Any way to deal with these T400 quirks?

Alright... here's the sitch:

I've been using the T400 listed in my sig for the past few months. Overall I like the machine. It may be a particularly well-built example, but it's built like a brick Buick and has enough power behind it to run all my older games fluently. However, it has a few quirks that really make me cringe:

The Thinklight on it is simply atrocious. It's obvious that this one slipped past testing, as whenever I use it I've got a bright LED blasting me in the face. On the previous TPs I've owned the Thinklight was a great asset, allowing me to view source material off to the side of the notebook when I'm working/writing at night. Now, it's utterly useless. Is there anything I can do to fix this, or am I simply stuck with it?

The display is also one of the worst I've seen in a while... I know I went to this from a Flexview-equipped T60p so I wasn't expecting it to be that good, but this is ridiculous. All I know is that it's a CFFL WXGA+ panel, and I'm unsure of the manufacturer. Colors are acceptable but the viewing angles are just plain trash. Is there a better panel out there, maybe one of the LEDs?

Also... the keyboard is okay but can be improved upon. This is one of the earliest T400's made, and therefore lacks the older-style T60/61 keyboard or the structural brace added to later models. Is there any way to add that brace after the fact, and does anyone know a good source for the wonderful NMB keyboards supplied with the T60?

For the most part I like my T400, but these flaws are driving me nuts. If these can't be fixed I might be sorely tempted to move onto an X200, but I'd like to see what I can do to fix what's wrong first. Any suggestions?

 

Is the cause of the Thinklight due to the positioning of the LED bulb or something?

As for the display, I don't think an LED panel would help much with the viewing angle, only brighter. I haven't seen a CFFL version of the X200 in real life so I can't really compare it to my LED-based one but from what I read, both panels have horrible viewing angles (for anything other than text/school stuff). So maybe someone else could chime in.

Can't say anything about the keyboard as this is my first laptop ever and I don't know how mine is compared to a "legendary" Thinkpad keyboard.

I don't think an X200 would make you any happier because the screen is smaller and probably with the same viewing angle.

BTW, with that user name, you definitely drive/owned a Legend. Yeah?

 

Interesting info... so the LED panels aren't all that great, either?

I do know that the X200 can be fitted with an AFFS panel for better viewing angles... a mod that I would really like to do if I got my hands on one. Definitely not work for the faint of heart but I've Frankensteined most of the Thinkpads I've owned. The screen size doesn't bother me too much as I used to use an X61... great notebook, just wished it had a higher resolution screen.

The keyboard on the T400 had a perforated backplate in order to save a little weight, at the cost of a lot of keyboard flex. Lenovo offered a stopgap measure of replacing the keyboard with one from a T60/61*which had a solid backplate. They later fixed the problem by adding a support to the right of the fan/heatsink area that also helped things. My T400 has neither.

And, yes, I do drive a Legend... '91 L Coupe with rare 5-speed manual. I take it you're a fellow Legend owner?

 

well you should call Lenovo warranty (provided you are under warranty) and tell them that the thinklight is not place properly and the keyboard doesn't have a brace, i think they would provide a suitable solution for these problems.

Not sure what can be done for the LCD, my T400 with the AOC WXGA+ is beautiful and bright, the viewing angle on it also very good.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I am still under warranty, and they may be able to fix the Thinklight... however it is a common problemI've heard about on this system.

How would I go about finding the information about my LCD? I would happily void said warranty if I could just get a better LCD in here.

 

my T400 doesn't shine the light in my eye, it is slightly over-covered and there is insufficient light on the keyboard.

Use something like Everest to check the monitor part number and then google it.

LED makes the LCD brighter in some circumstances but it doesn't change the viewing angle problem.

 

Oh you've used the X61, so an X200 with the AFFS panel isn't such a bad route if you can't find a solution to your T400 (although I hope you do).

I didn't know about the solid backplate on the T6X. So that's what made the keyboard top notch, interesting. Bummer about your keyboard though but good luck.

Nice a 5-speed although you're missing out on some stuff with the L trim! haha and I do drive a Legend, although nothing spectacular and certainly not a manual.

 

You can use the parts look up to see which screen your T400 has. There's a link in the sticky.

 

Sorry it took me long to get back to this. My display FRU is 42T0583. A few Google searches have failed to come up with a manufacturer name or model number so I'm still kind of in the dark.

@lead_org: Do you happen to have a display FRU or anything like that for your T400? I'd be interested to know as you seem to be pretty happy with your display.

 

It's a Samsung. The AOC part number is 42T0597. There's one here on eBay if you want to get your hands dirty and void your warranty. You could ask Lenovo to swap the screens if you're still under warranty. I've no idea if they'll do it, but alls they can do is say no, which puts you right back where you are now.

The reality of buying a notebook in 2010 is that most notebook screens just aren't that great. There's a few like the MBP which offer a high contrast ratio, but none, outside of a few tablets, offer the angles.

Manufacturers are under enormous cost pressure. Every dollar they raise prices to offer something better, costs them sales cause for thread like this bemoaning bad screens, there's 10+ asking how to get the lowest price. On the plus side, notebooks/netbooks are much more ubiquitous these days. It allows us to connect and share in ways that weren't possible when notebooks were preserved for the well-healed or the lucky.

