Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

tonedef407

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
159
14
I saw all the dead pixel threads and against my better judgement decided to look and see if I had any. Doesn't appear to be any "dead pixels" but I do have what looks to be a speck of dust under the screen. It's there when the screen is off. Should I just learn to live with it? From what I am seeing there is no guarantee that the replacement will be any better (possibly worse).
 

troop231

macrumors 603
Jan 20, 2010
5,822
553
Take it back to the store, and they should keep opening iPads until you find a "perfect" one, as others have stated on here. One guy had to go through 4 before he got a good one.
 

tonedef407

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
159
14
I'm going to wait and see if it keeps eating at me. I have a car with a dying fuel pump and the closest store to me is about 45 minutes away in Atlanta traffic. I got into an exchange war over an LCD monitor a few years back over dead pixels and it was a nightmare.
 

stealthman1

macrumors regular
Oct 20, 2006
240
0
Ca
Lets think about this for a minute. You have a speck of dust in 70 square inches of screen that is only visible under close inspection when the device is turned off? Good luck with that. Leica can't get a $5000 lens made by hand in Germany dust free and you think that's going to happen in China?:rolleyes:
 

GermanSuplex

macrumors 68000
Aug 26, 2009
1,529
29,960
Return it. These are expensive devices and should be pretty much in perfect quality for the first few weeks/months.
 

tonedef407

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
159
14
Lets think about this for a minute. You have a speck of dust in 70 square inches of screen that is only visible under close inspection when the device is turned off? Good luck with that. Leica can't get a $5000 lens made by hand in Germany dust free and you think that's going to happen in China?:rolleyes:

It's visible when its on now because I know its there. I debated even looking for anything in the first place. Ignorance is bliss as they say. I'll probably end up taking it back just because it will drive me crazy now.
 

randomerratum

macrumors 6502
Dec 3, 2009
289
0
Santa Monica, CA
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

GermanSuplex said:
Return it. These are expensive devices and should be pretty much in perfect quality for the first few weeks/months.

I agree- if it's bothering you, it's totally your right to have it exchanged. My iPhone eventually started collecting dust under the screen- hardly perceptible- but it sorta irks me to this day... Obviously it wasn't a factory error, but if it was like that out of the box I'd have marched right back into the apple store asap.
 

Inksworth

macrumors regular
May 1, 2008
105
11
I think for the first gen of the product you're going to be hard pressed to find an iPad without a single speck of dust. I just traded one in that had two specks that were insanely distracting. The one I just got has a single one. I'm gonna count my blessings that it's in a busy part of the screen (mid top left) so I won't have it staring me in the face with solid colors behind it too often. :p

I suspect the dust comes from the rushed nature of production, what with the supplier issues and doing their best to meet demand all across the board. I mean, even the plastic wrappers seem a little messy upon opening.
 

conshok26

macrumors 6502
Apr 10, 2006
484
37
North Tonawanda, NY
Got back from the Apple store a little while ago to swap mine out. There were some pixel problems and something else under the screen. No questions asked I walked out with a new one.
 

tonedef407

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
159
14
I think for the first gen of the product you're going to be hard pressed to find an iPad without a single speck of dust. I just traded one in that had two specks that were insanely distracting. The one I just got has a single one. I'm gonna count my blessings that it's in a busy part of the screen (mid top left) so I won't have it staring me in the face with solid colors behind it too often. :p

I suspect the dust comes from the rushed nature of production, what with the supplier issues and doing their best to meet demand all across the board. I mean, even the plastic wrappers seem a little messy upon opening.

Stories like this make me wary of taking it back. Mine is only distracting if I look for it. The odds seem pretty slim of getting one without any problems. I can go through them at the Apple Store until I'm sure I have a good one,but its hard to be sure in that environment. I might just stick with it. I will probably forget about it eventually.
 

dave1812dave

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2009
858
0
The whole issue is bizarre to me. I have all sorts of LCD screened products from monitors, laptops, netbooks, touch, blackberry, medical devices, et al, and NONE has ever had any visible dust under the screen. Not only that, but in all the years of owning various LCD screens, I've only run across one with a bad pixel, which I promptly returned to Costco. It was a Samsung monitor. Call me "lucky". Don't call me unobservant! I'm very critical about things I buy. I notice every little thing.
 

mpkayeuk

macrumors member
Feb 3, 2010
52
39
Call me "lucky".

