[ae86_16v]

I just got my 867mhz. Got a question for you guys, if there is one dead pixel, could I take it back to Apple? (it's black by the way).

[MaxPower2k3]

no.

[ae86_16v]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
no.

Do you know what is their tolerance limit?

[hldan]

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
Do you know what is their tolerance limit?

Apple has the same policy as most other companies that sell LCD monitors. They will only cover it for an exchange through AppleCare so long as the screen has 5 or more dead or stuck pixels.
I know dead pixels are a pain but try to overlook it over time. It wouldn't hurt for you to take it to the Apple Store or call Apple and tell them about it. You may get lucky since you just got it.

[ae86_16v]

Thanks.

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
Do you know what is their tolerance limit?

5 in a cluster I believe. But please check with Apple, I am not 100% sure.

[The Placid Casual]

I'd be more than happy you only have the one...

[wulf]

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
I just got my 867mhz. Got a question for you guys, if there is one dead pixel, could I take it back to Apple? (it's black by the way).

You probably know this already, but sometimes gently massaging the dead pixel can bring it back to life. FWIW.

[ae86_16v]

Originally posted by wulf:
You probably know this already, but sometimes gently massaging the dead pixel can bring it back to life. FWIW.

Yeah from behind the screen right? I tried that already.

The Placid Casual: This is my 5th Apple laptop and my first brand new one and it is also my first with a dead pixel. Ironic huh?

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
The Placid Casual: This is my 5th Apple laptop and my first brand new one and it is also my first with a dead pixel. Ironic huh?

Man you have had all my notebook luck!!

I have just got an 867 too, and it is my first for about 4+ years without a dead pixel!!

The last 'dead pixel' free machine I got was a Wallstreet back in the day... In the mean time I have had iBooks, Powerbooks and Studio Displays... all with a variety of dead and stuck pixels!!

It sucks to have a dead pixel for sure, but the way I see it, things could have been worse... After a few weeks of use I bet you won't even notice it anymore...

On the 867 I have, the bottom casing doesn't quite sit flush to the chassis of the machine on the front right, there's a few millimeters of movement... In the past I would have been pissed, but the fault is trivial, and the machine works great so I don't care... I've had the machine for a week and now and don't even notice it now!

Enjoy the machine!

Peace,

Marc

[Link]

I think it really sucks. See that dead pixel isn't too big a deal because after a while.. you just get used to them..

But they're still there.. ignoring it won't make it go away. Really sucks you ended up with one.

[danbrew]

I'd raise all sorts of hell about it. Consider this - if you bought a new car and it had a scratch on the windshield, or a ding on the door, the dealer would replace, right?

Believe me, Apple will replace this if you turn up the heat - or if you simply dispute with your credit card company. Apple counts on the sheep to say things like, "Oh, well, it's only one. I mean, come on, are you being unreasonable?" or "Where's your loyalty?" or some such rot.

Although this does point out why you should turn it on in the store and examine.

[The Placid Casual]

Apple will not replace a machine under any circumstance what so ever, just because of a SINGLE dead pixel!! I mean, that is madness, and also madness to expect them to!

No amount of Apple jihad or shouting will change that.

The manufacturing process dictates that Dead pixels are a fact of life for the moment, and on most LCDs up to 5 is within acceptable manufacturing parameters.

It is nothing like buying a new car with a scratch... not even close. There is NO EXCUSE for car paint to be not correct, as they have flawless manufacturing and application process... that is not the case for LCDs and won't be for the immediate future.

If you want no dead pixels at all, fine, add $1000 to the price of the machine. OK? Or wait for OLEDs... If you had a dead pixel then, then you have something to complain about.

Up to then, some of the whining is getting embarrassing... there are some things we just have to deal with. Is a SINGLE dead pixel such a huge world altering issue

Peace,

Marc

[Shaddim]

Marc's right, it's crazy to raise hell over a single pixel. The manufacturing process isn't flawless and 30-40% of manufactured panels have pixel irregularities. That's just a fact of life. My Dell 18" display has 3 dead pixels (in the corners) and my PB 12 has 1 dead pixel almost dead center of the display, but I don't bitch about it, it's just the way it turned out.

If you don't like it, buy a CRT display portable... they're only 50+lbs.

[iWrite]

You know what's weird?

Spouse's company buys all kinds of portable computers (notebooks and Powerbooks) for people.

In that time, I've NEVER found a PC notebook with a single dead or stuck pixel. Not one!

On the other hand, I find that 50% of the Powerbooks have dead and/or stuck pixels. It's really weird!

