I too have this problem: W8543
I'm not a graphics guy and would not have noticed this
issue without reading this thread first.
Mine appears more subtle than the ones I saw
at the Palo Alto apple store though, but that
may have to do with the store lighting.
Comparing the apple store's 15" and 17" screens side by side,
it's like night and day quality wise. I can't
believe Apple is calling this normal?
Definately sounds like a hardware issue, not
a driver issue. Was hoping the later for a simple
firmware update, but alas, that doesn't appear to be the
case. I'm also not convinced that there are ANY good
screens out there yet, but some are worse than others.
I was all set to go into the apple store today to have this repaired,
but it sounds like Apple is not going to try
and acklowledge and repair this issue (yet), so I'm not going
to waste my time with applecare until I know they will fix it and/or
there are confirmed reports of good screens.
Last thing I want to do is send my machine in, have them muck around with
it, not fix a damn thing, and break something else in the
process.
My BTO machine is otherwise a very solid build,
with the exception of an annoying 'clicking' sound with
my Seagate 7200 rpm drive when the drive is idle.
Which is weird because the clicking at idle is louder
than when it's reading/writing??? I'm an audio recording
guy, so this hdd noise is actually much more bothersome
to me than the screen issue. Of course I know apple won't bother
replacing the hdd for this issue, and even if they replace
it, I might end up with something worse.
I would return this machine for a refund based
on the above two issues if I could and
wait to buy another one when the build quality gets better,
but my machine is a BTO, so I'm SOL there.
Is anyone else getting more and more frustrated with 'Apple Ipod Inc.'
lately? I mean they are locking and deleting threads on
their forums on this screen issue. WTF?!?!
Anyhow, a few things I've learned from this experience:
1) Never buy within the first month of a computers release.
2) Avoid BTO option if you can and order stock from a place with liberal
return policy and no restocking fees (ie Amazon, etc).
Oh well, like I said, it's a very solid machine otherwise (so far).
I'm sure I'll get used to the screen and clicking hdd and come
to love it as much as my old flawless still running like a champ Ti 667 powerbook.
I will eventually report my issues to Applecare, I just want
more time to soak in user reports to build my case.