Display Issue- PLEASE HELP!

Discussion in 'Mac Pro' started by Nickeleye9, Oct 2, 2006.

Most Liked Posts
  1. Nickeleye9, Oct 2, 2006

    Nickeleye9 macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2006
    #1
    Hi all,
    I'm own a 15" Powerbook G4 Titanium, aka Apple's Black Sheep (from what I hear).

    I know only a very little about my computer. I was doing a HUGE project, though, which is due tomorrow, and I shut my computer down to head home from my college's library. When I turned it on, I got only a very thin horizontal line about 1 pixel high, the entire length of my screen. Under that is some distorted gray area about 5 pixels high, the entire length of the screen. So what I'm left with looks like:

    ________________________________________________________________

    and black all around it. I've tried doing everything Mac wants me to, including resetting PMU and holding Command, Control, R and some other key (I forget)

    Please, please please if you can help point me in the right direction i would really appreciate it. It's the only method I have to my Adobe programs I need for this project.

    Thank you in advance.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. Scarlet Fever, Oct 2, 2006

    Scarlet Fever macrumors 68040

    Scarlet Fever

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2005
    Location:
    Bookshop!
    #2
    first off, get your important data off. If you have another Mac with FireWire, you can boot your TiBook in Target Disk Mode; connect the two comps together with a FireWire cable, make sure they are both plugged in to power ie not running off battery, and restart the TiBook, holding down the T key. The HDD should show up on the other computer as a removable disk.

    Does it show the lines when its reset, off AC power, and without the battery but with AC power? Other than that, i'm stumped. :(

    Oh by the way, reseting the PRAM is Command+Option+P+R :)
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. Nickeleye9, Oct 2, 2006

    Nickeleye9 thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2006
    #3
    A temporary solution, if any

    So I went back to the things I got when I first purchased this computer (April 2005), and I found a converter for my PC monitor. Now I'm replying from my Mac. Now, through my keen intuition :eek: , I have deduced that I'm having a physical hardware problem with my display. This is BS, plain and simple. I've had a battery overheat, and I've been waiting on my replacement. I've had different display problems before, and now *This*?! I have no money to replace this, probably no warranty left... Apple has truly been nothing but a headache with such minor things. It's such a good computer, but Jesus, work out your issues!

    Okay, enough rambling. I need to back up everything. I don't have another Mac, just a PC. Any suggestions? I have a USB-Firewire port, would that help? Like I said, I'm really not bright with computers..
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. Nickeleye9, Oct 3, 2006

    Nickeleye9 thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2006
    #4
    Okay, so I took my mac into MacXperts. They told me I'd need a BRAND NEW LCD. This apparently will cost $695 after labor. As I told you before, I had it on at a coffee shop, turned it off, and took it home. When I turned it on at home it had the blue pixel-wide horizontal line across it. There was no agitation, no exposure to extreme temps, nothing of the sort. Could this really be a broken LCD? If so, what steps should i take now? Also, is $695 okay for a new LCD, installed? Should I simply try to sell it and upgrade?

    Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. NorCalLights, Oct 3, 2006

    NorCalLights macrumors 6502a

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2006
    #5
    Sounds like a broken LCD to me, although I guess there is a chance that it's something as simple as a loose connection between your display and the graphics card. Either way, it's not something you can fix yourself. $695 is a pretty fair price for a new display and the labor to install it. Apple would probably charge you more like $800.

    For what it's worth, I'm typing this on a Titanium Powerbook that is pushing five years of service without a major problem. Apple was nice enough to replace a broken hinge and a cracked case for me a few weeks before my warranty ran out, so I don't think I would call it Apple's black sheep.

    All that said, I think your best bet is to sell your laptop in its current condition and buy a new Macbook with the money. I think you'll probably get at least $500 for your laptop, and that plus the $700 you're saving by not fixing the LCD puts you well on your way to a brand new Macbook with a warranty and everything.

    The way I see it, if you spend money to fix this laptop, it'll probably still only last you another one and a half to two years. I would expect three to four years out of a new Mac laptop...

    Hope that helps... sorry to hear that your laptop is on the out...
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page