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Horizontal Lines in New Powerbooks

tribe3 said:
Why would anyone defend a screen that's totally crap?
Click to expand...

There are a multitude of reasons, but the chief being... If you will just block out all thoughts and look deeply into yourself right now: Nobody likes to admit he is an idiot who spent $2K on something like this.

Hey, I am just being brutally honest, I cannot accept this fact hence I am selling mine.
 
MacRumorUser said:
Exactly. The screen is far from CRAP. Has anyone ever use the 12" ibook or pb outside? The screens on the 12" are poor, with what seems to be a lower refresh rate and a very dull tone / image reproduction and it has a DIRE viewing angle.

But is everyone bitching about it? No... The quality of the 15" screen is FAR FAR better than the 12".
-----

To reset NVRAM on boot hold apple command + alt + p + r and press power. Keep holding them till the machine reboots.
Click to expand...


True, only the 12" and ibook are worse. So, from best to worse:

1. ACD 30
2. ACD 23 and 23
3. 17" Powerbook
4. 15" Powerbook
5. 12" powerbook and ibook


That's how apple likes to market these, so maybe it was intentional...
 
PDE said:
True, only the 12" and ibook are worse. So, from best to worse:

1. ACD 30
2. ACD 23 and 23
3. 17" Powerbook
4. 15" Powerbook
5. 12" powerbook and ibook


That's how apple likes to market these, so maybe it was intentional...
Click to expand...

Maybe that's why they are so adament about OSX locked to their own hardware, they realise their marketing is really just a house of cards.

What if I want to buy a 15" with a good screen? Do I even have the option? As a customer why must I let someone else dictate what I want?

Enough said.
 
PDE said:
True, only the 12" and ibook are worse. So, from best to worse:

1. ACD 30
2. ACD 23 and 23
3. 17" Powerbook
4. 15" Powerbook
5. 12" powerbook and ibook


That's how apple likes to market these, so maybe it was intentional...
Click to expand...


Thats crazy. My iBook screen looks 10x better than the PBs at the Apple store. Dont believe me? Time and date and Ill meet you at the Sagemore store and show you. The PB screens there look like ass.
 
generik said:
There are a multitude of reasons, but the chief being... If you will just block out all thoughts and look deeply into yourself right now: Nobody likes to admit he is an idiot who spent $2K on something like this.

Hey, I am just being brutally honest, I cannot accept this fact hence I am selling mine.
Click to expand...

Not my case. I had the 14 day return option and I didn't use it. I have my state's "Lemon Law" as an open resource for my money back and I don't intend to use it. And last I have one year Apple warranty that, yes, I will use if they come up with some sort of improvement.
I'm happy with the computer.
 
Well...I ordered a new 15 inch PowerBook from Apple's web site on Nov 18 2005 without knowing anything about this. Original estimated shipping date was Nov 25th, but they pushed it to Dec 5th (it was a BTO machine, but I didn't request a 7200rpm HD like many who had their shipment delayed seem to have). If the screen has any of the problems mentioned here and on many other forums, it's going straight back to Apple and I'm getting a refund. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to post my serial# and some photos of the screen here.

I just wonder what should I do if the screen indeed is a faulty one, get a previous generation model? The 17" is too big for me and the 12" model doesn't seem much better than the iBooks. I don't want a x86 (even if it is a mactel) machine either.
 
vvx said:
I just wonder what should I do if the screen indeed is a faulty one, get a previous generation model? The 17" is too big for me and the 12" model doesn't seem much better than the iBooks. I don't want a x86 (even if it is a mactel) machine either.
Click to expand...

I'm facing the same dilema.

- 12" ibook (which I have): can't connect to my 20" ACD.
- 12" PB: I'm not paying $500 more than the cost of an ibook for a computer with a worse graphics card, less RAM built in, and a sub-par screen. A 12" PB is what I really want, but come on; this just doesn't cut it.
- 17" PB: way too big. I carry my laptops all the time.

So I'm left with the 15" PB. But I'm not paying $2000 for a faulty screen. Come on, apple, give me an option that I can go with here.
 
QCassidy352 said:
- 12" PB: I'm not paying $500 more than the cost of an ibook for a computer with a worse graphics card, less RAM built in, and a sub-par screen.
Click to expand...

Maybe im missing something here. I just came back form the Apple site and they list:

12 iBook Ram = 512
12 Powerbook ram = 512

12 ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 32MB DDR video memory
12 Powerbook NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics card with 64MB DDR memory

Can someone explain how the powerbook is not better?
 
Arcus said:
Maybe im missing something here. I just came back form the Apple site and they list:

12 iBook Ram = 512
12 Powerbook ram = 512

12 ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 32MB DDR video memory
12 Powerbook NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics card with 64MB DDR memory

Can someone explain how the powerbook is not better?
Click to expand...

The iBook has 512MB onboard and one empty memory slot. The PowerBook has 256MB onboard and a 256MB chip in the slot. This means the iBook has a maximum of 1.5GB while the PowerBook's max is 1.25GB.

The tech spec pages for the books confirm this.
 
