[Skypat]

I've been dreaming of buying a PowerBook for years and now the time has come. I should order my 15 Powerbook before the end of this week. I am thrilled ! But I must admit I have been very scared by all those "white spots" stories. Now I am not sure about what I should do. What is the percentage of powerbooks affected by that problem ? 90 % 50% 5% ?? Any advice ?

Last year I bought a Power Mac dual 867 "mirror dors". I read here all those terrible reviews about how loud the fans were. I was telling myself that people were exagerating. When I bought the machine I realized they were right. The computer was so noisy. Now they fixed the problem. I wouldn't like to go through this again with a Power Book and screen problems. Should I be worried about that ? Or is it just overexposed here?

[Bruck]

I can only speak for myself, but to let you know i waited by the day for 6 months for my powerbook. Mine is perfect and I love it. I ordered mine at 6am the morning they were announced and I don't regret it at all.

[iDuc]

The 15" 1,25 is my second PowerBook, replacing my 4 year old Pismo...

It is great in every way, and I'm just thinking that is sure is worth the wait...

[deviousgelatin]

I sure hope so!

Mine was just delivered this morning. Took it out of the box to inspect it (not a scratch, dent, or ding on it), booted it up to make sure MacMall had installed my extra memory (they had), took time to notice a distinct lack of white spots on the screen,and then...

...put it back in the box and locked it in a desk drawer until work is over and I can take it home and play.

p.s. Longest.....day......EVER.

[art_director]

the 15" al powerbook is my fourth powerbook. of the four i've purchased two have had screen issues immediately out of the box. the first problem machine, a 667 ti powerbook, had a few dead pixels. the next was / is the 15" al powerbook. it has three very pronounced white spots in the triangular shape many users are experiencing. in addition, it would not boot from a cd (disk warrior) and would not go into target disk mode.

i sent the 15" al machine in a week ago. to date apple will not even guess at when they'll be sending my machine back. they claim to be waiting on a part � a replacement screen. they have already replaced the logic board � bad news for a brand new machine.

personally, i would wait before buying this model. hold out until rev 2. sure, mine may be an unusual case, but why risk it?

alternatively, you could buy it from a brick-and-mortar store in your city that has a solid return policy. that way, if you do have screen issues or any other b.s., you can simply exchange it rather than subjecting yourself to the abyss that is apple care.

best of luck with your decision and your new computer when you get it.

[hyperizer]

I was scared off by the white spots, so I bought a 1Ghz TiBook instead. It should be arriving tomorrow.

[KP*]

It's a great machine in terms of its intended design, but there are quality-control problems with the original batch which don't seem to be fixed yet based on the ones people are receiving right now.

Mine developed latch problems after a week and white spots after 5 weeks, similar to what many people have experienced (although sometimes they're there right away). So somebody who says "I just got my PB today and it's perfect" might not be saying the same thing in a month. I was one of those people a month ago, and answered "no" on many white spot polls conducted here and elsewhere. So to find out what percentage is affected, I think it's pretty much impossible to accurately measure it.

My advice would be that this is a great choice for a laptop, but if you don't have to have it right now you should probably wait a while until Apple starts producing a new batch with the problem corrected.

[Cards1]

Originally posted by hyperizer:
I was scared off by the white spots, so I bought a 1Ghz TiBook instead. It should be arriving tomorrow.

I replaced my 15" 1.25 because of the screen and battery with a 17" (Upgrade) . I absolutely love it! I had 3 Powerbook 15ers (667, 1Ghz, and 1.25Ghz), and this 17" blows them all away. I personally would not buy a 15" now until Apple has resolved the issue. If you cannot wait, think about the 17".

[spatterson]

Originally posted by Skypat:
I've been dreaming of buying a PowerBook for years and now the time has come. I should order my 15 Powerbook before the end of this week. I am thrilled ! But I must admit I have been very scared by all those "white spots" stories. Now I am not sure about what I should do. What is the percentage of powerbooks affected by that problem ? 90 % 50% 5% ?? Any advice ?

Last year I bought a Power Mac dual 867 "mirror dors". I read here all those terrible reviews about how loud the fans were. I was telling myself that people were exagerating. When I bought the machine I realized they were right. The computer was so noisy. Now they fixed the problem. I wouldn't like to go through this again with a Power Book and screen problems. Should I be worried about that ? Or is it just overexposed here?

It seems like I keep waiting. See I am a PC user and I hate Windows so much! Last year right before the 17" and the 12" came out, I said to my self "no more Mr. Windows for me". Bang! 17" (too big) and the 12" (too small) come out on the market. Bummer no 15" at the time! I liked the 15"ti and was this close to buying it and then caught wind that maybe the 15" would be updated. YAY , now its Sept 16 and we have one. So I decided to do some research and find out about how users feel about their PowerBooks. "Wait, what�s this? Spots! On the screen! NO" . I have decided that I will wait no more. So I guess if I get the white spots, I get the white spots. I pray not, but however it could happen. If so, I will attempt to live with them for a month or two then send the book in for servicing after they announced, or I hear on these forums that people are receiving good PowerBooks. Good luck to everyone else!

[Dave Hagan]

Is it the right time to buy the 15-inch?

My answer: No. I'll tell you why...

I had one of the new aluminum 15-inch models, but it was defective like others have mentioned here, so I returned it to Apple - got my money back. I then waited a couple of weeks, and said to myself that the 17-inch was right for me. Well it turned into a torch, and got so hot, I could smell the wood cooking underneath my table. Needless to say, that was returned. Both models got VERY hot (and I know heat is subjective) but they were too hot to use comfortably). This is in addition to the possible problems you may have.

I have a Ti867 and was hoping to move up. But I can't in good conscience buy these new PowerBooks because of the heat and other manufacturing defects that plague them. I'm kind of sad because I liked the design. Maybe these are stop gaps until the PB G5? I don't know, but if I were you, I would hold off. Avoid the headache. The only headache I have know is whether to install a new internal drive in this Ti867 or buy a superduper external FW drive. HD space and speed are becoming issues with me as I work with more and more video.

[vancenase]

> bump for getting a 17" !!

[PeteWK]

Not a chance! If I were you, I would wait patiently for the G8. It should be out in 2010.

Ahhh... Sarcasm.

[RGray02]

I'd say just get it. Though it seems that a good number of people have this problem, Im still convinced that this is a minority of owners, not majority.

I have a 15" Albook, no problems, other than a high pitched whine (which is silent while scrolling?). Of course, as one of the posters stated, in a couple of weeks it may not be so fine, but so far so good, not even a dead pixel.

[pgolf]

I bought the 15" the day they were released. It had a latch problem and returned it for a new one the very next day. No latch or white spots, but i do have an annoying stuck pixel on red. Oh, and my battery is getting replaced.