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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

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Q: Colored vertical lines on PB 17" display

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  • by Julian Jaramillo,

    Julian Jaramillo Julian Jaramillo Sep 1, 2007 7:37 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2007 7:37 AM in response to mike Savage
    this ***** big time. my wife's 17" PB G4 started showing a vertical line yesterday. Obviously warranty is already expired and we never purchased the extended one. The serial number starts with W8 and it was purchased in mid 2005.

    I'm planning on taking it to a genius bar in one of their apple stores today to see what they have to say about this but my hopes are not high. I live in the Silicon Valley very close to apple's head quarters in Cupertino, does any one know if they have an office on campus or something like that where i can take my computer instead?
  • by evan e,

    evan e evan e Sep 3, 2007 9:35 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 3, 2007 9:35 PM in response to mike Savage
    I too am having the same vertical line problem. It appeared in the last few days. I decided to head to the Genius Bar tonight (I was surprised to see the 5th Ave store bumpin' with so many people on at 11:30pm on Labor Day) to see what they had to say - basically I was told I am out of warrantee so I'll have to suck up the cost ($310) or just deal with it. If anyone needs to know, my serial starts with "YD5".

    This is pretty lame. I bought this as a refurb in Jan of '06, and have been in love with this machine since. So it's sad to see Apple be so slippery about the issue.

    The Genius gave me a case # in case I changed my mind. I doubt I will though...
  • by BrandHOUSE,

    BrandHOUSE BrandHOUSE Sep 4, 2007 5:31 AM in response to evan e
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Sep 4, 2007 5:31 AM in response to evan e
    G'day,

    I thought I check in here to see if it's happening to others and not just me.

    Just happened to me tonight, a vertical blue line appearing left of screen and yep, the serial number starts with W8. Whenever I buy a Mac I buy an extended 2 waranty so this 17" will be going for a visit to NextByte Melbourne for a replacement or fix, either way I'm going to get this sorted out and will post back with what happened.
  • by BrandHOUSE,

    BrandHOUSE BrandHOUSE Sep 4, 2007 6:02 AM in response to BrandHOUSE
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Sep 4, 2007 6:02 AM in response to BrandHOUSE
    G'day,

    As an update to my post as above, the vertical line running the height of the screen just disappeared

    ?

    This happened to anyone else or is my ever faithful never had a day sick 17" 1.6 Titanium B/Book giving me a false sence of hope? I did a restart before to see like someoe else posted and it was still there, all I did was open a new window to Version Tracker to see if it's been reported there and it hasn't, came back here and the line is gone, for now anyway.

    I'm very confused as I ran TechTool Pro and it confirmed the vertical line. I'll have a look again in the morning and if the problem rears its head again I'll take some screen shots and get this sorted out.

    Forget everything I posted above, the line is back - this machine is going to see the Dr.

    Message was edited by: BrandHOUSE

    Message was edited by: BrandHOUSE
  • by TomSawyer,

    TomSawyer TomSawyer Sep 5, 2007 10:38 PM in response to TomSawyer
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 5, 2007 10:38 PM in response to TomSawyer
    After today's iPhone price slash fiasco my hopes of the vertical line issue being resolved in our favor are even lower. If they're grafting $200 from the core we're likely to get free LCD replacements around never.
  • by ThomasAachen,

