Something wrong with my 4th iMac Should I be worried?

[symbology]

Should I be worried? I mean this is my 4th one. (27" i7)

So, iMac #3 went back to the Apple Store. Dead pixels ruined an otherwise perfect machine. No gray band at the bottom, no yellowing, quiet, really nice. Except a dead cluster of pixels on the upper right of my screen. I had to return it for iMac #4. Really did not want to.

So, here I am at iMac #4, and the yellowing is not an issue, it is quiet (even with a Seagate drive), a miracle - I know.

However, with iMac #4 I have a significant amount of gray banding on the bottom of the screen. So much so, that I might have to re return it. I even started this one up in the Apple Store. I pointed out the gray banding to the sales guy, and he called over a supposed "Genius". The Genius when on to say that they all have that, and that it was normal. He went on to say that "We cannot keep exchanging these things", even though this is only iMac #2 at this store.

Backing up a bit, my 1st iMac had a cracked LCD, bad gray banding and bad yellow tine. My 2nd iMac had a bad DVD drive and yellow tint issues. I called Apple Care (it was a BTO) and explained my issue. The Apple Care Rep said "Apple's policy on the new iMacs is that a yellowing tint is considered normal." and he would not guarantee that I would get one without it. I was told that I had two options. 1st, was to get a new display installed. He then told me that Apple was only allowing ONE display exchange for the yellowing issue. Even if the new display was worse. The second option offered (which I took) was to return it for a full refund.

Now back to why I should be worried. I am looking at iMac #4 and the gray banding on the bottom is pretty bad, but the store does not want to do another exchange.

What do I do? Take it back, and then go to another Apple Store and start over? Should I be worried that I will never be happy? Darn iMac #3 was perfect in every way, except dead freaking pixels. Am I just unlucky?

What a royal PITA this is.

 

[Tec972]

I was told the same thing at the apple store, I am on my second due to yellow tinged screen. My first was perfect except that white was not white and my second one is marginally better but I am still disappointed. As the display was a big draw for me getting an imac. I already have a core i7 pc with a SSD and better video than the iMac (which was half the price) but I wanted to get into the mac realm.

Their quality control is garbage. It is an expensive macine for what you get it should be flawless. OSX is nice but not that great for the price premium you pay for an Apple.

 

[Btom]

........
What do I do? Take it back, and then go to another Apple Store and start over? Should I be worried that I will never be happy? Darn iMac #3 was perfect in every way, except dead freaking pixels. Am I just unlucky?

......

Can you live with what you have (now, and a month, or a year from now)?
If the answer is NO, check who has the best return policy (no questions asked, no restocking fee - like Best Buy?) and try and return for as long as it takes. Some mcfans got it perfect, maybe you'll get lucky as well. But it may be a long march...

Tom B.

 

[mlblacy]

sowing the seeds of discontent...

perhaps you should just buy a Dell instead, and leave the macs for the "macfans"...

just a thought. The problem with these threads is that they sow doubt that is not backed up statistically. Perhaps you are indeed on your "4th", but just wondering why you felt so compelled to start your on thread with a fear-mongering header that was in direct response to mine... and then linked your thread from my own.

"Fanboy" comments only make you sound more like a troll, and less like a user who is undergoing a rough patch. Also, it is less likely to endear you much sympathy from the "fans".

"Maybe" it is karma. "Maybe" you should take it as a sign to leave the mac platform and discover if the grass is greener on the other side. If I was in the same situation that would be I would do, instead of posting endless complaints. If you have an issue, call up your credit card company and institute a complaint. They will take it off your hands, and resolve it themselves (if your complaint is legitimate).

You were so thoughtful to caution that "some" macfans got it perfect... but I would venture that MOST (fans or otherwise) folks had no problems either. "Maybe" I was just lucky for now, and "maybe" I should worry about a month or a year from now... but I don't think so...
cheers,
michael

 

[applefan289]

Well, I'm staying with the one I have even though the hard drive noise is clearly audible when my air conditioner is off. I'm not going to go through the PITA that some of you went through, so I'm just keeping mine and not exchanging, especially after Apple posted that update on August 6th, "Evaluating Normal Noises". If this is your 4th exchange, it's becoming ridiculous. I would either keep it, or return it for a full refund and buy either a Mac Mini with a separate monitor, or a Mac Pro (if you can afford it).

