[LeonThePro]

Hi. I received my new iBook last 02June. This is my first ever laptop. I noticed 2 dead pixels on the screen already. How normal is this? How many dead pixels does it need before I can have it serviced?

Plus, I don't find the trackpad to be accurate enough. Most of the time it's okay. But, sometimes, it does not go much where I lead it with my finger. The pointer arrow sometimes shakes. Is this normal also?

Please help!

[Milo Waye]

Originally posted by LeonThePro:
<STRONG>Hi. I received my new iBook last 02June. This is my first ever laptop. I noticed 2 dead pixels on the screen already. How normal is this? How many dead pixels does it need before I can have it serviced?

Plus, I don't find the trackpad to be accurate enough. Most of the time it's okay. But, sometimes, it does not go much where I lead it with my finger. The pointer arrow sometimes shakes. Is this normal also?

Please help!</STRONG>

I can't relate to the dead pixels. My screen is fine. The trackpad thing is curious, though. Sometimes it has the symptoms you describe, sometimes, like now, not. I'm sure I've touched it inadvertantly with other fingers at the same time. But I'm not sure that's been the cause every time it's been flaky. Now I'm taking pains to be sure there's only one finger down at a time, to see if the flakiness occurs.

There's a new post just in in Apple Discussions about it:
&lt;http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?13@@.ef044cb/15&gt;
Guess I'll restart and see if it happens while it's booting.

[powertoburn]

I had a 2 dead pixels on my screen, I just massaged the dead pixels out. Just press on the area where the dead pixel is and rub in a circular motion

[imacaholic]

You'll have to live with it. I think Apple's tolerance number is five or six if I recall. Outside of that, they don't consider it a defect at all, but simply an artifact of the manufacturing process of the screens. There is an official TIL on Apple's web site (URL listed). Try testing your screen with the freeware utility called LCD Test (added URL below) in order to identify how many bad pixels you have. As noted, massaging them gently with a soft lint free cloth should make them come back to life (they might reappear again after a short time). Give it a try.
http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n22194
http://www.ekimsw.com/lcdtest/LCDTest.sit

[ 06-04-2001: Message edited by: imacaholic ]

[ 06-04-2001: Message edited by: imacaholic ]

[Nebrie]

2 dead pixels is completely normal. Apple's dead pixel policy is pretty good actually. Toshiba's is like 25 dead pixels or something or 4-5 in the area the size of a quarter? (somewhere around those numbers)

As for the trackpad, give it time. For most people, it will take a bit to get used to using it. Once you do, it should move very smoothly.

[LeonThePro]

hi guys. thanks for all your comments regarding my dead pixel and trackpad.

i'll check to see about the dead pixel and hopefully i can live with it. though, i think i'm having nightmares just thinking about it.

my trackpad is flaky alright. i do hope it's because of the way i use it and that it takes getting used to.

i'll update this here for the status of my problem after a few days...

Originally posted by Nebrie:
[QB]2 dead pixels is completely normal. Apple's dead pixel policy is pretty good actually. Toshiba's is like 25 dead pixels or something or 4-5 in the area the size of a quarter? (somewhere around those numbers)QB]

where did you find a Laptop has such number of dead pixel honestly? I own no less than 10 notebooks since I know how to play computers. And in recent yr I can even test the notebook before I buy it. Toshiba has very good reputation in notebook industry, I reckon they won't even able to produce a LCD with such number of dead pixels. Asus even gaurantee no dead pixel notebook, if you find one, they will change a new one for you.

I am not saying other laptops are better than Apple, but Apple will never let you test before you buy it.

[Gametes]

The Apple Store may help change all that. When people get a faulty product, and they bring it back saying "look, you demoed this mac, you convinced me, and you sold me this instead" it's gonna be hard for the sales and management teams to look down their noses and ask them to leave.
Doing so won't help the Apple Store's reputation, or customer loyalty.

Having a face to talk to really makes service more beneficial, because it's harder not to help people who are right there in front of you. We all know that Mac Reseller's with stores offer better service than Apple does on the online store. Well, the online store may continue to suck in this regard, but the physical stores will have to adopt a better policy, to keep its employees from gettgin depressed from being mean to people.

