[naphtali]

Hi guys

I've got a 17" PowerBook G4 1.33GHz with 1GB RAM running Leopard.

Since last night, the display has been acting weird - There's this vertical 1-pixel-wide magenta line that appears at the end of the first third of the display.

It seems laid on top of everything else. It is mostly persistent, but occasionally disappears (only to return) at random times. What's up with this?

I think I've had this problem maybe two years ago or so, and I had it fixed by AppleCare. The machine's AppleCare's long over now. While I'd really like to have a new machine, I'm holding up for the June Intel platform refresh. What can I do in the meantime?

Also, having gotten this problem twice (if not more often), I wonder if this is a widespread issue with PowerBooks/MacBooks? I couldn't find any similar thread in the archives though.

Thanks for your help!

[iMan G5]

It is a widespread issue with many PB's but I am not sure about yours. Pretty soon, it will be permanent and more will show if it is the same thing.

[naphtali]

Hey iMan thanks for the really quick reply! What's the source of the problem? Dying LCD? Some display cable? Is there anything that can be done about it?

Also, does this affect the current MBPs? My replacement machine is likely to be one, unless I'll face this issue too

[iMan G5]

If I remember correctly it is due to the video card malfunctioning. Apple would repair it most likely if you pay them the cash I think.

The MBP's use a different GPU card and I have not heard of anything like this on a MBP.

[naphtali]

Thanks for your advice!