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iPod touch Ipod Touch 32GB Dead Pixel

T

transitionsxell

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2008
8
0
Hi,

I bought an expensive 32GB touch from Amazon and it has a dead white pixel right in the center of the screen. I already tried to use the Apple iphone software to try to unstick it, but it did not.
What should I do about this? I paid almost 500 dollars for this Ipod and I feel the screen should have all working pixels for that price. Can I get an exchange over the phone with Apple or do I have to go through Amazon? Will the next one be the same?

Thanks for you help!
 
You have 153,600 pixels on there. Perfect screens on any device are rare. One stuck pixel is pretty good, most devices would have at least one and usually more. Don't bother returning it because nobody will take it back. You've got to have ~7 stuck/dead pixels in a square inch before most companies will consider an exchange.

If they were to go through and inspect every screen to make sure that no devices with any dead/stuck pixels would ship, you would be paying a lot more than $500.
 
I kinda agree with Akonradi on this... When i bought my macbook it came with 1 dead pixel, that was stuck black....
Well, if i have a white background it shows up, but i have learned to find really nice black ones so it doesnt always show, in movies you cant even tell because the colour changes so much anyway..

My advice is that you find a nice white background that you like and learn to deal with it. Or sell it on ebay, and buy a new one...
You will lose money, but then again you are being a bit picky if its only 1 pixel.

Don't hate me for saying that please
Cheers!
 
I would try to exchange it with Amazon. I know, it's only one dead pixel, but it's still a defect out of the box.

Then again, I am pretty picky.
 
honestly on such a small screen that is a bit of an annoyance, say on 23" ~ 30" display well not so much.

I purchased a 30" display, it has one stuck pixel that can only be seen on red and fairly visible on skin tones (such as in a photo or movie that generally has light ~ fair skinned people) and i figured okay thats not incredibly bad compared to the many more i c ould have had on such a huge display.

i also purchased a 30Gb iPod 5th Gen last year 2 dead pixels, right out of the box i was still in store asked them about it and said if i could double check another one, theyre were hesitant and reluctant but said well im spending X amount on it i might aswell get something decent and one ill be happy with.
If not ill go somewhere else simple as that.

So id ask for maybe an RMA maybe they can send you a new one and then you send the old one back do a cross shipment.

its upto you, im quite picky with dead/stuck pixels esp on small screens.


goodluck
cheers!
 
If the dead pixel was within 10% of the edges or top or bottom maybe you could live with it, but if it's in the ceneter of the screen I'd try my best for a replacement.
 
The problem is that even if you complain and they replace it, who's to say that the next one won't have a dead pixel? Or the one after that?

Your chances of getting a screen with one dead pixel are very high. Frankly, on my first iPhone it took me four months to notice that I had a dead pixel and I have to look for it now to even find it on the black home screen (it's yellow). Now I notice that I have four, but I never see (unless I'm looking for them) them and they don't affect my use of the phone.

Getting a screen with only one dead pixel is very good. There are plenty of other problems out there that are worse. If you get a replacement, you could still have a dead pixel. Maybe you'll have two, or eight. Or maybe crackling audio. Now ask yourself if it's worth the trouble to go through all of this just to get rid of one dead pixel that you'll probably never notice. You could eaisly have to go through ten iPods to get a perfect screen.
 
ukdanj

I'm about to return my 2nd 32GB iPod Touch to my local Apple store this evening, I had 5 stuck pixels on the 1st one and 3 on the one I have now, all in or near to the center of the screen. I could handle one or two at the edge of the screen but to suggest people should just live with this, after shelling out $500, is ridiculous.
 
ukdanj said:
I'm about to return my 2nd 32GB iPod Touch to my local Apple store this evening, I had 5 stuck pixels on the 1st one and 3 on the one I have now, all in or near to the center of the screen. I could handle one or two at the edge of the screen but to suggest people should just live with this, after shelling out $500, is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
I shelled out a lot more than $500 for my iMac and I have three stuck pixels. But I'm not crying to Apple about it. It doesn't matter how much you pay for it, because dead pixels are just a fact of life in the LCD world.

If there were inspections for every LCD leaving the factory for color, contrast, dead pixels, etc, production costs would soar to extreme levels. It doesn't matter how much you paid for it.

