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Horizontal Lines in New Powerbooks
- Thread starter VisualForces
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wildcard said:
That remark was to the guy I quoted with the comment and was meant with sarcasm as he was proudly bashing the company that he obviously buys products from. If if doesnt like Apple , why bother displaying that he owns one in his siggy? That makes no sense to me.
Example: Dam I hate Hyundais!! Why would anyone buy one of those heaps!! *hops in Accent*
*kicks thread back on track*
well, my powerbook has arrived. I'm scared to look at it. I bought it after selling a G5 that had been one never-ending headache (through no fault of Apple's, but rather the postal service, which destroyed it), and I'm not eager to jump in to another computer that will be a hassle. I want it to "just work." 
Anyway... I have to do some work, and then I'll open 'er up, see what I see, and report back here with pics. Wish me luck!
Anyway... I have to do some work, and then I'll open 'er up, see what I see, and report back here with pics. Wish me luck!
QCassidy352 said:well, my powerbook has arrived. I'm scared to look at it. I bought it after selling a G5 that had been one never-ending headache (through no fault of Apple's, but rather the postal service, which destroyed it), and I'm not eager to jump in to another computer that will be a hassle. I want it to "just work."
Anyway... I have to do some work, and then I'll open 'er up, see what I see, and report back here with pics. Wish me luck!
I decided to give it another try after receiving a lemon the other day. Received my replacement from amazon today and it's really nice. Has horizontal lines, but I have to say, they really are not bad. Having spent the day using it today I can say that I'd prefer if Apple provides some sort of fix, but I'll be fine if they don't too. I wouldn't worry too much - just open it!!
I'll post pictures tomorrow...
I got my PB back from AppleCare today (freakishly fast, they sent me the replacement box on monday, I shipped it out monday, the PB got back to me thursday). I got a slip saying that the unit was "within spec" "parts used: 016-0027" and it was returned with no work done on it (I assume). I'm not currently noticing the lines as I did when I first shipped it out - but I'm sure they're there. There's another page that says "Our analysis has determined that although your battery no longer has the capacity to function at a evel necessary for the potimum operatioin of your unit, it is not defective." - what the hell? I didn't even send my battery with the computer (I removed it), but on the phone with the apple rep she said she would send out a new battery, which I haven't received. Is this a fluke on their part? Ack.
I got the exact same note back from Apple Care.
This thread is approaching 30,000 views....wake up Apple, the natives are growing restless.
This thread is approaching 30,000 views....wake up Apple, the natives are growing restless.
PDE said:
Good news? No lines. Bad news? Powerbook completely DOA. Won't boot past the "Starting Mac OS X" screen, won't restart from the install DVD. Great.
MacTruck said:Chalk another one up for apple quality.
Yeah, I'm really upset about this... it happened once to my brother with an imac G4 and to my gf with a powermac G4... sucks. And since I ordered it online, it's not gonna be a very fast return process. Bah!!
First when I received my PB it looked great, but when I started reading threads about this I started to notice that I have horizontal lines as well. I didn't see them before. I ordered it online on the educational store (in Sweden). I was thinking calling Apple yesterday, but as it seems here, some have sent their PBs in and have got them back without any fix. What is the possibility that this is software related, and second is it possible that Apple announce a recall? Should I call Apple and send it in? This is my very first Mac and I'm very happy about it, except those lines.
Woopsie
18 Nov 2005 10:26 Southampton Not Home On Delivery Attempt To Residential Address
18 Nov 2005 07:51 Southampton Out For Delivery
18 Nov 2005 06:52 Southampton Import Received
17 Nov 2005 16:19 Northampton Hub Consignment Received At Transit Point
16 Nov 2005 19:03 Arnhem Hub Consignment Received At Transit Point
14 Nov 2005 21:59 Shanghai Shipped From Originating Depot
14 Nov 2005 14:23 Shanghai Consignment Received At Transit Point
I was in bed...
Just phoned TNT and the extremely nice lady on the phone (seriously the nicest telephone manner in ages!) says she will send the truck back. So I guess it is arriving in about half an hour or an hour. Wish me luck.
I must admit I am now rather concerned about the damn thing turning on let alone the line issue. The odds of a flawless powerbook seem really rather slim at the moment.
18 Nov 2005 10:26 Southampton Not Home On Delivery Attempt To Residential Address
18 Nov 2005 07:51 Southampton Out For Delivery
18 Nov 2005 06:52 Southampton Import Received
17 Nov 2005 16:19 Northampton Hub Consignment Received At Transit Point
16 Nov 2005 19:03 Arnhem Hub Consignment Received At Transit Point
14 Nov 2005 21:59 Shanghai Shipped From Originating Depot
14 Nov 2005 14:23 Shanghai Consignment Received At Transit Point
I was in bed...
Just phoned TNT and the extremely nice lady on the phone (seriously the nicest telephone manner in ages!) says she will send the truck back. So I guess it is arriving in about half an hour or an hour. Wish me luck.
