Just got 24" iMac! But I'm concerned about...

[imacspert]

2 potential issues which I've noticed.

First off, I did the gradient test and noticed that the right side of the display is slightly different in color than the left side. What's the verdict on the gradient issue? Is it just inherent to this type of display or is Apple replacing iMacs because of it. Can't find a definitive answer.

Secondly, I noticed a staticky (sp) sound coming from the speakers when I listen to music or watch a video. It happens intermittently, lasts for about 3 seconds, and sounds like a low pitch "whooshing" sound. It *seems* to be tied to when the hard drive is being accessed or something like that.

Anyone experience this?

Thank you so much for your help. I'm excited about my iMac but naturally want it to live up to it's full potential! .

 

[bot44]

I have the same problem with the sound and could not figure out what is wrong or how to fix it. It only happened with my external speakers (not headphones). If anybody knows what the deal is, please share.

 

[Fletchzky]

Goddammit.....it's stuff like this that makes me paranoid to get an Al iMac in mid-January. I have OCD when it comes to my electronics and I know I am going to be looking at every little thing oh so closely...

 

[HLdan]

Goddammit.....it's stuff like this that makes me paranoid to get an Al iMac in mid-January. I have OCD when it comes to my electronics and I know I am going to be looking at every little thing oh so closely...

Don't worry about all of this, just get your iMac and you'll be happy. Firstly keep in mind the OP said he did the "gradient test", I honestly don't believe he would have done this or noticed much of anything had he had not been reading these wonderful forums.

Secondly, people who don't experience issues or even notice every little nothing won't post. I'll bet there's nothing you own or ever owned in electronics that didn't have mixed reviews. Everything has mixed reviews and NOTHING comes flawless out of the box not even expensive cars but that doesn't stop sales.

 

[imacspert]

Don't worry about all of this, just get your iMac and you'll be happy. Firstly keep in mind the OP said he did the "gradient test", I honestly don't believe he would have done this or noticed much of anything had he had not been reading these wonderful forums.

Secondly, people who don't experience issues or even notice every little nothing won't post. I'll bet there's nothing you own or ever owned in electronics that didn't have mixed reviews. Everything has mixed reviews and NOTHING comes flawless out of the box not even expensive cars but that doesn't stop sales.

I think HLdan is right. The gradient issue is something I likely would not have looked for, but certainly something that bugged me since I knew it was there.

In any case, I am exchanging my iMac for another one...which should be here in a few days. I'll be sure to post what I find. If the new one has the same issues, it looks like this stuff is inherent to 24" iMac and I'll live with it and move on to enjoying such a great machine!!

 

[isuandrew]

24 inch monitor problems

I just got my imac 24 inch yesterday and noticed this gradient problem as soon as i turned it on, it's brighter on the left and more blue but goes darker on the right as well as more yellow, this is a huge problem for me considering I need to do Color sensitive work and is the reason I didn't get the 20 inch.

After further research I found this forum: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1093045&tstart=0

and it seems that all 24 inch imacs have this same problem and replacing it probably wont help......

has anyone heard anything from apple about recognizing this problem and fixing it? This is ridiculous!

 

[Cudadown]

My new 24" looks absolutely flawless.... then again...I didnt do any special test . I'll test it if it gives me a reason to but so far..perfect. Thats in Desktop, Windows Vista, Games (Wow, BF vietnam, bf1942), Dvd's at fullscreen..etc.

I have never seen a more beautiful screen. So tell me... do I need to test it?

 

[isuandrew]

My new 24" looks absolutely flawless.... then again...I didnt do any special test . I'll test it if it gives me a reason to but so far..perfect. Thats in Desktop, Windows Vista, Games (Wow, BF vietnam, bf1942), Dvd's at fullscreen..etc.

I have never seen a more beautiful screen. So tell me... do I need to test it?

try going here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/#angleGrey

then make your web browser smaller, so you can move it around your screen, and see if you can see the lagom text changing in comparison to the background? then let me know....

 

[Cudadown]

Nope. Didn't see anything change moving the window around. Text pretty much hard to read. Brightness/Contrast seemed consistent. So I'm still voting perfect for me.

 

[johny5]

LOL I never noticed the gradient issue or knew about it, but now i do I see it on mine!
feels like a spoiler to a film wished i never knew now. Anyway I can live with it, but what I cant live with are the annoying cracks and pops I get through my Harman/Kardon soundsticks!
I thought it may be a power issue but it cant be now i have the imac AND the speakers all going through a UPS.

 

[isuandrew]

Nope. Didn't see anything change moving the window around. Text pretty much hard to read. Brightness/Contrast seemed consistent. So I'm still voting perfect for me.

That's great to hear, yours must be working fine then..... this gives me a little hope because I'll be sending mine back....

You have one of the new 24inch aluminum imacs right? Not one of the older white ones?