And you might be returning a lot of iPods, because coming across a perfect one could take a long time...
 
Your right it doesn't matter how much you pay for something, as long as it works properly. I've looked at 2 ipod touch's owned by friends without a stuck pixel insight, so I guess it is possible to have a perfect screen.
I'm sick of fools who just bend over and take whatever Apple and Steve Jobs sticks them with. Your not doing anybody any good by "not crying to Apple".
 
ukdanj said:
Your right it doesn't matter how much you pay for something, as long as it works properly. I've looked at 2 ipod touch's owned by friends without a stuck pixel insight, so I guess it is possible to have a perfect screen.
I'm sick of fools who just bend over and take whatever Apple and Steve Jobs sticks them with. Your not doing anybody any good by "not crying to Apple".
Click to expand...
Well, you may think that Apple is soft on their return policies now, but if people like you just keep returning everything with problems that are normal and accepted among the entire industry, their return policy will turn for the worse and you won't be able to do that anymore. Inspecting every LCD for small and usually virtually-unnoticeable pixel problems is not only a waste of money for the company, but also a very big waste of production capacity and the labor force (it's not really endless in China...).
 
Well, thanks for the responses. My opinion that I formed after researching this is that after you have paid 500 dollars for an Ipod it should have no faulty pixels. One dead pixel on a 30" screen is a lot different than a faulty pixel on a 3" screen. I am not sure whether or not I am going to deal with the hassle of exchanging it, but I can see the white pixel on the center of the black home screen which bothers me. If it were on a bigger screen it would be less noticeable and I would not care. I believe the consumer should get a good product with no problems and it is a fault of Apple of not getting a screen that has been through good quality control.
And if people return stuff Apple will realize it is easier to fix this issue as it will cost them more money to provide replacement ipods than to have proper quality control in the first place. They can't raise prices because then they will lose business to competition and consumers would not approve of price hikes for the same item.
 
transitionsxell said:
Well, thanks for the responses. My opinion that I formed after researching this is that after you have paid 500 dollars for an Ipod it should have no faulty pixels. One dead pixel on a 30" screen is a lot different than a faulty pixel on a 3" screen. I am not sure whether or not I am going to deal with the hassle of exchanging it, but I can see the white pixel on the center of the black home screen which bothers me. If it were on a bigger screen it would be less noticeable and I would not care. I believe the consumer should get a good product with no problems and it is a fault of Apple of not getting a screen that has been through good quality control.
And if people return stuff Apple will realize it is easier to fix this issue as it will cost them more money to provide replacement ipods than to have proper quality control in the first place. They can't raise prices because then they will lose business to competition and consumers would not approve of price hikes for the same item.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but if every LCD in the industry went through QC like you are suggesting, you would be paying a lot more for your device. Dead pixels are a fact of life and you've got to learn to deal with them, because chances are that a replacement would have (a) dead pixel(s) as well. It doesn't matter if you pay $249 for an 8GB refurb or $600 for a 8GB iPhone, they all have the same screens. If Apple were to just throw out every screen with a dead or stuck pixel, then not only would the supply be very low and the prices very high, but it would also be a complete waste. Right now, there are standards that screens have to meet to be able to obtain certain production levels. If quality control gets as strong so that every screen in the entire industry is perfect, then there will be a low supply of screens. There are just some things that you have to accept with technology. I paid $600 for my iPhone and it had multiple dead pixels. Although I paid more than you, I understood the problem and I live with it every day, but I've learned not to notice them and they never cause me any problems. In fact, it took me three months just to notice the first one.

So don't look at the stuck pixel, don't pay attention to it, don't think about it. Pretty soon, it will be as good as gone. I'm serious. I know that it might be hard at first, but once you stop thinking about it, you will use the device as if it didn't exist and your attention will cover the entire screen instead of that one spot. It's a small pixel, so it's not a huge deal.
 
akonradi said:
Sorry, but if every LCD in the industry went through QC like you are suggesting, you would be paying a lot more for your device. Dead pixels are a fact of life and you've got to learn to deal with them, because chances are that a replacement would have (a) dead pixel(s) as well. It doesn't matter if you pay $249 for an 8GB refurb or $600 for a 8GB iPhone, they all have the same screens. If Apple were to just throw out every screen with a dead or stuck pixel, then not only would the supply be very low and the prices very high, but it would also be a complete waste. Right now, there are standards that screens have to meet to be able to obtain certain production levels. If quality control gets as strong so that every screen in the entire industry is perfect, then there will be a low supply of screens. There are just some things that you have to accept with technology. I paid $600 for my iPhone and it had multiple dead pixels. Although I paid more than you, I understood the problem and I live with it every day, but I've learned not to notice them and they never cause me any problems. In fact, it took me three months just to notice the first one.

