X220 Lid is weak

The X220's build quality is very good compared to previous Thinkpad's..as far as the base goes. It's truly rock solid around the palmrests, really no flex anywhere and the fit of the plastic parts is great.

Unfortunately, the lid is by far the weakest I've experienced in any TP so far. There's a substantial amount of deflection when even minimal force is applied. An even larger issue the low torsional stiffness. This is compounded by the placement of the cut out in the base from where you're expected to open the lid from, which is pretty far to the edge. Since there's no latch the hinge gives more resistance initially. Look at what the lid does over the initial travel when you open it and you'll see how severely it and the screen twist every time you open it.

I'm not bringing this up for no reason. Since a week or so ago I've been hearing a clicking type of noise coming from the lid around the area of the camera when I move the lid back back and forth. Popped off the lcd bezel and it looks like the lid is twisting/bending back, but the lcd isn't held in place properly. So the lid is pulling away from the lcd because it can't resist the bending/twisting. There are screws holding the lcd in on the sides but nothing on top. For the time being I've added some tape to hold it in place better. If I open lid by holding it in the middle it's ok, but if I use the cutout the problem eventually returns indicating the lack of torsional stiffness is an issue.

Most of all I don't like the fact that whenever the screen/lid are closed the machine feels so fragile because of the ridiculous amount of deflection. I have serious concerns about the long term impact on the screen from twisting every time from the closed position. And really believe bad things will happen if even moderate pressure is applied to lid. Hope I don't have to find out.

This is from just two month of use. I don't think having the lid replaced replaced will solve anything in the long run as it's a design issue. Lenovo, we don't mind if you add .2lb more to strengthen the lid. It's pretty lame as it is. Please address this in the X221.

 

The LCD is supposed to be more or less "suspended" in the lid; applying torsion/pressure to the lid should hence not transfer much stress to the LCD.

Were the LCD rigidly bonded to the outer lid would this be a significant short-term as well as long-term issue.

As long as there's no visible distortion on screen when such stress is applied, then AFAICT, it's working as intended (and is supposed to be a more durable alternative to a super-rigid lid structure).

 

You have raised some interesting points. I always open the lid in the middle which works just as good...I seriously just found the cut-out last week.

I don't think the deflection of the lid itself will be a problem. I don't see any pressure spots at all on the display when pressing on the lid. Compared to my previous Latitude where I could see those from minimal pressure, I think the build quality is not as bad as it may look.

 

Of course it's supposed to be suspended in the middle areas. One issue is that the lid is weak in resisting pressure so it'll contact the lcd well before lid's in previous models. It deflects substantially with just minimal pressure, I'm not going to push hard enough to see distortion on the screen.

The torsion issue is unavoidable every time you open the thing since it's attached on both sides, obviously. This is the serious one since the lcd sees this condition every time you open the lid, plus parts of the structure are obviously fatiguing or wearing since I didn't have this problem in the beginning and it's steadily gotten worse.

 

hum, interesting observations. Did you have the old X200 thinkpads?

I am not sure how thick the X220's magnesium alloy lid is when compared to the X200/X201. This problem certainly doesn't present itself in the X200 and X201 machines.

 

vinuneuro - can you post a video of this?

the X220's lid is constructed of the same magnesium alloy as found in the X60/X61 and X200/X201 systems.   i posted a photo of this not long ago on the lenovo forum: http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series...ay-frame-bends-in-sun-light/m-p/476701#M27061

i agree that the X220's lid flexes slightly more overall.   this is in part due to the LED-backlit display itself being both thinner and more flexible.

i've had my X220 the same amount of time and haven't had any issues with construction though.   perhaps a video or photos would help exemplify what you're experiencing here.

 

@Erik did you measure the exact thickness of the magnesium alloy lid when you opened up the X220?

 

I've owned T41, T60, T400, X301 X200T/X201T, X61T. None of them had a lid like this one. I'm not going to get rid of my X220 over this, but it'd be nice to see this fixed in next year's model. They seem to be really anal about weight savings, maybe driven by the marketing dept on this one to get under 3lbs. We all remember the fiasco with the over-perforated T400 keyboards.

