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Horizontal Lines in New Powerbooks

I know I'm a little late to this...


But I finally got to play with the 'New' PowerBooks [15 & 17] at the Apple store... And, well... I didn't see anything to be honest. I thought everything was too small at first, but then got used to it after a couple of mins.

I tried staring at the screen really, really close... Nothing... No lines. I looked pretty hard too...

I thought I saw them for a second on the title bar, but that was the brushed aluminum look :eek:...

How come the store displays are exempt from all these issues? I thought all of these had it?
 
No line in crankycat ?

DSL Steve said:
No they aren't. Crankycat images do not show anything--even with a x10 magnifying glass.
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

No line at all ?. Crankycat shows forged lines on the right sausage (corn) eating boy. They are there as a positive control in any screen. The left boy has no line at all when viewed using a line less screen, and looks like the right boy when using a lined screen. Moving the safari windows up one pixel makes the lines disappear , because they are overlaid with artificial grey stripes (in a lined screen, not in a line less screen).

If you the right boy lines do not disappear, then you have a line less screen, and this is another proof the lines are a defect.

L.
 
silently fixed the issue ?

they may well have fixed it or set up the screen so that they are hardly visible. Did you tried the crankycat web site ?

L.
 
Maybe they hacked the display driver so the lines are incorporated into the screen output to counteract with the lines on the display!
 
Unless they change the screen specs on the next batch of PBs (i.e. a higher res, etc), I really doubt they'd change the screens. So until then, I wouldn't hold my breath that the next batch of 15" PBs will be any different.
 
Any developers out there?

Although the consensus seems to be that this is a hardware issue I have also seen it suggested that we should wait for 10.4.4 and see what happens.

I was wondering if there were any developers who had access to pre-release builds who had seen any evidence that apple was working out this issue in this patch?

I think it is probably too good to be true though. I am taking my powerbook in to the shop today :(



Edit: Just found this on appleinsider: http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1418

It does mention updates to graphics and graphics drivers. Not that it is worth getting excited about mind you...
 
More press:
http://news.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029680,39195133,00.htm

Not that it's going to make any difference at this point.

I don't think Apple is going to do squat about this. If the rumors
are true about intel ibooks in Jan, these 15" powerbooks are going
to be really SAD in comparison unless they fix the displays and
either lower the price significantly or bump to 7448's.
 
they can't accept that they've had reports of the problem, and then do nothing for the people who have reported the incident. if you think that they're going to do a recall when there's only a handfull of people complaining, then you;re gravely mistaken. they have to. and what's more, i complained in the first 2 weeks, and was told by a few apple reps to hold on as they were working on a fix. there is NO WAY that they can legally get away with just ignoring a substantial problem like this. it just isnt legal and they'd have watchdog and trading standards all over them.

the problem is that people aren't going to apple and telling them that they have the problem. most people are just posting on forums, and expecting apple to read it, make a note of their username and send them a free powerbook. it isn't going to happen. they need to be called and a fuss needs to be made, but people just aren't doing that. well...i am, because i can't use this PB for photo processing or web design until this problem is sorted.

if you haven't called apple and recorded this fault on your PB, then do it. ASAP.
 
Hi Sic,

Did you report yours to Apple? What did they do? Did your received a case number for a future fix?
 
yeah i got a case number, which i actually lost due to a dodgy hard drive, but i called them since and my name is still against it. i pretty much called them every week to remind them that i'm still here. they said that they would get back to me with a fix, but like any multinational corporation, you cant expect them to remember just one person (although i spoke to the same apple technician each time i called :confused: ) so i will probably call again in the new year.

for some reason, people seem to be being awfully melodramatic about this. they.cannot.just.ignore.it.
 
Thank god i sold my PB, just look at the fresh MWSF rumors, resale prices on these POS machines will tank in the coming future, get rid of it today
 
interesting experience

So I took my powerbook into a service technician. He told me what we have all been hearing, that this is the way they are and that getting a new lcd wouldn't fix it. In fact he had a line-infected model himself.

Now, the interesting part. I also brought in my old g4 ibook with the dead logicboard. I had gotten a quote from the store previously and was going to sell it for parts. Both the mac retailer and myself had contacted apple who said that it was out of warranty (6 months) and that they would not cover it, parts or labour. However, the technician said we should try again and called on my behalf. He told them I was complaining about my new 15" powerbook's lines. Suddenly they were willing to pay the cost of the parts for my old ibook.

His theory was that since I had already bought a computer it was an easier sell, or maybe instead (my theory) that they were trying to pacify me over the line issue?

Weird huh?
 
My laptop is not a POS at all. I can barely see the lines anyway, so in my opinion, they aren't a huge deal. But if there is a fix down the road, I will be happy.
 
Let's look at it rationally.. the slowest Intel processor that is going to make it into an iBook will probably be... No prices for guessing it right! at least 1.5Ghz.

If some of those latest rumours have any bit of salt in it, Apple will apparently be putting in low end dual core chips into these upcoming machinese, needless to say those are so going to smoke the G4 and even the low end G5s, Rosetta or otherwise.

