Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

pete · Feb 1, 2004, 10:05 AM

A good friend just called who wants to buy a new powerbook. She's never used macs before. I wanted to suggest the albook 15" but then remembered seeing that there were a few problems with displays, white spots, uneven illumination, LCDS that weren't flush etc.

Have these problems been corrected? I would hate to recommend this computer and then hear that she had these issues.

Please advise...

Thanks

toshigen · Feb 1, 2004, 11:19 AM

Supposedly, the problems with the white spots have been fixed. I'm not sure about the uneven illumination though. Truthfully, the only people who would really know are Apple's support/repair technicians... so, any answer you get on here is just going to be a guess.

My guess is:

There are a lot of people who have purchased 15" models who have had no problems whatsoever... you just don't hear from as many of them because they don't have any reason to come on here and complain.

I'd say it's safe to get one, but get the Applecare warranty in case there are problems in the future.

pete · Feb 1, 2004, 04:46 PM

thanks. I usually hang around here after a product is released to see when people start using them, All products have problems in the beginning and of course the only people here are a) those who have problems and b) those who know to come here when they have problems. But I felt that there were too many problems with screens on these machines. Tha'ts the main part of the powerbook so it's not easily overlooked....

I'll tell my friend to go ahead and hope for the best!

fizzlemynizzle · Feb 1, 2004, 05:30 PM

I bought a 15" AlBook on 12/24 and it's flawless. Apple seems to have resolved all of their issues. The OS on it was installed on 12/17 so it's from a fairly recent batch.

ae86_16v · 11:14 PM

I got my PowerBook one week after launch and there has been no problems what so ever save the fact that my battery capacity isn't all that great.

I know this is going against my usual policy of "If you need it now buy it now, if you could afford to wait, then wait." But you migh wanna wait until Feb 3rd to see what happens.

There has been "rumors" that a new one might come out. Since it is only two days away, I would play it safe. . .

Goodluck.

Edit: And a reported $300 price drop too.

Ryan1524 · Feb 1, 2004, 08:22 PM

what about the supposedly close update??

*runs and hides..*

mdc · Feb 1, 2004, 09:20 PM

i know this is about my 12" powerbook, but still. i thought i would put the news out there.

yesterday i noticed that my flawless powerbook's monitor was darker on the left hand side. i have my chat window on the right hand side, so i hardly ever look on the left.

i resized texedit to take up the whole screen and the left hand side was indeed a lot darker. the right was white, the left was grey.

i continued to use it, and today it was even worse.

i decided to call apple and speak to someone to see what could be done.

he talked me through turning off my powerbook and holding shift, option, and ctrl and pressing the power button.

this fixed my illuminatio issue.

i booted it back up and the colors are even.

i am so happy right now

agentmouthwash · Feb 1, 2004, 11:17 PM

I had the problem, but I did buy my powerbook back in September. It works flawlessly now. I am sure Apple fixed the problem.

jstein · Feb 2, 2004, 01:19 AM

Regardless of what model you pick 12,15 or the 17-inch. You cannot go wrong with the current batch of PowerBooks. Yes there have been some problems with the 15-inch model but Apple is working very hard to correct these issues. My 15-inch Alpb arrive last Tuesday, so far so good. This machine is amazing, I am very happy and it screams to be used like all Apple computers.

Actually the real question in buying a new PowerBooks to me seems to be what model to choose. If you are going to be on the road a lot and need portability the 12-inch model is your pick. Plus since adding the super drive to it the 12-inch Alpb gives you the best bang for your bucks. However, if you are going for power and need a desktop replacement the 17-inch model is the one. If neither one of these situations seems to fit you or your needs for somewhere in middle then the 15 inch Alpb is the way to go. Best of luck to you and your friend��

Shaughn · Feb 2, 2004, 11:05 AM

Originally posted by mdc:
i know this is about my 12" powerbook, but still. i thought i would put the news out there.

yesterday i noticed that my flawless powerbook's monitor was darker on the left hand side. i have my chat window on the right hand side, so i hardly ever look on the left.

