Thinkpad Freshman here!

So i recently bought a new T400 with dedicated gpu and the T9600 CPU, 4GB RAM etc..


pretty much maxed out, i found a sweet ebay store for that deal (1099$)


anyways, it shipped with Vista, i got win 7 ultimate x64 for free from work

so i went ahead installed that, i didnt have a problem installing all the drivers.


But now i'm standing in front of 2 software problems and 1 H/W issue:

first the Software Issues:

The fn-screen brightness adjustment doesnt work, it displays the green brightness overlay, but it doesnt actually adjust brigthness


How do i switch between the 2 Graphics modes? Between the Intel IGP and the Radeon? I know its possible on the fly..



Now the Hardware Issue:

It has to do something with the screen, in the lower right quarter of the screen there's an overly bright spot, its not dead pixels, its just brighter than the surrounding pixels, the affected area is about 5px*5px, it still displays colors, but always brighter than the rest.
I also noticed something similar near the middle, but not as extreme, barely noticable unless you have an entirely white wallpaper..
It's still under warranty, you think they'll fix it? I know manufacturers are a bit pesky about Screens, esp. if they work but only have one minor flaw..

 

I have the same issue with my dell but its really minor and the laptop just went out of warranty. IMHO, you can ask Lenovo to repair it for you since its under warranty. Screen anomalies are unacceptable to me and I would ask the manufacturer to supply a defect free product since I gave him defect free money

 

the bright spot is the problem with a pressure point behind the screen, which is either distorting the polariser films or actually damaging the liquid crystal glass panels.

Regarding the Fn+PgUP or PgDown, if it works in bios mode then you are having a software issue, if it doesn't work in bios mode then it is most likely a hardware issue.

 

To switch graphics cards: right-click on the Power Manager battery gauge, and select under Switchable Graphics.

 

yeah, i thought about that pressure point too, but its nothing i can/should fix

as for the brightness, yeah it works fine in bios, i'll see if i got the right drivers...

 

Awesome man!

Thanks, i guess it wasn't too obvious for me to find..


EDIT: Whats strange is that under the 4500 intel IGP the brightness keys work just fine?

??

 

softwares obviously giving you griefs.....

 

ok, about the screen, i sent it in on saturday, they got it today, and its on hold now for customer info


so i called and asked how i can be of help, and they say i need to talk to the billing department as LCD's aren't covered..

which is utter BS, i actually read the entire warranty agreement that came with the notebook and it doesnt say anything about LCD's not being covered.
It says maybe that that damage from handling etc.. is not covered.


and aren't they obliged by law to provide warranty for something thats broken out of the box?

 

just call the warranty department again, you probably got a rookie service staff who doesn't know what they are talking about.

 

aight

i talked to the billing dept.

first level rep could only tell me that i need to pay 750$ for a bloody lcd replacement, so i told her that it was like that when i bought it etc... and that i can also proof it

so then i got to talk to the supervisor, i told him the life-story of my thinkpad, and he believes it, but he said he cant make that decision to fix it for free, he needs to make a request at lenovo executive relations, and they will most probably approve it, as i also provided proof of when i got it and when i called lenovo the next day etc..

i even recorded the call, if any of you guys wanna listen to it and learn from somebody who dealed with hp, microsoft, lenovo now too, and a lot of other support lines, i'd be happy to upload it

as for how this turns out, i'll keep ya updated..

 

Usually this is a good sign of things to come, if they refuse you outright you got no hope.

 

so i checked the status today again, the laptop was fixed and is in QA, the quality assessment right now, and it'll be shipped the next thing tomorrow morning with next day air..

 

actually nvm on that one, they shipped it a couple of min ago, so it'll be there tomorrow.

w00t!!

 

good things come to people whom waits.....

 

Alright,

another question to somebody who owns a T400,

i have the updated T400 (the one with the added support for the keyboard etc..)

anyways, what i realised that the left palmrest is kinda jerky, when you apply some pressure the 'dummy' card for the pcmcia slot it pops out a little
i dont know if this is nitpicking but i find it quite irritating when carrying the laptop one handedly lets say from my lap to my desk, while its open.

also the area above the dvd drive is very flexy, but i guess that'd be normal in any laptop.

so do you folks have the same behavior with your T400?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jam4Z-uB2W8

 

Is your palm rest properly seated? The support of the optical drive might not be the most solid...

 

hehe
thats what i'm wondering, also the HDD bay cover sometimes does a similar thing it snaps out of its position and minimally outwards...

i'm pretty sure there's something not fitted well enough in there, i guess i'll have to take it apart and put it back together

but the dvd part is normal you say?