Screen Problems (24" iMac) From Which Production Plant?

[gehrbox]

ok so since apple does not make the panels it is not their fault then that these screens are so defective? Why wouldn't apple do something about it then if thats LG-Phillips issue? I mean they can obviously blame LG for it and ask them to fix the problem and start shipping good screens to APPLE... Apple must be aware of this issue , since there is so many defective ones. Hard to believe that they wouldnt ask LG to start shipping them good product...

The point being made by SaSaSushi was that it does not matter where the assembly plant is for the iMacs, the screens are the source of the problem and they all come from the same vendor (LG). Whether that vendor gets their finished parts from more then one source is unknown.

I emailed Steve Jobs over the issue and one of his minions called me on the phone to discuss it. I suggest that if you are having problems with your iMac screen quality that you send an email to sjobs@apple.com and detail the problem in a business like manor. Include the machines model, serial number and your phone number. They will call you back within a few days.

It isn't going to change the world, but they will contact you and help resolve the issue. In my case I included in my email that they had already resolved the issue via a new iMac, but that I was concerned that something as bad as my iMac got out the door (hundred plus stuck pixels).

 

[gskowal]

looks like there is more imacs with screen problems then with none according to this poll... great news... mine is coming tomorrow i`ll let you know how it goes...

 

[Entopia7]

I just recieved a new CTO 24" 2.8ghz iMac this afternoon that shipped directly from CA. It has a backlight gradient from left to right, light to dark and what looks like a veeeeerrry sliight blueish tint on the right lower corner. Having said that, I have to pay very close attention to even notice either of these shortcomings on anything but a solid fullscreen color.

Interestingly enough, the gradient isn't nearly as bad on black as it is on purple...

After some deliberation, I have decided Ill be keeping my "less than perfect" screen and iMac, because
a) I may get one worse than the one I have now
b) I'm not a professional who works with graphics everyday (and really, who would use an iMac for that in the first place?)
c) I don't feel like the problem is severe enough to warrant a return.

All things considered, the screen is gorgeous while playing games, and the 8800gs really pushes the pixels. I'm very happy with my purchase. I think these screen problems are getting blown out of proportion (unless I just got a very good bad one. Does that make sense?)

 

[kappaman210]

I just recieved a new CTO 24" 2.8ghz iMac this afternoon that shipped directly from CA. It has a backlight gradient from left to right, light to dark and what looks like a veeeeerrry sliight blueish tint on the right lower corner. Having said that, I have to pay very close attention to even notice either of these shortcomings on anything but a solid fullscreen color.

Interestingly enough, the gradient isn't nearly as bad on black as it is on purple...

After some deliberation, I have decided Ill be keeping my "less than perfect" screen and iMac, because
a) I may get one worse than the one I have now
b) I'm not a professional who works with graphics everyday (and really, who would use an iMac for that in the first place?)
c) I don't feel like the problem is severe enough to warrant a return.

All things considered, the screen is gorgeous while playing games, and the 8800gs really pushes the pixels. I'm very happy with my purchase. I think these screen problems are getting blown out of proportion (unless I just got a very good bad one. Does that make sense?)

If you don't mind me asking, what are the first 5 digits of your serial number?

 

[DHart]

After some deliberation, I have decided Ill be keeping my "less than perfect" screen and iMac, because

b) I'm not a professional who works with graphics everyday (and really, who would use an iMac for that in the first place?)
c) I don't feel like the problem is severe enough to warrant a return.

I, for one, am a graphics professional (Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom work on many large files all day every day) who would love nothing more than to buy three new 24" 3.06 GHz iMacs for my portrait studio production work. If the screens were as they should be, the 24" 3.06 GHz iMac would be a PERFECT Photoshop machine. I would have parted with thousands of dollars on these very machines by now if I weren't so concerned with getting samples with issues that I just don't have the time to monkey around with.

