Horizontal Lines in New Powerbooks

[DIXIE]

So why moan at people that buy Rev As? No matter what rev you buy there is always a chance of flaws.

Obviously there are always chances that any revision will have new issues, however the number and severity are generally reduced if a reliable manufacturing source (not China) continues to produce the same product.

One of my computers is a 12"PB/AL (684MB) version A, which has never been a problem; in fact I added a 1Gig Samsung stick, which most said could not be done, but it works like a charm. That computer was made in Tiawan.

Nevertheless, if you like to gamble on a new structure right out of the gate, enjoy being a Beta tester, go ahead and also enjoy yourself at Monte Carlo and Las Vegas!!!!

 

[Spectrum]

The screen has a light flicker.

Mine had a light flicker which was driving me nuts, because it was so faint I thought I might be imagining it. I realised after a while that it was being caused by the feature that adjusts the brightness of the screen depending on the ambient light. The problem is that the sensors are under the grills either side of the keyboard, so each time your hand moves over the grill and casts a shadow, the display dims.

You can turn this silly feature off in the display preferences though, and enjoy flicker-free viewing.

Agreed - I was experiencing slight flicker - especially in low light with the display turned down to 2-3bars. If you open up displays in system prefs, you can actually watch the slider jump around as it tries in vain to correct for lighting differences caused by the ambient light emitted by the screen itself - kind of funny

You can turn it off from that pref panel too. (as said above)

What, I've not checked yet is whether the backlit keyboard still comes on though, with the check box unticked...

Edit: It does. I just covered up the grills, and the keyboard light up.

 

[qurlau]

Me too....

Just purchased the new PowerBook 15" and there were those pesky lines!!!

What is really frustrating is that this is the second PowerBook I have purchased in the last three years that has arrived "defective". (Previous one had white spots.)

I switched from the Microsoft world three years ago because I felt the company was being complacent to concerns in light of their overwhelming success.

I hope that Apple is not going down that route. It would be sad.

There is undoubtedly a quality control problem with some Apple products.

That may not be an issue with the innovation of Apple, but it is evident in its capacity to follow through on innovation from design to implementation. Sourcing out the implementation to cheap subcontractors (China) is clearly not a good solution.

Sorry for the rant, but I am quite dissappointed with my experience thus far, and that is all that matters from my perspective, since I paid for this product.

I do sincerely hope that this gets resolved, but above all, a little lesson in "post sale reinforcement" from Apple would be quite welcome. I love the products which is demonstrated in my actual purchase of them. They need to acknowledge that and provide a consistent and honest response to their customers.

I would welcome a response as follows:

"We acknowledge that there are concerns with the displays of the new 15" PowerBooks. Please rest assured that we are investigating this matter and will provide you with a resolution as soon as it is achieved."

This coupled with better training for their staff would restore my confidence in this company.

Two things kill a company, lack of cash flow and complacency.

My frustration aside, I do believe that Apple's solutions (OS, design, integrated software, etc.) are second-to-none in the industry as an overall solution.

 

[sk3pt1c]

thanks gyus, i will go for the 17" then

applecare doesn't work in greece because apple isn't in greece officialy, they have an importer and the service is ****.anyway,it says so on the terms and conditions of applecare so i can use that money to go for the 17"

 

[wildcard]

thanks gyus, i will go for the 17" then

applecare doesn't work in greece because apple isn't in greece officialy, they have an importer and the service is ****.anyway,it says so on the terms and conditions of applecare so i can use that money to go for the 17"

The list of 17" problems that I am aware of..

*Some complain about bleed-through at the top and bottom edge of the screen from the backlight
*Some complain that the bottom two corners are darker than the rest of the screen.

I'm also surprised at the folks who are on their third or more Rev. E 15" from Apple; after I returned 2 of them for the lines issue and asked for a refund, I was connected to Customer Relations, who offered me either yet another 15" + a free video Ipod, or a 17" at NO additional cost. I hope this option was available to you as well.

BTW, I'm MUCH happier with the display and overall quality of my 17" (which arrived yesterday)-anyone on the fence should at least compare them and consider it. Best $2k I've spent on a laptop

 

[paperinacup]

Wow seems like very few people dont have line issues. But I am line free.

 

[paperinacup]

WOAH I just went inside and I DO have lines.

 

[PDE]

WOAH I just went inside and I DO have lines.

At least you're not alone....EVERYBODY has lines, whether they can see them or not.

 

[fklehman]

2G Ram. Both updates installed. Problem persisted. (And the Mac now sent back to Apple.)

If those solutions didn't work, reset your PMU, which resests both PRAM and NV-RAM. I had the problem you describe with lost Airport connections and CPU hogging (I have 2GB RAM), and resetting the PMU solved it for me.

 

[fklehman]

Sorry for the DP, but this one's on-topic...my new PB 15" has the lines too, serial #W8547xxxxxx. Arrived on November 29. I don't notice them unless I'm like 2 inches from the screen so I don't plan to return it.

 

[DIXIE]

These are the facts .....

I retrieved this interesting data from the Apple Discussions posts about 30 minutes ago:


17" PB Displays:..views-2436....topics-81....replies-326


15" PB Displays:..views-13042 ....topics-195....replies-2701


The numbers tell the story!

