S10-3t , S103t Cracked Screen

[lo_loh]

Hello,

We purchased 50 of the S10-3t  units, we normally have at most about 44 of them in use at any given time;   I initially had a couple of these come back to my office with cracked screens;  I assumed it was our users being rough on them;  eventually there were a couple more and now I'm up to 7 of them with hairline cracks.   

After reading through this message board I would now conclude that there is a good possibility that there is a mfg problem with this model and it is prone to have this problem.

My users need touch screens so a $100 aftermarket non touch screen is not an option;

$226 + shipping & my time to replace the screen probably isn't worth it.   I would rather spend the $226+ shipping & my time on something more robust;

If there is a recall on these; or some hardware modification that prevents this; or if the replacement touchscreens drop to say $100;  I would be interesting in knowing.

Just thought that I too would share my frustration with the cracking glass on this model...

[azael_b]

Hello, I have a pressing request to Mark_Lenovo and other forum administrators:

I have read all the posts about the problem of cracked screen/LCD, including since Cleo_Lenovo was participating.

I had another tablet pc I use to teach at my university, that one - I would not mentioned but is not a Lenovo- had a out-of-sync video problem unless the display assembly is heated with either a hair dryer or a heating pad, once it is in tablet position, it works fine since it remains warm.

Because of this problem I decided I cannot rely anymore on that tabletpc to teach in my classes, in which I depend totally on the digitizer screen since what I write onscreen is projected in class, and all the lecture is saved for my students review. Because of the software requirements I needed a lighter tablet pc which I can take around the classroom and ink on my lecture presentations -the projector is wirelessly linked to the tabletpc-.

I came across the s10-3t tablet pc as a possible solution to my problem, and so a $499 price tag direct buy from Lenovo increased the temptation to purchase, but then I found this forum about a recurring screen crack problem with it. I should say the other alternative I have seen is the Asus eePc, from which I don't know yet what problems it has.

I want seriously to request a position statement from Lenovo about what seems to be a recurrent manufacturing or assembly defect. I do not want to buy something from Lenovo that is going to crack either before my class or in the middle of a lecture, making a nightmare of my class day and perhaps the rest of the course and semester.  And the university is not paying for getting this thing, it is on my own pocket to demonstrate the utility of a tabletpc as a viable instruction delivey device.

Is this a manufacturing or assembly defect?

How many s10-3t have been sold, especially the 2GB/320GB models, and how many of them have been reported with the broken screen? Please be frank on these.

How many of the s10-3t have been tested by Lenovo R&D labs to see exactly under which condition normal out of the stock s10-3ts suffer of this problem? For example, if they occur:

1- because the keyboard side gets a temperature differential that may induce the crack when the lid is closed?

2- under which handwriting pressure the glass or the LCD cracks in lbs/in-square or Newton/meter-square and how this compares to normal handwriting pressure on a hard surface?

3- is because perhaps the thickness of the digitizer screen is too thin to support pressure due to hand or temperature differences?

I, and I suppose many other possible buyers, will like once and for all clear and serious answers from the part of Lenovo. I do not feel happy expending $500 plus shipping plus extra warranty, and learn that someone on the support group says the crack is my fault when is more probably a manufacturing/assembly/case defect.  The support people will have to know for example with what pressure one is writing to say it is not a defect.

So, Mark or Cleo, was this more than apparent defect fixed for the s10-3t being now offered through Lenovo's site, with the special price of $500 or not?

If there are no clear answers for this problem that it's becoming almost universal, then it is starting to look like a good candidate for a class action suit, doesn't it?

Waiting for a reply, I remain here to take a decision to buy or not a s10-3t.

Ab

[sajjadahmad16]

Dear azael
They will never answer your questions. I hv the answer. The plastic used as an outer covering of screen is so cheap that it can't support pressure applied during closing, opening and turning screen to change it to tablet mode. I'll not recommend you to spend 500$ for this product. It's waste of money.

There support is so poor and I am with you that it's good class action suit. I am seriously thinking about it.

SA

[rbastedo]

I have the S10-3 with this same problem.

I apologize if this is not the correct place to post, however this past weekend I was using the system then I turned it off and put it back in it's thickly padded case I bought to protect it. When I next removed it and turned it on the screen was all cracked looking. There was no dropping, hitting, banging, stepping etc. It sat on a shelf in it's protective padded bag until I pulled it out and started it up again and the screen was cracked. This is defective, there are no other explanation possible.

