Couple of annoyances with Macbook

[drake]

Had my Macbook less than a week, and got some questions.

I've turned off "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before sleep" in Energy Saver, yet three minutes without using the Macbook, it dims. Is this normal?

Secondly, even after doing the battery calibration, my charge level always goes down to 99%.

Lastly, I notice the display has uneven brightness (worse backlight bleed along the bottom), but I guess there really isn't much I can do about that other than complain to Apple and get it replaced. Haven't decided if its worth bothering.

 

[Josias]

Had my Macbook less than a week, and got some questions.

I've turned off "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before sleep" in Energy Saver, yet three minutes without using the Macbook, it dims. Is this normal?

Secondly, even after doing the battery calibration, my charge level always goes down to 99%.

Lastly, I notice the display has uneven brightness (worse backlight bleed along the bottom), but I guess there really isn't much I can do about that other than complain to Apple and get it replaced. Haven't decided if its worth bothering.

1. Are you sure it just doesn't go to screensaver?

2. Calibrating the battery only improves the battery performance. You should deplete the battert to 1-2%, and charge it again. That way it will show estimated capacity much more accurately.

3. Try calibrating the screen. If this doesn't work, take it to an Apple Store, and ask them for help. Don't ask them for a replacement unless the screen can't be fixed. You are very lucky to have a nearly perfect MB. After what you've said, you've had no moo, whine, baah or random shutdowns. Be Happy!

 

[craigatkinson]

For your battery you might try downloading coconut battery and running it see how high your battery is charged.

Had my Macbook less than a week, and got some questions.

I've turned off "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before sleep" in Energy Saver, yet three minutes without using the Macbook, it dims. Is this normal?

Secondly, even after doing the battery calibration, my charge level always goes down to 99%.

Lastly, I notice the display has uneven brightness (worse backlight bleed along the bottom), but I guess there really isn't much I can do about that other than complain to Apple and get it replaced. Haven't decided if its worth bothering.

 

[drake]

1. Are you sure it just doesn't go to screensaver?

Nope. Screen saver follows a few minutes after. It just dims.

2. Calibrating the battery only improves the battery performance. You should deplete the battert to 1-2%, and charge it again. That way it will show estimated capacity much more accurately.

I guess 99% isn't that bad, it could well be 100% but it just isn't reading it as such?

3. Try calibrating the screen. If this doesn't work, take it to an Apple Store, and ask them for help. Don't ask them for a replacement unless the screen can't be fixed. You are very lucky to have a nearly perfect MB. After what you've said, you've had no moo, whine, baah or random shutdowns. Be Happy!

The nearest Apple Store in Canada is a couple thousand miles away (in Toronto, the only place they are here). As for the whine and moo, it would be hard to tell, I have sitting right next to my very loud PC.

 

[drake]

For your battery you might try downloading coconut battery and running it see how high your battery is charged.

Okay, it says I have 95% of original capaciity and also says its five weeks old (mine is supposed to be a week 26 by the serial number). Is that bad for a mac that I've had less than a week?

Just tried pulling the plug, letting it drop to 93% and recharge. It says 100% now, but it did this last time I tried it. Coconut battery says its 4983mAh, and it was originally 5200mAh, or 95%. Seems like a lot to drop in two days.

 

[billytheradponi]

Secondly, even after doing the battery calibration, my charge level always goes down to 99%

Basically when my MB is fully charged overnight and I turn it on it is at either 100 or 99 percent, this (I think) is because when turning on it takes up some power, sometime enough to dro a percent, thats my awnser anyway becayse battery calibration will only improve performance.

 

[Considering]

I got screwed up on the "Dim display before sleep" option as well, because initially when I unchecked the box, I didn't do it for all of the power modes.

When you edit the power management, you disable the "Dim before sleep" option on both the battery AND AC Adapter pages, correct?

Hope that helps...

 

[EricNau]

I got screwed up on the "Dim display before sleep" option as well, because initially when I unchecked the box, I didn't do it for all of the power modes.

When you edit the power management, you disable the "Dim before sleep" option on both the battery AND AC Adapter pages, correct?

Hope that helps...

On my MacBook, you cannot edit those settings. As soon as you make a change, it becomes "custom," so make sure after you make a change you keep in on custom.

 

[EricNau]

Can anyone with a MacBook do me a favor?

Turn your screen brightness down to 1 bar (as low as it will go while keeping the backlight on). Can you see any waves moving up and down the screen (similar to the "waves" you might see in a dying fluorescent light tube).

 

[FullmetalZ26]

Can anyone with a MacBook do me a favor?

Turn your screen brightness down to 1 bar (as low as it will go while keeping the backlight on). Can you see any waves moving up and down the screen (similar to the "waves" you might see in a dying fluorescent light tube).

Can't say that I do...but I can hear that dang CPU/power adapter whine...makes me wonder if the whine would be solved on the laptop as well if I got a new power adapter.

 

[drake]

Can anyone with a MacBook do me a favor?

Turn your screen brightness down to 1 bar (as low as it will go while keeping the backlight on). Can you see any waves moving up and down the screen (similar to the "waves" you might see in a dying fluorescent light tube).

Nope. Do I need to try in a dark room?

 

[drake]

On my MacBook, you cannot edit those settings. As soon as you make a change, it becomes "custom," so make sure after you make a change you keep in on custom.

For some reason, it doesn't seem to be doing it anymore. I didn't do it for both on power and battery, I will try that if it starts doing it again.