I'm treading water with 2.0 GHz CoreDuo white 20" iMacs right now and dying to dive into some 3.06 GHz iMacs, but I've been holding off to see if they can rein in the rampant screen problems before buying. Buying low end (4-core) MacPros and 24" NEC H-IPS monitors is a great solution, but at close to TWICE the price of the 3.06 24" iMac!

If the 24" iMac screen issues don't fade into history soon, I will probably pony up the big bucks for at least one MacPro/NEC 24" solution, but what I REALLY want is three 24" 3.06 GHz iMacs with near perfect screens. That would run me about $6600. The MacPro/NEC 24" solution for three stations would run me about $10,000. BIG difference in cost for little if any real performance gains for the type of work I do (Photoshop/Lightroom editing).

 

[G-Force]

I've had two iMacs now (third is on it's way ), both from Czech Republic. The first one had a big gradient, the left of the screen was much darker than the right. The second one was just great, no noticeable gradient, but it has other problems unfortunately.

 

[gskowal]

Got mine yesterday... tiny change in brightnes from left to right(almost unnoticeable ) no backlight problems(i`m happy with that) , 1 stuck pixel, a bit yellowish tint in the middle... I`m not sure if i`ll return it since its really not that bad and i dont want to get a worse one and then keep sending the computer back for hell knows how long.. serial # YM

 

[Entopia7]

If you don't mind me asking, what are the first 5 digits of your serial number?

Sure, it's QP8270.

 

[gehrbox]

Mighty quiet in this topic. Guess all the screen problems dried up or nobody is buying iMacs anymore

Still no dead or stuck pixels, fans are quiet, no graphic anomalies, no odd noises from the speakers and back lighting looks even with no bleed

 

[G-Force]

Got a new (third) iMac yesterday, 1 stuck pixel (man do I hate those) and a pretty noticeable gradient. Also the right side is very yellowish. So I've asked my money back (as I can't exchange anymore) and will order a new one when I get my money back and hope it's a bit better.

It's from CZ...

 

[candyman]

My CTO iMac 3.06GHz is in transit right now. I looked up my serial number and it is QP828 so I know it is from the US and was just produced in the past week (week 28 of 2008).

Here's hoping all is well when it arrives early next week!

 

[gehrbox]

My CTO iMac 3.06GHz is in transit right now. I looked up my serial number and it is QP828 so I know it is from the US and was just produced in the past week (week 28 of 2008).

Here's hoping all is well when it arrives early next week!

Good luck. May the power of MobileMe be with you

 

[Darkroom]

wow, haven't been here in a while... it's pretty sad that it looks like apple hasn't addressed this issue and is still selling defective screens in their new iMacs... maybe they got a good deal from LG

what a joke... i'm still on my 3rd machine because i couldn't be bothered with exchanging it again - althought it is better than my previous 2, it's far from what it should be... it *STILL* pisses me off that apple clearly couldn't care less about their (once pristine) iMac screens...

i'm defiantly planning on having this screen replaced when i go away around christmas... maybe they'll be finished pawning off their junk screens by then and will actually have one to install that is actually worth the cost of the 24" imac...

 

[gskowal]

wow, haven't been here in a while... it's pretty sad that it looks like apple hasn't addressed this issue and is still selling defective screens in their new iMacs... maybe they got a good deal from LG

what a joke... i'm still on my 3rd machine because i couldn't be bothered with exchanging it again - althought it is better than my previous 2, it's far from what it should be... it *STILL* pisses me off that apple clearly couldn't care less about their (once pristine) iMac screens...

i'm defiantly planning on having this screen replaced when i go away around christmas... maybe they'll be finished pawning off their junk screens by then and will actually have one to install that is actually worth the cost of the 24" imac...

i agree, i`m pretty annoyed about it as well. First day i got my computer i noticed the yellowish tint in the middle of the screen and a small gradient issue. Thanks to not having any backlight bleeding issue i decided to keep it. But the yellow tint is annoying me a lot. Everytime I switch to gray background its so noticeable i get depressed looking at it.