 

[symbology]

perhaps you should just buy a Dell instead, and leave the macs for the "macfans"...

just a thought. The problem with these threads is that they sow doubt that is not backed up statistically. Perhaps you are indeed on your "4th", but just wondering why you felt so compelled to start your on thread with a fear-mongering header that was in direct response to mine... and then linked your thread from my own.

"Fanboy" comments only make you sound more like a troll, and less like a user who is undergoing a rough patch. Also, it is less likely to endear you much sympathy from the "fans".

"Maybe" it is karma. "Maybe" you should take it as a sign to leave the mac platform and discover if the grass is greener on the other side. If I was in the same situation that would be I would do, instead of posting endless complaints. If you have an issue, call up your credit card company and institute a complaint. They will take it off your hands, and resolve it themselves (if your complaint is legitimate).

You were so thoughtful to caution that "some" macfans got it perfect... but I would venture that MOST (fans or otherwise) folks had no problems either. "Maybe" I was just lucky for now, and "maybe" I should worry about a month or a year from now... but I don't think so...
cheers,
michael

I guess I took offense to your "should I be worried", like you were being a smart a$$. That is why I copied your post title. It has also been over a month since I started this process and purchased my first iMac. It gets frustrating dealing with this crap.

Macfans, is the a polite way of saying fanboy? Is it different? I generally am a fan of Macs. I am typing out this post on my 15" MBP with my 23" ACD. My wife has a MB and we are happy with these products. No issues at all.

The reason I linked my post to yours, is well, this started as a response to your thread due to your "Apple will make it right" statement. I then decided that I should start my own and not mess your thread up too much.

Anyway,

So, I took #4 back because the gray banding was just too much. Two of my previous iMacs had less. When I got this exchange, the manager of the store made a comment of "we can't keep exchanging these things". So, I took it home to try it no my desk. No go... too much gray banding. I boxed up #4 and took it back to the store to return it for a refund. The same store manager than instructed the sales person to charge me 10% restocking fee. YEAH, APPLE IS GREAT!!!!!. I argued for a minute with the sales guy, and he escalated to the manager. After a minute long argument with the manager, he agreed to waive the restocking fee. So, I got my $ back.

BTW, the manager in the Apple Store said that the displays are not perfect and they all vary and they all have the gray banding. What does that tell you.

I bought this iMac to take over as my Lightroom and Photshop machine. You don't think that a dark shadow going across the screen is an issue for this use? The gray banding is so bad, that every light colored document, or web page that I have open looks like it has an automatic shadowing effect on the bottom of the window. Never, ever seen anything like this before.

I think I am done trying to find a "good enough for me" iMac. I will just upgrade my monitor on my Vista machine and continue to do my photo editing on that.

It is really a shame, as #3 really was a sweet machine. No yellowing, could only see the gray banding if I tried, and it may not have even existed. It was "perfect" except the 1/4 long line of dead pixels on the right side of the screen. That machine could have been the one. For those of you that have a good, great, or perfect machine I am really happy for you. I wish I was so lucky.

For what it is worth, the two BTO (shipped from CA) iMacs were the worst two of the four. The two that I picked up from the Apple Store had nicer overall displays.

It is a shame that Apple continues to use these poor quality LG displays. I am sure there are nice ones out there, but there is more bad then good I am afraid. Again, #3 visually had a perfect display (yellow / gray banding). Just dead pixels ruined it.

 

[symbology]

just a thought. The problem with these threads is that they sow doubt that is not backed up statistically.

When the Apple Care rep (over the phone) says that yellowing is normal for these iMacs, and the Apple Store manager says that they all have gray banding and it is normal............ "doubt" "statistics" WTF are you talking about?

You got a good unit and are lucky. However, don't go around thinking that since you are happy with yours, everybody should be and those that are not are just trouble makers.