 

[czachorski]

I just got my imac 24 inch yesterday and noticed this gradient problem as soon as i turned it on, it's brighter on the left and more blue but goes darker on the right as well as more yellow, this is a huge problem for me considering I need to do Color sensitive work and is the reason I didn't get the 20 inch.

After further research I found this forum: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1093045&tstart=0

and it seems that all 24 inch imacs have this same problem and replacing it probably wont help......

has anyone heard anything from apple about recognizing this problem and fixing it? This is ridiculous!

So in 2 threads now, you are claiming all 24" iMacs have bad screens, based on your 1 iMac and another discussion thread dedicated to discussing the issue?

I've posted in both threads, and I'll give you one free pass before I get nasty, but people who jump to such conclusions, and then post it on-line with such flimsy reasoning really baffle me.

 

[SaSaSushi]

So in 2 threads now, you are claiming all 24" iMacs have bad screens, based on your 1 iMac and another discussion thread dedicated to discussing the issue?

Actually, he's made the claim in at least 3 places. He posted the exact same rant at the end of the old Kowalski-ridden "LISTEN UP!" gradient thread as well.

 

[isuandrew]

So in 2 threads now, you are claiming all 24" iMacs have bad screens, based on your 1 iMac and another discussion thread dedicated to discussing the issue?

I've posted in both threads, and I'll give you one free pass before I get nasty, but people who jump to such conclusions, and then post it on-line with such flimsy reasoning really baffle me.

Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge, it's just that I saved a lot of money and decided this would be the best computer for me and it got me upset to see it has problems.... I'm going to be returning it, and if one comes back without problems then I'll be happy, and I'll let you know, I'm just worried about people who claim to have returned imac multiple times and still have the same problem (this leads me to believe that most people don't notice it). I just want to get this figured out as soon as possible without having to send back multiple computers because everyday I don't have a computer means I'm not getting stuff done that I need to get done. Am I jumping to conclusions? Yes.... I admit that, but I'm just trying to resolve this, if I get a replacement that is fine then I've got nothing but apologies on this end. Aside from the screen, everything else seems to be great.


Sorry about the bad thread etiquette, this is my first time ever posting to threads...... I posted to multiple ones so I might get more answers quicker.

 

[czachorski]

Actually, he's made the claim in at least 3 places. He posted the exact same rant at the end of the old Kowalski-ridden "LISTEN UP!" gradient thread as well.

Hmmmm. Drads. If this were an unresolved issue with 100% of the 24" iMacs, could you imagine how many threads there would be here? The fact that only a few have surfaced in the Xmas aftermath tells you that this is a relatively isolated issue. (Albeit very real, and I feel bad for those who got the bad ones - except those who come on-line to try to make the flawed case that all iMacs are bad).

 

[czachorski]

Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge, it's just that I saved a lot of money and decided this would be the best computer for me and it got me upset to see it has problems.... I'm going to be returning it, and if one comes back without problems then I'll be happy, and I'll let you know, I'm just worried about people who claim to have returned imac multiple times and still have the same problem (this leads me to believe that most people don't notice it). I just want to get this figured out as soon as possible without having to send back multiple computers because everyday I don't have a computer means I'm not getting stuff done that I need to get done. Am I jumping to conclusions? Yes.... I admit that, but I'm just trying to resolve this, if I get a replacement that is fine then I've got nothing but apologies on this end. Aside from the screen, everything else seems to be great.

Cool.

I feel bad for you too, and hope your replacement fixes things. Good luck!

 

[isuandrew]

Cool.

I feel bad for you too, and hope your replacement fixes things. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll be sending it back soon, I'll let you all know how things work out!

 

[imacspert]

Anything definitive?

Hmmmm. Drads. If this were an unresolved issue with 100% of the 24" iMacs, could you imagine how many threads there would be here? The fact that only a few have surfaced in the Xmas aftermath tells you that this is a relatively isolated issue. (Albeit very real, and I feel bad for those who got the bad ones - except those who come on-line to try to make the flawed case that all iMacs are bad).

hey guys,

I am the original poster and noticed the gradient issue several days ago. I am certainly one of those hopefuls who is trying to be optimistic that this is an isolated issue (I've exchanged mine and am awaiting my new one which should be here in a few days). But, I haven't been able to find any definitive proof that the problem has been isolated to one or a few specific factors (i.e. build date, screen manufacturer, etc.). Can you Mac experts point me to anything?

Based on my research, the general theme as I see it is:

- many people have this issue
- many people seem to be on there 2nd, 3rd, 4th iMac with no resolution to the issue
- apple is not officially acknowledging anything (they certainly didn't when I talked to them)

I would love to be wrong about all this stuff, so can someone point me to some definitive info?

thanks!

 

[ceres]

hey guys,

I am the original poster and noticed the gradient issue several days ago. I am certainly one of those hopefuls who is trying to be optimistic that this is an isolated issue (I've exchanged mine and am awaiting my new one which should be here in a few days). But, I haven't been able to find any definitive proof that the problem has been isolated to one or a few specific factors (i.e. build date, screen manufacturer, etc.). Can you Mac experts point me to anything?

