9C60 unveiled.

[snowmoon]

MBP C2D Built Thanksgiving week '06

LCDTest 2.0 shows horrible banding on LCD, but NONE on any external monitor. A great way to show the geniuses is to run LCD test hooked up the cheapest external DVI they have in the store and run it on a 17" MBP as well.

Sent it in last week for dust UNDER THE SCREEN

Got back one with a bright bar at the bottom of the screen, worse in the lower left corner.

Looks like I'll have to find a time to send this one back too!

 

[daneoni]

I just read your post iWoot and found out i have the EXACT same screen as you do (Week 45, Glossy) and wanted to know how you got around to solving your problem. Did apple give you a replacement? or there's nothing to be done?.

Thought i could live with the problem and have for 7 monhts but im starting to have doubts. Grain pattern is becoming more apparent. i also just noticed a dark patch that goes from the top left of the display all the way down to the bottom right.

 

[whateverandever]

I just read your post iWoot and found out i have the EXACT same screen as you do (Week 45, Glossy) and wanted to know how you got around to solving your problem. Did apple give you a replacement? or there's nothing to be done?.

Thought i could leave with the problem and have for 7 monhts but im starting to have doubts. Grain pattern is becoming more apparent. i also just noticed a dark patch that goes from the top left of the display all the way down to the bottom right.

Honestly... Apple's not going to be inclined to replace it for you after 7 months of using it. You can't use the "I can't live with this screen" card after 7 months.

 

[PDE]

Honestly... Apple's not going to be inclined to replace it for you after 7 months of using it. You can't use the "I can't live with this screen" card after 7 months.

time has nothing to do with it. If the screen is faulty, it is faulty. Ask for a replacement screen - you deserve something better.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I can't believe that users are still complaining about the screen still. Don't get me wrong it does suck and it is well below what we can expect from a professional Apple machine, but this is after all the fence sitters waited months for a SR MacBook Pro with up to 4GB of RAM and what not. As I said Apple did a minor upgrade and didn't improve much over the previous model and for the most part I am still hearing the complaints about the screen.

I am not that worried about it, I just use what my job give me to get my work done. On the Freelance side... I never use my laptop to do serious work... that is why desktops are still the way to go in the pro/business/freelance world.

Is there a better speced monitor that doesn't have these problems that Apple could be using? I know Apple doesn't make the monitor so who is to blame?

 

[daneoni]

Honestly... Apple's not going to be inclined to replace it for you after 7 months of using it. You can't use the "I can't live with this screen" card after 7 months.

Its not a card, never really lived with it, been using an external display with it mostly, combined with the fact that most who tried to get a replacement 7 monhts ago mostly got displays with the same issues they were replacing for. I started using the laptop's sans ACD last week after all the talk of yellow tints and gradient and i noticed the flaws immediately when comparing the ACD.

Although mine doesn't have the tint (Non SR MBP), its still grainy and has the banding issue and is poorly lit.

I leave the country in roughly a month and that means no external display. Hence i need a decent display on the go

You should work at the concierge, you'd be a perfect fit

 

[PDE]

Its not a card, never really lived with it, been using an external display with it mostly, combined with the fact that most who tried to get a replacement 7 monhts ago mostly got displays with the same issues they were replacing for. I started using the laptop's sans ACD last week after all the talk of yellow tints and gradient and i noticed the flaws immediately when comparing the ACD.

Although mine doesn't have the tint (Non SR MBP), its still grainy and has the banding issue and is poorly lit.

I leave the country in roughly a month and that means no external display. Hence i need a decent display on the go

You should work at the concierge, you'd be a perfect fit

My experience with ten MBPs last year tells me that there are better and worse among the poor quality displays. I generally found the 09c57 to be slightly better than the 09c60, for example. the 57 has a slight strip of light at the botto, but otherwise is better illuminated with less grain. The 09c60 is grainier and less evenly illuminated, even though I noticed that just before the LED ones were released the 09c60 in the store seemed a little better so maybe they did something at the end, or maybe it was just that unit.

In other words, I'd definitely give it a try and see. You might be lucky!