 

[Iamthinking]

...got the same story when I phoned the Applecare senior advisor to inform her that my 4th iMac (21.5") monitor, while exibiting less yellow and much less dust (after I got the courage up to pop the glass off and wipe the dust out- really easy BTW).

Damn...dead pixels- I would have kept it if it weren't for those- and they are close to the middle of the screen.

I was told the yellowing AND dead pixels were "within normal" and was asked to count the pixels! I replied- "I am not counting the pixels (even if I could figure out how to do that - as they are clustered together) - this is a new machine and 1 is too many! Most monitor manufacturers have had a zero-dead pixel policy for about the last 2-3 years.

Anyhow, they wanted me to refund the machine, as there's little point in sending me a new one since "...I'll just find problems with that one too!".

WTF? Somehow this is MY fault? Machine #3 was so poorly discolored that 2 Mac techs (they made me take it in to be "verified") said it was not usable for anything photo or video related.....mmmm....like that's kinda the main thing I want to use the iMac for.

...anyhow, I am now going to try one last time with a 27" model (have lost all faith in the 21.5") and see how that goes. If it's "unusable for photo and video apps" then I guess I am done. Apple has had my money for over 2 months and I still don't have a working computer - and have spent too many hours transferring files, unpacking, packing, rinse, repeat.

My god I hope Apple's sales in notebooks, ipadpods, and phones is profitable. No wonder they dropped the "computer" from the Apple name- at this point they don't deserve it!

The better question may be "...on my 4th iMAC, should APPLE be worried?"

-Iamthinking

 

[symbology]

Iamthinking, yeah sorry to hear that your experience has been similar to mine.

Good luck with the 27"

I just returned (to my desk) my quad core Vista 64 machine. I still need a new display for it (larger one)

I am going through some 27" iMac withdrawals. lol I am tempted to try again at another store. Maybe I will wit a little while, I don't know.

 

[Tec972]

...got the same story when I phoned the Applecare senior advisor to inform her that my 4th iMac (21.5") monitor, while exibiting less yellow and much less dust (after I got the courage up to pop the glass off and wipe the dust out- really easy BTW).

Damn...dead pixels- I would have kept it if it weren't for those- and they are close to the middle of the screen.

I was told the yellowing AND dead pixels were "within normal" and was asked to count the pixels! I replied- "I am not counting the pixels (even if I could figure out how to do that - as they are clustered together) - this is a new machine and 1 is too many! Most monitor manufacturers have had a zero-dead pixel policy for about the last 2-3 years.

Anyhow, they wanted me to refund the machine, as there's little point in sending me a new one since "...I'll just find problems with that one too!".

WTF? Somehow this is MY fault? Machine #3 was so poorly discolored that 2 Mac techs (they made me take it in to be "verified") said it was not usable for anything photo or video related.....mmmm....like that's kinda the main thing I want to use the iMac for.

...anyhow, I am now going to try one last time with a 27" model (have lost all faith in the 21.5") and see how that goes. If it's "unusable for photo and video apps" then I guess I am done. Apple has had my money for over 2 months and I still don't have a working computer - and have spent too many hours transferring files, unpacking, packing, rinse, repeat.

My god I hope Apple's sales in notebooks, ipadpods, and phones is profitable. No wonder they dropped the "computer" from the Apple name- at this point they don't deserve it!

The better question may be "...on my 4th iMAC, should APPLE be worried?"

-Iamthinking

You guys, I totally sympathize with you.. I am on my second and not totally satisfied. I wrote a long post about my experience in another thread and was basically told the same thing you guys were. I bought the macine because of the nice display and am on my second and my $230 23" LG is more accurate than the apple display. It all boils down to "How cheaply can we produce our product to have the largest profit margins". When I pay $2k for $1K worth of hardware you damn well believe I expect perfection on operation, fit and finish. Why are there no problems with Apple Cinema displays???