Based on my research, the general theme as I see it is:

- many people have this issue
- many people seem to be on there 2nd, 3rd, 4th iMac with no resolution to the issue
- apple is not officially acknowledging anything (they certainly didn't when I talked to them)

I would love to be wrong about all this stuff, so can someone point me to some definitive info?

thanks!

Right on your bullet points. What you can do is play iMac roulette with Apple Care as long as you get a screen that is good enough for you. I´d do that if I absolutely wanted an iMac right now and couldn´t wait for a new hardware revision. You could also settle for an iMac that barely fits the toll and buy Apple Care with it. Once new models are likely to be released you can unload your machine on ebay. As iMacs with Apple care don´t lose much value in less than a year you won´t be wasting too much money. Personally, I decided against that bc a) my iMac screens were to bad and b) I wanted to send a message to Apple about quality. Each iMac BTO exchange procedure costs a lot of money.

 

[czachorski]

hey guys,

I am the original poster and noticed the gradient issue several days ago. I am certainly one of those hopefuls who is trying to be optimistic that this is an isolated issue (I've exchanged mine and am awaiting my new one which should be here in a few days). But, I haven't been able to find any definitive proof that the problem has been isolated to one or a few specific factors (i.e. build date, screen manufacturer, etc.). Can you Mac experts point me to anything?

Based on my research, the general theme as I see it is:

- many people have this issue
- many people seem to be on there 2nd, 3rd, 4th iMac with no resolution to the issue
- apple is not officially acknowledging anything (they certainly didn't when I talked to them)

I would love to be wrong about all this stuff, so can someone point me to some definitive info?

thanks!

Judging by post frequency around here, there were a lot of bad ones going out in Aug/Sept/Oct and it seems to have improved since then. It is still a crap-shoot, as obviously people are still getting bad ones.

The thing you have to remember, is that even if the problem affects a small percentage of all iMacs, there are still going to be a lot of people who get 2 or more bad ones in a row. And where do you think they are going to go to announce such a thing? Right to the web, and act like there extremely bad luck is proof that they are all bad, despite the laws of probability, and lots of people posting who got perfect ones.

 

[peejack]

I know I am going to be looking at every little thing oh so closely...

lol thats called being anal

 

[imacan]

Judging by post frequency around here, there were a lot of bad ones going out in Aug/Sept/Oct and it seems to have improved since then. It is still a crap-shoot, as obviously people are still getting bad ones.

The thing you have to remember, is that even if the problem affects a small percentage of all iMacs, there are still going to be a lot of people who get 2 or more bad ones in a row. And where do you think they are going to go to announce such a thing? Right to the web, and act like there extremely bad luck is proof that they are all bad, despite the laws of probability, and lots of people posting who got perfect ones.

If the problem was affecting a SMALL percentage you would NOT see A LOT of people who get 2 or more bad ones in a row.

BTW mine is bad too and I don't need advice about what I will do with it, thank you.

 

[czachorski]

If the problem was affecting a SMALL percentage you would NOT see A LOT of people who get 2 or more bad ones in a row.

BTW mine is bad too and I don't need advice about what I will do with it, thank you.

Define small.

Express it as a probability, square it, and multiply it by millions of buyers, and you have the number likely getting a bad one twice. It's simple probability really.

1% = 0.01 ^2 = 0.0001, or 1 in 10,000. Draw on those odds a million times, and you will get 100 people who crap out twice.

10% = .10 ^2 = 0.01 or 1 in 100. Draw on those odds a million times, and you will get 10,000 who crap out twice.

I'm saying 1-10% is a small frequency, and 100 to 10,000 people is a lot of people getting two bad ones. And no, you don't need anyone to tell you what to do if you got a bad one. Exchange it back and draw on the same odds again, or return it and get something else. Don't settle for a bad machine, no matter how many people are getting them or not getting them.

 

[imacan]

You can continue to defend it all you want and the odds would be what you wrote if those were the percentages of faulty displays (I did not need your explanations btw on statistics, I did a lot of university level statistics ... ), the reality is still that all displays I have seen in all stores I went to had the problems which is far and beyond what the odds would be with your numbers. The only reason you don't have more people complaining is because people either don't care or don't see it, plain and simple and good for them. I am out.

 

[SaSaSushi]

You can continue to defend it all you want and the odds would be what you wrote if those were the percentages of faulty displays (I did not need your explanations btw on statistics, I did a lot of university level statistics ... ), the reality is still that all displays I have seen in all stores I went to had the problems which is far and beyond what the odds would be with your numbers. The only reason you don't have more people complaining is because people either don't care or don't see it, plain and simple and good for them. I am out.

I know you said we can't but please, please, PLEASE let me tell you what you can do with your iMac. I'm dying to over here.