[ltp] Thinkpad warranty not covering screen white spots damage?

[Greg Sieranski]

dasDasein wrote:
> Mine are visible from particular angles of view (left and right angles 
> of view), fortunately straight on view is not so bad.  They have been 
> slowly getting worse (growing in number of pixels) over the past year or 
> so.  They are also visible in the bios screen.  They now are a dozen to 
> two dozen pixels in two groups.  I call them white pixels, but there are 
> usually lighter in color than whatever the existing background color is, 
> making them stand out as whitish.  However, I believe very dark 
> backgrounds, near black seem to help.  Most applications have a light or 
> off white background and they actually really stand out on light 
> background for some reason.  When I first saw them I thought it was 
> something on the screen that needed cleaning.  I will experiment more 
> with it, when I get it back from IBM.
> 
> What is rather annoying is that when I initially called IBM and 
> explained the problem they sounded like they new what it was and could 
> take care of it, but did not say anything about it not being covered by 
> warranty.  Then they called me to tell me it would cost $750 to replace 
> to replace the screen.  If I knew it was not covered by warranty, I 
> would not have bothered to send it in the first place.  It has been gone 
> for about a week now.
> 
> On 9/24/07, *Maciej Musial* <maciejrobert@gmail.com 
> <mailto:maciejrobert@gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     Hi,
>     I'm not sure what kind of white spots have you got but on my T40p I've
>     noticed a light spot in the corner - after about two mounts I've
>     forgot about it. Now I checked it - it disappeared.
>     Maybe your is the same kind of spot :)
> 
> 
>     2007/9/24, dasDasein <das@dase.in <mailto:das@dase.in>>:
>      > They quoted me $750 USD to replace screen... OUCH!  I won't be
>     putting any
>      > more money in my x40 and it should still has some life left in
>     it.  The
>      > white spots are not a horrible problem, but I was hoping it would
>     be covered
>      > under the existing warranty.  I started noticing the problem
>     after about the
>      > first year of use and it has slowly been getting worse.
>      >
>      > I noticed specials on X61's from Lenovo are starting at $1025 USD
>     now ;^)
>      > although they only come with 1 year warranty included.  My x40
>     came with 3
>      > years.
>      >
>      > I also hear rumors that Apple may come out with an ultralight
>     MacBook.  I
>      > will probably wait a while and see.
>      >
>      >
>      > On 9/24/07, Mike Shaw <mdshaw89@gmail.com
>     <mailto:mdshaw89@gmail.com>> wrote:
>      > > On 9/24/07, dasDasein < das@dase.in <mailto:das@dase.in>> wrote:
>      > >
>      > > > I called IBM service last week for my Thinkpad x40 which is
>     still under
>      > warranty until December.  I explained that it has been getting
>     white spots
>      > on the screen.  They sent a box for it to ship and after a few
>     days I have
>      > received a call that they have removed the screen for testing and
>     all check
>      > out O.K. EXCEPT for the white spots, which they tell me is due to
>     pressure
>      > damage and is not covered under warranty.
>      > > >
>      > > > Has any one else experienced this.  Have you had white spots
>     repaired
>      > (screen replaced) under warranty?
>      > >
>      > > Your response does not surprise me.  I had the same issue
>     happen with my
>      > work laptop, a IBM branded T41,(I work at IBM) and I was told the
>     same
>      > thing.  Basically I have been living with mine for the past 3
>     years.  I
>      > don't know of anyway to get rid of or "re-surface" the screen
>     other than
>      > just replacing it.  But it looks like for this it will be at your
>     own cost.
>      > >
>      > > Good luck,
>      > >
>      > > Mike
>      > > --
>      > > "Darn bushes yowling at me again." - Old Man Wickles in Scooby
>     Doo 2:
>      > Monsters Unleashed
>      >
>      >
>     --
>     The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
>     http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>     <http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad>
> 
> 
I also have a small white spot on my screen. It is not noticeable 
against dark backgrounds and if I place the mouse cursor over it it gets 
covered up. I originally thought it was a dead pixel but a dead pixel 
would not be hidden by the mouse cursor. It also is less noticeable 
depending upon the angle. I have found that with dead pixels I am 
usually able to rub them out but have not had any luck so far with the 
spot. Has anyone been able to manually get rig of it or do I just have 
to hope that one day it will go away?

Thanks,
GS