Man, sorry to hear, that sucks you can't get a perfect (or perfect enough to where your happy with it) machine.
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iMac Quality Control?
- Thread starter docprego
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Man, sorry to hear, that sucks you can't get a perfect (or perfect enough to where your happy with it) machine.
I was lucky enough to draw a very nice 24" Alum iMac on the first try (no dead pixels, very little gradient). However, I went through 3 sony Bravia TV's before I got one that met my expectations last winter.
I know it is frustrating - I've been there with the TV, but take a deep breath and remind yourself of the law of small numbers, and try again if you can bring yourself to. Like an earlier poster said, once you get a good one, you will love it.
This thread has me a little concerned now. I ordered a 24" Aluminum iMac, 2.8 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, Nvidia 8800 GS this past weekend. It is supposed to ship today or Wednesday. I will definitely give it a close inspection when it arrives.
Is the gradient issue something I will notice straight away?
So far I've had very good luck with all my Apple products. Let's hope that luck continues with this iMac.
Is the gradient issue something I will notice straight away?
So far I've had very good luck with all my Apple products. Let's hope that luck continues with this iMac.
Just saw this thread and had to laugh.....the op's experiance is much like my own, only i returned 22 units! Two of these units were 20" ones so in total 20 of the 24"ers were returned. I started a thread that went on and on a few months back:https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/477160/
I went through different plants/week numbers/stores etc and finally got a good one.....I tried this hard because there was no other product for me than an iMac. I have a screen with no noticable gradient and no backlight bleed so there are some good ones out there but you really do have to hunt them down. I have a great thick wedge of receipts that document the whole sorry story.
I went through different plants/week numbers/stores etc and finally got a good one.....I tried this hard because there was no other product for me than an iMac. I have a screen with no noticable gradient and no backlight bleed so there are some good ones out there but you really do have to hunt them down. I have a great thick wedge of receipts that document the whole sorry story.
You definitely sound like you've become an expert in finding the best 24" iMac. I quickly read through your thread posted above. but there is just too much there. What plant and week numbers did you find had the best iMacs? I want to compare them to mine when it arrives.
Hi.....good luck with your new iMac. I found that of the units I have personal experience the VM (czech republic) units had the best build quality and the W
(china) units had the worst general quality with dings/dents/scratches as well as dust under the glass and dead pixels. ALL the units I purchased (apart from my current unit) had severe backlight bleed and a left to right colour/brightness gradient. My serial number: VM820ER**** Week 20/2008
A quick way to test your screen: http://downloads.zac.ch/imac/imac_gradient_test_24.htm
Hope that helps....let us know how you get on.
Thanks for the information dantay. It looks like my iMac will ship tomorrow, so I may have it as early as Friday. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Hah, maybe we should start a class action: MONEY BACK FOR GAS WASTED ON DEFECTIVE APPLE CRAP
I haven't tried again since the Best Buy attempt. I am thinking about giving it another shot next week when I am out of state on a vacation/business trip. I'll be out of town for 4 days and there is an Apple store where I am going that I have never before stepped foot in. Who knows, maybe that will change my luck?
Tell you this: if I do give it another shot when I get there, I am THOROUGHLY inspecting that unit in store and not leaving until I am satisfied or the manager says enough (that happened to me at one of my local stores after four 24" in a row that did not meet my expectations.)
Tell you this: if I do give it another shot when I get there, I am THOROUGHLY inspecting that unit in store and not leaving until I am satisfied or the manager says enough (that happened to me at one of my local stores after four 24" in a row that did not meet my expectations.)
My 24" iMac arrived today (Saturday morning) which is actually three days early. I was very pleasantly surprised.
So far everything looks pretty good and I don't notice any problems with the screen, but I haven't put it through its paces yet. Still upgrading the OS.
My serial number starts with QP831, which I know means week 31 of 2008, but where are QP iMacs manufactured?
dantay stated above that VM iMacs are manufactured in the Czech Republic and W iMacs are manufactured in China, but where they heck are QP iMacs manufactured?
So far everything looks pretty good and I don't notice any problems with the screen, but I haven't put it through its paces yet. Still upgrading the OS.
My serial number starts with QP831, which I know means week 31 of 2008, but where are QP iMacs manufactured?
dantay stated above that VM iMacs are manufactured in the Czech Republic and W iMacs are manufactured in China, but where they heck are QP iMacs manufactured?
