T420s white spots on display [ Edited ]

[alexcriss]

Dear All,

Lately, I am seeing white spots on the display of mine T420s. I saw other people reported similar defects at:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574678-thinkpad-t420s-owners-thread-91.html#post8440191

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574678-thinkpad-t420s-owners-thread-91.html#post8440222

I have pictures of my own panel, but the ones in the links given above have better quality. The spots on my display are of similar nature of the ones shown in these links, albeit in different positions.

Users had their display replaced under warranty

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574678-thinkpad-t420s-owners-thread-90.html#post8437802

however Lenovo's European support refuses to replace mine, saying that it is a user induced damage, despite the panel being in perfect conditions and without signs of damage done by me.

Somebody suggested to ask users and moderators of this forum for a second opinion, helping to get my panel replaced under warranty. If anybody from Lenovo reads this, given that other users are seeing this behaviour, could you please comment on the issue?

[ColonelONeill]

I've seen this happen to my friends' laptops (various brands). They usually never notice because the blobs are only visible when off angle.

Never had it happen to any of my machines though.

[cn_habs]

Yes I've had the same issue with my T420s (4170-32U) purchased in 2011. The white spot located at the center of the screen is definitely noticeable when the background is mostly white.

By the way, I added a full year of on-site service for 100 bucks till  "2013-09-28" because of my previous T61's fan problem.  It's mostly likely a manufacturing defect that Lenovo should fix/replace.

I sincerely hope Lenovo can step it up a notch and get it done for us.

[antsh]

I have this problem as well. My one year warranty with upgrade to onsite and accidental damage protection is running out soon, so I am going to contact Lenovo regarding this issue to see what they say.

I have the LG screen by the way. Can the people experiencing this problem post if they have the AUO, LG, or Samsung panel? I think it might help shed a little light on the issue.

[Roy]

I had this issue also and the screen was replaced by warranty.

How do you check screen type?

[gilsongj]

Here's a video showing the same problem on my screen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVpgcEKSqwo

My panel was made by LG.

Lenovo here in Brasil switched my panel on site (on warranty). My new display is an AUO. It looks as good (or as bad) as the old LG, except for the good condition for the new display (no white spots, soooo much better).

HWiNFO32 can tell you what panel you have:

http://www.hwinfo.com/download32.html

[Roy]

Monitor Name: Lenovo [Unknown Model: LEN40A1]
Monitor Name (Manuf): B140RW02 V1

So what screen is that?

Edit: Google says that its AUO.

[alexcriss]

Despite your kind answer, Lenovo's engineers told me that they won't change my panel under warranty, since there isn't an "exact configuration" matching the one of my T420s that shows spots. I complained that no CPU differences may induce spots on a LCD panel, however their response seems to be final, and also seems to be an utter mockery.

I sent to Lenovo's engineering team the following mail, expressing my opinion on their behaviour. I'll post it here, hoping that somebody might find it useful.

Dear Lenovo's engineers,

I understand that the T420s has a lot of knobs for configuration, with
respect to memory, CPU, graphics, etc. However, I fail to see how these
may be related to white spots on the display. I am highly disappointed
in hearing that my exact model "is not under any known issue", while
many people reported white spots on the display. Being an engineer
myself, I find it completely hilarious being told that my exact
configuration doesn't show white spots, while the one with a different
CPU or GPU does. This is a poorly thought comment from an engineering
point of view, and clearly goes in the opposite direction of any good
support and repair practice. Particularly, it seems to be a mocking
excuse for not having to deal with my support request, sparing a T420s
display. It is such a un-justified decision that I call it support
fraud. After all, my laptop doesn't show any sign of user misbehaviour
or bad handling practice, however Lenovo's support fails at fixing it,
ultimately failing at providing a service that I paid for.

I sincerely hope that your support procedures are enhanced in the
future, replacing the poor and "scammish" current behaviour of Lenovo's
engineering team with an adequate level of support for premium products
that people buy spending premium amounts of money. The quality of a
technology product lies not only within the product itself, but also in
the support the company offers for fixing and enhancing the users'
experience, and I consider the handling of my request from Lenovo's
engineers as a wake up call in evaluating the true quality of Lenovo's
business products.

[tripplec]

See if there is an authorized servicing depot in your area. Take in and have their technician look at it. If they deem its definitely an issue they could order the replace after confirming warranty.

[alexcriss]

I'll look into that. Unofrtunately, if memory serves me well, I don't think I have a service depot close to my place, and taking the laptop there will cost me fuel and time, which warranty clearly does not cover.