So don't look at the stuck pixel, don't pay attention to it, don't think about it. Pretty soon, it will be as good as gone. I'm serious. I know that it might be hard at first, but once you stop thinking about it, you will use the device as if it didn't exist and your attention will cover the entire screen instead of that one spot. It's a small pixel, so it's not a huge deal.
Click to expand...

I think no matter how much you try to defend your position on the dead pixel subject, people will still be pissed. You made it very clear earlier that dead pixels are a fact of life, I guess just let them go try and see if they can get a return...but he's right you really can't expect a perfect LCD these days.

If everyone literally were to complain, then maybe you'd see tighter reins on the return policy, but you'd also see a lot of angry customers who paid 200 dollars for applecare on their device. I think the whole "if you really really reallly can't live with out it we will replace it" attitude taken by the Carmel store AND many other apple stores is a good one, because it encourages customers to still come in and try, and adamant customers to be repeat buyers.
 
I guess I came across as being picky but I have never returned a computer or screen for a defect. I guess I just expected a flawless ipod for that price and if it had been the 8GB for 260 it wouldn't have bothered me. Anyways I will not go through the trouble of exchanging it because I only keep my technology for 6 months to a year. I think because of the price of it I was looking for every tiny flaw. :rolleyes:
 
akonradi said:
I shelled out a lot more than $500 for my iMac and I have three stuck pixels. But I'm not crying to Apple about it. It doesn't matter how much you pay for it, because dead pixels are just a fact of life in the LCD world.

If there were inspections for every LCD leaving the factory for color, contrast, dead pixels, etc, production costs would soar to extreme levels. It doesn't matter how much you paid for it.

And you might be returning a lot of iPods, because coming across a perfect one could take a long time...
Click to expand...
You need to stop comparing anyone who isn't completely satisfied with Apple's every move to a crying infant. Really.

I agree that it is impossible to guarantee "perfect" LCDs.
 
akonradi said:
Where did I compare anyone on this board to a crying infant?
Click to expand...
I don't have time to search through your posts but you and several others have referred to any contrary opinion to Apple's update fees as 'crying' or 'whining'
 
Jack Flash said:
I don't have time to search through your posts but you and several others have referred to any contrary opinion to Apple's update fees as 'crying' or 'whining'
Click to expand...
I use the word whine... Because anyone can whine about anything, they don't have to be infants. Complaining in the manner that many do on here is, by definition, whining.
 
akonradi said:
Well, you may think that Apple is soft on their return policies now, but if people like you just keep returning everything with problems that are normal and accepted among the entire industry, their return policy will turn for the worse and you won't be able to do that anymore. Inspecting every LCD for small and usually virtually-unnoticeable pixel problems is not only a waste of money for the company, but also a very big waste of production capacity and the labor force (it's not really endless in China...).
Click to expand...

The stuck/dead pixel may be a fact of the industry, but industry norms are irrelevant to the consumer. It would be interesting to hear what somebody who knows about US consumer law has to say about this.
In the UK, the same tired record comes out about "acceptable levels of dead pixels" whereas the law is clear - products sold must be fit for purpose. If your screen has a dead pixel in the centre, then Amazon or whoever has to take it back and either replace with a satisfactory replacement or refund in full. End of discussion.
 
weckart said:
In the UK, the same tired record comes out about "acceptable levels of dead pixels" whereas the law is clear - products sold must be fit for purpose. If your screen has a dead pixel in the centre, then Amazon or whoever has to take it back and either replace with a satisfactory replacement or refund in full. End of discussion.
Click to expand...
How does one dead pixel make a screen of 150,000+ pixels unfit for its purpose? They don't have to take it back, because the device is still fully functional. Everything will work just the same with or without it.
 
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