X230t latch/sidepad one loose, one tight, reasons? [ Edited ]

[ttran]

Hi X230t fellows,

I'm just curious a little today about the 2 plastic pieces, which I temporailly call them to be "sidepad/latch" (Look the figure below). One of them is near the "tab" key, and the other one is near the "enter" key. What I just noticed is that the one on the right (near the enter key), feel very solid and tight, but the one on the left (near the tab key) is not, I could wiggle it a little bit and its base seem to be smaller than the one on the right side, which perhaps create the wiggling.

I'm not so sure if this is the way it is designed. I ask my friend and he said he also have this result, so I guess lenovo does this to all systems. I just don't understand why? They should be rock solid both right? Someone know the reason behind this? I heard these piece of plastics broken off on lots of X220t, so not sure if this is some sort of improvement?

I'm satisfied with the system so far, everything run smoothly and the keyboard feel so nice, the microphone/skype experience still not good though, I probably need to configure the mic a little more, it is definitely better than the x220t one

[hp79]

I noticed that on the X220T when it first came out (which was returned because digitizer inaccuracy problems on the edges).
I just thought it was a problem of quality control, and that I was just unlucky.

I ordered a X230T for myself yesterday because the price was so good ($1100 with 3 year warranty, i5, bt, intel6205, webcam), I hope mine isn't too loose. I wish they had built it more sturdy or just used the old style latch lock system.

[ttran]

Sorry bud, I don't know but couple of other people I ask, they have the same problem too, this I guess is not like a battery 3 leg problem, which you can use 3 cell to make it go away. I think there are some reasons behind this that we still don't know yet. But I bet your system will have this too

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

Yeap it occurs on several of mine X220t that i had.

[ttran]

You mean on several of your X220t or X230t? I don't mind if it is loose, as long as there is a reason for it to loose and if that doesn't affect its life expectancy in the future

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

X220t. Also i have seen the same behaviour in my cousin's x230t that he bought in US.

[XThinkpadUser]

FWIW, on my x230t both of those side thingies are tight and secure.

[ttran]

Thanks,

Will call them for replacement tomorrow

[ttran]

@XThinkpadUser
I will return my system back to lenovo. I would be fine with the 3 leg problem since it is due to the 6 cell battery and would be nelegible under normal usage, but I agree now that this is a build quality, the rubber hinges are there for secure the lid and I don't have time during school year to have it fix. Loose rubber hinge like this I guess can be broken anytime...I might change to non-tablet version for good if there is "no real explanation" for this

[del_psi]

Is it a big deal?

The one by my tab key wiggles a bit more than the one by the enter key.