You're not lucky because it's about how the screen is packaged. Those screens you've been buying for years didn't have a glass front element sandwiched tightly up against the LCD. Now, think about how many times you've cleaned dust off your LCD screen :) Still feel lucky?
 

dave1812dave

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2009
858
0
You're not lucky because it's about how the screen is packaged. Those screens you've been buying for years didn't have a glass front element sandwiched tightly up against the LCD. Now, think about how many times you've cleaned dust off your LCD screen :) Still feel lucky?

what are u talking about?? there is glass on my Touch. there is glass on my two Vizios. EXPLAIN yourself, please. oh, and glass on my BB.
 

2contagious

macrumors 6502a
Apr 29, 2008
755
0
UK
Arggh.. this is bad news.. iPhones can collect massive amounts of dust under the glass (probably comes in through the headphone jack or so), but it's not supposed to be like that when the product is fresh out of the box :confused:
Just little things like this really piss me off.. it sure isn't a "yellow tinge" type problem, but it can be as annoying and the problem is the same: Apple GET YOUR QUALITY CONTROL RIGHT!! :mad:
 

dave1812dave

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2009
858
0
Arggh.. this is bad news.. iPhones can collect massive amounts of dust under the glass (probably comes in through the headphone jack or so), but it's not supposed to be like that when the product is fresh out of the box :confused:
Just little things like this really piss me off.. it sure isn't a "yellow tinge" type problem, but it can be as annoying and the problem is the same: Apple GET YOUR QUALITY CONTROL RIGHT!! :mad:

pssst! It's the Chinese! all made overseas. for the best price Apple can arm twist out of those factories.
 

wrxdrunkie

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2008
94
3
I would recommend that you take it back, I also had dust under my screen, I was not going to return it until I also found a dead pixel. I took the ipad back and got it replaced no questions asked.

The replacement ended up having dust under the screen as well. Since I was only about 50 yards away from the store and I had driven an hour to get there. I took it back and the next and final ipad had no dead pixels and no dust :)

But I officially believe apple has a production problem where dirt/dust is getting under the screen.
 

unkn0wnsoldier

macrumors regular
Jul 4, 2009
165
1
Fountain, Co
I saw all the dead pixel threads and against my better judgement decided to look and see if I had any. Doesn't appear to be any "dead pixels" but I do have what looks to be a speck of dust under the screen. It's there when the screen is off. Should I just learn to live with it? From what I am seeing there is no guarantee that the replacement will be any better (possibly worse).

I got a new iPhone about two months ago because my wife dropped mine and broke the screen. Last week, I noticed three tiny specks of dust under the screen. I decided to call Apple's 1-800 number to see if I could return it for dust. The rep that I spoke to said that dust is absolutely a valid reason for a replacement. He even offered to set up an appointment for me at the nearest Apple store. I declined the appointment because the store is pretty far away and it's going to be something that I plan accordingly. He said no problem and sent the information to the store and said I can make an appointment at my convenience to pick up a new one. I hope this eases your mind a bit. A defect in an expensive new product is surely one way to take the excitement away. I recommend that you give Apple a call. Maybe they will even throw in a freebie for your inconvenience.
 

Inksworth

macrumors regular
May 1, 2008
105
11
I'm not trying to be all gloom and doom about the iPad. Much the contrary, im in love with it. This is a launch product and I'm amazed dust under the screen is the only major issue we're talking about. There are always a few dead pixel issues with any LCD, but those are easy to spot in the store.

I seriously doubt this will be an issue past the first run of the hardware, anything manufactured after this should be issue free. Gen 2, I bet, will have a silky smooth launch. Until then I'm happy with my single-speck screen that is only noticeable by us with 20/15 vision. I am a perfectionist, which makes it annoying. It's a good exuse to give it to my mom once Gen 2 is launched, also.

Then again, if I get to the point that i care enough I'll follow the ifixit.com guide to tear it down and get the speck myself.

I seriously suspect refurbs will have no issues as they are scrubbed down stateside, and once the first batch is cleared I suspect they'll have identified the problem. And let's be fair, this is an insignificant problem compared to more serious hardware failures. It's also one serviceable by end users, provided they don't mind their warrantee voided.
 

MICHAELSD

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,414
3,408
NJ
Just live with it. You'll only notice it every once in a while. I have at least one speck of dust under my iPad's screen, and it's less noticeable than the one speck of dust under my iPhone 3GS's screen (after two iPhone 3GS replacements, I stuck with that one). You could end up in an annoying exchange cycle, getting a worse iPad each time.
 

tonedef407

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
159
14
Just live with it. You'll only notice it every once in a while. I have at least one speck of dust under my iPad's screen, and it's less noticeable than the one speck of dust under my iPhone 3GS's screen (after two iPhone 3GS replacements, I stuck with that one). You could end up in an annoying exchange cycle, getting a worse iPad each time.

The exchange cycle is really what's holding me back. I just know I'll get caught up in it and regret it.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.