I would be willing to bet that there are so many people who have "off color" displays and just have no freaking clue. Both of my displays 95% of people would never notice but I did the second I pulled the thing out of the box and started it. I was under the impression the display problems were fixed with the yellow tinge but as soon as the white screen came on my heart sank. I knew it wasn't as white as it should be and it was consistant on the entire display. Granted it was nothing like what we were seeing in the late 2009 models. This is an even uniform tinge with slightly more around the outer half inch of the screen all the way around.

Apple is skimping out big time on manufacturing, and quality control. How many other products have you seen with such a high return rate and so many issues off the assembly line. I had to return one other monitor once in my life. On my current machine the glass panel is about a mm or so off. It's not even flush. Are you ***** kidding me??? That ***** is so easy to spot if they took a second and tried looking.

No, instead they try to pass off poor manufacturing and quality control, hope most people won't notice and then try to put out the fire when they could have prevented it in the first place. Then they tell you that YOU are the one who is seeing things and f-ed up. It's not their fault. That's why they distributed secret company memo's to their stores detailing what managers and staff need to tell people and how to deal with them, because they KNEW their displays were garbage. Yeah Nice!!!!

-Nice products, horrible quality control, refusal to eliminate the problem at the source and do things right. It would jeopardize their 100+% profit margins per device way too much.

 

[Iamthinking]

I just returned (to my desk) my quad core Vista 64 machine. I still need a new display for it (larger one)

...lucky you have the option. I sold my quad core win7 machine the day before the first iMac arrived.

I have a few older servers in my garage that I can use and my iPad, but no real workstation since July.

Btw, if you have to stick with windows, the windows 7 upgrade is worthwhile. If this next machine doesn't come in as usable and useful, I suppose I may be forced to rebuY a windows box and perhaps pick up a used iMac or Mac mini down the road. Damn shame since the design, looks, and speed of these macs are real sweet. But if they all have some sort of problem, I don't see the point.

 

[green86]

Iamthinking, yeah sorry to hear that your experience has been similar to mine.

Good luck with the 27"

I just returned (to my desk) my quad core Vista 64 machine. I still need a new display for it (larger one)

I am going through some 27" iMac withdrawals. lol I am tempted to try again at another store. Maybe I will wit a little while, I don't know.

As far as never being satisfied... it's not you.

Although not a Mac, I had my first gen iPhone replaced *Ten* times under AppleCare. The last one has held up, but I only used it for a few months before getting my 3GS. I've gotten one replacement for the 3GS as the first one dropped almost every call I made or took.

But this last 3GS has lasted 8 months and is still going strong, knock on wood. Moral of the story is Apple's hardware has been suspect lately. I wouldn't buy an iMac right now for anything.

 

[surfologist87]

Every forum has to have at least one guy who has been on his fourth cell phone, computer........blender...........

rofl

 

[wywern209]

Damn, i'm happy my dad bought his 24" iMac a couple years back when apple's quality control on the iMacs were good. It might not have a core i7 or the blazing fast gpu but at least the screens is pretty good for the photo correction he does.

 

[Tec972]

...lucky you have the option. I sold my quad core win7 machine the day before the first iMac arrived.

I have a few older servers in my garage that I can use and my iPad, but no real workstation since July.

Btw, if you have to stick with windows, the windows 7 upgrade is worthwhile. If this next machine doesn't come in as usable and useful, I suppose I may be forced to rebuY a windows box and perhaps pick up a used iMac or Mac mini down the road. Damn shame since the design, looks, and speed of these macs are real sweet. But if they all have some sort of problem, I don't see the point.

Win 7 is nice. I would never get rid of my PC to just go Mac exclusive. Might as well have the best of both worlds, in addition I haven't done or seen anything yet on the Mac that is so awesome it would make me ditch a PC. I think the Mac is a much more handcuffed machine.

As soon as I got a Mac it made me realize some very important things that OSX doesn't do like file merge. That is a big one. First time I imported files to my Mac I lost a bunch of info because it overwrote a folder instead of adding the missing files to it.

 

[symbology]

...lucky you have the option. I sold my quad core win7 machine the day before the first iMac arrived.

I have a few older servers in my garage that I can use and my iPad, but no real workstation since July.