This is a message board where very few people come to say good things about a product actually these boards attract just the opposite its mainly a place where people come to vent and complain. Look at the bigger picture and think of all the millions of happy Mac user that have absolutely no idea this message board even exist. Nothing in this world is perfect I always think back to the Space Shuttle that exploded on lift off several years ago and took the lives of every astronaut. Just imagine the billions of dollars and years of R&D that still ended in a catastrophic failure.
My point is I love the way people on this board always throw out the $1000 plus amount like they have spent there entire life savings on a product which should never have a failure the logo is an Apple not a seal from God.
Just found out that QP iMacs are manufactured in the good ole USA 
I'm psyched to finally purchase something that was actually made here in the US instead of overseas.
So far my screen is flawless and everything is functioning really well on my new iMac.
I'm psyched to finally purchase something that was actually made here in the US instead of overseas.So far my screen is flawless and everything is functioning really well on my new iMac.
I have not yet bought a Mac, waiting for the soon to be released mini (hopeful).
I did have the original iPhone and it was perfect.
I stood in line to get the new 3G phone and I must say the fit and finish is sort of crappy. The edges are sharp where the silver bezel meets the screen, I almost cut myself. Not that impressed with their quality so far.
I would have taken the phone back but they are still impossible to get.
My Samsung blackjack was built better, but wasn't as cool of course.
I did have the original iPhone and it was perfect.
I stood in line to get the new 3G phone and I must say the fit and finish is sort of crappy. The edges are sharp where the silver bezel meets the screen, I almost cut myself. Not that impressed with their quality so far.
I would have taken the phone back but they are still impossible to get.
My Samsung blackjack was built better, but wasn't as cool of course.
WOW. I guess I got lucky. Picked up the 2.66ghz 20" imac tonight from the applestore and no dead pixels. Viewing angle sucks major arse but other than that perfect. Nice quiet computer. Great for the kids to mess around with due to the glass screen. My kids tore through the 17" imac screen. It has so many scratches in it. I figured this would be the perfect computer for the family and I was correct.
Purchasing LCDs is by far the toughest thing you can do. I have gone through many a macbook to find a good screen. Apple does not have good quality control this is a fact but its not really apple, its the chinese factories. Apple really needs to keep a QC guy there, GEEZ. At least dell monitors will ship you out a brand new on if you get on with a bad pixel, I have yet to receive a dell monitor with a bad pixel though and I have owned 6 of them so far.
Purchasing LCDs is by far the toughest thing you can do. I have gone through many a macbook to find a good screen. Apple does not have good quality control this is a fact but its not really apple, its the chinese factories. Apple really needs to keep a QC guy there, GEEZ. At least dell monitors will ship you out a brand new on if you get on with a bad pixel, I have yet to receive a dell monitor with a bad pixel though and I have owned 6 of them so far.
As long as cool trumps functional design and quality control and Apple customers reward Apple for it by continuing to buy inferior qulity product, we'll continue to get it from Apple. It's a vicious cycle. When I was at BB, Apple was easily the most returned product. Customers would come back to me and say "you told me it just works."
I sure as heck stopped doing that. 
Be aware that some dead pixels may not be dead pixels and may just be dust stuck under the glass.
I know I have a piece of dust right in the middle of my screen (since it changes colour when I look at it from an angle) but I also have a pixel that displays black when viewed on any colour other than white or yellow.
If it's not in anywhere too off-putting (like mine), it will probably be ok, and if you don't think so, Apple probably will.
I completely agree, but it will be hard to find an iMac with a screen as nice as the older white ones.
I haven't had a problem with my screen at all. But...the external Viewsonic screen that I bought has a dead pixel...
New 24 inch, 2.8
Picked up my first iMac yesterday at the new Monterey, Ca store. No dead or stuck pixels and no gradient problems! QP serial number if that means anything. Awesome so far, loving the switch from a PC. Transition has been painless. Like they say....everything just works!
Mike
Picked up my first iMac yesterday at the new Monterey, Ca store. No dead or stuck pixels and no gradient problems! QP serial number if that means anything. Awesome so far, loving the switch from a PC. Transition has been painless. Like they say....everything just works!
Mike
Only $4/gallon? What is that, $1/L?
I wish gas was that cheap. It's about $1.30/L right now ($5.20/Gallon), and I live in the province (Alberta) that makes the frickin stuff.
It's just about $1 a litre, heck and THEY complain, think about us Canadians..in Montreal (QC) over here, recently peaked at $1.40/L.