    ThomasAachen ThomasAachen Sep 6, 2007 12:28 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2007 12:28 AM in response to mike Savage
    Hello to all!
    I have to join in this sad community of disappointed mac-lovers. Now I have over 50 of these vertical lines, some flickering first until they finally rest at one place on the screen. Also I have now a white bar of 15 cm on the left side. In one half of this bar there are flickering since a few days black horizontal lines too. Also I had trouble before with this PowerBook. In time of warranty it didn´t wake up when display had been closed and after a long odysee I got the mainboard exchanged by Apple.
    All that was described before here fits in my case too: Bought in June 2005, Serial Number W85...., first lines after 14 months, etc.
    My local dealer gives me no hope other than to be patient and to wait....
    I wrote a mail to apple in the feedback for the PowerBookPro. Strange that there is no way to give a feedback to our model. I will also write to "Computer-Bild", a magazine in Germany, where they sometimes "Fight for custumors". They do so if this seems to be an public interest. Maybe more of us should do it like me.
    Shame on Apple that they ignore this problem!
    I am a mac-user since 1993, beginning with ColorClassic, Performa 450, Performa 6200, PowerBook 150 and so on. Now I am very disappointed and angry, because I cannot continue some very urgent work. I have to mention that I cannot work anymore since 2 weeks now, because I seem to have a very big other problem too: The NetInfo DB got corrupted after a normal restart, doesnt accept my password, I cant reset it with CD, because it says there are no availible users. I began to learn UNIX, but nothing helped. Meanwhile the "fsck" doesnt do anything because of an "invalid node entry", also "FirstAid" cant repair anything. Please tell me if someone has similiar problems too. I dont know if this might be affected with this display problem.
    I never, never, never before thought about using anything other pc than a mac. I convinced family, friends, collegues about switching over the years (and they are satisfied with their mac). But this policy of Apple is a hard break to my "love". Maybe I closed my eyes and ignored it, because I wanted to be a part of a "better feeling" with a company that seems to be "other" than others, but Apple is as capitalistic as all others. The money counts, and they are not going an other way with their custumors. By the way I heard that "DELL" had the same problems with that 17"-display and they recalled it...
  • by laineywitch,

    laineywitch laineywitch Sep 7, 2007 6:44 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 7, 2007 6:44 AM in response to mike Savage
    Hi there

    I've posted to this and other discussions before but I'm beginning to wonder whether I really have the same problem. My screen's had vertical stripes for a few weeks now (and yes I've reported it...everywhere) but everyone elses descriptions are different.
    You can't see my stripes on a dark screen, only on a very, very pale one and on pale windows. Therefore it's impossible to take a photo of them. Plus they go right from one side to the other in a perfect symmetrical pattern! At a slight distance they're approximately 1 cm wide. However at closer inspection there are actually approx five weensy stripes within the bigger ones!
    So do you think my stripy problem is the same as everyone elses or is it a breed unto itself?
  • by tuscan,

    tuscan tuscan Sep 7, 2007 11:58 AM in response to laineywitch
    Level 1 (44 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 7, 2007 11:58 AM in response to laineywitch
    laineywitch,

    i'd say your problem is different than mine. i have - and i guess most of the users who reported here have the same - vertical colorized bars, 1 pixel wide; in my case "luckily" only a yellow and a pink one. they're always there, however you can see them *better on dark* background.

    maybe you don't have the same symptom on your display, but it could be related to the same defective manufactured lcd panel series.
  • by JanNon,

    JanNon JanNon Sep 8, 2007 9:46 PM in response to Julian Jaramillo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 8, 2007 9:46 PM in response to Julian Jaramillo
    I'm in the same situation.
    Just for the record, I'm adding my Powerbook to the growing list.
    Vertical blue line on the right of my 17" PB appeared a couple of weeks ago.
    Also purchased mid 2005, serial number beginnning with W8. I don't have the extended warranty.
    I called the Apple and got a case #, they just told me I needed to send it in and pay to have it repaired. No way. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a positive response from Apple to this growing VL club membership.
  • by BrandHOUSE,

    BrandHOUSE BrandHOUSE Sep 11, 2007 4:55 PM in response to BrandHOUSE
    Level 3 (795 points)
    Sep 11, 2007 4:55 PM in response to BrandHOUSE
    G'day,

    I seem to be making a habit of replying to my own emails.

    The line has disappeared, it just up and went. I wasn't doing anything more than clicking through screens in Safari and it was gone, even though like I posted above that a screen test in TechTool pro showed that the line was there. It worries me that it was there and is now gone. So I'm happy again, next time it happens I'll take some screen shots and take the P/book in under extended warranty.

    Like a few otheres have said, if you pay good money for something then pay a bit more for good warranty because it'll be cheaper if something happens - and if you use it professionally, then you're mad if you don't have AppleCare.
  • by Kdubben,

    Kdubben Kdubben Sep 12, 2007 1:57 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2007 1:57 PM in response to mike Savage
    Just chiming in to add my name to the list. 4 Lines so far. And i just sold my other 17" powerbook. Crap.