Btw, if you have to stick with windows, the windows 7 upgrade is worthwhile. If this next machine doesn't come in as usable and useful, I suppose I may be forced to rebuY a windows box and perhaps pick up a used iMac or Mac mini down the road. Damn shame since the design, looks, and speed of these macs are real sweet. But if they all have some sort of problem, I don't see the point.

Yeah, well I gave my PC to my Daughter and had to repo it from her. She is back on her Sony Laptop.

Also, when I started this process I really just needed a new display. The iMacs sounded so great that I decided to get one. After ordering the iMac I went ahead and ordered new software for it. New versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. Now, I need to go back to Adobe and try to get them to swap out my license from the Mac to PC version. Otherwise, more $ out the window to buy redundant software.

 

[kryptonitejesus]

All you people who are incredibly worried about your future iMac purchases need to realize that those with bad Mac experiences are the ones to talk about them on the forums here, I was feeling pretty worritiredofthesethreadsed with all this discussion of the Displays not being up to par, but for every 1 dissatisfied people there are obviously 9 of those that are satisfied, just look at the sales numbers Apple are putting out on these iMacs, obviously they're doing something right.

 

[i3iMac]

All you people who are incredibly worried about your future iMac purchases need to realize that those with bad Mac experiences are the ones to talk about them on the forums here, I was feeling pretty worritiredofthesethreadsed with all this discussion of the Displays not being up to par, but for every 1 dissatisfied people there are obviously 9 of those that are satisfied, just look at the sales numbers Apple are putting out on these iMacs, obviously they're doing something right.

20 year PC tech repairman here. I've seen more than a few threads such as this to scare me away from converting to the dark side. I went ahead and bit the bullet and am now typing this on my new 21.5" iMac. My display is flawless (had it inspected by my photography master wife) and I can only hear it running if my office is completely silent. The only annoying noise has been produced by my long time PC user buddies. I expect the hazing to only last a short while though Just thought I'd chime in some positivity for those looking to convert.

 

[Btom]

All you people who are incredibly worried about your future iMac purchases need to realize that those with bad Mac experiences are the ones to talk about them on the forums here, I was feeling pretty worritiredofthesethreadsed with all this discussion of the Displays not being up to par, but for every 1 dissatisfied people there are obviously 9 of those that are satisfied, just look at the sales numbers Apple are putting out on these iMacs, obviously they're doing something right.

Wow, full 10% of customer dissatisfaction (meaning even higher percentage of faulty computers)! I wonder how did you come with this number?

Tom B.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

20 year PC tech repairman here. I've seen more than a few threads such as this to scare me away from converting to the dark side. I went ahead and bit the bullet and am now typing this on my new 21.5" iMac. My display is flawless (had it inspected by my photography master wife) and I can only hear it running if my office is completely silent. The only annoying noise has been produced by my long time PC user buddies. I expect the hazing to only last a short while though Just thought I'd chime in some positivity for those looking to convert.

My iMac 2.8 extreme that I bought almost 2 years ago works just fine since I first unboxed it. Monitor is great, no dead pixels, and a minimum of yellow tint after calibrating the monitor. I do web and print work and work in Photoshop for manipulation of photos etc. Neither any webpages that I am have worked on, or anything I have had printed looks any different that what I see on my screen, and it has been this way for almost 2 years.

Sorry to read all the issues people have with their iMacs. As mentioned there are good ones out there!

 

[kryptonitejesus]

Wow, full 10% of customer dissatisfaction (meaning even higher percentage of faulty computers)! I wonder how did you come with this number?

Tom B.

I never said I was posting factual statistics, I was merely stating, for every complainer there are PLENTY of happy, satisfied customers, who have no problems with the product, whatsoever.

However, the fear mongering, and the trolling aside, yes, some of the issues are completely ridiculous, but most of the time you guys are way too worried about getting a 'perfect' iMac.

Someone please, explain to me why you all feel entitled to a 'perfect' product? Trust me, I've got my limits also, but nothing is ever 100% perfect, and regardless of how much the product is, it's still not going to be.

Spread the love not the fear mongering.

