17" MBP First Impressions (DOA sceen issues)

[DHagan4755]

When I sit down in front of my 17-inch MacBook Pro, the screen is brighter in areas, hazy in others, and overall unevenly backlit. I tried to take some photos to describe what I am talking about. You'll see the darker haze on the right side, and a little on the left. The area where the dock is noticeably brighter than the rest of the display. Perhaps I am being a little too picky, but I don't know if this is normal. I don't see this problem on my 17-inch PowerBook G4 1.5GHz.

Images:

 

[nylon]

The top left and right hand corners are noticeably darker.

 

[grenoble]

hum ... I would send it back, not cool ...

 

[Scartissue]

Yeah, look at the Apple at the top left - looks practically black (unless that's a theme you chose?)

 

[vgoklani]

I also have the 17" mbp, and yes the screen is not uniformly bright....so you are not the only one!

 

[Thidranki]

so the 17" still got an issue, but in my opinion, it's just random, i mean, my MBP 15" is perfect, no whine, and it's just warm. i bought it in apple store, did a hardware test when i bought it, first MBP detected an error and got very hot afterwards. Then i asked another MBP, the second MBP detected no error on hardware test and dont gets warm. And that's the MBP i keep right now. I live in Indonesia and the apple store let me play with the MBP before i decided to buy it. dont know if your local apple store allow you to do so. But if you purchase online, you can't choose.

How exactly did you test the hardware? I'm interested in doing the same thing at an Apple store (testing it right out of the box). Can you fill me in a bit?

 

[NuPowerbook]

I just went to my local Apple Store, and looked at the 17 inch MBP (which I had my heart set on purchasing), and the backlight is horribly uneven on their display unit. I am leaning more and more towards the 15 inch, but wish it had FW-800 and the faster superdrive.

What does everyone think? 15 or 17 inch? I could use the extra screen real estate, but think I might be able to get by without it.

 

[sunrobby]

How exactly did you test the hardware? I'm interested in doing the same thing at an Apple store (testing it right out of the box). Can you fill me in a bit?

You need to insert the included MAC OS cd (or dvd i cant remember), the disc 1, and boot your MBP, when it's booting, hold down the 'd' key until the hardware test appear. Then just follow the instructions

 

[Thidranki]

You need to insert the included MAC OS cd (or dvd i cant remember), the disc 1, and boot your MBP, when it's booting, hold down the 'd' key until the hardware test appear. Then just follow the instructions

Oh nice, thanks alot. They let you just rip it out and test it right there? I hope the US store I live by does that...

 

[DHagan4755]

OK, folks, my 17-inch MBP is going back. Here's the update...

I got home this afternoon and called Apple. While on the phone with Apple, my cat decided to puke all over the rug so I had to hang up, clean up the mess and call back. Damn cat! This set me off. I called Apple back and after about 10 minutes on the phone hearing my frustration with the display issues they told me that it would be best to take it to an Apple Store to have a genius look at it and they gave me a case #.

So I hopped into the car and drove over the Apple Store about 20 minutes away. The genius took it into the back room for about 10 minutes. When he returned, he told me that there were no reported issues yet because it is too new. In fact, the store didn't even have a model on display. He said I could leave it and they would send it in to the depot for a repair, or I could call it in. He thought it was a little too on the dark side for his tastes. So I picked up my MBP got in my car and drove home.

On the ride home, I thought why wait a couple of days to return what is a defective product. So when I got home I called Apple back and within about ten minutes had an RMA. I am not getting a replacement because I just know that the others are going to have an F'd up display. This issue will be the 'whine' issue of the 17-inch MBP. It's too bad that Apple has dropped the ball here. I want a MBP. I need the speed. Is it safe to buy the 15-inch MBP?

 

[sunrobby]

Oh nice, thanks alot. They let you just rip it out and test it right there? I hope the US store I live by does that...

Yes they allowed me to do that I know it means rip the MPB box and open the seals. But they just let me do it. Because they know that i know many MBP around with problems, so i really want to get a good MBP and thus need to perform the hardware test. They said that im the first customer who's doing hardware test before purchasing the MBP

DHagan4755, it's safe to get MBP 15" if you do the hardware test before buying it like i did. But if you want to exchange the 17" in the apple store you can also perform the hardware test and also ensure to get a good display not like the one you have right now.

But im not sure if your local apple store will allow you to play with it before buying it..

 

[Kreamy]

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but did you all honestly expect to get such flawless machines as touted by mac evangelists?

A) You're buying into the first revision, this is a risk you take, if you think it's worth it, suffer the consequences. If you don't, WAIT. It will not kill you not not have the top of the line bleeding edge stuff.

