X220 Lid is weak

[vinuneuro]

The X220's build quality is very good compared to previous Thinkpad's..as far as the base goes. It's truly rock solid around the palmrests, really no flex anywhere and the fit of the plastic parts is great.

Unfortunately, the lid is by far the weakest I've experienced in any TP so far. There's a substantial amount of deflection when even minimal force is applied. An even larger issue the low torsional stiffness. This is compounded by the placement of the cut out in the base from where you're expected to open the lid from, which is pretty far to the edge. Since there's no latch the hinge gives more resistance initially. Look at what the lid does over the initial travel when you open it and you'll see how severely it and the screen twist every time you open it.

I'm not bringing this up for no reason. Since a week or so ago I've been hearing a clicking type of noise coming from the lid around the area of the camera when I move the lid back back and forth. Popped off the lcd bezel and it looks like the lid is twisting/bending back, but the lcd isn't held in place properly. So the lid is pulling away from the lcd because it can't resist the bending/twisting. There are screws holding the lcd in on the sides but nothing on top. For the time being I've added some tape to hold it in place better. If I open lid by holding it in the middle it's ok, but if I use the cutout the problem eventually returns indicating the lack of torsional stiffness is an issue.

Most of all I don't like the fact that whenever the screen/lid are closed the machine feels so fragile because of the ridiculous amount of deflection. I have serious concerns about the long term impact on the screen from twisting every time from the closed position. And really believe bad things will happen if even moderate pressure is applied to lid. Hope I don't have to find out.

This is from just two month of use. I don't think having the lid replaced replaced will solve anything in the long run as it's a design issue. Lenovo, we don't mind if you add .2lb more to strengthen the lid. It's pretty lame as it is. Please address this in the X221.

[RichardW]

I agree that there is a disconcerting amount of flex in the lid. I brought up the topic before in this thread:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X220-display-frame-bends-in-sun-light/m-p/4744...

and there was a response from Lenovo (in summary, that the build of the lid is appropriate for a laptop of this size and weight). I can't say that I agree. The lid on my cheap EeePC netbook feels more sturdy. I mentioned in the other thread that the lid is so flexible that you can actually click the touchpad by pressing down on the closed lid. That just doesn't seem right and makes a impression of low quality.

[Amphibulus]

Hi,

I just got my laptop, and yeah, the lid feel really cheap. It was the first thing that I feel when I grab my laptop to take it out of the box. My old X300 feels better in terms of quality.

Also there is a space (like a hole) just over the camera. I looks like an unfinished product.

Other then that, I have no light bleed, no fan speed problem, no ghosting, nada.

It run on the BIOS 1.17 with a 65W adapter.

Currently it's a bit slow (250gb HDD and 2GB ram) but I have a 160GB SSD and a 8gb ram that is coming.

[tvmaniac36]

I thought I am the only one who has this problem, quiet glad that someone else also have this issues. Well lenovo we hope you fixed everything in x221