 

[mlblacy]

I never said I was posting factual statistics, I was merely stating, for every complainer there are PLENTY of happy, satisfied customers, who have no problems with the product, whatsoever.

However, the fear mongering, and the trolling aside, yes, some of the issues are completely ridiculous, but most of the time you guys are way too worried about getting a 'perfect' iMac.

Someone please, explain to me why you all feel entitled to a 'perfect' product? Trust me, I've got my limits also, but nothing is ever 100% perfect, and regardless of how much the product is, it's still not going to be.

Spread the love not the fear mongering.

amen!

 

[green86]

Someone please, explain to me why you all feel entitled to a 'perfect' product? Trust me, I've got my limits also, but nothing is ever 100% perfect, and regardless of how much the product is, it's still not going to be.

Spread the love not the fear mongering.

Lol your a corporations DREAM! Why am I entitled to a perfect product? Because we paid thousands of dollars for one.

All my bigger ticket items must be perfect. My car too... and I badger them to fix every little thing. Its a consumers right. This smells... no reeks of fanboyism.

 

[tuna]

Someone please, explain to me why you all feel entitled to a 'perfect' product? Trust me, I've got my limits also, but nothing is ever 100% perfect, and regardless of how much the product is, it's still not going to be.
.

~$2k for a 27" iMac is a lot to spend on any computer and as others have said, industry standard LCD warranties now allow for very few (if any) dead pixels on delivery. Also, yellow tinting or "grey banding" (whatever that means, I feel bad for you guys), would instantly be considered to constitute a defective unit.

Also, the Apple Store isn't the Salvation Army store. Its in the high-end mall next to The Gap and Gucci. You buy a pair of jeans from the Gap and notice that they have messed up seam before you take the tags off, you bet your ass that you can return them.

If I spent $2k on an iMac and it had clusters of dead pixels and everything was tinted yellow, I would be pissed. It's not the consumer's fault that Apple bundles their display and their computer so that when they're having manufacturing problems with one, they have to replace the other.

The difference is that I would only stand for Apple to replace it once. If the second model wasn't right, that would be the end of that Apple purchase experience for me. I'd go online and spend half as much on a similar computer setup.

 

[Tec972]

I never said I was posting factual statistics, I was merely stating, for every complainer there are PLENTY of happy, satisfied customers, who have no problems with the product, whatsoever.

However, the fear mongering, and the trolling aside, yes, some of the issues are completely ridiculous, but most of the time you guys are way too worried about getting a 'perfect' iMac.

Someone please, explain to me why you all feel entitled to a 'perfect' product? Trust me, I've got my limits also, but nothing is ever 100% perfect, and regardless of how much the product is, it's still not going to be.

Spread the love not the fear mongering.

Don't be a naive fanboy!! I am not saying that as an insult! If wants respect they need to earn it through quality products which they have been seriously faltering in lately with the macs.

If you were able to see the product you were getting it would be a different story. But their manufacturing is SO inconsistant you have no idea what the problems may be out of the box. Because you have to buy it first and then see what may be in store for you is the problem. You can't go by what they have on display because of the inconsistancies. I brought mine back into the store and it looked different from the other two models I put it next to. One screen was good, mine was too yellow and the other one was to cool or "bluish" when it came to the white balance. All the color profiles were set identically.

I wish they would unbox it fire it up and let you see it. Because I would know right off the bat if the screen was to my satisfaction. I'm sure it would be for many others who either 1- Don't care, 2-Don't know any better. But mine is not good enough for me. I told the manager that if my display looked like the one sitting next to it I would have ZERO problems and would be a happy camper.

Would you spend $30-$40k for a brand new car that ran like **** or had scratches or dents in it?

Spending $2k for a machine it should be perfect!! Especially when it shouldn't cost more than a grand!! Apple doesn't use any parts that aren't found in any other computer for a third of the cost. We are not nitpicking we just expect to get what we paid for. When I spend one tenth the money on another display and it IS perfect, why cant the iMac be at 10x the cost.

I give credit where it is due and apple has certainly not earned mine, or many other people's respect with the iMacs lately. It's that simple.