[saosin]

Well i FINALLY bought a mac. so far the switch has been goin pretty well, the mac os is pretty intuitive for the most part.

Anyways.....here are my responses to the current problems with mbp's.


1. Grainy Display - My mbp definitly has the grain. It was very noticeable at first...but I can actually get used to it. The MAIN problem is the poor viewing angle. I have to move my head up and down sometimes because the top portion of my screen is less lit than the rest.

I really hope apple addresses these issues ASAP and issues a recall on the screens or entire machines themselves. I just dropped 2grand on a laptop, i expect much higher quality than this. Especially when the competition is cheaper and a cheaper market, yet still can produce quality displays. If this is supposed to be a "PRO" model, it needs to have the quality of a pro model.

2. Squeaky spacebar - I got a squeaky spacebar. It's been mentioned a couple times on the forum as well. I'm sticking with it as it's not too annoying and hoping the sound goes away as i "break in" the keyboard.

My right arrow key or "end" key is also slightly raised and crooked.


Other than that, my mbp runs very cool and is flawless. Slight gap inbetween the screen and body when closed but its hardly noticeable, and I noticed by opening my laptop on the end opposite of the gap, it seems to be evening it self out.


well, as a first time mac owner, and having just purchased my mbp yesterday from the applestore, these are my thoughts.

as stated above. ..im really hoping on a screen fix and recall for everyone who's bought one already. I just couldnt wait because i already sold my pc and really need a computer right now.

what do you guys thinK?

[SurfSkateJeep]

I think that from reading of all of these threads of all of the flaws people have found on there MBP I feel that i have a flawless one. only that there is a little wierd line on the screen like something on the backlight. Otherwise perfect. I think you should return all of the flawed Macs until you appreciate it like i do., O Just my thoughts. HAHA

[houstonmacbro]

our mbp at work is a little dark on the screen edges, but i didn't know that is a larger problem... has there been any sort of recall i am not aware of?

[FozzieUK]

Originally Posted by saosin 

1. Grainy Display - My mbp definitly has the grain. It was very noticeable at first...but I can actually get used to it. The MAIN problem is the poor viewing angle. I have to move my head up and down sometimes because the top portion of my screen is less lit than the rest.

I really hope apple addresses these issues ASAP and issues a recall on the screens or entire machines themselves. I just dropped 2grand on a laptop, i expect much higher quality than this. Especially when the competition is cheaper and a cheaper market, yet still can produce quality displays. If this is supposed to be a "PRO" model, it needs to have the quality of a pro model.

2. My right arrow key or "end" key is also slightly raised and crooked.

Other than that, my mbp runs very cool and is flawless. Slight gap inbetween the screen and body when closed but its hardly noticeable, and I noticed by opening my laptop on the end opposite of the gap, it seems to be evening it self out.

Exactly like mine. Right arrow key raised up, gap on closing lid. Runs flawless like you say BUT.. this screen... aaahhhh! Having to move your head to see things clearly on a 15" laptop.

Have a look above your latch release button. I bet the aluminium is coming away slightly?

[ghporter]

My MBP (a "almost the last pre Core 2 Duo" model) is flawless. Of course I have not taken a micrometer to the keyboard, and for some reason, even though I have exceptionally good vision (thanks to PRK), my screen actually looks good-though I can see how others might consider it grainy if they don't consider the resolution and text size and adjust as needed.

My overall feeling about people complaining about MBPs is that there's more whining than actual objective critique going on. I have yet to see ANY bad MBPs, and I have a classmate with a 17" that I see all the time. I see TONS of MBPs at school since one of the colleges here works entirely digitally and ALL of their texts are on Mac-only DVDs, AND they include the MBP in the tuition. I reitterate: I have yet to see a bad MBP.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I have yet to see a bad MBP.

Nor have I, except that the first one I got (a refurbished CD) had a warped screen and was RMA'd.

-Allen Wicks

[saosin]

if you have yet to see a bad mbp, just walk into an apple store.

I've been to all 3 apple stores plus my college store that sells apples and they all have the grainy display.

Look at a dell external lcd or any otehr lcd for that matte,r and you'll notice a huge difference in quality.

as per the aluminum chipping away near the latch release, that has yet to happen as i'm on my 3rd day.

still hoping for a screen recall or replacement of some sort. If this laptop had no viewing angle or backlight problems,a nd no grain...i'd be seriously SOOOOO happy with this laptop. I could care less about the minor keyboard issues such as squeaky spacebar.

