W500 bright lights from angles, screen bezel isn't flush with lcd

Hello all,

I bought a Lenovo W500 (4058-CTO) back in August 2009 with 3yr onsite warranty. When I recieved it I noticed the screen bezel was not flush with the screen and there is bright light when viewed from angles.

A few months 4 black dots appeared on the lcd and I logged a fault. An engineer was sent with a relacement lcd and I mentioned the bright light from angles problem. He ordered a bezel, another engineer turned up and replaced it but the lights wrer still there. The second engineer told me that was as good as it gets, left and closed the call. I complained, a new fault was logged, the first engineer turned up with a new screen and bezel but I still have the problem. As I am getting wary of watching my W500 age with each engineer's visit I thought I should post here, in case this is a known problem

Can any W500 owners reading this please confirm if this is the case with your machine? Please see attached pics.

There is no mention of sticky tape in the hardware maintenance manual but it seems obvious to me that is the only way the bezel is going to stay flush with the lcd panel and therefore fix the problem.

Cheers

 

i got that too in most of my recent thinkpads. Does it really matter?

 

Well yes it bothers me. My previous T61p did not have this problem

 

I'm sure it's not normal, since my T500 does not have that backlight leakage at all. If you have on-site warranty, you can try another round of repairs - not too much you can do, though.

 

I have had a W500 for 9 months without ever needing to look at it in that way. Now that you mention it, I can see what you are talking about (though to a much lesser degree in my particular W500. I would not call the light "bright", but a slightly lit area only viewable from a very acute angle; passive; does not shine onto the screen). But I can't see how it is ever a problem in normal use. After all, why would you look at it at that angle (other than to find the "problem'). For me (and you?) it only appears in the right-hand lid. I see this "problem' in the same way as that of the screen being offset to the left (though this is no longer the case in the W510). It is not really a problem in normal use..is it?

 

unless you look at your laptop at that angle constantly, i don't think you should fret about this problem too much. FYI one of my T61p had that problem too, while the other didn't have it.

 

No it is not a problem in normal use but I see it everytime I walk into my lounge. Perhaps I should rearrange my furniture so I don't notice it

Its sort of like stuck pixels to some people, once you notice it you can't stop seeing it. Worsened by the fact that all HP laptops we are curently buying come with perfectly fitted bezels! lol.

Anyway I thought I'd check and its good to know my W500 is not the only one like this. I had searched everywhere and not found any similar.

 

most likely people don't look at the laptop at that angle and/or they don't really care about it. HP screen usually don't that due to the different bezel design compared to the recent thinkpads, each has its advantages.

 

HP suffered from this problem a long time ago in the nc8430 ages when the bezels allow for some leakage and dust build up. As far as I'm aware of, it was noted as an issue and was fixed in subsequent generations with better-designed ones. Lenovo probably has to fix their design flaw.

You can put an additional sticky tape underneath the trouble spot and it should fix this issue.

 

lead_org: If I had several it might not have been an issue. Most people would not pay £1,500 for a personal laptop. And if those that do and have this issue all keep quiet about it lenovo won't do anything about future generations of thier products. Thank you anyway

Thanks chrixx. I'll ask lenovo if they will get an engineer to come out and put sticky tape or confirm it is ok to do this myself without voiding warranty.

I'll post outcome for anyone interested

 

you can't do it yourself, as it will definitely void the warranty.

 

Update:

Lenovo support agreed to send an engineer with a new bezel and sticky tape. 2 days later I was called and informed my case has been escalated to "Level 2" and asked if they could collect my W500 to investigate the issue. I agreed and W500 was collected today. No estimated time for return given yet.

Going by the pics of the W500 at: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...B61412BA52F819D914F4A03&tab=4#tab-container-5 I am guessing a batch of "not well designed" screen bezels at play here...

I guess not every problem can be addressed by on site warranty.

I have to say, so far, Lenovo support has responded to every email I've sent and seem keen to resolve my issue.

I'll report my findings when I get my machine back.

Until then I'm using the wife's Sony netbook (VPCW12SE1). Its a little beauty that screams "Look at me" and "Hear me". The cpu fan is soooo loud lol. Missing my W500 already

 

Glad lenovo support have been so helpful! I think you have an extreme case of the problem - i.e. to the point where it impacts on your experience. Hope the fix goes well! Look forward to your report on that...