QCassidy352 said:
I'm facing the same dilema.

- 12" ibook (which I have): can't connect to my 20" ACD.
- 12" PB: I'm not paying $500 more than the cost of an ibook for a computer with a worse graphics card, less RAM built in, and a sub-par screen. A 12" PB is what I really want, but come on; this just doesn't cut it.
- 17" PB: way too big. I carry my laptops all the time.

So I'm left with the 15" PB. But I'm not paying $2000 for a faulty screen. Come on, apple, give me an option that I can go with here.
Click to expand...

QFT.

The 12" would have been my perfect fit if it weren't so underpowered. And the 17" is too big (even if I'm not gonna lug my laptop around all that much) and has it's own set of problems.
 
How is the 12 inch Powerbook not better?

Besides the on-board RAM issue, check out that graphics chip. The GeForce 5200 does not properly support Core Image. It simply can't handle Imaginator, for example, and I read somewhere that the 5200 -- although it is technically Core Image compliant -- handles it so poorly that it is better just to let the processor do the work. Notably, Apple has excluded the 5200 from support by the photo application Aperture. People downloading the Aperture test are finding their latest version iBooks are compliant while the 12 inch Powerbook is not.

Right now, with Apple's laptop range, the bitter irony is that the only portable they have that meets my needs (12 inch PB -- NOT) and quality standards (15 inch PB -- NOT) is the cheapest one in the lineup -- the 12 inch iBook. If I had a personal assistant to carry stuff around for me, I'd be able to include the 17 inch Powerbook in that list too.
 
The NEW Powerbook 15'

I have the NEW powerbook 15' for almost a month and i'm completely satisfied with it's perfomance.
No orizontal lines screen issue at all.

And i just upgraded my ram to +1GB. With 1.5GB it just rocks!!!

I read a post that the powerbook 15' has 256 on board and 256 on stick...
I don't believe this...
Mine had only the 512 stick...
 
Vasileios said:
I have the NEW powerbook 15' for almost a month and i'm completely satisfied with it's perfomance.
No orizontal lines screen issue at all.

And i just upgraded my ram to +1GB. With 1.5GB it just rocks!!!

I read a post that the powerbook 15' has 256 on board and 256 on stick...
I don't believe this...
Mine had only the 512 stick...
Click to expand...

The 15" has two memory slots and nothing onboard. We were talking about the 12" model.
 
Vasileios said:
I have the NEW powerbook 15' for almost a month and i'm completely satisfied with it's perfomance.
No orizontal lines screen issue at all.
Click to expand...

Can you post pics of your flawless 15" screen?
 
Detailed info PLEASE!!

Vasileios said:
I have the NEW powerbook 15' for almost a month and i'm completely satisfied with it's perfomance.
No horizontal lines screen issue at all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for taking the time to make a positive comment.

However, for ALL those with good 15" Powerbooks (no horizontal lines), it would help us fence sitters if you would include:

1) the first five characters of the Serial #
2) are BOTH of the RAM slots working properly
3) is the Battery OK

Good news reports are as important as negative ones.
Click to expand...
 
k

please people if you are going to make claims that your screen is perfect then BACK IT UP DAMMIT !!
I still have not seen a powerbook pase the crankcat image when u do that then post about your perfect powerbook until then accept that apple took 2k$ for a defective product no explanations can justify this !!!
 
I was at the Bethesda Apple store today and I did see the lines, but only if I was close up. I didn't get to use crankycat's page. I didn't think the lines were significant for my day to day tasks (writing, surfing, etc), but I could see how they might impact someone who does a lot of graphics work. (Note the "could" and "might".)

However, I was expecting to be blown away by the new screen though and I wasn't. Yes, the 15" is a nice big screen with lots of pixels, but so was the old one. This also looked dimmer than the old one, but maybe it was the lighting. I did reconfirm that the screen on the 12" is too small and the 17" is just too big - for me at least.

I'm ready to upgrade from my old TiBook and buy a new 15" PB, but frankly I have no idea what the hell to do - buy the new model, buy the old model cheaper, wait for something else - so chances are I'll probably do nothing. Still, I got to walk around Bethesda, so the time spent wasn't a total loss. 🙂
 
At the end of the day the lines probably aren't so bad.

Who else is all ready to make excuses for Apple and defend their money grab once more?
 
That's the point............

QCassidy352 said:
Can you post pics of your flawless 15" screen?
Click to expand...

If he perceives it as "flawless" then it is. It's all about perception. In this case perception is reality. So, if you have the screen and it looks fine to you - then it is.
 
New Replacement PB also has lines

I just received my replacement (W8548) and it too has the lines. In my mind they are not as prominent as the unit it replaced (W8544) but THEY ARE STILL OBVIOUS.

I'm not sure what to do, as the older revision PBs available in the store only ship with 64MB or VRAM and I need the 128MB of VRAM to drive my 30" Cinema Display.
 
I just ordered the old model. It's a refurb 1.67ghz w/1 gig of RAM for $1629. Three months ago, it would have been about $2400. It's in stock, I'll have it by the weekend, and no lines whatsoever.
 
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