T500 Tech problem question (help!)

I need some tech trouble-shooting advice/suggestions.
I posted couple weeks ago:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/687426-thank-god-we-got-4-year-onsite-warranty.html

Wife's T500 (win 7) has had 3 new motherboard's replaced in 3 years and most recently the display!
AND IT STILL WON'T WORK...!
Today the lenovo tech came out to my wife's work and replaced the system board (after they replaced the display last week and that didn't solve the problem).

Tonight when my wife came home.....
I grabbed her T500 powered it on (in full expectation of seeing it working), I watched all the appropriate lights come on....heard the windows startup...but the screen is completely black...(brand new display, brand new motherboard).

Sigh!

I called Lenovo back and asked if they would just give us a new laptop since we've had so many problems with this one. He said I could call back tomorrow and discuss that with a supervisor.
He said technically, he is suppose to arrange to have us ship the laptop in to them which would mean my wife's business would be impacted losing her quickbooks ability....
We agreed to have the tech come back with yet another new board and display. (nice of them)...

Any thoughts or suggestions what may be causing this?....
Virus? malware crossed my mind.
Video is built onto the board right?

Thanks

 

If you have on-site, never opt to send it in. You pay for on-site repair. Now I'm not sure how ThinkPad Protection when you have an accidental damage claim, I know for Dell and their Complete Care you must send it in for evaluation. I would just wait for the Lenovo tech, I've never heard of a T500 with that many board/LCD replacements, you probably have a short somewhere on the chassis, probably best explanation.

 

lenovo rep on the phone tonight said they have some "policy" wherein if a client's pc experiences 2 maybe 3 consecutive problems within a 2 week period then they require the pc to be sent into their depot.
I'll mention the possibility of a "short" to the tech and to the supervisor if I call them back tomorrow.
Thanks for your reply.

 

After a certain number of unsuccesful "on-site" visits, sending it to depot is not an option, but a must if one wants to have their ThinkPad repaired or replaced.

It is a part of the procedure, and not negotiable.

I went through an almost exactly the same scenario with one of my tablets (X61T) this past summer. It eventually got fixed in the depot, at which point the only original part was the lid. I'm not kidding.

Good luck.

 

Thanks AJ...
My wife got home from work tonight and said she got the screen to show up after several attempts.
However,
it's still not right!
It's asking for Date/Time or asking to hit f1 to enter setup.
Also noticed the vent area "left-side of laptop area is extremely hot and I'm not hearing any fan.....kitchen probe-style thermometer read 140 degree F (yikes!)
So...sounds like a possible CMOS battery problem and maybe a faulty Fan.

I will call Lenovo first thing Monday and see if we can possibly expedite this repair/replacement in any fashion.
stay tuned!

 

Try calling today. Atlanta's open 24/7/365.

I'm not sure whether the folks that handle on-site are, but it doesn't hurt to try - it's a free call.

Good luck.

 

Tech came out last night.....
(same guy that replaced the display and motherboard).
First thing he did was...with the laptop open....he started pushing on the case, just above the keyboard.
Then he told me he suspected the ribbon was bad.
He tore it apart, replace the ribbon and
TA-DA...
Everything appears to work!

I asked about the fan and he said a bad fan will give an error on screen. I told him I would still like the fan replaced (since this is out of warranty in November.
Fingers crossed that we've solved the problems!