Help me Lenovo.

I also have one of your high end laptops that I use for work. We buy thousands of laptops and PC's where I work and I am feeling right now like we should switch back to Dell.

[notcrawcraw]

I had the exact thing happen to my S10-3T about 6 months after I bought it in 2010.  I shut it down, put it in a padded case, went to the airport for a flight and when I opened it to use while waiting, the screen was cracked. 

At the time I figured it must have been something I did (even thought I was very careful and have been traveling with laptops for years).  Ater reading this, I am now not so sure.  I could not justify spending $225.00 + less than a year after spending $450 on the machine, so I replace the screen with a non touch $75.00 replacement.  The replacement has worked great for the past year and I like the machine - I do have a problem with spending over $500 on what is now just an above average netbook.

I know there is no way I will ever get the touch screen back (even if Lenovo acknowledged a problem I've already replaced the screen and discarded the broken one) but it is nice to know that maybe I was right in the first place - it wasn't something I did.

[pielover66]

I had the same thing happen to my S10-3T. Babied my laptop, closed it one day, opened it the next and saw the screen broken. I called lenovo support while under warranty and explained the situation. They told me my only option was to pay $230 or so to repair it. That's half the price I paid for the laptop. I was on the forum while on the phone and noticed this topic and told the representative about it. I explained to her how many other people are having the same issue, it may be a manufacturing defect, etc. She told me to send it in to Depot Repair.

So I fill out the Inventory Control form and send in my laptop. I recieved a confirmation email saying they recieved it. A few weeks later I get a phonecall and e-mail about the laptop saying it was determined to be a user issue and they can't repair it without the $230.

I called the support number once more explaining how this could not have been a user issue and I explained everything to them. I stated how the third most popular topic in the S-Series Netbook sub-forum pertains to the same issue I described. The rep said the only options they could give me were to repair it for $230 or to send it back, still broken. I asked if there was any way I could make a "higher up" aware of the obvious product defect. The rep said no. I am very unsatisfied with lenovo and I don't plan on making another purchase from lenovo again unless lenovo realizes this issue is happening to many of their consumers.

[lo_loh]

I have 50 of these laptops and quite frankly Lenovo is NOT going to admit a mfg defect and replace them.   I have had multiple one crack on me;   This is a VERY popular topic and I have read about MANY other users that simply closed the screen and the next day, they opened it back up again and it was cracked....

I too have traveled for years with many different laptops, (all the way back to the ones that weighed almost 20 lbs)  My laptops have been shuffled around airports, shoved uner seats & banged around quite a bit.)  I have NEVER had a cracked screen on any of them.   Only these S10-3t's seem to have the problem and I think I have a pretty large sample size of 50 of them...

It seems apparent to me that Lenovo wants to P*** off customers & establish a bad reputation.  I have many contacts that make purchasing decisions in schools & gvmn't.  I will let them know about my experience here...

-frustrated

[itinerant]

i purchased this last year when iPad was just released.

and somewhere in july last year, it magically cracked.  i was working on it the previous evening and the next morning, i opened it and found it cracked.  i assumed that it was the little kid or that someone might've sat upon it or something like that.

since last year, i am trying to get the screen fixed.  jumbo electronics (lenovo authorized center in bur dubai) told me that it would cost about 1000 or 1200 AED and i thought it was not worth it.  so i hooked up a lcd monitor and was using as a spare; i was hunting for screens yesterday and i stumbled upon this thread. 

if this is a design issue, replacing the monitor is simply another bad bet and it is not worth replacing it because, for 1200, you get a new and nice (and lighter) lenovo s10-3.  because, after the iPad experience - this is a clunky leftover.

if lenovo wants to recall/replace something, you have my email.

[nicorobin]

I hope it's okay to revive this thread. I experienced the same problem last year, just months after buying the netbook. Despite knowing that I didn't do anything to cause the crack, I figured it wouldn't have cracked on its own so I or someone in the house might have put a pressure on the screen or something. So I kept quiet. I didn't bother to repair it since the crack wasn't that big and the LCD itself wasn't damaged. I could still use it. But now, the crack has of course grown and has extended up to the edge of the screen. It's useable, yes, but quite ugly. And now, I kind of wanted to see how much the repair would cost and stumbled upon this forum and found that it's a common problem. So that must mean there is a manufacturing defect in this machine, right? What is lenovo doing to answer this problem?