MBP 17" (2009) - Problem Thread

[crazylegsmurphy]

In addition, I just watched a few HD (1080p) trailers from Apples website, and noticed a dead pixel in the bottom right of my screen...
Any idea for what I should do about these issues?!

Honestly, my official stance is that the industry should have a 0 tolerance policy on dead/stuck pixels. Call it a cost of doing business as it's not fair that someone should have to put up with a major component of a computer simply not working.

It's like selling someone a car off the lot with a rock chip in the window. It's what you look at 99% of the time, so there shouldn't be problems with it.

That said....it depends on what you can live with I suppose. As a graphic/web designer I can't afford to have a missing pixel when I work with pixel perfect art. So for me, I would exchange until I got a perfect monitor.

I'll also admit I'm a tad OCD when it comes to crap on my screen. I sneezed once and a little speck of spit landed on the monitor and it drove me insane until I actually clued in and cleaned the screen.

If it bothers you - you may want to call and explain....or just blame it on the flicker issue or one of the other seemingly common issues popping up. Tell them you payed a lot of money and you expect a fully working machine, if they won't replace it, return it (but don't fall for the restock fee).

If I boot up my MBP 17'' and it has a dead pixel, I won't even hesitate, it'll go back in the box and I'll head off to the Apple store.

 

[mhnajjar]

I hear some horrible stories on this thread

Should we call the Simpsons and have them make another Mapple episode?

 

[Hopsdaballa04]

Also...

Check out the Apple refund policy. It says nothing about pixel tolerances at all. Who cares if it's "industry standard" if they don't state it, then it's considered a defect in my opinion and not your fault.

If they can show where it states their official policy is on dead pixels (in a place where you should have seen it before purchase) then let them keep their $79

EDIT:

It's not easy to find but.... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1721



Of course.....Next Mapple will charge you to breath the air in the store.

I saw that article which is still crazy, especially when apple charges an extra thousand dollars for the same specs that Dell laptop would have.

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

I saw that article which is still crazy, especially when apple charges an extra thousand dollars for the same specs that Dell laptop would have.

And that alone is why I would do everything possible until it's perfect. Apple prides themselves on design and quality. You can't make products that cost more because they have nice design and then get all stingy when people find scratches/dead pixels/etc.

Lets be completely honest here and put all fanboy aside. Apple laptops are no better than any other laptop (and some might argue worse), but you're paying a lot of money for them to look cool. I think that extra cost entitles us all to demand that the products are at least that out of the box.

I think about my iPhone which has a new crack in the plastic. This bothers me a lot because if I wanted a cellphone with big bulky plastic casing, I would have just purchased a blackberry. When the design interferes with function, then I think it's time to take a step back and re-think the product.

I won't even let them give me a new iPhone because I'm afraid of getting one that is worse than what I have. I am going in for my apt. on Tuesday and saying, "I am just making note of this, so if anything changes in your design, I want the change...or...I want some guarantee this will be covered for the life of my contract" (We can't get Applecare for iPhone here in Canada).

Anyway....Apple is charging you a lot of money, demand a quality product.

 

[aschou]

And that alone is why I would do everything possible until it's perfect. Apple prides themselves on design and quality. You can't make products that cost more because they have nice design and then get all stingy when people find scratches/dead pixels/etc.

Lets be completely honest here and put all fanboy aside. Apple laptops are no better than any other laptop (and some might argue worse), but you're paying a lot of money for them to look cool. I think that extra cost entitles us all to demand that the products are at least that out of the box.

My Apple purchase history:

Apple II+
Apple IIe
Apple IIgs
ibook
Macbook Pro 17 2.33 ATI
Mac Pro 8core 2.8 ATI
Apple Cinema Display 30"
White iphone 3G
White Macbook 2.4


I agree that there should be a zero-tolerance policy towards dead pixels, but luckily I had no dead pixels on any of my LCDs. But significant backlight bleed on my 17" Macbook pro as well as brightness non-uniformity. I mentioned in another post that my first iphone 3G had the dust-under-screen issue and the replacement has a lousy screen with much poorer contrast.

These days, I purchase Apple products for their superior and innovative software and user interface, not due to any religious belief that the hardware is any better than that of any other manufacturer. In fact I think that despite the beautiful designs for the laptops, the hardware quality is probably worse. Like any other company, Apple has to watch its bottom line, and this currently involves using inferior LCD screens. Anybody who has shopped for LCD tvs knows that Samsung panels (used in Samsung and Sony products) are the best, and the LG or Chi Mei panels in the aluminum Macbook/Macbook Pros are the lower quality ones made for much cheaper tvs. I have not seen the display on the new 17", but I hope it is a better one.

Now if Apple wanted to use a much better laptop display, I would certainly be willing to pay the extra money. My 30" Cinema Display is a thing of beauty, and that was probably twice the cost of the comparable Dell display. Right now, I have to live with my awful replacement iphone display, and would probably be willing to shell out an extra $100 for a better display like I had on my original 3G. This is like the cost of one month's service from ATT, so why not, if it eases my eyestrain and increases my enjoyment of the product?

As for the NVidia graphics issue, I specifically purchased a previous generation white macbook instead of an aluminum macbook in order to avoid NVidia. It terrifies me that computers (laptops and desktops from any manufacturer) with recent NVidia chips are ticking time bombs which could go dead on you at any moment. I use my computers for professional work, and this is simply unacceptable. Hopefully the 9600 issues are software-related and not due again to hardware failures.