First: "Well at my local Apple Store, I heard a person comment when they saw it closed that it looked like a stepped on marshmallow".
I don't laugh very often and this made me laugh!
Second:
Yes, people are VERY DIFFERENT in likes and tastes. There always has, and will always be issues with different Apple products. I was a hard core Windows Dev. for a long time. Last year I bought a uMBP and thought it was great until I learned that yes, even Apple has its issues. In fact, it seems to me the more intricate parts there are in anything, the more 'quirks' it has, especially in an age where things are made to last for 2-3 years now, not like the good old days of hard steel and wood, now its plastic and rubber. My wife and I have a joke about plastic we like to teach our kids now. We tell them that one day, when they are older, we will tell stories about how they used to make 'good plastic' lol.
Third:
Yes, I have found the same flashing, pulsing, moving and occasional flicker as well. LED technology is fairly new in flat panels. When I bought my first MBP there were so many problems I had to exchange it 7 times (no joke). I got so sick of blown pixels I decided to go with a 13 MBP and buy the 24 LED Apple display and just use it in clamshell mode. When I reached my fifth return on the Apple display, I just plain gave up and went back to the 15 uMBP. Then I tried something I didn't think of until my wife got her 13 uMBP, an expensive surge protector.
In fact, I had to buy several models to verify this with both MBP's. What I found that was when I had the mac plugged into the wall more of the above stated would persist. However, when I plugged into the sure protector (and one with pulse defense) the problem went away for the most part. I really believe what's happing is the wattage controlled in the power adapter while its plugged into the wall is causing the LED lights to look as though they are pulsing. I've run several tests like different background colors, plugs, inside, outside, dark, florescent lights and regular light bulbs and notice that indeed the mac's screen is somewhat subject to its environment and how much of the 'problem' you can actually see.
