I have a Thinkpad W500 40612HU (WSXGA+ LG screen). It has been a solid performer without any problems since I bought it in 2009; the extended warranty runs until 9/2013,  but I intend to use it well beyond that date (I can't afford a more recent equivalent W eries Thinkpad anyway).

Before Christmas the screen started to go bonkers. Here's an album of the later stages of the problem, when the screen had become unusable and I was about to bring the notebook to the closest Lenovo warranty partner: http://s860.photobucket.com/albums/ab164/insertrealname/Screen%20captures/Notebook%20Screen%20Video%20Problem/

The screen was covered in small white and black squares will moved, vibrated and multiplied like some kind of viral particles gradually killing the screen off.

The warranty partner service company has ordered a new LCD, inverter and main planar board. The first two have arrived, the planar is still on order, two weeks after giving them the notebook.

I phoned Lenovo customer support this afternoon to find out if the particular mainboard type, FRU 42W8133, was still available and was told there was no stock available, new or refurbished. Interestingly enough, a quick Google search for 42W8133 showed Canadian companies with new stock (I'm resident in Canada): http://www.cec.ca/products/IBM_42W8133.html and http://www.serverpartscanada.com/products/IBM/NEW/42W8133.html are two examples.

Since I intend to use this personal notebook well past its warranty expiration in 9/2013, I would naturally prefer it be repaired with *new* parts.

I also examined the latest Lenovo parts FRU list for the Thinkpad W500 at http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-71037 This shows that the most recent identical mainboard part is now called FRU 60Y3779.

Here's where things get confusing: a Google search for the part 60Y3779 shows every source describing it as a W500 mainboard version without the Intel AMT feature, e.g. the two Canadian sources referenced above, http://www.cec.ca/products/IBM_60Y3779.html and http://www.serverpartscanada.com/products/IBM/NEW/60Y3779.html USA parts sources also give the same part description. So it seems not to be the same part as the original FRU 42W8133, if we believe these companies and not the Lenovo hardware parts list, which may have a typo.

I use Absolute Software's "Lojack for Laptops" which is incorporated into the BIOS firmware versions of the W500 like mine that have the Intel vPro and AMT features. The BIOS firmware has a firmware "trojan" that reinstalls itself after any reinstallation of Microsoft Windows, reactivates itself whenever there's an open Internet connection and reports back to a command+control server, and thus permits tracking the notebook and controlling it remotely (locking or wiping it)--I believe the Intel AMT firmware feature is used in part of this function but am not sure, obviously, how this security software really works.

Can anyone who knows more about this hardware (several on this forum!) sort out these apparent contradictions, so that the right part does get replaced into my notebook?