Also, I've found that if you have AppleCare extended warranty that Apple WILL replace the LCD for 3 dead pixels or more.

Hint? Telling Apple that the LCD is "dark in one corner and/or pink" often means that they'll bring it in for repair...and nine times out of ten they replace the LCD for you.

Now, you may get lucky and get a perfect LCD...or you may find more dead or stuck pixels. It's a chance you take.

Of COURSE, you really SHOULD have an "LCD that is dark in one corner and/or pink" if that's what you're complaining about...

[murbot]

Yes, that is a fabulous idea. Maybe if we're lucky, this will contribute to the raising of LCD prices. Yay!

[iWrite]

Since I've spent my money buying AppleCare on each and every Mac for the last 6 years at home and at corporate, a total of about 100 of them, I'm not worried about how LCD prices have been "raised."

I have spent $2000 on AppleCare on my six Powerbooks that I've owned in the last 18 months alone.

One of them had the LCD replaced. I think Apple MADE money on me.

[osxisfun]

People that complain about one dead pixel are not aware of what it takes to makes these LCDs.

If they insist on a zero defect policy when it comes to LCDs then you will see the supply dry up for new LCDs and the price of them skyrocket. All for the sake of a few.

And yes, as a matter of fact PC lcds (not there is really such a thing about 3 compnaies make them for all computer makers) have dead pixels too.

I own 2 apple 20" lcds. One dead LCD. I don't notice it at all as i am too busy making products that will make me $.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Marc's right, it's crazy to raise hell over a single pixel. The manufacturing process isn't flawless and 30-40% of manufactured panels have pixel irregularities. That's just a fact of life. My Dell 18" display has 3 dead pixels (in the corners) and my PB 12 has 1 dead pixel almost dead center of the display, but I don't bitch about it, it's just the way it turned out.

If you don't like it, buy a CRT display portable... they're only 50+lbs.

Yeah, it's crazy. But people get what they settle for.

Keep in mind that the CPU in a laptop computer has millions of transitors. Who the hell are we to complain if a few of them don't work? Sheesh.

Apple counts on people saying, "ah, well, gee, I guess it's understandable" - it's not. And let's not get on this rot about PowerBooks costing more if they were manufacturered without defects. Ah, got news for you, PowerBooks already do cost more than comprable PC laptops. If I'm paying a premium, I expect perfection.

I've got a PB and a 22" ACD and have no pixel problems. I've got a few other flat panel devices (and laptops) - no problems with them either. Believe me, Apple (or the credit card company) will refund your money if you squawk loud enough. I've seen it happen several times.

Food for thought.

[osxisfun]

Keep in mind, the manufacturing process for chips is decades old and has been perfected by hundreds of companies.

Keep in mind that the manufacturing process for LCDs are still in its child years.

Is anyone here saying that we should shut down LCD producers until they get to a zero defect policy?

Is anyone here willing to pay the amount per LCD that it would take to get zero defects in the short turn?

??

"I expect perfection." You have every right to expect it...With parts apple has control over or parts with decades old man. fac. processes.

The LCD is something they do not. That is unless you want your next powerbook to cost $12,000...

[schmoe]

It seems that most people understand that some percent of LCDs will have defects, but that doesn't stop Apple from paying slightly more for the ones that don't have defects. I'm sure the LCDs are tested at the time of manufacture, and more than likely the number of bad pixels is counted as well.

Flash RAM works this way, there is a whole hierarchy of buyers: from the top, perfect RAM, down to stuff that is so messed up that its unusable by most applications. However it turns out that stuff like telephone answering machines are expected to have such poor voice quality that bad flash chips work just fine.

I don't see any reason why LCDs wouldn't work this way. And I've followed IBM ThinkPad forums and bad pixels are extremely rare. It's really just a case of paying for quality, perhaps Apple's margins won't allow that.

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by danbrew:
Yeah, it's crazy. But people get what they settle for.

Keep in mind that the CPU in a laptop computer has millions of transitors. Who the hell are we to complain if a few of them don't work? Sheesh.

Apple counts on people saying, "ah, well, gee, I guess it's understandable" - it's not. And let's not get on this rot about PowerBooks costing more if they were manufacturered without defects. Ah, got news for you, PowerBooks already do cost more than comprable PC laptops. If I'm paying a premium, I expect perfection.

I've got a PB and a 22" ACD and have no pixel problems. I've got a few other flat panel devices (and laptops) - no problems with them either. Believe me, Apple (or the credit card company) will refund your money if you squawk loud enough. I've seen it happen several times.