[bipto]

I've noticed that my right ring finger will occasionally drag across the top right corner of the trackpad so lightly that sometimes I won't even feel it but the cursor will jump or otherwise behave erratically. Also, the pad looks wider than the one on my old Lombard and it's not down in a little recessed space like that one so maybe it's easier to accidentally touch. I'm thinking this is what causes most people's trackpad issues...

Also, my screen has no dead pixels. Not trying to rub it in!

[Nebrie]

Originally posted by &lt;Heman&gt;:
<STRONG>

where did you find a Laptop has such number of dead pixel honestly? I own no less than 10 notebooks since I know how to play computers. And in recent yr I can even test the notebook before I buy it. Toshiba has very good reputation in notebook industry, I reckon they won't even able to produce a LCD with such number of dead pixels. Asus even gaurantee no dead pixel notebook, if you find one, they will change a new one for you.

I am not saying other laptops are better than Apple, but Apple will never let you test before you buy it.</STRONG>

You don't. But a good reputation doesn't mean you can't have freak policies. You'll probably never find more than 2-3 which keeps most people happy. When I had a toshiba, it was 25. According to Toshiba's support website, it's now 10-18 depending on the manufacturer of the LCD display.

Some resellers will let you inspect a laptop before you buy it.

[klee6150]

My local Apple store will open boxes for me and let me test products before I buy. I did this with the iBook and the screen was perfect. One day later, on very close inspection, I found three black pixels (everyone talks about colored or white pixels - what are black ones?).

These black pixels are so tiny that I never really am aware of them - and I use the iBook constantly - like right now.

I have decided that I can definitely live with this pixel problem on an otherwise perfect iBook.

Oh do I love my iBook

[LeonThePro]

That's exactly what happened to me. My local Apple dealer called me to say my BTO iBook arrived already. They did not open anything until I arrived. So, when I got to the store, we both went to the process of unpacking it from the shipping box down to powering-on the iceBook.

Everything was perfect. The first thing I inspected was the screen at boot up and found ZERO dead/stuck pixels. 3 days later, I found 2 stuck pixels after playing MYST 3 (one red, one blue).

I know I have to live with it. Though I can't accept the fact that people can make laptops as small as these with features found on a desktop. But they can't seem to perfect a screen claiming that costs will double. That is true to some degree, but so are Hard Disk Drives. How many people could imagine fitting a 20-30GB HDD down to a small laptop more or less 1.5 inches thin. Can you imagine how thick that hard drive is. AND, these have MOVING PARTS! Costs didn't double. Costs for drives are constantly going down. But warranty still stays the same.

Imagine if they told us to accept the fact that drives will always break down WITHIN THE YEAR due to manufacturing constraints. And that it would be normal.

Well, until that time comes with these LCD screens. We'll just have to live with it in objection.

I just recieved my iBook about two days ago and I love it! On the second day, as I was in Mac OS X, I saw a little blue dot on the middle right section of my screen. It was a light blue color like the one you would find in a pack of highlighters. I read that if you rub it, it would go away. I tried and it Worked!! The only problem is that there is a little pink one now which won't go away. I tried rubbing it, but it's almost unnoticable. It right under the "Special" menu and hidden in one of the gray pixels. I can only see it if it is all black.

TRACKPAD: The only problem with the tracpad is when you have your hand of the key board and are using the mouse, your palm might hit the upper corners of the pad which cause the mouse to move irregularly. This gets really annoying.

PS: MY LEFT WRISTPAD GETS VERY WARM which is pretty weird. It isn't as warm as it was on the first day, yet it is still a little. I hope it will go away soon!!

[LeonThePro]

hi, ae. i still have the stuck pixels no matter what mac os i use. hu, hu, hu. oh, well.

the trackpad, i guess i realize it's from my other finger hitting the trackpad. it does take some time getting used to. maybe i'll use a mouse. but i don't know why apple doesn't make a "right click" function and "wheel scroll" feature. what is their reason for having a single-button mouse? maybe i'll just use my old microsoft optical mouse from my desktop.

