400 has a 'lose' palm rest also. About 0,5-1 mm as described in the OP. Left side same thing.

First it bothered me, later I couldn't care anymore. My X300 has nothing really, but it's another design.

 

No Offense, but some of the people on this thread (and on this board) are being downright picky. Wow....it's a little loose and I can lift the right side maybe .5 mm. Now consider, when, during normal use of this laptop, would you notice this problem? When would such an issue cause trouble for you when using your laptop? Probably never. I learned a long time ago that it doesn't matter how well built it is or how expensive something is, there's no such thing as a flawless laptop(or product, etc or anything in life). Would I have liked to seen this looseness disappear? Sure, who wouldn't? But I realized that there's probably another 100 points on this laptop where Lenovo could have dropped the ball and made it far cheaper feeling or less durable, and instead they made an overall solid laptop, with a mildly loose palmrest. Don't let one nagging issue ruin the overall experience of a wonderful laptop.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I agree that minor issues like this are irrelevent to everyday useage but my gripe is that there are far more of them than with any previous Thinkpad T-series machine I've bought before and together they have chipped away at my previously high opinion of Thinkpads.

I've also had to take my palmrest, keyboard and bezel off to reseat everything properly and fix a warped keyboard. Again, it doesn't affect how the computer performs and was easy enough, but it's not exactly something I expect to have to do with a brand new business-class laptop. Makes me wonder what might be poorly designed inside the flimsy plastic box.

 

i think being perfectionistic and striving for something perfect is sort of a good thing.

 

Mines a little loose as well, doesn't really bother me but there are a couple of other chassis imperfections that do bother me. One being the right side screen bezel not being properly tightened on the division down the middle. The other being the slightly bulging plastic that the power button and volume controls sit on.

Oh well, obviously Thinkpad quality has gone down a bit from what I've heard but it's still better than pretty much every other notebook out there.

 

Ah yes, the bulging power/volume button plastic. I have that too I put that down to the crappy warped keyboard design. I can also see a moulding mark int he middle of that strip of plastic, like some cheap plastic toy.

 

I think that bulge is the ribbon cable for the LCD and is caused by it not router properly.

 

I think it's just crummy plastic... I removed the keyboard and saw nothing that should be causing it to bulge. Just a crummy keyboard.

 

Maybe so. It looks like yours has a lot of other problems in terms of construction But I do know for a fact that a lot of people who have that bulge there have it because of a misalligned ribbon cable.

 

My dell vostro feels alot more solid then my thinkpad. I dont see that thing ever falling apart. My thinkpad feels alot cheaper, but does feel like it will stand the test of time.