 

[daneoni]

My experience with ten MBPs last year tells me that there are better and worse among the poor quality displays. I generally found the 09c57 to be slightly better than the 09c60, for example. the 57 has a slight strip of light at the botto, but otherwise is better illuminated with less grain. The 09c60 is grainier and less evenly illuminated, even though I noticed that just before the LED ones were released the 09c60 in the store seemed a little better so maybe they did something at the end, or maybe it was just that unit.

In other words, I'd definitely give it a try and see. You might be lucky!

Thanks, i'm gonna make an appointment tomorrow and see what happens

 

[PDE]

Thanks, i'm gonna make an appointment tomorrow and see what happens

Oh, I also know people who have gotten their LCD replaced with the 09c56 - which, apparently, is made by samsung and is the best of them all. I haven't seen it personally, but if possible it may be worth asking for.

 

[daneoni]

Oh, I also know people who have gotten their LCD replaced with the 09c56 - which, apparently, is made by samsung and is the best of them all. I haven't seen it personally, but if possible it may be worth asking for.

Samsung 09C56. I'll specify that to the genius. Thanks

 

[daneoni]

Update:

So i just completed my Genius appointment and im in fact in the store typing this right now.

I showed the genius the screen and pointed out the grainy issue and as expected he said "looks within spec". I then gave him a weird look and proceeded to show him the unevenly lit issue by pointing out the dark patches on the left and bottom right. He acknowledged that but still said "it was within spec".

By this time i was becoming slightly ticked but remained calmed and finally showed him the banding issue using the LCD 2 test hoping it would sway him even though all all Apple laptops fail this test because of the 6 bit thing. Apparently this test worked for him and he said this was clear cut and he immediately acknowledged the issue and even said he would downloaded the test to check his own notebook cos its a good test

I then said its unnacceptable and that my PowerBook wasnt this way. He said overall the display is fine and its within Apple's spec....even though Apple's spec may not be the best and that he feels my pain but Apple displays change with each revision and for this particular revision this was what they have to offer. He then said he has the same type of notebook...same screen and mine was even slightly better than his. Hmmm maybe.....

He said he could order a replacement if i really wanted to but chances are i'd get the same issue with the new display "because its what Apple is offering for this revision". I told him i'd take my chances.

He's ordered the display and will call me when it arrives in stock so they can swap it out. I guess persistence always helps. Credit to the guy he was courteous compared to the other geniuses on site. One guy just told a customer his AppleCare was void for inserting a non standard disk into his optical drive with little or no empathy. You shoulda seen the look on the customer's face

On another note i just checked the new SR screens/MacBook screens and they dont have the grainy issue, they're well lit but i couldn't do the LCD test because their network was being hammered. Probably would have given the banding issue since they're all 6 bit displays

Overall an ok experience will retain judgement for when i get the actual replacement.

BTW he said you can't specify which displays to order so i couldn't ask for the Samsung screen. Oh well, i was tired of battling with him so i left it. Hopefully they choose a decent screen.

Kinda dreaming they replace mine with an LED screen but thats too much of a longshot so i'll just be happy with a decent CCFL screen.

This concludes my update

 

[daneoni]

Update finale, for anyone who cares:

Go my laptop back (after 2 weeks due to short supply of glossy screens) and the screen is the exact model of the previous version (9C60) it replaces BUT for some reason its about 70% better. The grain is much less apparent and requires alot of squinting to identify. Put it this way the previous version looked like white sandpaper this new one looks like normal white paper.

The uneven brightness is also a lot better with only a tiny dark line accross the lower bottom of the screen compared to the previous gen which had a dark patch running from the top left all the way down to the bottom right. Its still nothing compared to the LED screens but its a whole lot better.

Gradient still sucks like the previous gen but i understand laptops only have 6 bit displays and can't fully blend color gradients like 8 bit displays. So no big

Overall i like it, it could be better but it could definately be a whole lot worse like my previous screen for example and honestly i prefer it to the Samsung screens of the LED models which have a disgusting yellow tint issue. Whites are white here and blacks are deep all round.

Overall thumbs up. Still dont understand how the same model of screen can be better. Meh...