    Seriously Apple, I've owned COUNTLESS macs, quadras, powerpc, 8100s, 6100s, imacs, g4 & g5 towers, and FOUR 17" powerbooks so far, and am considering upgrading. (software upgrades are why i haven't) I've even bought 2 iphones for our company. (the 600 dollar ones of course)

    I was the first guy I know of in Dallas to use a mac for digital video, and spent HOURS on the phone with great apple guys trying to get qt 2.0 to work properly with external Radius hardware. This isn't like apple at all.

    This is ridiculous if you can't acknowledge a recurring defect in your hardware that causes a failure in this timeframe. A 3,000 dollar computer shouldn't have its screen rendered unusable in less than 2 years. Period.

    I was actually OK with the iphone price drop, and surprised with the credit offer. That was pretty impressive. This is MUCH more serious, since i'm not dumping 600 into this laptop (g4) and its my primary work computer.

    Get with it please.
  • by martahkapple,

    martahkapple martahkapple Sep 12, 2007 11:27 PM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2007 11:27 PM in response to mike Savage
    I have the same problem, same serial number, bought around july 2005... welcome to the club, I guess! The vertical line appeared today, and I am serious about contacting Apple and having them not only acknowledge the problem but fix it. They can only ignore this for so long.

    Marta Karwowski, Esq.
  • by Tchesco,

    Tchesco Tchesco Sep 13, 2007 7:39 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 13, 2007 7:39 AM in response to mike Savage
    Another PowerBook G4 17'' with pixel vertical lineS (42 up to this morning....)
    What Apple is doing regarding that issue... Everybody knows that it is a factory problem, specialy the LCD who were manufactured in China during the first month of 2005 and with serial number starting W85.... What are they waiting for... I paid (we) more than 4000$ (in Canada) for this laptop and I still love it but those lines are a shame Apple should take care of his customers
  • by Julian Jaramillo,

    Julian Jaramillo Julian Jaramillo Sep 13, 2007 10:51 AM in response to Julian Jaramillo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 13, 2007 10:51 AM in response to Julian Jaramillo
    Last week i took my laptop to one of the genius bars in one of their stores and the guy just told me that it was indeed a hardware problem, that the screen needed to be replaced (~U$800) and that it was the first time he heard about this problem.

    I called apple support today and they said the same. I asked to be transfered to customers relations where they filed a *formal complaint* for me, gave me a case number and recommended i send a letter with the case number to reinforce the case. Again, the agent told me she new nothing about this problem, and that it was the first time she heard about it.

    Everybody needs to call customer relations and do the same thing. It will be the only way to draw some attention to this issue.
  • by Bambi Vincent,

    Bambi Vincent Bambi Vincent Sep 13, 2007 11:52 AM in response to mike Savage
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Sep 13, 2007 11:52 AM in response to mike Savage
    My 9/11 post was deleted without a trace. Here's a much-softened version:

    First line last week, second this week.

    I registered on other pertinent sites and then called AppleCare, where I got a case number. There, I was told "Apple is aware of this emerging issue."

    After escalating the call, a supervisor stated, after checking her database, that Apple has not determined that this is a problem. The supervisor suggested that I *file a formal complaint*, which she would do on my behalf. The complaint will suggest that the vertical line issue warrants further investigation. I was told that even though I have a case #, I will not be notified if Apple establishes an extended warranty program on this issue. (Why won't they? How difficult could that be?) I need to watch the Apple Support site. Not that I was given a shred of hope.

    The supervisor also said "all 17" PBs start with the serial #W85." Anyone know otherwise? Presumably, all in this forum are in the W85 subset.

    Like all the rest of you, I'm an Apple evangelizer, have converted many, many people to Apple products, especially computers. I have used Macs since the first one in 1984: the 128k Mac with no hard drive, one 400k floppy drive on which we kept the OS, app, data, and fonts! I've owned only Macs these past 23 years, and many of them, all top of the line. I'm also an Apple stock holder, now, sadly, wondering if I should sell.
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