Food for thought.

Unfortunately, it's junk food.

Powerbooks do not cost more than comparable PCs, because there are almost no comparable notebook PCs. From a quality point of view, Powerbooks are at the top.

Example. Dell's trying to make a PB 12 competitor but it's more than the PB 12, $100s of dollars more... So is Panasonic's, Fujitsu's, IBM's, etc.

BTW, you're wrong about CPUs. Every CPU has flaws, and some even operate cooler or more efficiently than others. Why don't you sit and figure out if your CPU is sub-par and maybe you can gripe about that too?

Scream all you want, that's your right. Some people just aren't happy unless they have SOMETHING to complain about.

[ibookuser2]

Let's do some math. The 15" PowerBook has 1280x854 pixels. For each of those pixels, there are three transistors (one for each color.) That makes 3 279 360 transistors in the screen. If one is dead, the display is still 99.9999997 percent good. Isn't that acceptable?

Dead pixels are really annoying when you look at them when your machine is new, and you notice you have a dead pixel. For a while you worry about paying all that money and not having a perfect machine. But then you get over the fact that it's brand new and perfect and start to use it. It'll get scratches. You'll get some dirt between the keys. Eventually you'll realize that you hardly even notice the dead pixel unless you're thinking about it.

And how much dust is there on your screen at any given time? Unless you clean it hourly, there are going to be flecks of dust on it. And guess what a fleck of dust looks like - a dead pixel. Nothing more. You can wipe away a bit of dust, but an hour later, there's more. It's annoying if you're trying to admire your screen, but if you're just using your computer, it makes no difference whatsoever.

Consider yourself lucky that you only have one. What if there were two? Three? If you get Apple to exchange your machine, chances are your replacement will have a dead pixel too. Maybe more than one.

Is a little tiny speck, one in three million, all that important?

[danbrew]

Originally posted by MacNStein:

Scream all you want, that's your right. Some people just aren't happy unless they have SOMETHING to complain about.

Clearly, you talk more than I do. Bottom line is that some people will accept anything. Others will not. Hey, God Bless if you're willing to accept sub-par performance. Not everybody will.

The problem with bad pixels, of course, is for those that use their PowerBooks for real work - things like photo editing or video editing. A bad pixel in the wrong place *will* impact your work. If you're simply surfing the net and chatting away on xyz board, I suppose a bad pixel isn't that bad a thing.

I can't wait to upgrade my PB. I'll document the process for everybody who thinks that Apple is inflexible.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by danbrew:
Clearly, you talk more than I do. Bottom line is that some people will accept anything. Others will not. Hey, God Bless if you're willing to accept sub-par performance. Not everybody will.

The problem with bad pixels, of course, is for those that use their PowerBooks for real work - things like photo editing or video editing. A bad pixel in the wrong place *will* impact your work. If you're simply surfing the net and chatting away on xyz board, I suppose a bad pixel isn't that bad a thing.

I can't wait to upgrade my PB. I'll document the process for everybody who thinks that Apple is inflexible.

This is clearly a crusade for you. I don't think 1 dead pixel is going to do jack squat for impacting your work, as you say.

Tell me, is your powerbook color managed? Didn't think so. Yeah, thats going to effect things a lot more than a little magenta dot, that you have to be looking for to see it.

[brachiator]

I'd say screw Apple's policies, and don't be swayed by the purported economic arguments in here (c'mon, gang, do any of you really know what the marginal increase in production cost is between the 5-bad-pixel and zero-bad-pixel screens? )

Go into the store and buy your machine. Insist on inspecting before you check out, and look through several models until you get a good one.

I did this once on the pixel issue. I wonder if it will work again. The first time was at an independent shop, but when I buy the new Powerbook it will maybe be at the Apple store.

[danbrew]

Yes, this is my holy jihad.

What gets me, more than one bad pixel btw, is that everybody is running around insisting this type of quality control is acceptable. It is not. And everybody who pontificates that it is acceptable is doing an injustice to the new guy who comes here looking for answers.

One bad pixel in the wrong place - and stuck in a certain color can cause problems - even if that problem is just in my head. Why should I pay top dollar and end up with a defective product?

Apple isn't advertising Powerbooks with "maybe you'll get a few bad pixels, live with it" as their tagline. They say things like this "Killer graphics
The new 17-inch PowerBook G4 ships with the NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM." and "17-inch TFT Display
1440x900 resolution."