 

[milozauckerman]

The screen dimming issue seems to be a bug in the current system preferences system. If you've set it to not dim, as soon as you turn the computer off (or restart), the setting reverts back to the default, though the box remains unchecked.

To fix - go to the energy saver menu where the dimming box will be unchecked. Check it (on), click 'show all' and then go back to the energy saver preferences and uncheck the box. That fixes it until you have to restart or shut down.

There is no permanent fix that I know of.

 

[EricNau]

Nope. Do I need to try in a dark room?

No (but it might help). For me it's most noticeable on the desktop (default Tiger), without any icons.

 

[Mackilroy]

I tried that with my MacBook… sorry man, no go. I don't get anything abnormal at all.

 

[drake]

No (but it might help). For me it's most noticeable on the desktop (default Tiger), without any icons.

Thought I saw a flicker a couple times over few days, but nothing like what you're describing.

BTW, since I pulled the plug at 93% and charged back up, its remained at 100%. Hope that's one annoyance gone.

 

[ccj]

Waves on screen with brightness low

Hey EricNau,

I've got the 'waves' on my new macbook (2 hours old) just as you describe. However much worse, i.e. I can see the waves when I even have my brightness set to half way... did you manage to find out anything further?
Thanks - Chris

Can anyone with a MacBook do me a favor?

Turn your screen brightness down to 1 bar (as low as it will go while keeping the backlight on). Can you see any waves moving up and down the screen (similar to the "waves" you might see in a dying fluorescent light tube).

 

[xfiftyfour]

Can anyone with a MacBook do me a favor?

Turn your screen brightness down to 1 bar (as low as it will go while keeping the backlight on). Can you see any waves moving up and down the screen (similar to the "waves" you might see in a dying fluorescent light tube).

Sorry, but I don't see anything like you're describing, either.

 

[ccj]

Off to mac genius

Going to a Genius bar tomorrow to enquire. Will let you know.

Sorry, but I don't see anything like you're describing, either.

 

[QCassidy352]

I guess 99% isn't that bad, it could well be 100% but it just isn't reading it as such?

My ibook g4 used to do that and I was told it was normal. It would charge up to 100% but drop to 99% within a few minutes while still plugged in. I think you can rest assured that the battery life you're actually getting is the same.

uneven backlighting is not normal, and should be looked at.

Sorry, but I don't see anything like you're describing, either.

sorry, me neither.

 

[drake]

My ibook g4 used to do that and I was told it was normal. It would charge up to 100% but drop to 99% within a few minutes while still plugged in. I think you can rest assured that the battery life you're actually getting is the same

Good to hear if true.

uneven backlighting is not normal, and should be looked at.

Not sure where I'd do that? Don't want to be sending it off and there are no Apple stores in this country except Toronto. Maybe I should post a pic?

 

[drake]

Okay, here are two pics of what I'm taking about. They're your standard blacklight bleeding tests (black screen in a dark room). Two very different results depending on a slightly different angle of the screen to the camera:

This one is straight on

Slightly tilted, completely different, instead of light shining up from the bottom, its very dark at the bottom.

So, I'm not really sure if I'm dealing with blacklight bleeding or something else. I also took shots in blue and green, and the colour was fairly (not perfectly) uniform. Red was more pink then red.

 

[mgthrall]

I have the exact same issue on my new MacBook. In fact, when the screen is black, it is almost identical to your screen, drake.

I have a 12:20pm appointment with a Genius at the local Apple store (that's 1 hour from now). I will let you know what I find out. Let's hope it's something easy to fix that requires a minimum amount of downtime.

 

[drake]

I have the exact same issue on my new MacBook. In fact, when the screen is black, it is almost identical to your screen, drake.

I have a 12:20pm appointment with a Genius at the local Apple store (that's 1 hour from now). I will let you know what I find out. Let's hope it's something easy to fix that requires a minimum amount of downtime.

Thanks. I look forward to what they have to say.

 

[mgthrall]

Thanks. I look forward to what they have to say.

Hmmm... you might not look forward to what they have to say after you hear what the Genius actually said.

Basically, the guy told me the screen is within spec. He said that, much like having only a couple dead pixels, there is nothing they can do for me. Since the computer is within the 14 day exchange period, I could swap the computer for a completely new one, but in my case I'd have to do it online (I ordered it with 1 gig of memory from the online store). That's far too much hassle for me to bother with given the issue is just a minor annoyance most of the time.

He did say that if I had purchased it in store they could try to swap it out for a new one, but if that new one had the same issue, I'd be stuck with it. I checked the other MacBooks in the store, and they ALL shared the same symptoms. It might be a run of MacBooks that got questionable displays, or it could be an issue across the board.

At any rate, the guy looked at me like I was a little crazy. I asked him if there were any settings he could adjust, anything he he could recalibrate, or just, well, if he could conjure up some magic to fix it. He did a PRAM reset (I think that's what he did). I told him I'd placebo that "fix" into my memory, and I'd ignore the problem. At that point I left the store with a friendly, "Thanks for fixing my problem!" and a wink.

Apparently, to be a big issue, the difference in contrast has to be much larger than what I currently see on my MacBook. Maybe yours is worse, drake, so you might have different results.

Personally, I wasn't going to make a huge fuss about it because the machine has been great otherwise. I can live with a little glitch like this. I plan on swapping this book out anyway for another one as soon as Merom finds its way into the MacBook.

Best of luck on getting the issue resolved for yourself!

EDIT: One thing he did do that helped make the problem less apparent was he adjusted the screen's contrast. Bumping the contrast a bit got rid of some of the brightness around the bottom.