This discussion is locked
mike Savage

Q: Colored vertical lines on PB 17" display

There is a lot of documentation on various websites and discussion boards about 17" Powerbooks with displays that break down after about 15 months of use.

I am unfortunate enough to own a 17" powerbook assembled in April 2005 in China - serial number beginning with W8. I believe this is the same time-period and factory location where hundreds (if not thousands) of identical machines were assembled that are now having the same colored-lines-in-the-display defect as my machine.

All these machines assembled at the same time, at the same place, using the same batch of LCD screens, are experiencing the same defect after the same amount of use.
Something stinks, and it smells like a manufacturing problem to me.

Does anyone know if Apple has man'd up and acknowledged the problem yet?





17" Powerbook G4 1.67   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

Posted on May 21, 2007 5:36 PM

Close

Q: Colored vertical lines on PB 17" display

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 27 of 28 last Next
  • by MachF5ve,

    MachF5ve MachF5ve Dec 30, 2009 5:43 AM in response to MachF5ve
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2009 5:43 AM in response to MachF5ve
    Apple repaired the monitor on my G4 PowerBook, in fact it came back with a higher resolution monitor. It's now 1680 x 1050 (old one was 1440 x 900). And they installed a new 120 GB hard drive.
    All for $311.

    If anyone is having the same problem with the vertical lines on their screen, and you want to save your PowerBook, I would recommend taking it to your store's Genius Bar and take advantage of the flat-rate repair service while it's still available for the G4.
  • by unclejohnny,

    unclejohnny unclejohnny Dec 30, 2009 3:21 PM in response to MachF5ve
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2009 3:21 PM in response to MachF5ve
    Just out of curiosity - how long did the repairs take and did they tell you what the problem was?
  • by Joe RS,

    Joe RS Joe RS Jan 6, 2010 6:53 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 2 (274 points)
    Accessibility
    Jan 6, 2010 6:53 AM in response to mike Savage
    I am in the Apple Store at Sherway Gardens in Toronto and just finished my service appointment at the Genius Bar. I drove in to Toronto from out of town. I was told the repairs are approximately $800. I was told that Apple is not aware of any issues with the vertical lines. My 17 inch powerbook starts with the serial number that everyone is mentioning in this thread. My PowerBook is 5 years old. The Genius bar guy simply says that it's an old computer.

    Why are some people getting a flat rate deal to change the screen? I would surely go for it if it was offered. What is the difference here?
  • by daumring,

    daumring daumring Jan 6, 2010 8:20 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2010 8:20 AM in response to mike Savage
    Hello there

    I have the same problem unfortunately. And I am going to replace the display. Recently, I have searched some web-site to find the proper one. If you can help me, please let me know the following question. Is it possible to set higher resolution (1680 X 1050). my powerbook's native resolution is 1440 X 900. The seller said to me, I can set higher resolution. But I am not sure. Thanks.
  • by Ross Koning,

    Ross Koning Ross Koning Jan 16, 2010 8:05 PM in response to daumring
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2010 8:05 PM in response to daumring
    Add one more PowerBook G4 Serial W85... to the list. I got a blue line before Thanksgiving, a red one around Christmas, now a new yellow one. Mine too are limited to the built-in screen, it does not affect external monitors or data projectors. They are annoying, and with my line distribution my maximum unaffected width of screen is 6.5 inches wide...so even my 12" G3 iBooks are doing better than this! Shame on Apple for not putting a program together for a fix, a credit on a new purchase, or something like that...ross
  • by Steven Metcalf,

    Steven Metcalf Steven Metcalf Feb 3, 2010 12:34 PM in response to Ross Koning
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2010 12:34 PM in response to Ross Koning
    i noticed this thread last year,i thought i must be lucky,well luck just run out,same batch and i got my first line!not happy at all!
  • by G Perry,

    G Perry G Perry Feb 3, 2010 7:53 PM in response to MachF5ve
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2010 7:53 PM in response to MachF5ve
    Hello, I too have a PowerBook 17 inch display with the W85 designation. I am wondering if you ever had your screen repaired or replaced and how that worked out for you. I have also read some posts that suggest that Apple has a flat rate for doing this work. I like the machine but I'm just wondering if it is worth it or should I just give up on the computer and buy another. My screen has ... ohh, about 40 vertical lines on it covering the entire screen from left to right.

    Thanks for any help or suggestions you can offer.

    Garry in Calgary
  • by keith_hn70,

    keith_hn70 keith_hn70 Feb 10, 2010 10:59 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2010 10:59 AM in response to mike Savage
    Hi all,

    I, too, have a 17" Powerbook G4 purchased in late Fall '05. The vertical line issue started for me about 2 months ago. It's currently at 3 lines. I haven't checked the serial number, but am pretty confident that my machine came from the same problem batch starting with "W85" manufactured in Shanghai.