Gee, nowhere in there do I see "1440x900 but maybe you'll get 1435x895"

I'm clearly not going to win the argument here, but I'd win it with Apple. Or Visa. Or Amex.

So there.

Color managed? What's that? Doh!

[AssassyN]

Your point is so invalid isn't not even funny. Do you honestly think when you go out to purchased a "brand new" vehicle from a sales lot, that they'll be NO, not even the FIRST, swirl mark or most tiny flaw in the paint anywhere? Of course there will be. They don't advertise vehicles as "there may be a tiny imperfection somewhere...", they advertise as "GET THIS NEW CAR TODAY!" Tiny flaws are a fact of life, and escp. w/ LCD screens you can't expect Apple to replace your machine if ONE pixel out of 1440x900 is dead.

EDIT: On aside, however, I do understand your wish. My 12" PB has one pixel that stays white constantly & you can see it in the "black bars" when watching a widescreen DVD, but I'm still 110% satisfied with my purchase and aside from that one instance, it never bothers me.

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by danbrew:
Yes, this is my holy jihad.

What gets me, more than one bad pixel btw, is that everybody is running around insisting this type of quality control is acceptable. It is not. And everybody who pontificates that it is acceptable is doing an injustice to the new guy who comes here looking for answers.

It has NOTHING to do with quality control of any type, by any company... Jeez, is that so hard to get? **IT IS THE LIMITATIONS IN THE CURRENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS**

No one is doing any injustice to anyone, however you are making yourself look very foolish...

IF YOU HAVE 5 OR MORE DEAD PIXELS IT WILL BE CHANGED... WHERE IS THE PROBLEM?

Originally posted by danbrew:
One bad pixel is the wrong place - and stuck in a certain color can cause problems - even if that problem is just in my head. Why should I pay top dollar and end up with a defective product?

I will accept that it is annoying, but it is clearly not defective. It is well within accepted manufacturing tolerances. NOTHING if you look close enough is perfect... There are only levels of imperfection.

Originally posted by danbrew:
Apple isn't advertising Powerbooks with "maybe you'll get a few bad pixels, live with it" as their tagline.

You obviously don't read the small print

Originally posted by danbrew:
I'm clearly not going to win the argument here, but I'd win it with Apple. Or Visa. Or Amex.

You certainly won't win it here. You would not win it with Apple, or any reseller.

Whether you win with your Amex or Visa company doesn't matter as you haven't gained anything. The next display you get could have 4 errant pixels...

I really would look at the situation with a bit more maturity. Your position on the matter is totally illogical.

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Your point is so invalid isn't not even funny. Do you honestly think when you go out to purchased a "brand new" vehicle from a sales lot, that they'll be NO, not even the FIRST, swirl mark or most tiny flaw in the paint anywhere? Of course there will be. They don't advertise vehicles as "there may be a tiny imperfection somewhere...", they advertise as "GET THIS NEW CAR TODAY!" Tiny flaws are a fact of life, and escp. w/ LCD screens you can't expect Apple to replace your machine if ONE pixel out of 1440x900 is dead.

EDIT: On aside, however, I do understand your wish. My 12" PB has one pixel that stays white constantly & you can see it in the "black bars" when watching a widescreen DVD, but I'm still 110% satisfied with my purchase and aside from that one instance, it never bothers me.

Dude, try the massaging technique with a soft cloth on that pixel. I've fixed many bright pixels that way. True, it may come back in a few months, but then you just have to rub it again.

[Godzilla]

I still envy you - one pixel?

As soon as my warrenty ended, and I thought nothing could happen to my PowerBook, from that point till now, I've received 6 verticle pixel lines, all 1.5"ish apart. Some of these "most-wonderful" pixel columns are 3 pixels wide, and some of them are 15 pixels wide - yes, I counted .

I also have 1 dead pixel elswhere in the left corner, and in the other corner, a scratch. Yeah, friend was playing with knife, dropped on keyboard, bounced onto LCD.

I killed him .

[Godzilla]

Forgot to mention:

The lesson here? Extend your warrenty whenever necessary - but that's a no-brainer I suppose...and that would also mean I have no brain...correct.

[brachiator]

Placid Casual, I appreciate the irony of your screenname.

Additionally, and on a less sarcastic note, I'd appreciate it if you would elaborate, in detail, on your claim that the dead pixel problem is a limitation inherent to the manufacturing process, and is not, therefore, a quality control issue. I'd also appreciate an explanation of your claim that, in contrast, auto manufacturers have a "flawless manufacturing and application process."

