I don't believe Apple has a right to tell me to 'shove it' if the unit is defective. But it's a good idea to talk to the sales rep and inform them of my concerns.
I feel confident that in Apple's eyes, one or two dead pixels, and a barely noticeable unevenness on colour isn't counted as a defective unit. Many of the older machines were a lot worse, apparently, in the way of uneven backlighting, and Apple wouldn't replace them...
Of course, I'm sure all these issues will have been sorted out within a few weeks by Apple due to customer complaints, and the reason why colour is uneven shall be identified and remedied.