The Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 hinge design flaw
I bought a ThinkPad less than 2 years ago because of it’s long standing in making awesome laptops. Unfortunately for me, the Lenovo ThinkPad SL500, despite it being more expensive and having a more recognized name in the mobile computing industry does not live up to its ThinkPad name.
I saved up quite a while for this laptop and brown bagged a lot of lunches to buy this and I even had to wait an extra week from the “expected arrival date” after I bought it. Imagine my dismay when I attempted to open my laptop, like I’ve done before on many occasions, only to hear it crack and snap. These ThinkPads had been advertised as being “tough” and “robust” but the left hinge of my laptop, which has never left the confines of my desk since I bought it, has simply broken off from its apparently flimsy connection to the LCD and keyboard.
I googled around and found that I was not the only one to experience the left hinge breaking. It looks like it has been happening quite consistently among other Lenovo ThinkPad users. On the Lenovo forum, I saw that at least two SL400’s have had their hinges break in the last few months. Two more SL500’s have also been reported to have had the same issue as well. There were at least 8 people who bothered to report the issues on the website and three of them as well as myself have had their hinges break in the last two months.
I sincerely hope that Lenovo will do whats right and provide proper compensation or replace these broken laptops.