I must admit I am now rather concerned about the damn thing turning on let alone the line issue. The odds of a flawless powerbook seem really rather slim at the moment.
I checked 4 new 15" powerbooks in 2 different stores in Hiroshima yesterday, all had the lines, though they were hard to spot. The 17" powerbooks looked worse with their dark edges, uneven illumination and bright glow from the bottom of the screen (although I had to change the desktop to a flat colour to see) .. I'm not buying unless they fix these issues.
bah, the hell with this. I guess I'll just stick with my ibook for now... it's too bad because I was really excited a few days ago.
What do you guys suggest I do? Should I call Apple and send it back to them so they can have a look at it or should I try to get a refund? What are the chances they fix this issue if I send it in? Or should I perhaps wait and see if we get a official response?
It's a boy, a slightly retarded, but beautiful(ish) boy...
Well that sucks, It's arrived complete with line issue.
I don't understand how you guys could ever not notice that. I can see it from normal viewing, not just 2 inches. I don't know what to do now though, do I really want to go through the hastle of sending it back only to wait for a new intel machine that won't work properly for 6 months even if It does arrive in January?
Pah, and it doesn't lie completely flat on the desk. I must admit though, it is beautiful, and OSX rocks. what a quagmire. Oh, it also won't join my wireless network from the box, I guess that is this afternoon's challenge. C'est la vie.
Damon
Well that sucks, It's arrived complete with line issue.
I don't understand how you guys could ever not notice that. I can see it from normal viewing, not just 2 inches. I don't know what to do now though, do I really want to go through the hastle of sending it back only to wait for a new intel machine that won't work properly for 6 months even if It does arrive in January?
Pah, and it doesn't lie completely flat on the desk. I must admit though, it is beautiful, and OSX rocks. what a quagmire. Oh, it also won't join my wireless network from the box, I guess that is this afternoon's challenge. C'est la vie.
Damon
midnight-man said:
I'd send it back. As you probably know, in the UK you can send anything back within 14 days for any reason so Apple give you no hassle at all during this time if you are returning something.
The Intel PowerBooks can't be long away now and I can't see them having a duff screen. If they come out with fixed screen Intels in Jan won't you really be kicking yourself then? Even if you have to wait for a month or two after Jan isn't it worth it?
That's my opinion, if you are happy with the PowerBook you have now though then yeah keep it.
PS: What do you mean new Intels won't work properly for 6 months? The people who are running hacked versions of OS X on Intel machines now have nearly all the pro apps running no problems.
Is it a never ending problem!!!
In my past occasional postings, I have noted the serious drop in Apple quality control during the past 18-24 months. I have been waiting patiently for the 15"/17" Powerbooks, the iMac 20" G5, and Tiger to reach a level of quality and stability that used to be the hallmark of Apple products. I currently use: G3, 12" PB(version A), 15" iMac(version A), 10.3.9, AirPort Extreme base station, cable broadband, etc, etc,... ALL operating flawlessly since day 1 !!!!
Starting with the "white spots" fiasco, there has been PB batteries (twice), bad capacitors, noisy fans, hinges, latches, "nano" scratches, PB power supply cords, premature Tiger release (10.4.3 and still a headache), iTunes updates (post 4.9), 17" PB uneven backlight display, and of course the massive lower RAM slot failure 15" PB, to which is added this depressing "horizontal lines" nightmare!!
Have I forgotten anything? Why must the purchase of Apple products be a nerve wracking, costly crap-shoot?
Could the transfer of production to China be a major factor in this very disappointing lack of quality?
All of these very costly issues to the Customer and Apple was and is preventable by exercising the former standards of control and prompt acknowledgment of a problem.
Apple Customers are almost loyal to a fault, but they are NOT lemmings! The Customers who earn their livelihood thru computer technology cannot afford to be ignored as a secondary source of profit to a dancing iPod!
What we have here is a failure to communicate (by Apple). It is one thing to be stupid and another to be arrogant, but to be both stupid & arrogant is a sad commentary for Apple Care and Apple Customer Service.
*
In my past occasional postings, I have noted the serious drop in Apple quality control during the past 18-24 months. I have been waiting patiently for the 15"/17" Powerbooks, the iMac 20" G5, and Tiger to reach a level of quality and stability that used to be the hallmark of Apple products. I currently use: G3, 12" PB(version A), 15" iMac(version A), 10.3.9, AirPort Extreme base station, cable broadband, etc, etc,... ALL operating flawlessly since day 1 !!!!
Starting with the "white spots" fiasco, there has been PB batteries (twice), bad capacitors, noisy fans, hinges, latches, "nano" scratches, PB power supply cords, premature Tiger release (10.4.3 and still a headache), iTunes updates (post 4.9), 17" PB uneven backlight display, and of course the massive lower RAM slot failure 15" PB, to which is added this depressing "horizontal lines" nightmare!!
Have I forgotten anything? Why must the purchase of Apple products be a nerve wracking, costly crap-shoot?
Could the transfer of production to China be a major factor in this very disappointing lack of quality?
