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My 17" 2011 has the 9CD0 panel. It's not as bad as some people have made it out to be (it only yellows slightly when viewed vertically from below, and there is a noticeable backlight splotchiness on a solid black screen), but I really can't help but wonder if I'd be happier with a 9CC3 screen. :-(

The colors look somewhat washed out, but the brightness is a heck of a lot better than the 2006 CCFL screen it replaced (I keep it at about halfway vs all the way for the old one). I am still within 30 days, but out of 14, and I wonder if it's worth it to try to get a new display on a machine that's otherwise essentially perfect.

Any thoughts?
 
Just a quick update. I took my 9CD0 panel machine to the apple store, and they also noticed the uneven backlighting. They offered me a replacement machine, but couldn't guarantee that it'd have the LG/Philips 9CCE. I took my chances and took the exchange. Just got the machine home, booted it up, and to my relief this machine does have the gorgeous LG/Philips display. If you have the 9CD0 display and are not satisfied, I highly recommend returning it and getting a new one until you are satisfied.
 
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Apple use more than one screen supplier for the same part, so you may just be seeing a different manufacturer panel.

Very true, but as long as the manufacturer keeps the same specs (1920x1200, 133DPI, etc) - my mid-2009 and 2011 models have the same level of crispness... each has a minor defect (inconsistent brightness in the form of a vertical strip going down the monitors) but that's fairly true of almost every LCD panel to begin with, even my Sony 32" Bravia LCD TV set), but neither is worthy of being returned...

Apple uses more than one manufacturer for RAM as well. The original 2011 17" I bought had Hynix RAM. The replacement I got used Samsung RAM.

Which is all academic; I swapped out the RAM in favor of Kingston HyperX 1600MHz RAM. :D
 
Just a quick update. I took my 9CD0 panel machine to the apple store, and they also noticed the uneven backlighting. They offered me a replacement machine, but couldn't guarantee that it'd have the LG/Philips 9CCE. I took my chances and took the exchange. Just got the machine home, booted it up, and to my relief this machine does have the gorgeous LG/Philips display. If you have the 9CD0 display and are not satisfied, I highly recommend returning it and getting a new one until you are satisfied.

Right on Bro yes the difference is night and day. It took me 2 returns to get the beautiful 9CC3 Display!
 
9cc3 = 9cce ???

Have a brand new mac book pro 17" with same panel as previously owned 17" purchased 4 months ago. Both have a matt LG 9CCE panel. Brightness and color is identical far as i can tell. I think the 9CC3 is the 13" LG panel? 9CCD = Glossy. No laptop can fully compete with a high end external monitor but must say after calibrating with eye one the 9CCE is plenty accurate.
 
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