Thinkpad X20 repair experience

My X20 finally stopped charging the battery and it would not power off
the power brick. Simple fix, get a new power brick. However, while I
was finding the power brick part number I realized that most parts on
the X20 could be ordered online. Ever since my kid knocked my X20 off
the dining room table it had the following problems:

1) upper keyboard bezel had nearly all mount points (where screws scew
in) broken. This caused the entire laptop to flex in unnatural
ways and also left the keyboard popping up in places.

2) The PCCard carrier got a piece of plastic stuck down by the pins
(fallout from 1) and the pins were bent. I was able to straighten
out the pens with a steady hand and small flat screw driver, but
the card always would feel odd going in and out.

3) The LCD display hinges were quite loose. Positioning the display
was always an exercise in pushing/pulling it too far and hoping it
would "flop" to the right location.


All the parts needed to fix the above problems are purchasable
directly from IBM. There is also a good parts list with diagrams
available on IBM's support website.

Armed with the parts list I ordered a new upper keyboard bezel, lower
laptop case (just in case), new PCCard carrier, new fan (it was getting
a bit noisy), and new hinges. All the parts arrived 3 days later.
Total cost? Under $200.

I then purchased a set of "small" electronic screw drivers at radio
shack and got to work taking the laptop apart.

It was all pretty straight forward and easy except for the LCD display
hinges. IBM's web site shows how to remove the LCD display from the
laptop but not how to remove the hinges from the display. There are
three hidden screws that must be removed (little plastic covers can be
popped off and then re-attached later).

Took about 2hrs to do the work. I ended up with one missing screw, but
was able to remove a screw from the old lower laptop case and use that
in the fan assembly.

End result? A laptop that looks and feels practically brand new. The
original (20G) HD is starting to be quite noisy. I'm thinking of
replacing that as well. Unfortunately some sites say it should be a
9mm drive but most replacements are 9.5mm. There is NO clearance
around the current drive, so I probably need to be exact. To make
matters worse, some sites list the IBM drives that are for this laptop
as 9mm and some as 9.5mm... Wonder which it is... <shrug> The
toshiba drives actually look pretty affordable. Would prefer 5400RPM
(a bit faster than what I have now, don't think I want the xtra heat
from a 7200 model).

--
-rupa

Thanks for sharing that info.

Try that with an emachines laptop.

"Rupa Schomaker" <rupa+> wrote in message
news:...
>
> My X20 finally stopped charging the battery and it would not power off
> the power brick. Simple fix, get a new power brick. However, while I
> was finding the power brick part number I realized that most parts on
> the X20 could be ordered online. Ever since my kid knocked my X20 off
> the dining room table it had the following problems:
>
> 1) upper keyboard bezel had nearly all mount points (where screws scew
> in) broken. This caused the entire laptop to flex in unnatural
> ways and also left the keyboard popping up in places.
>
> 2) The PCCard carrier got a piece of plastic stuck down by the pins
> (fallout from 1) and the pins were bent. I was able to straighten
> out the pens with a steady hand and small flat screw driver, but
> the card always would feel odd going in and out.
>
> 3) The LCD display hinges were quite loose. Positioning the display
> was always an exercise in pushing/pulling it too far and hoping it
> would "flop" to the right location.
>
>
> All the parts needed to fix the above problems are purchasable
> directly from IBM. There is also a good parts list with diagrams
> available on IBM's support website.
>
> Armed with the parts list I ordered a new upper keyboard bezel, lower
> laptop case (just in case), new PCCard carrier, new fan (it was getting
> a bit noisy), and new hinges. All the parts arrived 3 days later.
> Total cost? Under $200.
>
> I then purchased a set of "small" electronic screw drivers at radio
> shack and got to work taking the laptop apart.
>
> It was all pretty straight forward and easy except for the LCD display
> hinges. IBM's web site shows how to remove the LCD display from the
> laptop but not how to remove the hinges from the display. There are
> three hidden screws that must be removed (little plastic covers can be
> popped off and then re-attached later).
>
> Took about 2hrs to do the work. I ended up with one missing screw, but
> was able to remove a screw from the old lower laptop case and use that
> in the fan assembly.
>
> End result? A laptop that looks and feels practically brand new. The
> original (20G) HD is starting to be quite noisy. I'm thinking of
> replacing that as well. Unfortunately some sites say it should be a
> 9mm drive but most replacements are 9.5mm. There is NO clearance
> around the current drive, so I probably need to be exact. To make
> matters worse, some sites list the IBM drives that are for this laptop
> as 9mm and some as 9.5mm... Wonder which it is... <shrug> The
> toshiba drives actually look pretty affordable. Would prefer 5400RPM
> (a bit faster than what I have now, don't think I want the xtra heat
> from a 7200 model).
>
> --
> -rupa

Thanks for sharing that info.

