T410s Palmrest

[rsannie]

This is a negative post unfortunately...

Regarding the palm rest.  I bought a T410s, costed me 2.3k.  It was one of those touchscreen ones.

Rarely used =(.  Palmrest creaks.  Looks new except for the slight crack on the bottom lower left corner.  I would say it's cheap plastics or design problem.  i did have high hopes for this machine.

[briboynyc]

I've always been a loyal customer when it comes to lenovo and laptops despite periodic problems.  I just noticed by T410s has developed cracks on both sides of the palm rests.  This is completely unacceptable, especially since I baby this computer and it never even leaves my desk.  I'm going to call to get an in house warranty call and I want to see if they give me trouble by saying this isnt under warranty.

[rinatka7]

Hello. My name is Grigory, i am from Russia.

I have the same problem with palm rest, it is cracked on left side.

I call to local warranty service, and they said that i must buy myself this part and after it they change it.

But i read that in US this part change by warranty, i mean that i do not must buy it myself.

When i call to US customer service, they said that i must call to my local warranty service.

How you think is it normal that i must buy palmrest by myself for changing?

Maybe somebody can help me with my problem?

Thank you very much.

P.S. Sorry for my bad English!

[0301chris]

After 1 month of use my new T410s developed a large crack on the right side next to right touchpad button after a day of just writing on my desk - absolutely no physical stress event happened.

I am travelling in Europe this summer giving lecture and thus need my laptop all the time!

Called US service - very friendly and offered to send replacement part but only to a US address (does not work b/c I am not there).

They suggested that for Europe I call the German service center. But Lenovo Germany demands that I send in my laptop. I am very frustrated that Lenovo does not coordinate their service processes globally to make it easier for customers to fix manfacturing quality problems.

Result - I have a big concerning crack and no way to fix it in then next 4 months.  I am mostly in Spain (no English support) and Austria over summer.

Any ideas anyone? Thanks!!

[0301chris]

Update - Lenovo Spain has agreed to send me the part to barcelona where I am at the moment. The Lenovo support page has clear video instructions for how to change the Palmrest.
A big thanks to Lenovo Spain!
However, I am still shocked how a supposedly first-class pro laptop gets a crack just from writing! I had many laptops in my life and never anything like that.

[Yorgi]

Add me to the list of T400s owners with cracks in the palm rest area. I noticed a small crack on the far left side about a year ago and now have a second crack on the right side.

I baby this thing and always carry it in a heavily protected laptop case when I transport it which I do only occasionally.

I love the form factor of this laptop but it does not come close to the quality of my prior T61p and T40 Lenovos, which is annoying considering I paid about $2K for mine.

[grrichmo]

Hey folks,

I have had a T410s for roughly 9 months and have really enjoyed the portability/size/weight and speed of the machine.  I am a Dell convert and this is my first ThinkPad (I'm serving as the guinea pig as my company contemplates moving to Lenovo for all of our laptops). 

I am sad to say however, that the fit and finish of my machine is a total disaster.  I first noticed a few hairline cracks on the plamrest about 3-4 months ago and have watched in shock as they have spread and I have started to lose chunks of plastic from the machine!  It's as though the palm rest was made of a really cheap, ready-to-disintegrate plastic.  See the photos below.  I am meticulous with my laptops and have always gotten at least 3 years out of each one.  At the rate this machine is falling apart, I'll be lucky if it makes it to it's 1-year anniversary. 

I am hoping that Lenovo will contact me and find a solution to replace the plamrest with a more durable plastic.  In the meantime, I suspect my company's IT department will hold off on switching from Dell to Lenovo.

The kicker is that I am in France for several months and worry that the service will only be US-based, as that is where I am typically based...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts/advice!

-Graham

Link to picture

Link to picture

Link to picture

[trekuhl]

i am not sure about support in europe, you should talk with your sales rep who can talk with a lenovo rep directly (depending on where you purchased it)

there were repalcement palm rests that resolved the issue. i have a box of them for when the issue comes up.

the t410s was discontinued a few months ago and superceded with the t420s. thus far we have had zero issues with the t420s. honestly, the palmrest was annoying buy considering our last choice of machine, the HP business line 6910p had shorting issues requiring motherboard replacement and the replacement model 6930p had an absolute **bleep** touchpad (how do you screw up the part the user interfaces with most???) the palmrest isnt that bad. although, the bad LCD panels that affected about 30 or so of our t410s was VERY ANNOYING. not that this was the fault of lenovo, the LCD panel was a name brand with fairly solid reputation.

you should really be testing with a t420s. the differences are minimal, it is slight longer and a little squatter due to the change in screen (1600x900 res LCD) the weight is about spot on as is the height. the biggest change IMHO for the better is going to a 2.5 disk drive instead of the 1.8. this makes it much easier to swap drives out (if need be) getting 1.8 drives is a PITA plus the connecter is micro so in the event of troubelshooting need that special adapter.

-t

[deesugar]

Anyone know the trick for re-inserting the flex ribbon of the palmrest back into the connector on the motherboard?

I'm having some problems.

[trekuhl]

where it inserts, did you pop the flip down piece up first or just yank it out? there is a small black "hinge" that needs pop up the lay ribbon down and flip it back down.

i use a small flathead (jewelers size) and be very careful with pressure as its easy break.