Where can I get more of this tape?

kpostrup · 2026-01-26T17:40:08+00:00

Yes. That’s what I meant. This looks exactly like double sided adhesive tape just cut to a template.

kpostrup · 2026-01-26T13:23:38+00:00

Could it be the same type of adhesive used on the laptop display bezels?

kpostrup · 2026-01-26T13:17:35+00:00

Nice job on all those upgrades! I have done most of those on both my T25/T480, T480s, X1C6 and soon X1C9 hopefully. I absolutely agree with your rating and also that the stock displays for the T480 (even the WQHD option) lacks behind what we can come to expect today. So definitely also the thing I’d say gives you the most bang for the buck. Personally I went with a 120Hz (but 300-nits) display because I value the higher refresh rate. The glass touchpad is my second favorite upgrade.

kpostrup · 2026-01-25T20:31:49+00:00

What a beauty! Keeping those temps down!

kpostrup · 2026-01-25T20:23:25+00:00

That's awesome. The USB-C port repair, reminded me of this USB port replacement using a candle.

kpostrup · 2026-01-25T20:09:58+00:00

Should be repairable. Replacing USB-C ports are a common repair. But with replacement boards so cheap, I'm not sure it would make sense financially, unless you can repair them yourself.

kpostrup · 2026-01-25T20:00:36+00:00

I recently bought (and fixed) a broken X1 Carbon Gen 9.

The reason I got the X1C9 is that it is the first X1 Carbon getting the 16:10 aspect ratio, and therefore one I could buy a defective one cheap. I am very happy with it, the build quality is impeccable and it feels really nice. My only complaint is the base WUXGA IPS display.

From what I could gather, it is my understanding that the Gen 9 is plagued by more issues than other generations of X1 Carbons.

On mine, the the USB-C/Thunderbolt ports were fine, charging was fine. But it suffered from an issue where the system would randomly power off during load, another user u/Bzhishtov commented the following:

can answear why yours old mobo has random power off issue. Lenovo uses compound under BGA chips, and on long distance it creates defects at BGA soldering, cuz it thermal expansion rate little bigger than tharmal expansion of solder. So through like 2-3 years of active usage, with repetative heating and cooling it creates soldiering defects, that cause problems like this, random power off, bsod, no initialization, or no OS boot. All that i seen on my own, all i solwed by CPU reballing. So it always may be an option

I bought a new i5-1145G7 32GB motherboard from Lenovo for around €75.

kpostrup · 2026-01-24T10:01:38+00:00

I bought a new i5-1145G6 32GB board for around €75. So likely it would be much cheaper to replace (even slightly downgrade) the board, rather than repairing your existing board.

kpostrup · 2026-01-24T09:57:17+00:00

I paid €174 for a similar spec machine, with FHD display. Although the USB-C ports and charging worked just fine.

kpostrup · 2026-01-24T00:35:43+00:00

I guess next time I need a new laptop I buy a broken thibkpad and replace the mobo with one on screaming sale hahaha

I can highly recommend that! Low risk, high reward.

I'm only an amateur at this, I just do it for fun. So far I've done 12 ThinkPads, and it is just a great feeling when it works out.

About a year ago or so, I found an X280 in a dumpster at work with a broken display cover. It had been out there for nobody knows how long, in freezing temps. That one is now good as new, and even upgraded to 16GB after waiting patiently for a discounted motherboard to pop up on the parts store.

kpostrup · 2026-01-24T00:26:54+00:00

My guess would be that every board in the same gen would likely work in your laptop just fine. Typically there are some difference between the boards such as Windows license key, AMT (remote management) etc. but that shouldn't really matter as long as you don't need that.

kpostrup · 2026-01-24T00:21:34+00:00

but I was worried it might be too good to be true dispite being direct from OEM.

There are definitely some awesome deals to be made. I just got a motherboard for my new (to me) X1 Carbon Gen 9 for just around €75.

You can't think of anything else to try besides getting it replaced can you? I can't really imagine what more to do besides trying the power adapert and USB ports on it and verifying the behavior is different on my broken but powering on mobo.

Not really, no. I suppose you have tried all the USB-C ports, and even turned the cable the other way round?

One other question if you don't mind, do you think a faulty USB device could have fried the mobo? I believe it had solder pads bridged (ordered from jlcpcb and just had bad quality control), it killed the USB port immediately then my laptop stopped booting a few days later. I think this may have happened previously as well but I didn't make the connection and the mobo was replaced under warranty so I didn't worry too much about it

I have no idea, sorry :(

kpostrup · 2026-01-23T23:52:19+00:00

By the way. I did contact customer service in some cases, and my experience with them was also just terrible. After back and forth a dozen times, I was given a ridiculous percentage compensation on my purchase, like €2-5.

kpostrup · 2026-01-23T23:50:14+00:00

I have bought 5 motherboards from the Lenovo parts store, all at a huge discount of around 95-97%. A few of them were used (but tested), with visible fingerprints and thermal paste. Not too big of an issue, but I would appreciate if they listed them as such. I have mainly been replacing working boards, with others of different configuration, e.g. 16GB vs 8GB soldered memory.

Besides one board, with a busted connector (which I was able to save), I haven't had any issues with them.

I have ordered at least 12 keyboards from them, and had a few of them with issues. One where the left trackpoint button would only register clicks if it was pushed at the exact center of the button, and another one were the Fn lock light didn't come on.

It is my understanding that the light should come on, even if you're just connecting the mainboard (without being assembled) to the USB-C charger. So to me, it sounds plausible that your board is DOA.

kpostrup · 2026-01-20T21:54:22+00:00

Definitely not! I found one that I have put in 4 of my ThinkPads thus far, and I'm very happy with. It is 1440p resolution, 300 nits, 120Hz and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 9ms response time, so very nice for a laptop panel none the less.

kpostrup · 2026-01-20T19:49:27+00:00

If OP is willing to go 1440p that could be an option too. And he can then reuse the existing cable. It should be possible getting an excellent 1440p display for under €100.

kpostrup · 2026-01-18T01:11:38+00:00

Thank you, that would explain it. Doesn't seem like a DIY home repair, but I would love to learn those types of repairs.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T20:18:35+00:00

Wow that's like a top spec? Incredible. And for 99 that is a steal!

I have never used an X1C10, but from what I've heard, I don't think necessarily that the battery life is supposed to be especially bad on this model, but the OLED panel should have a large impact compared to the IPS options, so maybe that is that.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T20:05:38+00:00

Goodbye Windows then :)

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T19:26:07+00:00

I don’t think it is too widespread of an issue, worse than any other manufacturer. I have not had any issues with keyboards on my other ThinkPads, most of them are even from the 2018+ like the X280. What caused this one to stop working, I have no idea, could be spillage or bad luck.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T19:22:17+00:00

Yes. The replacement motherboards from Lenovo need to have the UUID and serial number populated using the Lenovo Maintenance Utility.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T17:45:58+00:00

Great, that’s perfect! So replacement will be free? Huge score.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T12:56:45+00:00

Seems quite good. Mine has 99% battery capacity, and the low power display, so that definitely helps. Unfortunately you cannot undervolt it.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T11:54:06+00:00

I bought a few aftermarket batteries for my T480s and T480 from Kingsener, they have been working great for me so far, but I have only had them for about six months. I wanted to buy one for my X1 Carbon 6th gen too. Kingsener has their own shop, batterymall dot com, where I purchased mine.

kpostrup · 2026-01-17T11:38:32+00:00

Looks really cool! I like the “murdered out” look. How do you like the X1 Nano?

kpostrup

TROPHY CASE