All of these very costly issues to the Customer and Apple was and is preventable by exercising the former standards of control and prompt acknowledgment of a problem.
Apple Customers are almost loyal to a fault, but they are NOT lemmings! The Customers who earn their livelihood thru computer technology cannot afford to be ignored as a secondary source of profit to a dancing iPod!
What we have here is a failure to communicate (by Apple). It is one thing to be stupid and another to be arrogant, but to be both stupid & arrogant is a sad commentary for Apple Care and Apple Customer Service.
*
DIXIE said:In my past occasional postings, I have noted the serious drop in Apple quality control during the past 18-24 months. I have been waiting patiently for the 15"/17" Powerbooks, the iMac 20" G5, and Tiger to reach a level of quality and stability that used to be the hallmark of Apple products. I currently use: G3, 12" PB(version A), 15" iMac(version A), 10.3.9, AirPort Extreme base station, cable broadband, etc, etc,... ALL operating flawlessly since day 1 !!!!
Starting with the "white spots" fiasco, there has been PB batteries (twice), bad capacitors, noisy fans, hinges, latches, "nano" scratches, PB power supply cords, premature Tiger release (10.4.3 and still a headache), iTunes updates (post 4.9), 17" PB uneven backlight display, and of course the massive lower RAM slot failure 15" PB, to which is added this depressing "horizontal lines" nightmare!!
Have I forgotten anything? Why must the purchase of Apple products be a nerve wracking, costly crap-shoot?
Could the transfer of production to China be a major factor in this very disappointing lack of quality?
All of these very costly issues to the Customer and Apple was and is preventable by exercising the former standards of control and prompt acknowledgment of a problem.
Apple Customers are almost loyal to a fault, but they are NOT lemmings! The Customers who earn their livelihood thru computer technology cannot afford to be ignored as a secondary source of profit to a dancing iPod!
What we have here is a failure to communicate (by Apple). It is one thing to be stupid and another to be arrogant, but to be both stupid & arrogant is a sad commentary for Apple Care and Apple Customer Service.
*
I couldn't agree more. It's absurd that buying such an expensive product should be a hit-or-miss thing. Quality has really gone downhill and it does seem to coincide with moving the manufacturing to China. Prior to that, it was all done in Taiwan where the quality of labour, workers training and standards of factories are much higher than on the Chinese mainland. Not to mention general professionalism and work ethics.
In any case, I am considering only buying used Apple products in the future, so that I can easily inspect them properly first. Although amazon has a great and very easy return policy, it's sad to get a new computer that has to be sent back immediately because of some stupid quality control issue. Not to mention what it does to my confidence in the machine. I like to feel that I have a reliable computer that won't break down on me, but all these problems indicate otherwise. It does seem that once an apple computer works, it usually continues to work!
And while we all are having trouble, there are countless pismos out there working away day after day! My girlfriend was thinking of getting a new computer, but I think I'm going to help her upgrade her pismo instead: a new larger and fast hard drive and a new bright LCD will add a few more years to its life I think. It's so cool how well it works after almost six years.
Apple issued me a replacement
If you have the horizontal lines problem, call Apple, tell the tier 1 rep that you believe the screen is defective as it displays the horizontal lines problem. The lines are present at all times; during system startup, particularly on the default blue desktop background, and after both running the "TechTool" and a re-installation of os x.
(BTW, do any of you also hear a static-like noise from the right-hand area of the keyboard? It's most noticeable when you hold down an arrow key to scroll a long web page, but it's always there. Louder when the graphics system is drawing to the screen.)
They should transfer you over to a Tier 2 rep / Product Specialist. If your powerbook was received less than two weeks ago, he'll probably transfer you to sales who will issue a replacement for you.
I also mentioned the static-like noise and the "light saber" phenomenon when you rotate the powerbook (try it).
If you have the horizontal lines problem, call Apple, tell the tier 1 rep that you believe the screen is defective as it displays the horizontal lines problem. The lines are present at all times; during system startup, particularly on the default blue desktop background, and after both running the "TechTool" and a re-installation of os x.
(BTW, do any of you also hear a static-like noise from the right-hand area of the keyboard? It's most noticeable when you hold down an arrow key to scroll a long web page, but it's always there. Louder when the graphics system is drawing to the screen.)
They should transfer you over to a Tier 2 rep / Product Specialist. If your powerbook was received less than two weeks ago, he'll probably transfer you to sales who will issue a replacement for you.
I also mentioned the static-like noise and the "light saber" phenomenon when you rotate the powerbook (try it).
DIXIE said:What we have here is a failure to communicate (by Apple). It is one thing to be stupid and another to be arrogant, but to be both stupid & arrogant is a sad commentary for Apple Care and Apple Customer Service.
*
Even though I think you are being a bit harsh, I agree with the communication failure part. Apple do seem to be slow to acknowledge defects in their products and because of this I think their friendly image is going downhill.
Btw "What we have here is a failure to communicate" is a direct quote out of Civil War by Guns N' Roses. (/usless piece of information
)