Your comparison implies that the manuf. process is incapable of reliably producing dead-pixel-free screens. Fair enough (although I'd like to know why and how QC is not an issue). You don't say, though, what the proportion is of flawless screens to flawed screens. You don't say what the cost differential is or should be between what you claim is the aberrant flawless screen and the imperfect screen that is apparently state-of-the-art.

This isn't just picking a fight with you, either. I want a perfect Powerbook, and at $3000+ I think that I should get it. One dead pixel offends me. I'm willing to change my mind, though, if someone can convince me that it is truly unreasonable. But that is going to take more than someone calling my desire to get my $3000 bucks-worth "madness,"totally illogical," or "so invalid isn't not even funny." That is going to take a clear explanation with details and at least rough economics.

I'm a rational actor, after all.

[Chemmy]

I massaged a dead pixel out of my iBook by gently rubbing it from the front of the screen whenever I saw it.

It took about 2 weeks of intermittant rubbing and then it was gone.

It was gone for about a year, came back, and disappeared in 30 seconds of massaging.

Long story short? Rub the stupid dead pixel until it goes away.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
you obviously don't read the small print

I'd love to see the small print where Apple says some of its laptops will come with defective LCDs. And not some email from Apple saying "oppps, sorry" - something presales.

[brachiator]

Originally posted by danbrew:
I'd love to see the small print where Apple says some of its laptops will come with defective LCDs. And not some email from Apple saying "oppps, sorry" - something presales.

Well, it doesn't... not even close. Others, please correct where wrong. On the Apple Store website, the product warranty declares:

Apple Computer, Inc. ("Apple") warrants this hardware product against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE (1) YEAR from the date of original retail purchase. If a defect exists...

It then explains the repair/replacement options. Clearly, everything rides on the definition of "defect" which is pretty much the brouhaha in this thread. Sounds like Apple has an undisclosed "policy" that it's a "feature," not a "defect" if it is fewer than 5 dead pixels, though? Of course, that policy shouldn't have any force in terms of the contract, since its not agreed to.

Apple also has a return/refund policy, apparently for any reason, although there's a penalty to be paid once you've opened the box to discover the dead pixel! :

If you are not satisfied with your Apple purchase of a pre-built product, please call ,,, for a Return Material Authorization... If the item is returned unopened in the original box, we will exchange it or offer you a refund... A 10% open box fee will be assessed on any opened hardware or accessory.

[urban]

It's like saying you are writing an English exam and the professor fails you because you mispelled a word.

[PowerTower Fan]

While I will give some credit that Apple has a little bit more vague policy of returning screens for bad pixels, for the most part they're inline with every other PC manufacturer of LCD's. If you don't believe this, check this article out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20030319/

The bottom line is that NO manufacturer, whether that be Apple, Sony, Viewsonic, Samsung, etc..., will return an LCD with only one dead pixel. Blame Apple all you want if you get a 17" PB with maybe even a couple dead pixels on the screen, but their response is going to be the same as any other manufacturer.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by PowerTower Fan:
While I will give some credit that Apple has a little bit more vague policy of returning screens for bad pixels, for the most part they're inline with every other PC manufacturer of LCD's. If you don't believe this, check this article out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20030319/

The bottom line is that NO manufacturer, whether that be Apple, Sony, Viewsonic, Samsung, etc..., will return an LCD with only one dead pixel. Blame Apple all you want if you get a 17" PB with maybe even a couple dead pixels on the screen, but their response is going to be the same as any other manufacturer.

Here's my last comment on the issue... Apple's warranty and refund policy clearly do not address this issue. They count on sheaple to say, "baaahhhh, baaaahhhh, well, ok, if it's commonly accepted, I guess I'll accept it."

You'd win any legal fight if you really had to sue them.

[osxisfun]

great then. we are all in agreement. the shipping of a LCD guarenteed without any dead pixels is currently an impossibilty and therefore should not be dwelled on.

?

[MaxPower2k3]

i don't see why people don't understand... the current LCD manufacturing process has a high defect rate. if apple were to require perfect displays, they would have to inspect each one for dead/stuck pixels, and throw away the defective ones. they still paid for those defective ones to be made, though, but they're not making any money off of them, so they'd have to raise the price of the perfect ones in response to make back the losses on the defective ones. seems pretty simple to me. how people think they could do this without raising their prices at all is beyond me.

[ZildjianKX]

I work with PCs and Macs all day long... and its true, I've seen many dead and stuck pixels in powerbooks, but yet to see one in a Dell, IBM, et cetera... and I look.