    Similarly, I took my machine to the Genius Bar and was told that the machine was out of warranty and could be repaired for a "flat rate" price of around $325.00.

    My question is: is this the final answer from Apple on this issue? Seems like there is widespread documentation that this is a manufacturing error, and should be outside of normal wear-and-tear warranty coverage.

    I've been a long-time Mac user, both at home and at work. These products are not cheap. Can't we expect a premium customer service response to go along with the premium prices? If it's an obvious manufacturing glitch, seems like Apple should own up as a company and reward brand loyalty from their customers. In comparison, I also have an old 2003 Dell Laptop that has not had one hardware problem, ever (the OS, however, is another story; hence my preference for Mac).

    Anyone had any luck with trumping the "flat-rate" repair, or is this a lost cause?
  • by Murefu44,

    Murefu44 Murefu44 Feb 14, 2010 1:25 PM in response to G Perry
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2010 1:25 PM in response to G Perry
    I had my display replaced with about 2 weeks left of coverage. I had around 20-30 lines. After getting it replaced (about a year ago) it has looked great since.
  • by Fenderaddict,

    Fenderaddict Fenderaddict Feb 18, 2010 10:07 AM in response to Murefu44
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 10:07 AM in response to Murefu44
    My machine is also a W8, although 86 in this case and it too has started to get the vertical lines across the bottom inch and a half of display. The problem seems to come and go as I type, and if I move the tilt or otherwise touch the monitor. I was told a new screen was 900 bucks. Bit pricey as this machine has had a lot of issues resulting in downtown that has cost me the price of several new 17" Macbook Pros. I have had two battery expansions rupture and deform the case, along with 2 hard drive failures and now this. Do any shops in the greater Toronto area offer the flat rate fix?
  • by jsingletary,

    jsingletary jsingletary Feb 18, 2010 6:02 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 6:02 PM in response to mike Savage
    Pretty sad. 27 pages dating way back on this problem and silence by Apple. My son's 17" got so many lines it was unusable. Crickets from Apple. Mine just started and 16 have appeared in a short time. We got them both at the same time after our house was robbed. Replaced my son's 1400 and my 12" iBook. My first Mac was the 512k and have had many since. 6400 was my favorite. I've been an ardent Mac evangelist. This has me really frosted.
  • by Andrej Marich,

    Andrej Marich Andrej Marich Feb 18, 2010 8:41 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2010 8:41 PM in response to mike Savage
    I'm having the same issues with a 15" PowerBook G4 purchased 4 years ago. Love the computer, but about 1 month ago I started noticing the display would all of a sudden go crazy and become a blur of vertical lines. I used to be able to restart and everything would go back to normal, but now, nothing I do resets the screen to normal. Apple store suggests a new logic board, but this has already been replaced, and they say replacing the logic board will run you almost as much as a brand new computer. I'm frustrated.... an item of this cost should last more than 4 years! Arrrgh!
  • by luckykc,

    luckykc luckykc Feb 19, 2010 3:53 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2010 3:53 PM in response to mike Savage
    Not a club that I wanted to join, but my IMac S/N W86... has been getting the dreaded thin vertical lines, up to 3 now. Is this something that anyone who has these lovely lines needs to contact Apple to join the long list of the lucky line club? My IMac is out of warranty as well, so I did not want to do anything if Apple is going to stand up for their product or I have nothing but a rainbow for a screen.
  • by doublebip,

    doublebip doublebip Feb 19, 2010 4:51 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2010 4:51 PM in response to mike Savage
    Nice to see that this discussion hasn't been deleted like the others. I too have the "line problem." I'm up to 8 and at first it was only one a week but then had 3 show up one day after another. The lines initially slowly start to fade in from the top and bottom, meeting in the middle, then disappear for about 30 mins. As soon as it fully appears, it never goes away. Right now there are 5 purple, 2 blue, and 1 yellow. I made a Genius appt for tonight and will report back what the outcome of that meeting is. I downloaded and installed the PBG4 Graphics Update that Apple posted, but didn't fix anything. I guess I'll have to decide is it worth the cash to fix this screen vs. saving up ~$2,000 for a new lappy
  • by doublebip,

    doublebip doublebip Feb 25, 2010 4:04 PM in response to doublebip
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 25, 2010 4:04 PM in response to doublebip
    Found out from the Genius Bar that there is a flat $330 fee (includes tax) to fix the screen. Also included with the $330 I can have anything else fixed as well, in my case this includes the keyboard backlight which went out and the sound card. I say this is pretty decent compromise.
first Previous Page 27 of 28 last Next