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Poll: The lifespan of your Powerbook screen
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Denmark
Status:
Offline
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Hi,
I've just bought a 17" Powerbook (the 1.33 Ghz version) and it hit me that the backlight
is not as bright as my desktop TFT monitors.
Of course...it doesnt leave much space for
lights and reflection so this is kind of understandable, but how long does these
lights last. And do you keep it on FULL power?
Please post your stories about your powerbooks
and how long your backlight (the Screen backlight)
have lasted and if you over the years have noticed any wear....weaknesses etc..
Thank you very much for participating.
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/SketchPad
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Hyrule
Status:
Offline
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From what I've learned, it doesn't matter how bright you keep it. The backlight has an approximate runtime rating (usually around 15-20,000 hours) that dictates how long it lasts..
How long it takes to dim out is a different story apparently. If you keep it dim, obviously it won't get dim as quickl,y, but you still get at least 3 and a half years, at about 12 hours a day, of usage at full blast, in which that display would last before dimming considerably...
Hrmm..
Personally I'd be more concerned about the screen not getting damaged due to a drop or something. I think as long as you take good care of your laptop -- meaning 2 handed carrying and NO icurves near the edge of your table ), then you should be juuuust fine.
In fact if you're going to use any kind of laptop stand, keep the darn thing as near the center of your table as possible, heheh.
Your laptop's lifetime is generally going to be defined by...
1. How often you use it,
2. How much it's moved around (more wear and tear associated with packing and unpacking, lugging around, etc)
3. How many "oops", "oh ^&@#$", and "son of a @#&*$^!!!!" accidents it gets involved in. [HOPEFULLY NONE!]
Good luck!
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Aloha
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.
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20,000 HOURS? Two hours left over here! Yikes!
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Hyrule
Status:
Offline
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lol templetalker.. 20,000 at full blast.
Keep in mind some tubes will hold up as high as 25-30,000 hours.. I've yet to see papers that ever claim such but meh..
If your LCD is fine at that point, and isn't dimming out, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Aloha
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Status:
Offline
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The desktop screens ARE noticably brighter than a PBs. They also use more power.
I keep my backlighting down at night for eye comfort, and when I'm unplugged to conserve power.
We've had many powerbooks, and the screens have failed with hinge problems (many times) and with some localized unequal backlight illumination. Even our 'ol Lombard and Pismo screens still look pretty good after 4+ years.
I'd worry about physical damage long before burning out the backlight.
Besides, isn't the backlight lamp replaceable on the current PBs? It is on the Lombard/Pismo models.
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Photo Architect
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Bamberg, Germany
Status:
Offline
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I ran my beautiful 17 screen at full power for the first few weeks.
After reading about screens aging and stuff I lowered the settings-and look: I can see everything just as fine!
Full power is a little hard on the eyes anyway.
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"Microsoft is a cross between the Borg and the Ferengi. Unfortunately, they use Borg to do their marketing and Ferengi to do their programming." Simon Slavin
Me on Flickr.
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Oct 2003
Status:
Offline
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My 17" screen ran full brightness for a year. It's in the Apple service department now for a screen replacement. It was on "Ready to be shipped" status for 2 days so I decided to check with Apple service dept 15 minutes ago. Apparently the vendor could not get the new screen and now they will put out a nationwide search for my replacement screen. I tried to get them to send a brand new one and I would pay the difference but nope. I guess if they cannot meet the deadline they themselves set (48 hours) to find a new screen... Do I smell a new laptop?... maybe 15" this time with 1.25 Ghz CPU and maxed out. I do not think my defect resulted from screen brightness, however, so relax guys. It was more of a room temperature related anomaly thingy.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Denmark
Status:
Offline
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Thanks,
I find this info very "soothing" and perhaps I'll
go for the full brigthness this time. I've had
several tft screens over many years but noone of
them as ever "faded" out...but then again they
weren't on "full blow" anyways.
The reason I'm asking you was that the PB's
screen is so dimmed in comparison to what I
am used to...I needed to know the consequences
from people who have already some experience
with this.
Again thanks for your opinions!
/SketchPad
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/SketchPad
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Automatic
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I run my PB 17" at half the power, is just enough for me. BTW, would be nice to have an app that tell you the time your laptop is on, or maybe you can get it with the Terminal.app Something like a 'life uptime'...
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: TX
Status:
Offline
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Originally posted by angelmb:
BTW, would be nice to have an app that tell you the time your laptop is on, or maybe you can get it with the Terminal.app Something like a 'life uptime'...
I can just imagine the complications that would cause for people who buy refurbs and second hand notebooks... Worried 'odometer rollback' on your 2nd hand notebook?
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Cabin john, MD
Status:
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Originally posted by KidKit:
I can just imagine the complications that would cause for people who buy refurbs and second hand notebooks... Worried 'odometer rollback' on your 2nd hand notebook?
HEY! this laptop has sawdust in the hard-drive!
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Superhero Of The Computer Rage
MacBook Pro 2.16 Ghz, PowerBook G4 12" 1 Ghz (DVI) Dell 24" monitor
Porsche 944, Mercedes 240D (running on Waste Vegetable Oil)
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: dirty south
Status:
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This prompted me to start using 2/3 power, and now that my eyes have adjusted it looks fine. I just have to avoid pressing F2 and getting a taste of what I used to see...
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: 22 15N, 114 10E
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Comfortable level to my eyes first. I think my eyes worth more than the little PowerBook.
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15"MBP/C2D2.4GHz/4GB RAM/320GB HD
15"MBP/C2D2.16GHz/3GB RAM/250GB HD
12"PB/1GHz/768MB/60GB/SuperDrive/AE
iPhone 8GB/iPod video 30GB
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jan 2004
Status:
Offline
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Originally posted by angelmb:
BTW, would be nice to have an app that tell you the time your laptop is on, or maybe you can get it with the Terminal.app Something like a 'life uptime'...
So run hour are not kept in PRAM anymore? Techtool tells me that my PB1400C has 22,000 trouble-free hours
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Cheers!
Glen
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