New MBP, vertical striping, need advice

[Baffles]

I just bought a new 15 inch macbook pro on this past Sunday through the free iPod special. Last night I was running on battery, battery was somewhat low (in the red zone) and I was messing with Photo Booth, and I got the dreaded vertical stripes. Closed lid and reopened and the problem went away. So I went until the battery died and let it sleep for 5 hours after that before charging (battery calibration, someone recommended I do it with the new battery).

I get on today and research the issue more, and I've tried all the ways listed to reproduce the problem, dimmed screen on battery power and taken almost 100 pictures in photobooth, etc and can't get the problem to come back.

Aside from that one glitch, the MBP seems perfect, no pixel anomalies that I see, no warping, etc. Should I bother driving (50 miles away) to the Apple store to try and get a replacement, or what? The vertical striping threads seem to be full of people who keep getting replacements when the problem comes up and people who ignored the problem and had it very rarely pop up.

I don't want to risk getting a replacement and having that have other problems (and the hassle of moving my apps and files over) if it's only something that will come up once in a while or something, but if it's going to be a common problem and a new MBP will help then I'd like to do that.

Anyone have any advice for me?

 

[alphaod]

Go back and get it replaced. This time take the replacement see if the issues occurs before you leave the store.

 

[Baffles]

I can't reliably make the issue pop up. I used this one for a while before I left the store and didn't have any problems.

Is this a software problem, or a hardware problem affecting a small set of MacBook Pros?

Also, what's the easiest way to back up my files/settings/programs before taking this one back? Just copy my User folder and my Applications folder?

 

[noodle654]

I can't reliably make the issue pop up. I used this one for a while before I left the store and didn't have any problems.

Is this a software problem, or a hardware problem affecting a small set of MacBook Pros?

Also, what's the easiest way to back up my files/settings/programs before taking this one back? Just copy my User folder and my Applications folder?

Use Time Machine and it will back up everything or just choose stuff you want and drag it to your external.

 

[Baffles]

Alright, running a time machine back up now. Thanks.

I'm wondering if Apple will give me a new machine as replacement. The thread over at Apple makes reference to this and some people have had luck with replacements not doing it, others have gotten replacements that do it. Do you think Apple will give me a new machine over this? Will they extend the 14 day return policy with the new one so I can take it back should that one have problems?

 

[docal97]

They will give you a brand new machine if you are within your 14 day return policy. They will obviously do diagnostic testing on the computer when u bring it in.

I would definitely take it back. I is worth a 50 mile drive. Try the new one out b4 leaving the store.

Good luck.....

 

[PDE]

I would grab a picture of the issue from the internet - there are lots of them - just to show what's going on. When I took mine in, they said that they HAVE to be able to reproduce in order to fix. They took my machine anyway and called me five days later to tell me that there's nothing they can do and that there will probably be a software fix in the future. What BS!

I would demand a new one since not all of them have this issue. Since they don't have a fix for this, there is really nothing they can do in terms of repair.

Good luck!

 

[Baffles]

I will try it out at the store, but with the rate this happens at I may not notice for a while. I have pictures of the problem that I have taken and put on my desktop on the computer.

My genius bar appt is at 3pm so we'll see what happens. Will they give me time to delete my files and stuff off, or should I do it before I go?

 

[Baffles]

I took it back, before I could even finish explaining the issue the guy was like you bought it this week? I said yeah, and then he left and brought out a new macbook pro. This one hasn't had the issue come up yet, we'll see though.

 

[PDE]

that's great news and I'm happy that it was so hassle-free. It'll probably be fine this time!

 

[Baffles]

Haven't seen the issue yet, we'll see if it pops up within the next few weeks.

I was worried at first because the screen looked like absolute ****, it was horribly uneven on the grey Apple screen on the first boot, though it seems to have evened out and looks a lot better now.

And I do have to admit I am impressed with the ease of the exchange. Somehow I don't think it would have been that easy to get a new laptop if I had just ordered online from Lenovo or Dell.

 

[jjahshik32]

Just get it replaced and then try to reproduce it for the next 14 days.

 

[Baffles]

Haven't seen the screen issue pop up on the replacement, however the right side fan is rubbing and making noise. How many replacements do I get to get before Apple cuts me off? How many will I have to get until I get one that's not defective out of the box?