[oranjdisc]

PS: MY LEFT WRISTPAD GETS VERY WARM which is pretty weird. It isn't as warm as it was on the first day, yet it is still a little. I hope it will go away soon!![/QB]

That's the battery you're feeling my friend...not much you can do about that. 

[dbergstrom]

I have one stuck pixel on my iBook (Dual USB). I had one on my Walstreet when I first got it and it eventually went away (died?). The pixels on the new iBook are so tiny that a single stuck pixel is hardly noticable.

Here's the wierd thing - the pixel is about 1-inch from the top of the screen, dead center horizontally. When I watch a DVD in 9.1 the pixel is in the black part of the screen (for a widescreen DVD). In 9.1, the stuck pixel is blue. However in X, the same stuck pixel shows up as red.

Is this a feature of Quartz?

[MUGlover]

As you face the iBook keyboard:

Right side palm rest = battery

Left side palm rest = hard drive

Not sure whether different size hard drives would heat your left palm to different degrees (sorry). More likely that the amount of hard disk activity will produce the warm left palm.

Come to think of it, "warm left palm" would be a good user name.

[klee6150]

PLEASE

Will someone tell me what a "black pixel" is? I have three of them.

TIA

[LeonThePro]

klee6150....a black pixel is a DEAD pixel. That means no color is being produced in either red, green or blue - and therefore is OFF.

a STUCK pixel is either of the primary colors (RGB) ON all the time.

I don't know what I should rather have...it depends on the user on what kind of background was chosen and software he/she frequently uses.

But of course we all prefer not to have any dead/stuck pixel at all. Come on Apple! Set an example!

[seanyepez]

I think Apple is setting an example with extremely cheap notebooks with lots of value packed into them. Come on - the iceBook is a Pismo the size of a VAIO. I would buy one in a heartbeat if my 'rents allowed.

I am amazed how computers have progressed. They have gone from "held together with paperclips and tape" to a full-fledged, "package" system with everything working together. Macs are machines that do that rather well.

My opinion of the iceBook is rather high. For $1,300, you can get yourself a Dell without FireWire, a 12.1-inch screen, a heavy chassis, a short battery life, and a Celeron. No Ethernet is included, either. For $1,650, you are starting to get into the "normal" price range for a usable PC. The Dell Inspiron 4000 is one of the better notebooks, but a decent 4000 starts at $1,550 lacking lots of features the iBook has and the Dell doesn't. While there is still a lot of markup, and Apple manufacturers the 'Book for $600-750, the iceBook is still great bang for the buck.

Technology wise, it's a marvel.

The manufacturing process of LCDs is being refined and bettered every day. It's getting better. After all, the computer is something you'll be using for two years or so, not something that's with you for life. It's getting better. Soon, computing will be flawless. Until that time, deal with it.

[LeonThePro]

seanyepez...well, thanks for the insight.

hey, i do have an OFF-question though from this thread since you mentioned about the iceBook and Dell with a Celeron processor. Do you know of any site which compares the processing capability of a G3-500Mhz with various Intel processors.

I am one of those who still read "Mhz" as the basis for power. But my further reading on PowerPC processors show that they can perform multiple computation. I know this is true for PowerPC G4 processors due to their Alti-Vec feature. But, what do G3 processors have especially since they have low Mhz rating compared with Celeron and Pentium speeds?

Come to think of it...I'll start a new thread on this regarding G3/G4 links showing the capability of the PowerPC processor despite the Mhz issue.

[ZOM 77]

how long do i have to massage b4 i get that dam blue pixel out...

its really killing me...
i had a g3 bronze powerbook for almost 2 years without a dead or stuck pixel...
now i have this iBook for less than a day
and it has a stuk pixel already

sux

and has anyone noticed that thier trackpad sticks up a lil in the top center of the trackpad...
and if u press it down.....
itll stay down for a minute or two...
like its glued on...
that bothers me.....

[LeonThePro]

zom 77....my trackpad also sticks up also at the top center and I push it down, too. It does suck in terms of build quality. Looks like they rushed out manufacturing the product to supply us.

regarding your powerbook g3...i think it has a passive LCD screen which accounts to zero dead/stuck pixels after 2 years....