B) It's a computer, it'll have bugs regardless. You're just scaring away potential customers for no apparent reason. The only time i'd suggest that these issues are posted is when the Apple store REFUSES to acknowledge or correct them.

As for readers, yes, of course the machines will have bugs, it's a first revision as I said - this should not deter you from getting the 17" MBP by any means as people only generally post when their machines have issues and not-so-often when they're flawless. The 15" MBP is not likely to have any fewer faults than the 17", so asking if you should get a 15" just because you've heard of problems with the 17 isn't really the way to go - just buy what you need or would prefer, while acknowledging that it is in fact a computer and will likely have some problem.

Hey, don't forget people who want the MBP but can't afford it, I'd take a whiny, or dim lit screen anyday!

 

[rockthecasbah]

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but did you all honestly expect to get such flawless machines as touted by mac evangelists?

A) You're buying into the first revision, this is a risk you take, if you think it's worth it, suffer the consequences. If you don't, WAIT. It will not kill you not not have the top of the line bleeding edge stuff.

B) It's a computer, it'll have bugs regardless. You're just scaring away potential customers for no apparent reason. The only time i'd suggest that these issues are posted is when the Apple store REFUSES to acknowledge or correct them.

As for readers, yes, of course the machines will have bugs, it's a first revision as I said - this should not deter you from getting the 17" MBP by any means as people only generally post when their machines have issues and not-so-often when they're flawless. The 15" MBP is not likely to have any fewer faults than the 17", so asking if you should get a 15" just because you've heard of problems with the 17 isn't really the way to go - just buy what you need or would prefer, while acknowledging that it is in fact a computer and will likely have some problem.

Hey, don't forget people who want the MBP but can't afford it, I'd take a whiny, or dim lit screen anyday!

while that's true, if you spent the big bucks to get this machine wouldn't you be a little peeved that it was messed up? I mean look nothing's perfect but I'd have pretty high standards if i spent $2500-$3000 on a computer! I doubt if you were in this situation you would simply go "oh well, i bought a revision A" and go skipping off into La-La land. Complaints will also get changes for the next revisions and hopefully new manufacturing methods are tried. Just saying....

 

[grenoble]

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but did you all honestly expect to get such flawless machines as touted by mac evangelists?

A) You're buying into the first revision, this is a risk you take, if you think it's worth it, suffer the consequences. If you don't, WAIT. It will not kill you not not have the top of the line bleeding edge stuff.

B) It's a computer, it'll have bugs regardless. You're just scaring away potential customers for no apparent reason. The only time i'd suggest that these issues are posted is when the Apple store REFUSES to acknowledge or correct them.

As for readers, yes, of course the machines will have bugs, it's a first revision as I said - this should not deter you from getting the 17" MBP by any means as people only generally post when their machines have issues and not-so-often when they're flawless. The 15" MBP is not likely to have any fewer faults than the 17", so asking if you should get a 15" just because you've heard of problems with the 17 isn't really the way to go - just buy what you need or would prefer, while acknowledging that it is in fact a computer and will likely have some problem.

Hey, don't forget people who want the MBP but can't afford it, I'd take a whiny, or dim lit screen anyday!

It's a REV. A ... but it's not the first 17 inches that Apple is selling. I don't think it's a good reason to have fu** up display ...

 

[DHagan4755]

I'd have pretty high standards if i spent $2500-$3000 on a computer!

Thanks for the support. I bought an iMac G5 back in November and it's perfect. The screen on the iMac is tons better than the one on my new MacBook Pro. And both have 17-inch displays. That's a $1299 iMac vs. a $2799 MacBook Pro.

 

[Kreamy]

while that's true, if you spent the big bucks to get this machine wouldn't you be a little peeved that it was messed up? I mean look nothing's perfect but I'd have pretty high standards if i spent $2500-$3000 on a computer! I doubt if you were in this situation you would simply go "oh well, i bought a revision A" and go skipping off into La-La land. Complaints will also get changes for the next revisions and hopefully new manufacturing methods are tried. Just saying....

You haven't quite understood what i was saying.

Yes, by all means, you have every right to be peeved, i'm saying- go to Apple, have the problems fixed, complaining on here isn't going to do anything as people should already see that there will be problems.

If Apple gets enough complaints, THAT will force them to acknowledge error, not some Joe Bloggs whining on the net.

Thanks for the support. I bought an iMac G5 back in November and it's perfect. The screen on the iMac is tons better than the one on my new MacBook Pro. And both have 17-inch displays. That's a $1299 iMac vs. a $2799 MacBook Pro.

