X230 tablet just delivered - wobbly base (warped?)

EDIT: I experienced the wobble without the battery in the unit. I'm an idiot. Close thread.

 

Same thing happened to me last year. Two got delievred (including the canceled order) and it ended up being a boon since there was a problem with one of them. Open the second, you have nothing to lose.

 

Just opened the second one (still on hold). IT WOBBLES TOO!

Good Lord, Lenovo.

What to do?

 

That sucks. If you want a X230T you have no choice but to return these, order another and hope for the best. Or ask for a replacement if you got it on sale.

 

Well I placed the battery in each unit and it fixes the wobble - mostly. Now, the second unit I opened (with no notes) has a black pixel on the screen.

Jeez. Now I have to call Lenovo back, tell them to put a note on the second unit, return that one, and keep the first.

What in the world. This is too stressful.

 

Do you have a link to the youtube video?

 

Sorry to hear this! Two units and both have the same problem - too bad! I would suggest to send both back and wait for the perfect one. It's too expensive to deal with one of there annoying problems!
Fortunately I'm one of the lucy guys, who have no problem with the x230t.

 

Duh.. I hope you didnt test those without the battery because without the battery there are only 3 legs. You have to test them with the battery plugged in. The wobble happens on right side leg under the palm rest.

As for returning you dont have to feel guilty opening the other one up. They will open it up to check everything is returned properly even if it is sealed. I also have two comming tomorrow. One which I even got a cancelation confirmation email but stupid lenovo shipped it out anyway and charge me. I talked with lenovo post sales they said no problem with me openning both and returning as long as everything is in good condition.

I am going to open both and will report back.

OP, can you also give us an update on yours?

 

Me too

 

Yeah, that's what I did. I'm smart most days, today wasn't one of them.

Regardless, the 2nd unit did have dead pixels. I sure hope this is a valid reason for no restocking fee. I'd hate to just hand Lenovo $150 for simply breaking the seal and booting once.

 

You need three dead pixels for Lenovo to consider it defective.

 

Well, I don't have a magnifying glass so it looks like three to me. All I know is it's a no-go on a machine I will stare at daily, regardless of what Lenovo classifies as defective.

So help me if they charge $150 just to return a brand new machine. I know they take a loss on it since it's "used" but man, this has been an annoying ordeal.

And for the record, I sometimes use the computer with no battery, so I consider it rocking back and forth without a battery defective.

This is aggravating.

And if I asked if anyone wanted to buy it for what I paid for it, I'd bet zero would want it. That should tell you something right there. It's defective regardless of the corporate definition.

 

Just find another reason. Are both rock stable with 4 legs touching firmly when screen is opened 120 degrees? (I'm most curious about this one)
Or something like below reasons:
Does the keyboard rub the screen leaving marks?
Does it make high pitch whine noise?
Does it heat up too much when you run prime95 with 4 threads?

 

Well I suppose I could invent a list of things, but I'm sure they will test the machine when they receive it. I had a major ordeal with Lenovo last year with an X220 tablet. The screen had a series of bright spots and a bent hinge. After going back and forth with a case manager, the techs said it was "customer damage" and the spots were "customer caused stress marks." I owned the machine for a few hours before noticing everything. That made me furious to be accused of damaging a clearly defective machine.

It took a month to finally resolve and get an exchange. I didn't even want my money back, just a non-broken machine. Link to my famous (lol) ordeal:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/625302-x220t-beware-abes-maine.html

I'll just go ahead and assume Lenovo will charge a restocking fee, which makes me sick. I guess I really did have something to lose by opening the second unit (which has the dead pixels).

The original unit I opened (using it now) did have wobble without the battery - significant wobble. It's fine with the battery installed, but I maintain my position that the machine should be usable with no battery installed.

Sadly, this seems to be by design.

Here's hoping I can avoid a restocking fee. Be careful if you cut the tape on the box. It's yours once you do.

The irony here is I called to cancel *both* of these machines about an hour after I ordered. Of course they couldn't stop the machine from being built and shipped. The rep told me to just send them back.

Of course I decided to keep it and next thing you know I end up opening both boxes and now I'm staring at putting $150 in a shredder.

Shame, really.

 

Wow thats quite a accusition. I would be furious too if that happened to me. I also happened to had x220t but returned it because the poor digitizer accuracy. I hope you dont have much trouble returning one of your x230t.

Even one real dead pixel would tick me off. I bought over 10 different laptops but never had a dead pixel. The longest one I had in duty was x61t, for over 4 years, dell latitude d410 420 each for about 2 years. Most of the other laptops I either returned within a week for full refund or sold at same price I bought after 1-6 months.

 

If you had such an 'ordeal' with your last Lenovo purchase, why would you go ahead and buy 2 more of their latest model?

It seems that Lenovo isn't able to supply you with the high level of service and merchandise quality you expect, and you may simply be better served buying from another, higher-quality brand. I think all parties (including Lenovo themselves) would be better off if you simply did that.

 

Looks like last year he bought it from a retailer and not directly from Lenovo.com. Small retailers can be an sometimes.
I don't think there will be any problems returning to lenovo directly this time especially since he already tried to cancel his orders.

 

Lol. I bought direct from Lenovo.com. The Abes of Maine was from last year and was only posted because of how Lenovo support refused to admit their product was defective.

I don't expect perfection. I'm fine keeping the machine that still wobbles a bit. I'm not fine keeping the machine that has dead pixels. Nobody would voluntarily keep a machine with dead pixels smack in your field of vision. This is a fact, no?

And I don't want to try other manufacturers. I've used Lenovo/IBM machines for many years. I recently tried an Asus and it was terrible. I know who makes the best, but occasionally they do have defects like everyone else.

 

So does your first x230t still wobbles a bit with battery attached? My first one wobbled a little when the lid was opened 120 degrees. If you take a look at the rubber feet that's under the right palm rest corner, the feet has a tiny ball like part sticking out. That part touching the floor doesn't count as being stable because that piece easily pushes in. The rest of the rubber foot is where it should be contacting the floor. Whenever I put my palm on the palm rest, it would make a "chuck" noise - rest of the right corner's foot hitting the desk.

Another thing I remembered, make sure your lid is not warped either. My first machine had a warped lid, and the left side of the led indicator stickers were raised out a little bit (only noticeable when I look carefully) because of that.

Couple more hours (4 hours max from now), and I'll be receiving my two x230t.