T420 - Caution! thin bezel

First let me start by saying I have been a Thinkpad user / proponent since the T30's era. I still do own a T40, T60 and T400 (this is my back up now)

Back to T420, bought it last month, did the memory / mSATA 80 gig upgrade and was satisfied with it till now. Today tried to push the screen back with fingers under the base & thumb on the lower part of the bezel -screen, the LCD cracked. Now, after using the T series and in worse situations for so many yrs this is a blow. Trying to figure out why, noticed the bezel is thinner compared to the earlier models.

Lenovo support take is this will be billable (not under warranty). Appreciate any suggestion/tips here.. TIA

 

I don't think I understand how you did this.

 

Crazy glue? Never could fathom how a ThinkPad bezel cracks, I am currently fixing up my oldest ThinkPad (T60) and I feel it takes alot to crack that bezel..

 

Not the bezel, it is the LCD screen due to pressure on the bezel. See attached pic on how it cracked.

 

Can't see anything in your pic. I agree the lcd assembly generally seems to be on the thinner side (compared to previous Thinkpads) in my X220 too. I think they're desperately trying to keep weight down (though overall build quality has increased a lot). I have to ask though, why would you try to push the screen back by pushing on the lower bezel where there's next to no leverage.

 

Oh man I misread that. Considering how LED screens have made them thinner and more prone to cracking, it's not surprising. Well a cracked LCD definitely isn't covered, I'm gonna guess that the HD+ screen is probably 150+

 

I just had the camera replaced on my 3 day old X220 and also was a bit surprised how thin the bezel is. Essentially paper then so any pressure on it is transmitted directly to the LCD.

Perry

 

It was just the way I have been using the older Txx, the pic shows the position I held it. The only issue I see here is, was the pressure applied ( forefinger + thumb) on the bezel which cracked the LCD.

 

the thinness of bezel shouldn't be an issue with the LCD cracking.

But Lenovo won't cover such damages under normal warranty. The only thing i can see here that may save you is to upgrade the Thinkpad accident Protection warranty, if just bought it within 90 (there are some place where 30 days are listed) days.

Lenovo - ThinkPad Protection (TPP) - US

 

I'm in agreement with the original poster on his issue. If you open the lid with your hands and the screen cracks, it's not properly designed as far as I am concerned.

Stepping on the machine, running over it with an automobile, or dropping it is one thing. Opening the machine with your hands is another.

Besides, the screen could have been partially cracked on assembly.

My view is that in this case Lenovo should fix the notebook under warranty.

 

from the picture posted by the OP, the crack should be initiated at left side, see where the crack is initiated right around where the left thumb is relative to the screen.

Since Lenovo is no longer using the top magnesium rollcage or external magnesium casing, the external screen casing stiffness on the current Thinkpad have decreased by a fair margin.

So old way of manhandling the T4x, T6x screen would cause these cracked screen problems to crawl up in the current Thinkpads.

 

We can debate this until the cows come home. It sure seems odd the maker would purposely weaken the structure then act like it's the user fault when the darn thing cracks.

Do any of the other machines on the market from Dell, HP, Apple, Acer, ASUS, Samsung, etc. have this problem?

 

Is cracked screen a phoneomenon that only occurs on Thinkpads? and no one is really arguing with you as such, just commenting on the available evidence.

 

No, this isn't a phenomenon limited to ThinkPads. But it seems most of the lids are constructed with aluminum or some other metal material and fairly strong. Abuse is usually the reason for a crack, not opening the lid.

I've been looking more closely at the T420s I have in the lab. The lid seems plenty strong to me. I wouldn't carry the machine around by the lid but it's hard to imagine how simply opening the machine would crack a LCD screen unless it was already cracked partially.

If it were me and I had to replace the LCD panel at my own cost, I would certainly disassemble the panel to see if there is any internal evidence that might support a conclusion.

 

My Latitude 13 has a fair amount of LCD flex but it's a thin ULV notebook. My old D600 and D620 were pretty solid, and those are comparable to like a T6x. I can't comment on the older C series. The E series Latitudes are also solid, I can't imagine someone cracking the screen by applying pressure on the bezel, you'd have to punch your LCD to crack it..

 

T series Top Case no longer uses any metallic alloy and instead Lenovo have opted for composite polymer of various descriptions.

I haven't really tried to flex the screen of the recent Thinkpads, with my T400s the top case readily flexes when any large force is applied, but i guess that is normal for 14 inch laptop weighing only 1.7 kg.

I really like the old magnesium top case of the yore.

 

Wow, thats hardcore! I remember when I complained@lenovoblogs to, I think, Matt, that T410 didnt have roll cage compared to T400 and how it makes screen more vurnerable he said that they have increased drop test height on new series ThinkPads and that T410 is as durable as T400 was and he wouldnt hesitate standing on T410 to test its ruggedness.
T420 on the other hand should have next gen roll cage, shouldnt it, so it should be more rugged than T410 was?

 

drop test doesn't measure how resilient a top case is against flexing.

 

CFRP is supposedly more expensive too, I think.

The LCD panel itself can withstand some torsional forces, especially now that it's LED back-lit rather than CCFL back-lit.

I'd think your panel probably had an original crack that enlarged catastrophically.

 

Price of CFRP depends on the amount of carbon fiber, quality of carbon fiber, whether they are laid directionally, length of the shredded quality fiber. All of which will also affect strength and toughness of CFRP.

Most of the glass panels when cut during production would have some cracks and defects along the edges, which will grow when external force is applied (especially when flexed).

 

Any idea if lenovo will cover it (the atlanta rep who I called thinks this will not be covered but send it in and see what they say)? should I send pic's showing how I held it when it cracked? If not what will it cost to replace it or will third party repair would be cheaper? TIA

 

How on earth did you manage that...?

I've seen techs do LCD replacements on T420s recently, and even the rougher ones manage to remove and snap back the bezels without cracking the screens. It seems trick is not to exert any pressure on the screen itself or the edge immediately near the panel.

 

Oh god it's a real-life picture rendered in GIF.