Coupled with the lousy screen that everyone who reads C|Net and his grandma will know about by now, guess how are you going to reclaim your investment in the current PB when you decide to move on? Oh wait, you don't. You chuck it into the trashbin and dish out another couple grand for the new one cos absolutely no one is going to make a reasonable offer on yours.

The previous update was abysmal, admit it.
Everyone on this thread got suckered in by the little lures Apple used, admit it.

If you aren't too stubborn you can still get away from it. I cashed out on it and only lost like $50. You can do it too today, if you want to.

And please don't start on the line about how Powerbooks are for "Pro" apps... yadda yadda.. If you need to pay a premium to run apps for a dying platform (not that it is gonna run at a BLAZING speed at 1.67Ghz mind you) I really wish to express my deepest sympathies for you, and likewise, perhaps you'd want to buy this bridge that I happen to have for sale too?

There is nothing that the current PB can do which the iBook can't do. Without the lines. And at 1/2 the price.
 
apple engineers are working on it

...at least according to the apple product specialist I just talked to. She said to call back mid to early january if I hadnt heard anything yet.

She said they had just started looking into the issue and that replacement would not fix the problem.

Most importantly she certainly acknowledged the issue and acknowledged that it was *not* within spec.

alright.. whew. Thats my last post for the day.
 
PeterKG said:
My laptop is not a POS at all. I can barely see the lines anyway, so in my opinion, they aren't a huge deal. But if there is a fix down the road, I will be happy.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with you -- don't consider my PB a POS at all either. I played with the a model of the new 15" PB for about an hour in an Apple store before I decided to buy 2 of them. Didn't even notice the problem with the screen until I downloaded the crankycat image.
 
Buttercup, that's good news -- sounds like Apple is actually doing something about it.

For those who are new to the thread and have difficulty seeing the lines, the general rule of thumb is the lines probably won't bother you if you're using primarily text applications -- they really don't show on white or with primary RGB colors. They will cause trouble if you're editing photos or graphics and are at their worst with non-primary medium colors. A good quick-and-dirty example for a 10-second look at a machine in a store is that you'll probably see the lines on the Aqua desktop background, and you probably won't see them in a Microsoft Office window.
 
Finally got my PB today and I do see very faint lines when I put my nose up in the screen.
Under normal use I don't see the lines unless I look really hard.
So far it doesn't bother me. My girlfriend says it looks normal to her.
If it wasn't because of the battery seems to be doa, I'd say I'm completely happy.
 
dblissmn said:
Buttercup, that's good news -- sounds like Apple is actually doing something about it.

For those who are new to the thread and have difficulty seeing the lines, the general rule of thumb is the lines probably won't bother you if you're using primarily text applications -- they really don't show on white or with primary RGB colors. They will cause trouble if you're editing photos or graphics and are at their worst with non-primary medium colors. A good quick-and-dirty example for a 10-second look at a machine in a store is that you'll probably see the lines on the Aqua desktop background, and you probably won't see them in a Microsoft Office window.
Click to expand...

that's weird you should say that, because it affects text greatly on my PB. day-to-day (i'm not a full-time photographer/web designer) that's the biggest thing i notice. it really affects the anti-aliasing of text in every aspect of computing on it for me.

glad to read buttercup's post. i'll be calling back early january anyway...give them a break from me over Winterfest :rolleyes:
 
blaskillet4 said:
How come the store displays are exempt from all these issues? I thought all of these had it?
Click to expand...

Dunno - my Bethesda display models had lines two weeks ago. And I'm glad they did, because I would have been very angry if I bought a new PB that had lines but the display models didn't.
 
And what if Apples' interest was not to solve it ?

"She said they had just started looking into the issue and that replacement would not fix the problem".

Well, Apple keep saying this from the beginning of November.

"Most importantly she certainly acknowledged the issue and acknowledged that it was *not* within spec".

Not within spec ? The lines affect almost if not all PB HR..

I've been wondering about Apple's reply since I returned my PBHR for refund because of the line problem. After reading lots of Apple replies reported on this forum and others, I am now thinking that Apple's own interest on this problem is to wait and see. People like us that are Apple maniacs think this last G4 model is not worthwhile to buy and defective. If they need a professional laptop, they will buy another less sold model (12" or 17") or urge buying an Intelbook as soon as they arrive on the market (january ?). A good move for Apple. Nothing to loose not selling so many PB HR at this end of the year. Lots of Ipods will be sold. This is the real Xmas present for Steve.
 
I recently got my PB and have lines if I look up very close. Under normal use, I can't see them. They don't bother me.
I'm happy so far with my new PB.
I just gotta wait 'till Apple sends me a replacement battery for the DOA battery, but other than that, it's all good.
 
another good reason for waiting

"I recently got my PB and have lines if I look up very close. Under normal use, I can't see them. They don't bother me".

This is another reason why Apple will not do a thing except trying to calm down the (few ???) unhappy customers.
 
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