[ghporter]

The Apple Store in San Antonio has not had any bad MBPs while I've been there, and my college store hasn't either. And as I said, I see a LOT of MBPs at school. Not a bad one.

Now as for "grainy screens" that's a subject for interpretation. I see my screen (right now) as having an enormous resolution with a relatively tiny default text size. This makes Word, for example, hard to use unless I enlarge the view to something above 100% (in Word). Some people make the mistake of reducing their resolution setting to something that does not work well with the native, physical pixel resolution of their display, and that looks "grainy." For example, 1024 X 768 looks pretty darn bad on my 1440 X 900 15" display-grainy and fuzzy. But in the native resolution, it looks crisp and clean.

There are other settings, like Font Smoothing (in the Appearance pane under Personal) that can also help with this, though again I think the default settings are great on mine.

[saosin]

the grain itself is on the screen coating not because of display settings. Anyone that thinks it's due to screen resolution or software issues hasn't a clue.

[ghporter]

Thanks for your vote of confidence. THERE IS NO GRAIN PROBLEM ON MY MBP SCREEN.

[mrmister]

"if you have yet to see a bad mbp, just walk into an apple store."

Why on earth did you buy one, if you felt this way?

[hldan]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Thanks for your vote of confidence. THERE IS NO GRAIN PROBLEM ON MY MBP SCREEN.

Yeah, I frequent my local Apple retail store and I too have yet to see any grainy screens on any of the MBP's. They look fantastic. I'm always comparing the matte vs. the glossy but the quality of the matte doesn't look grainy and neither does the glossy.
It's all about what a persons eyes can see and how anal they are.

[solofx7]

As far as a grainy display goes, i have heard about this one but have yet to see it first hand.
Though i know that i should be shot for this, but on the Mac side of my MBP OS X is grainy onot as sharp as the Vista side of my Mac.
Now i know that Vista is doing other visual stuff and the 2 OS's are different, but i think that Apple may want to up the Sharpness of the OS X.
P.S. Vista is Crap on a STICK.
and the stick is pretty bad too...

[rtbarry]

mine (matte) has no viewing angle or graininess issues at all. there does appear to be a more substantial screen coating than in the past, probably to address past wear issues on the screens, from keyboard when closed, etc.

but i think it looks great!

[wingdo]

Except for a keyboard squeak here too, I love my C2D MBP. The lid does not close quite right. on the left side there is no gap and on the right side there is a decent 1/4" plus gap. My PowerBook had / has the same issue so I have learned to not pay attention to it.

[pixiepurls]

funny. mine squeeks sometimes too! so weird...

[freudling]

All things being equal, the MBP screen is unequivocally grainy:

[mrmister]

Freudling, a mocked up graphic doesn't unequivocally prove anything.

[freudling]

Hence the, "all things being equal." I should add that I did inspect the screen today on the MBP C2D. I find it to be grainy. I have owned every powerbook since the 5300, even the 13.3" Wallstreet. Clamshell iBooks, Titaniums...

I feel I have a good perspective on Apple screen portable screen quality. I really took a hard look at the screen and I walked away with this analogy in my mind:

It looks similar to the PowerBook G3 Wallstreet screen. When you put a Pismo beside a Wallstreet, you will see the difference: the Wallstreet looks grainy compared. Now, I did some research, and some are saying that it is because of the x1600 graphics card MBP C2D, as well that the finish on the screen could also be a culprit.

The graphics card in the Wallstreet is different than the Pismo.

This post explains the possible culprit (graphics card) and why:

MacBook Pro Grainy Display - Mac Forums

[mrmister]

I don't think you've actually parsed out the meaning of your words--if you meant that, then the first half of your sentence negates the second half.

[freudling]

mrmister 80s band:

Enough! The point: people are suggesting the MBP screen is grainy. I concur with those that say it is grainy. Hypotheses have been offered...

[rtbarry]

freudling talks all fancy and stuff.

[freudling]

Focus on topic.... plz?

Here is a thread on Apple's site about people hashing it out. It has had 4300 views so far:

Apple - Support - Discussions - MacBook Pro 15" Grainy Matte Display ...