Try that with an emachines laptop.

"Rupa Schomaker" <rupa+> wrote in message
news:...
>
> My X20 finally stopped charging the battery and it would not power off
> the power brick. Simple fix, get a new power brick. However, while I
> was finding the power brick part number I realized that most parts on
> the X20 could be ordered online. Ever since my kid knocked my X20 off
> the dining room table it had the following problems:
>
> 1) upper keyboard bezel had nearly all mount points (where screws scew
> in) broken. This caused the entire laptop to flex in unnatural
> ways and also left the keyboard popping up in places.
>
> 2) The PCCard carrier got a piece of plastic stuck down by the pins
> (fallout from 1) and the pins were bent. I was able to straighten
> out the pens with a steady hand and small flat screw driver, but
> the card always would feel odd going in and out.
>
> 3) The LCD display hinges were quite loose. Positioning the display
> was always an exercise in pushing/pulling it too far and hoping it
> would "flop" to the right location.
>
>
> All the parts needed to fix the above problems are purchasable
> directly from IBM. There is also a good parts list with diagrams
> available on IBM's support website.
>
> Armed with the parts list I ordered a new upper keyboard bezel, lower
> laptop case (just in case), new PCCard carrier, new fan (it was getting
> a bit noisy), and new hinges. All the parts arrived 3 days later.
> Total cost? Under $200.
>
> I then purchased a set of "small" electronic screw drivers at radio
> shack and got to work taking the laptop apart.
>
> It was all pretty straight forward and easy except for the LCD display
> hinges. IBM's web site shows how to remove the LCD display from the
> laptop but not how to remove the hinges from the display. There are
> three hidden screws that must be removed (little plastic covers can be
> popped off and then re-attached later).
>
> Took about 2hrs to do the work. I ended up with one missing screw, but
> was able to remove a screw from the old lower laptop case and use that
> in the fan assembly.
>
> End result? A laptop that looks and feels practically brand new. The
> original (20G) HD is starting to be quite noisy. I'm thinking of
> replacing that as well. Unfortunately some sites say it should be a
> 9mm drive but most replacements are 9.5mm. There is NO clearance
> around the current drive, so I probably need to be exact. To make
> matters worse, some sites list the IBM drives that are for this laptop
> as 9mm and some as 9.5mm... Wonder which it is... <shrug> The
> toshiba drives actually look pretty affordable. Would prefer 5400RPM
> (a bit faster than what I have now, don't think I want the xtra heat
> from a 7200 model).
>
> --
> -rupa

On 2 Sep 2003 17:45:07 -0500, Rupa Schomaker <rupa+>
wrote:
>End result? A laptop that looks and feels practically brand new. The
>original (20G) HD is starting to be quite noisy. I'm thinking of
>replacing that as well. Unfortunately some sites say it should be a
>9mm drive but most replacements are 9.5mm. There is NO clearance
>around the current drive, so I probably need to be exact. To make
>matters worse, some sites list the IBM drives that are for this laptop
>as 9mm and some as 9.5mm... Wonder which it is... <shrug> The
>toshiba drives actually look pretty affordable. Would prefer 5400RPM
>(a bit faster than what I have now, don't think I want the xtra heat
>from a 7200 model).
>
The X-series use 9.5mm drives. The only other thin size is 8.45mm,
and I think only Sony and Fujitsu ever used those.
Emanuel
--
Sony VAIO 505 info - http://home.att.net/~epbrown01/sony505.html
Join the 505 Mailing List - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sony505/

Intra Masonry has been the leader in providing Brick Repair and Brick Replacement Services Southeastern Michigan. Intra Masonry can repair your brick damage or provide you with Custom Brick Michigan services.
http://www.intramasonry.com/

On Wednesday, July 11, 2012 1:52:37 AM UTC-5, intr...@gmail.com wrote:
> Intra Masonry has been the leader in providing Brick Repair and Brick Replacement Services Southeastern Michigan. Intra Masonry can repair your brick damage or provide you with Custom Brick Michigan services.
> http://www.intramasonry.com/

You sir...are a moron.

On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:05:48 +0100, Bob_Villa <> wrote:

> On Wednesday, July 11, 2012 1:52:37 AM UTC-5, intr...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Intra Masonry has been the leader in providing Brick Repair and Brick
>> Replacement Services Southeastern Michigan. Intra Masonry can repair
>> your brick damage or provide you with Custom Brick Michigan services.
>> http://www.intramasonry.com/
>
> You sir...are a moron.

What if you bricked your laptop? could they help?
--
[dash dash space newline 4line sig]

Albi CNU