They're not the same screen component, it's like comparing apples and oranges. (and yes, i'm aware they're both technically apples)

 

[anderkh]

Well, that was a quick honeymoon,

The screen just flickered and went yellow. It switches back and forth on its own volition. But, it definitely doesn't look as bright as the 15" MBP I had.

On the phone with Applecare right now. Anyone heard of this screen flicker issue before? On other machines I mean.

eV

I recently brought a G5 iMac (latest rev before EOL) into my local Apple Store because it had a problem with the LCD mask - the mask was not lined up with the pixels in a small circular area.

They agreed to replace the LCD - and had the repair finished very quickly (brought it in Friday, got it back Sunday).

I declined to see it in action at the store - it was jam packed with people. When I got it home and plugged it in, I had very strange video problems. The screen would jump as if someone was hitting the side of an old TV. At one point, the entire screen turned yellow for about second, then went back.

I brought it back, and they took it back in for servicing. In the end, they replaced the screen (again), the main logic board, and a few other cables and parts.

It's something their techs had never seen, and neither had I. Strange.

Ken

 

[Kreamy]

I recently brought a G5 iMac (latest rev before EOL) into my local Apple Store because it had a problem with the LCD mask - the mask was not lined up with the pixels in a small circular area.

They agreed to replace the LCD - and had the repair finished very quickly (brought it in Friday, got it back Sunday).

I declined to see it in action at the store - it was jam packed with people. When I got it home and plugged it in, I had very strange video problems. The screen would jump as if someone was hitting the side of an old TV. At one point, the entire screen turned yellow for about second, then went back.

I brought it back, and they took it back in for servicing. In the end, they replaced the screen (again), the main logic board, and a few other cables and parts.

It's something their techs had never seen, and neither had I. Strange.

Ken

Sounds just like the iBook logic board problem, doubt it's anything to do with the screen.

 

[mbopy22]

You need to insert the included MAC OS cd (or dvd i cant remember), the disc 1, and boot your MBP, when it's booting, hold down the 'd' key until the hardware test appear. Then just follow the instructions

Stupid quetions, what would happen if I do this with my 7months old iBook G4? will it delete or erase something that I have on my HD???

 

[eVolcre]

Hey, don't forget people who want the MBP but can't afford it, I'd take a whiny, or dim lit screen anyday!

Umm .. that's the silliest thing I've heard. You might not be able to afford it, but I do and I demand a working machine with no whines or bad screens.

I can't afford a Porsche 911 and will take one with a faulty heater or rip in the seat, that doesn't mean that someone who paid for his has no right to expect one with no issues.

Yeah, for free, I might be willing to live with problems too ...


eV

 

[rockthecasbah]

You haven't quite understood what i was saying.

Yes, by all means, you have every right to be peeved, i'm saying- go to Apple, have the problems fixed, complaining on here isn't going to do anything as people should already see that there will be problems.

If Apple gets enough complaints, THAT will force them to acknowledge error, not some Joe Bloggs whining on the net.



They're not the same screen component, it's like comparing apples and oranges. (and yes, i'm aware they're both technically apples)

well considering this is the first batch of the 17'' MBPs, this "complaining" is just as much that as it is a warning that these models do have some flaws that should be noted. I agree that if this is all you are doing to try to get your machine fixed, that's wrong. But there is nothing wrong with a user telling his/her experience (like noted in the thread title i might add) and commenting on what they think should be better / done.

 

[Bunsen Burner]

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but did you all honestly expect to get such flawless machines as touted by mac evangelists?

Just a quick note on semantics. The folks you are referring to are not Mac evangelists. Mac evangelists are independent minded people who spread the word about the Mac due to their enthusiasm, etc. for the platform. They are also aware, though, of Apple's shortcomings.

The proper term(s) for the snobby, smarmy, elitist "Apple can do no wrong" crowd is Cult of Macintosh™ or iTaliban©.

Apple aqba! Apple aqba!

BB

 

[sunrobby]

Stupid quetions, what would happen if I do this with my 7months old iBook G4? will it delete or erase something that I have on my HD???

i think the hardware test feature only available with mac with intel because my friend who owns powerbook doesnt know about the hardware test. but if there is hardware test in ibook/powerbook, it wont erase anything, it just doing hardware testing.

 

[yoda13]

If I am not mistaken, all Macs come with a hardware test cd, its just that on some newer models the application is embedded with the restore DVD that came with the computer! At anyrate, I know they exist because I watched an Apple Genius use one on my powerbook about a month back or so.

 

[Thidranki]

Those genius's are just so smart. No wonder Apple hired them