i resized texedit to take up the whole screen and the left hand side was indeed a lot darker. the right was white, the left was grey.

i continued to use it, and today it was even worse.

i decided to call apple and speak to someone to see what could be done.

he talked me through turning off my powerbook and holding shift, option, and ctrl and pressing the power button.

this fixed my illuminatio issue.

i booted it back up and the colors are even.

i am so happy right now

You might want to tinker with your brightness. I ad the same issue on my 15", and while that procedure looked like it did the trick, as soon as I adjusted the brightness to a lower setting (what you did also sets the brightness to maximum), the unevenness returned.

As for the overall display issues, the white spots have indeed been licked.

Uneven illumination, however, has NOT. My 15" is going in today for the second time, same issue; 2/3 of the screen is much dimmer than the rest. On the Apple Discussion boards, no user who has had the problem has had a permanent fix.

The odds of you getting a PB with the problem seem to be rather low, but if you get one that has it... you're in for the long haul as far as getting a working screen is concerned.

~S~

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 01:03 PM

I'm standing in the apple store in Soho and two out of the four 15 inch ones have white spots! one has a latch that doesn't work....doesn't look they have figured it out yet...

fizzlemynizzle · Feb 2, 2004, 01:45 PM

you realize those are display models and have been out there for a long time, right?

parsec_kadets · Feb 2, 2004, 02:10 PM

Originally posted by pete:
I'm standing in the apple store in Soho and two out of the four 15 inch ones have white spots! one has a latch that doesn't work....doesn't look they have figured it out yet...

That doesn't mean anything. You have no idea how old those machines are. They could have been built in September for all you know. I don't know if the problems have all been fixed or not, but just looking at a display in the store is anecdotal at best.

pete · 03:08 PM

I really can't understand that reasoning. The APple Store is interested in selling machines, isn't it? I went with my friend to buy a powerbook and left with her without one. BEcause of teh sad state of their display powerbooks. They either need new management, or they need better quality control. The final record is as follows (I found a few more powerbooks in the digital camera area):

Total of 6 powerbook 15 inchers
One with extremely bad white spot problem
Two with several very visible white spots
Five with displays that warped up on one side or both
One with a latch that didn't catch the base (this one didn't have a bad display though)

THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Apple obviously didn't test properly before releasing them, counting instead on high paying customers to do the testing and give feedback. that's simply not alright. Same thing with first generation of tibooks, and first generation of powerbook G3 wallstreet. I had them both and had endless trouble with them.

Sure, maybe you're right. Maybe they've been there for a long time. Or maybe not. I took down the serial numbers of two, one bad one and the other one with bad latch. They both started with V7340 - whatever that means.

Bottom line is that based on going into the Apple Store, anybody who decided to buy a powerbook 15" is a fool or doesn't know what an LCD should look like. I couldn't recommend the damn powerbook to my friend and simply told her to wait a little longer....

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 02:34 PM

So I was just checking how to decipher the serial number and saw that the V7340 would mean that the powerbooks were made in the 40th week of 2003. So that means they were an early bunch.

Still makes no sense why Apple would have them on display though! Also, what about the warped screens and latch - are these common problems and if so, have they too been fixed?

Shaughn · Feb 2, 2004, 03:16 PM

Originally posted by pete:
So I was just checking how to decipher the serial number and saw that the V7340 would mean that the powerbooks were made in the 40th week of 2003. So that means they were an early bunch.

Still makes no sense why Apple would have them on display though! Also, what about the warped screens and latch - are these common problems and if so, have they too been fixed?

The latch is actually really easy to fix. When it comes out and is about to catch, you stop it and bend it into place. There's instructions for this somewhere online, or you could have Apple do it.

White spots ARE addressed and it seems that Apple has a working fix. For other screen issues, such as the illumination problem I mentioned, have NO FIX. It's buyer beware, especially as far as the 15" model as far as I can tell.

