PowerBook G4 has white line running through screen

[treehorn]

My partner's PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67Ghz) which, of course, ended it's Applecare on June 28th, developed a glitch on the screen today: a white line that is 1 pixel wide and runs the length of the screen. It just started out of the blue - no dropping of computer, no power surge, no external reason. One minute it was fine the next it had this line.

Any body ever encounter a problem like this? And if so, how did you get rid of it (either repairing it via a technician or by oneself) and how much did it cost?

I'm betting it's a sign that it's time to get a new computer, but...

 

[soberbrain]

I'm betting it's a sign that it's time to get a new computer, but...

I think that may be the best option if you need the portability. If you can bear with using it on a desk, an external monitor can be a temporary fix.

I've got a PowerBook G4 with an expired AppleCare, too. I dropped it and now has battery issues.

I don't travel with it as much now, so it's still a great desktop machine for me. I'll probably buy a new Mac when Snow Leopard comes out.

The cost of repairing an old PowerBook maybe more than the value of buying a new MacBook Pro.

 

[rontheancient]

If you can bare the wait and the line of pixels, I say wait for the next generation MBP. I would also be a bit weary of the current MBP's due to the whole NVIDIA thing. To add to soberbrain's comment, PowerBook parts are hard to find nowadays, I had a 15" G4 with AppleCare until Nov 08 which developed a screen flickering problem. Apple did not have any replacement parts so they gave me a MBP.

 

[macanudo]

This exact thing happend to my 15" PB and it porgressively got worse over the next two months to the point where it was completely unusable except when plugged into an external monitor.

I'd say, get all your ducks in a row, get a MBP when you feel that you can't put up with the LCD defect anymore.

 

[treehorn]

This is why I love Apple (and we have 4 Macs, 5 Ipods and 2 Iphones in our household). Called Applecare today and as the computer had no other issues/repairs in the 3 years that it was under warranty and since it was so close to the end of the warranty period, they are taking care of the issue.

So he can wait until the next upgrade a lot more patiently

(can't wait to hear what it was that caused it, though)