On the other hand, my damn Sony Ericsson T616 cellphone had some...

[mike one]

my 2 �

apple displays are inferior to PC lcd displays in terms of sheer pixel density. try to find an apple 15" lcd with 1600x1400 resolution....

so if the industry standard pc or apple is 5 dead pixels per screen (let us suppose this is the std, some pc manufacturers might have a lower or higher standard) then the apple screen is maufactured to a lower tolerence than the pc screen on 2 fronts.

e.g. powerbook 15" screen 1164(?)X768
pc 15" screen even at 1400X??00

5 dead pixels on the powerbook looks pretty much like the short end of the shaft to me....

apple still is passing off old technology as being standard at a premium price with low manufacturing standards. pathetic.

my next PB will be tested in store, i hope, before dropping my hard earned money on something that i already know is overpriced for the feature set. i'll love the thing, no doubts about it, but will have a bad taste in my mouth about some things, like i have with 4 of my 5 apple computer purchases.

[osxisfun]

>apple still is passing off old technology

Old?

Didn't the landscape / letter box 15" LCD show up in the powerbook first?

Old tech. sure.

[Moderator]

CompUSA would take it back.....f the AppleStore it makes no sense to go there when you can get thirty days to return it for ANY reason....especially if you live in New England..tax free New Hampshire...aw yeah

[brachiator]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
i don't see why people don't understand... the current LCD manufacturing process has a high defect rate. if apple were to require perfect displays, they would have to inspect each one for dead/stuck pixels, and throw away the defective ones. they still paid for those defective ones to be made, though, but they're not making any money off of them, so they'd have to raise the price of the perfect ones in response to make back the losses on the defective ones. seems pretty simple to me. how people think they could do this without raising their prices at all is beyond me.

I think that rather than paying for defective screens, as you suggest, Apple would simply require perfect screens from Samsung (or whoever), and return the defective ones for credit.

Of course there would be a difference in production cost -- I don't think that anyone here is denying that, or even the possibility that this would also translate into higher retail costs. This was why I asked if anyone really had hard data (even rough data) on how much more the perfect screen would cost. It might be tiny, or it might be astronomical. And, additionally, that cost might be passed on to Apple, and Apple might pass it along to the customer, depending on the economics peculiar to the relationship between Apple and its suppliers, and Apple's assessment of what its market will bear.

On the other hand, it might be a small cost that doesn't get passed along. I don't know.

Incidentally, what I took away from the Tom's Hardware article cited above was that its really up to the consumer and by extension the market to demand the level of quality desired. Of course, this is not remarkable. It's axiomatic that producers will give the market what it demands.

[MaxPower2k3]

except Apple pays for the displays to be manufactured. once they're manufactured, the resources and time have already been used to make it. if apple doesn't like it, that's too bad for them, and if they send it back i don't think Samsung could get anything out of the defective displays that would warrant credit to Apple. so, if 1 out of 6 displays is defective, then the price of the other 5 displays would have to be raised 20% of the production cost Apple pays for each display to make up for the defective one that can't be sold. On the other hand, Apple could sell, as an option, 'perfect' displays that are guaranteed to be defect-free (and maybe have some kind of better warranty on them too) for a premium. this way, people who are anal about having no dead pixels can pay a bit more and get that, while people who don't care about a couple dead pixels can get a display that may or may not have dead pixels, and has the standard 5-or-less return policy.

[ZildjianKX]

Apple's displays are still sub-par. I just got done using my friend's 15.4" Dell laptop screen that runs at 1600x1200 and is flawless. Even if the next PB is 15.4", I really doubt it will even push anywhere near that resolution. Pitty.

[brachiator]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
On the other hand, Apple could sell, as an option, 'perfect' displays that are guaranteed to be defect-free (and maybe have some kind of better warranty on them too) for a premium. this way, people who are anal about having no dead pixels can pay a bit more and get that, while people who don't care about a couple dead pixels can get a display that may or may not have dead pixels, and has the standard 5-or-less return policy.

Agreed. Or vice versa, offer a discount off the premium price for the lower-quality screens. I do have to say though that the "standard" 5-pixel return policy doesn't seem standard. I've only heard about it here. Taking the policy on the store website at face value, I'd interpret "defective" to mean any defect.

Hey, someone mentioned something about CompUSA having a 30-day any-reason return policy -- this is true? (I don't usually shop there.) WHo else has such a policy?

[Lateralus]

My PowerBook has one dead pixel, it is a shade of blue. I just massage the LCD and it goes away for a month or so, when it comes back I do it again.