P.S. If the "lines" do not bother you now, wait till a photo/graphics job is on your screen.

 

[sk3pt1c]

indeed the numbers say it all

just a last question,if i have a cd with some software that i bought for my pc, will that work for the mac too?

also, do .exe files work in macs too?

 

[ybakos]

Sending it back again

Sending my second Powerbook back in for a third try at this. I don't have high hopes.

I asked the tech on the phone if she knew whether or not this issue would be fixed with production and I felt she sorta hinted that a fix was in the works but couldn't say until it was official.

So maybe if ya'll wait a couple more weeks the problem will be fixed.

 

[MRU]

indeed the numbers say it all

just a last question,if i have a cd with some software that i bought for my pc, will that work for the mac too?

also, do .exe files work in macs too?

.exe files? No.

Some programs have both mac & pc versions on the same disk - but not many.

 

[sk3pt1c]

so basically i need to find all the programs i have or am going to need in mac versions,right?
what about msn messenger and mirc, do they work on macs?

 

[Meyvn]

Since the CrankyCat image corrects the lines, wouldn't it be possible theoretically to simply create a software overlay that covers the entire screen?

sk3pt1c, go to versiontracker.com . You'll find everything you need there, pretty much. To be specific, yes, MSN Messenger exists on Mac OS X, but it sucks; there's tons of great alternatives, though. And IRC clients are also present. In the future, though, that's a discussion for another topic, and there are other resources (such as Versiontracker, and MacUpdate) where you can find all of that software stuff on your own.

 

[sk3pt1c]

thanks meyvn
it's going to be my frist mac
and i just want to be able to do the basic stuff i do on the pc as well
check emails,chat and so on...

 

[virilio]

Ok, it's been a month, and Applecare (1-800-APL-CARE) still pretends that they have never heard of the issue.

I frankly wonder if every single PowerBook is affected, the problem is so obvious on mine, I have a good eyesight and see the scrolling diagonal lines - lthough fainter than the crankycat image on orange background - on grey backgrounds - ideal to read text without getting headaches

Has anyone been succesful in sending their unit for repair and getting it back without the problem? Apple urges me to send mine in but is unable to tell me the issue is somewhat known, plus I understand their policy is to even charge me (up to $100) for diagnostic if they decide there was no problem with the computer.

What to do?

 

[generik]

I have a good eyesight and see the scrolling diagonal lines - lthough fainter than the crankycat image on orange background - on grey backgrounds - ideal to read text without getting headaches

yes! I see those too, however I only seem to notice those diagonal scan lines when I am especially tired.

 

[Wombert]

I frankly wonder if every single PowerBook is affected, the problem is so obvious on mine, I have a good eyesight and see the scrolling diagonal lines - lthough fainter than the crankycat image on orange background - on grey backgrounds - ideal to read text without getting headaches

These lines on the orange background are related, but not the same as the "normal" lines. They are another interference of the panel, just like the diagonal banding that moves across the upper orange area.

 

[Wombert]

Since the CrankyCat image corrects the lines, wouldn't it be possible theoretically to simply create a software overlay that covers the entire screen?

Most likely not, because not all colors are affected.

 

[tristan]

If anyone returns their PB, seriously think about a refurb last model 15". I just got mine, and it's incredible, 1.67ghz, superdrive, 1 gig RAM, and cost me only $1650 shipped from smalldog. Three months ago it would have been $2400. I love it. Only thing I'm missing is the dual-layer superdrive and the higher-res screen - which right now is a good thing.

I do believe Apple will fix the line issue, but I needed a new Powerbook and I couldn't wait around. I also have no intention of being an Intel PB pioneer.

 

[Spectrum]

well - I actually think this could be possible (although it is not an ideal solution). The lines are only absent on pure full saturation colours. In RGB, they are not visible in: 0/0/255, 0/255/0, 255/0/0, 0/255/255, 255/0/255, 255/255/0, 255/255/255, and 0/0/0.

If you just created a mask over the whole screen that brightened every other line 5%, this should make all colours (except pure black) not have the lines. A reasonable workaround - but obviously still not ideal.

What would be interesting is to see if the moving and the wider interference artefact lines go away with such a mask in place.

Wombert - your created the Crankycat file, right? If you put the 5% line mask over the orange panels rather than the corndog/desktop photo, do the interference effects dissappear?

Most likely not, because not all colors are affected.

 

[Meyvn]

I certainly hope someone comes along soon that's capable of creating such a thing so we could at least test it.

 

[Wombert]

well - I actually think this could be possible (although it is not an ideal solution). The lines are only absent on pure full saturation colours. In RGB, they are not visible in: 0/0/255, 0/255/0, 255/0/0, 0/255/255, 255/0/255, 255/255/0, 255/255/255, and 0/0/0.

If you just created a mask over the whole screen that brightened every other line 5%, this should make all colours (except pure black) not have the lines. A reasonable workaround - but obviously still not ideal.

What would be interesting is to see if the moving and the wider interference artefact lines go away with such a mask in place.

Wombert - your created the Crankycat file, right? If you put the 5% line mask over the orange panels rather than the corndog/desktop photo, do the interference effects dissappear?

Nah, that wasn't me. Steve Lundgren created the test image. No idea if artificial scanlines over the orange areas would affect the banding and the wavy lines, can't test right now I'm afraid.