~S~

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 03:23 PM

It's just terrible that it's such a gamble when you're putting out so much cash. I am curious if first generation Thinkpads have similar issues - I guess IBM doen't really change the basic design very often..hee hee. Have they ever?

Shaughn · Feb 2, 2004, 04:58 PM

Originally posted by pete:
It's just terrible that it's such a gamble when you're putting out so much cash. I am curious if first generation Thinkpads have similar issues - I guess IBM doen't really change the basic design very often..hee hee. Have they ever?

Heh, I wouldn't know.

I know I'm an outlier as far as Apple quality is concerned, but my dad has fewer problems in 5 years on his IBM laptop than I've had on my PowerBook in a month and a half.

Sigh. Knowing I'm in the minority only makes it more frustrating when "fixes" continue to fail.

Let us know what you decide! I still think you're better off with an Apple notebook. If you don't need it right away, I'd suggest holding off until some of the PowerBook screen issues finaly get put to rest. I don't know which model youwere considering, but ir seems to mostly affect the current 15" model.

~S~

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 05:05 PM

I'm just helping a friend who has used PC before. I would like her to have a mac and she does too. Despite my disappointment with Apple quality control, I still love my tibook and panther is amazing. Would never go to PC, but wouldn't buy a powerbook now even if I had all the money in the world!

BkueKanoodle · Feb 2, 2004, 07:04 PM

Originally posted by pete:
So I was just checking how to decipher the serial number and saw that the V7340 would mean that the powerbooks were made in the 40th week of 2003. So that means they were an early bunch.

Still makes no sense why Apple would have them on display though! Also, what about the warped screens and latch - are these common problems and if so, have they too been fixed?

I don't know about the Apple stores, but many stores have a problem with customers manhandling the crap out of their demo units. For example, Compusa sells tablet pc's, but you wouldn't know it unless you asked because most stores had problems with customers being rough on the equip, so they keep it out of sight.

My point is, most stores know that anything they put out as a demo is going to get trashed. No use replacing a cosmetically damaged laptop on the floor with one that they can sell from stock.

Let me ask you this way, if you had a couple of powerbooks you wanted to sell, would you put one out to let it get trashed in the hopes of selling the others? If that one got a little used looking, would you take another one of your good one, write out another 2600 loss and let them trash it again?

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 07:12 PM

I get your point. However, this is not about abuse, but about quality control problems that have been acknowledged among users from all over the place.

jstein · Feb 2, 2004, 07:37 PM

I agree with Pete somewhat on this with the issues concerning the 15-inch Alpb. Pete continue to voice your opinion about these issues, at least it draws attention to them and maybe something can be done about them.

I think it has become common knowledge that Apple is taking care most of these issues concerning the current batch of powerbooks.

So all in all, one should not be that nervous in choosing to purchase a new powerbook......

pete · Feb 2, 2004, 10:50 PM

I think I've become a little obsessed with this white spot thing....found this sad news on the apple support forum:

Posted today, February 2:

I bought my 15" AL within days of release and had a BTO model delivered two weeks later (1.25 GHZ, w/o Superdrive). After several weeks, the white spots began to show. There were three major spots in the well-known locations. So I called Apple to report the problem and they told me to send it in. But having checked these forums, I was pretty clear that their repair efforts weren't being successful. So I waited.

Finally, I sent in my PB last thursday and got it back today (monday). They replaced the display (Samsung W5, part #646-0205) and the foam diffuser assembly (Part #603-4549). Everything looked great, until I really started examining the display. To my great surprise (and horror), I have already noticed a faint white spot beginning to appear about one inch from the bottom edge at approximately 7 o'clock.

Based on past experience, I imagine that the spots will grow over time and perhaps spread to other parts of the screen. This is a major disappointment. I guess I should keep the AIrborne box for future use.

I will post again in the future to let folks know what happens. But for now, I would say that this development is really disappointing. Apple will end up wasting alot of money to fix this machine (perhaps several times) and my loyalty to the company is definitely on the wane.

Matt