Posting a video won't show anything. The screen is pulling away from the lid less than .5mm but it's enough to produce a small clicking noise and I can feel it transmit through to my fingers. It's annoying to feel this. Initially I thought that the screen was coming forward and hitting the bezel due to excessive gap. But with the bezel unclipped and my finger placed in front of the screen if I push the whole thing back, I can feel the lid pulling away from the screen and it producing the same click. So the screen is moving even with the bezel on and rubbing on something behind it in the lid structure. It comes from the area to the right of the camera. I don't want to go through the trouble of completely removing the panel, so I don't know what's in the lid in that area. For now the tape seems to be doing the trick, but solution for this specific problem would be to add a mount on top like the two or three they have on each side.

Here's a picture of the torsion issue. If you're sure that it won't be an issue for the screen in the long term I guess that's good news, but it'd nice to have a confidence inspiring lid that doesn't deflect like this.

I looked at the picture in the thread in your post. Don't they use some adhesive tape in that lower section of the bezel, maybe it swells at higher temps?

 

unfortunately i didn't think to get out the micrometer while it was apart the last time.   i'll make a note to do so next chance i get.

one thing to note is that the design of the magnesium alloy retained the familiar checkerboard pattern used to add rigidity to an otherwise thin material.   flex concerns aside, it can still withstand quite a bit of pressure.

that looks about the same as mine.

from an engineering standpoint, slight flexing is certainly better than being too stiff and breaking as a result.   since i first started playing with the X220 months ago i've never walked away questioning the lid's rigidity.   opinions will of course vary on this but i'm completely confident in mine.

no, the only tape on the bezel is a thin strip along the top edge near where the camera would be.   the bottom edge is free of any adhesives this time around.

 

@vinuneuro: I don't mean to sound negative or rude, but your X220 lid looks sick in that photo. Mine never closes down completely to the palmrest, always showing a gap, which is about half of what is shown on the right side of your photo.

When I close the lid of my X210, I hear a solid "clack" and the lid holds closely to the body of the notebook. With the X220, it always feels "wobbly." Overall, the X210 feels solid.

Just a personal observation regarding things I personally use. YMMV.

 

You know he's holding the edge up with his finger right?

 

i can make the X200 and X61 do that if i pull on the corner with one finger.

@Kaso, the clack is due to the latch mechanism, which the X220 lacks.

 

Just tried doing the same thing on my X200 and get the same result as yours. Either you are discovering this 2-year late, or you are complaining something that you didn't care 2 years ago.

Service Videos

X220 self-service videos: FRU Removals/Replacements -> Display Panel

Now you know what's in the lid.

 

Right, as pointed out that isn't the closed position. This would be a different thread if it was.

I don't have any issue with the latchless design at the moment other than that it's awkward opening the lid when I'm on the go. There's no gap in my machine when it's closed. It'll be interesting how the mechanics and fitment of the this system hold in the long run up as I open/close the screen a lot when moving around.

The X220 is a couple months old in the market. I'm not going to waste my time taking it apart. For the time being, the tape is getting the job done in keeping the lcd from moving excessively. If it gets worse, I'll just have the local warranty provider replace the lid since they won't ship me that part. If this slightly loose lcd in the assembly isn't more common, it's probably a quality issue with the lid. Looks like there's at least one other user with a defective lid. His is bad enough to stress the screen.

If you look at the thread erik linked, even lead_org thought the X220's lid he used felt flimsier than his X200. The X220's lid may be just as strong as previous X models, but it doesn't feel like it. That perception is important when you're handling a machine, and more so when you consider that the majority of people don't frequent forums to find out that it's likely fine. Like I already said, this is a pretty minor issue with what's by far the best notebook I've used so far, all Thinkpads. The thread is just to raise the issue for consideration in the next model.

 

i agree. moreover, the bezel and the screen are not very firmly glued together.

 

The bezel and the screen are not supposed to be glued together, that way they are replaceable. I don't remember they were glued together in any of the Thinkpad model.

 

they have a thin double sided tape to hold them together.

 

At least on the X200, they don't have any tape to stick the bezel and screen together. There are tapes to tidy up the cables though. I know because I have opened it up and replace the X200 screen with the AFFS screen.

 

This is why i love the X200, i just checked my X200 what you said is quite true, no tapes. But they do exist on the X61 and X60, since i replaced the broken screens about two weeks ago.