Lenovo X11 laptop, what kind of paint does Lenovo use?

[DiTBho]

What kind of paint does Lenovo use for Carbon X11 laptops?
If you touch the laptop, it's quite "rubbery".

My kitten ruined one side of the laptop by biting 10cm along the corner between the keyboard and the side panel.
The black paint has come off, and you can see the metal.

I think I can repaint, but with which paint? 

[DiTBho]

if I were in the mood of designing a laptop, I would use fabric tape to cover all the parts you touch.
Around the keyboard, on the wrist areas, ... all covered with a cheap fabric tape that you can buy on Amazon.

High comfort, Nice to touch. Easy to clean. Cheap to replace

[madires]

What kind of paint does Lenovo use for Carbon X11 laptops?
If you touch the laptop, it's quite "rubbery".

Could be that rubber coating which turns into a sticky mess after some years. Search for rubber coating or soft-touch paint.

[DiTBho]

this is the current "fix" with a black fabric tape

[DiTBho]

(
yup, it's a "Carbon X1"
typo, sorry
)

[SiliconWizard]

It's some kind of coating, but it seems that nobody really knows what it exactly is. But many do know what the problem is like, just look up "lenovo laptop coating" on Google. You'll feel less lonely.
Having read a few threads about it, I haven't really seen any good solution to this - maybe you will.

Just know that it is VERY frequent, a well known problem with Lenovo laptops coating, not just with the X1 either (although it seems to be worse for these). I've also had a Lenovo Thinkpad (although older version) and the coating was more rugged, but still started to peel off on the bottom. The black tape is not a bad idea - may not look great, but at least it will prevent the peeling from progressing. If you leave it without protection, it *will* just peel off gradually.

[DiTBho]

Ania created a laptop shell in polycarbonate.

It's an ultra-mini-portable that measures ~ 8inc, so  it somehow looks like a Toshiba Libretto (90s, i586-era), the polycarbonate is very dense, therefore heavy, but *very* durable, and, despite it's "raw finisched", it's very comfortable and easy to sand if there are scratches, easy to clean (even with aggressive products, e.g. Chanteclair(1)) in case of spots and persistente dirt.

Just remove the keyboard, the LCD display frame, and after a couple of passes of fine grit sandpaper on the bare frame, it will be as good as new again!

Why a laptop that costs ~1500 euro brand new (2) isn't made this way? umm 

(1) Chanteclair can seriously damage the finiture of a Lenovo X1 Carbon.
Don't use it! Don't use trichlorethylene, or white petrol, not even if diluted with water.
(2) paid 700 euro for a second hand Lenovo X1 Carbon 2017, i7 + 16GB ram, 32GB SSD, cheap LCD version.

[SiliconWizard]

Removing the coating entirely and replacing it with something else, or nothing, may be your best bet indeed.

[golden_labels]

Without manufacturer revealing the composition, we can’t point to a specific material. But it’s not a secret why it’s soft to touch: raised level of plasticizers. And this is also why many of these surfaces get sticky with time: plasticizers migrate towards surface. Cleaning with IPA helps, but that’s only shifting the problem in time and may damage the surface.

I don’t know why anybody finds this kind of finish attractive. Maybe gives the “quality feel”, but I know no research supporting this.

[DiTBho]

Without manufacturer revealing the composition, we can’t point to a specific material. But it’s not a secret why it’s soft to touch: raised level of plasticizers. And this is also why many of these surfaces get sticky with time: plasticizers migrate towards surface. Cleaning with IPA helps, but that’s only shifting the problem in time and may damage the surface.

I don’t know why anybody finds this kind of finish attractive. Maybe gives the “quality feel”, but I know no research supporting this.

Thanks to influencers, people like i-justine or LTT for example

... I found the laptop attractive "on the paper" of some Video on Youtube, as it was described as "the Maserati of laptops" (3), and the keyboard is really nice, but ummm ...

paid only 600 euros for it, found second hand, it is a 2017 version, I don't know the generation, but it is an intel-i7-something with 16GB of ram and 32GB SSD, the LCD display is not premium, but rather the basic version

... not too bad for the money, but it's definitively not a "Maserati", perhaps a Chinese Car that pretends to be a Maserati by showing nothing bu Eco-Leather(1) seats that are neither Polyurethane nor Polyvinyl Chloride but rather some secret junk material that gives the "feeling of quality" of attractive appearance, when they are chemically unstable, not made to last more than 4 years(2), and very polluting.

(1) Eco-leather is a sustainable, environmentally-friendly answer to traditional animal leather. The truest form of Eco-Leather is made from vegan materials that mimic the feel and look of real leather. Two of the most popular are

• PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
  it is made from fabric leather backing, topped with a foam layer, then skin layer, and finally, finished with a plastic surface coating.
  
• PU (Polyurethane)
  It can be fabricated with sustainable eco-friendly materials, such as bio-polyoil to create a soft, durable alternative to real leather. It even wrinkles and feels just like natural leather. Plus, it uses no plastics and does not create dioxins, so it’s technically one of the greenest forms of eco-leather. Aside from all the environmental pluses of PU, you really can’t beat how supple, soft, and strong it is. Most consumers can’t even tell the difference between PU and animal leather at first touch. It’s wearable, luxurious, and guilt-free. 
  

(2) PVC is commonly used for upholstery and other leather pieces that are prone to nicks and stains.
Technically, it boasts a multi-layered structure, which means it is a lot more durable than PU leather.

(3) a sentence like this - "the Maserati of Laptops" - has a lot of impact on psychology.
Marketing is based on approaches of this type, to convince you of quality that sometimes isn't there.

[DiTBho]

Removing the coating entirely and replacing it with something else, or nothing, may be your best bet indeed.

I did something similar for my Japanese PDA 

Part of the body is made of plastic, but the LCD frame is made of painted metal; when I bought the top was completely scratched, so I spent the entire return flight from Tokyo with a piece of sandpaper to remove the paint on the upper part, and I completed the work in the hotel, dismantling the lid to remove the remaining paint.

And now it's all bare shiny metal, over opaque plastic, with an Harlock vinyl decal(1) applied to the center.

It almost looks like an object that could be used if they made a "Captain Harlock movie, the journey to infinity" (hey? Neflix, do you hear me?).
I can see it well in the hands of Juki Key, or Emeralda, not necessarily of the only nerd on board, Tochiro Oyama, but rather of anyone else in the crew.


Anyway, I want a laptop with a Polyvinyl Chloride finiture!
Powered by RISC-V or MIPS32, and running Haiku!

Sweet dreams ... 


(1) I didn't use a digital controlled laser cutter!
I bought a sheet of black vynil sticker and a special pencil that uses white gel.
I drew the on the sheet, and then I used a manual cutter to engrave.

[SiliconWizard]

What kind of kernel does Haiku use?

[DiTBho]

What kind of kernel does Haiku use?

micro-hybrid, technically it's derived from NewOS.

[Gyro]

Look for a replacement palmrest?  https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=lenovo+X1+palmrest&_sacat=175673&_sop=15

[DiTBho]

Look for a replacement palmrest?

I know there are replacement palmrests on eBay, but it's not the point here!

[celly67]

What kind of paint does Lenovo use for Carbon X11 laptops?
If you touch the laptop, it's quite "rubbery".

My kitten ruined one side of the laptop by biting 10cm along the corner between the keyboard and the side panel.
The black paint has come off, and you can see the metal.

I think I can repaint, but with which paint? 

any rubberize coated paint or fabric tape could be handy