 

i will look into it for you. I have the WXGA LED T400 right now, i don't have the WXGA+ T400 with me, it has gone to my friend, he wanted the WXGA+ AOC LCD. But I will try to track it down for you.

 

Excellent looking up and looking out, and I greatly appreciate that. Where did you find the info, just in case I have to look up another part? All I was finding with the FRU were websites selling that specific LCD under the FRU number... I just wasn't able to find any solid information.

It definitely is a shame that the LCD market is the way it is, but I definitely understand your point. Notebooks definitely aren't the luxury/specialist items they were even ten years ago, and since the prices on the consumer junk have dropped that means the professional equipment needs to drop in price, too. I remember paying more for a(then) three year old T21 back in 2004 than I did for this T400 a mere month after the model was discontinued.

Excellent... thanks for the looking out. Right now I'm weighing the options of replacing the LCD myself versus keeping the warranty. If I go that far with this machine I likely won't be selling it anytime soon and doing other upgrades. I'm not afraid of pulling my notebooks apart and as far as I've seen the T400 doesn't have any major hardware flaws. Just one of those things that is making me go 'hmm.' Replacing the LCD would also give me cause to install the webcam while I'm at it, so I just may go for it.

 

ThinkWiki TFT has most ThinkPad screens on it if you're looking in the future.

 

The thinklight should be an easy one. Take the bezel off and make sure it is seated in it's little slot at the top of the screen frame.

 

@lead_org: can you provide any more details about your AOC WXGA+ in your T400? Maybe your T400's model/type and/or your the FRU/ID number for the display?

(I'm looking to get a similar/same machine/display as per forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - Longtime T4x owner looking 2 buy new model (T/R 400, other?) )

Many thanks in advance.

 

Apologies--I think we have that info already. (Sorry, got lost in a sea of posts/threads...)

As per forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - Longtime T4x owner looking 2 buy new model (T/R 400, other?), it looks like lead_org has the same display as the one I'd like to buy. I guess the only question is if lead_org's display ( presumably same display as the one I want to buy) will perform well in the outdoors/direct sunlight, unlike LegendaryKA8's experience with a different screen type. I willing to bet it will.

 

it does perform reasonably well in outdoors when it is at full brightness.

 

Thx lead_org for the followup (and the earlier info)!

 

Hmm... no one has suggested the LG Phillips LP141WP2-TLB1???

My T400 came with this LCD and it's very bright! I tweaked the settings in the Intel Graphics control panel and now my AVIs and MKVs look better

 

LG Phillips LCDs are also very good, it has gained a reputation as a high quality alternative to the Samsung units (which makes some really dreadful LCD).

 

Any suggestions on how I can map the display flavor to a specific T400 "type"? (I haven't bought my T400 yet and may want to go with a type that has this LP141WP2-TLB1 display if I can find one at reasonable price. Said display's specs on TFT display - ThinkWiki do seem somewhat superior...)

 

I was extremely lucky with the LCD when I received my T400! I can't really think of anyway of knowing for sure what LCD you would get. I do have an idea that may perhaps get you the info you want.

Ask for the model number, serial, and enter it into

Here.

You'll get the info for the warranty and look for a link that says " View parts lookup results for this system." When I choose this link for my T400 I see that my LCD description has the Mfg part # 42T0497 and FRU part # 42T0498. I also have some information as to what parts are considered customer serviceable or not.

Hope that helps

 

That does help, thanks.

Alas, I hope to discover the type so that I can *search* for it specifically, rather than asking the seller of every T400 (for which I'm interested) to supply me the type and serial number, which gets to be rather time-consuming and tedious...but possible. I'm hoping to do the "reverse" to be more efficient...if that makes sense?

Any suggestions on how this might be done (ie: lookup the type given a display FRU number...or some other FRU/display identifier)?

 

Honestly, it doesn't really work that way. Displays were added to these machines at random... there isn't a specific machine type that had a specific screen... all of them have a variety of them installed. The only way to figure out what screen is installed is by plugging the serial number into that site and carrying on that way, I'm afraid. :/

 

I've not yet seen anything like you're asking for. My model is a CTO type so as you know it was "made to order." This type of purchase may be the case for many of the T400 you are hoping to narrow down for the LG Phillips WXGA+.

Have you tried the Hardware Maintenance Manual? Or Tabook?

 

No, that's not possible - under the same model type, laptops may still use screens with different FRUs, depending on parts availability at the time of manufacture. Only way is to check manually.

 

Bummer, too bad there's not a FRU/parts-to-type mapping. But good to know. Again: thanks all for the info.

 

(pls advise if I'm hijacking this thread inappropriately...)

Found a killer deal for a T410 with WXGA+ display FRU = 42T0735. TFT display - ThinkWiki has little info on this FRU. Any way I can find out more?

 

the T410 WXGA+ LCD should use LED backlighting. 400:1 contrast, 16 ms response, and made by LG-Phillips.