Vertical line issue - How can we get Apple to address this?
As can be seen in this forum (and a lot of other forums, as well), a lot of people are experiencing this problem on their 17" iMac G5 with iSight. Here are some pertinent details (which may be familiar to a lot of people but can be a primer for those who are just starting to experience the problem):
1. For most of us, these lines started appearing between 13-15 months after they purchased them. The lucky ones either had these failures occur during the first 12 months, or had APP.
2. The majority of these units can be traced to the Shanghai factory W8 (enter your S/N in this website to get the manufacturing information of your unit: http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html).
3. A similar issue occurred (or is occurring) with 17" PBs. From what I have read on the Apple PB forums, it seems that this has been a long standing issue and Apple has SUPPOSEDLY attempted to censor some of the posts discussing this. Note that these units can also be traced back to the same Shanghai factory.
4. The "iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues" which certain people have always been referring users to on posts discussing this type of problem obviously refers to a totally different issue ( http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/) and is applicable only to first gen iMac G5s. I'm sure that everyone appreciates it but, at this point, it is quite clear that it is not the solution to our problem.
5. Based on the number of posts discussing this very same problem in the Apple forums, it is pretty obvious that these are not isolated issues. There are too many similarities (time of failure, how the numbers of line increase over time, manufacturing source, etc.)
6. Some people have suggested that unstable power sources may be the primary cause of the problem. However, based on the locations of the people with these problems who have posted in this forum, it seems unlikely. From what I can see, the problem happens whether you are from a highly industrialized country (where a stable power source can be expected) or a developing country (where power sources MAY be more unstable).
7. Apple has typically responded (to anyone who has taken the time to write or have their iMacs inspected) that this is not a known manufacturing defect issue. As such, the cost to repair this problem, which can go up to USD 500, will have to be borne by the owner.
8. Based on posts of some people who have had their units repaired, it is the LCD that has to be replaced. This is also supported by posts from people who have resorted to purchase a separate display as a workaround.
Now, the question is, *how do we get Apple to address this issue*? Do we all start writing Steve Jobs about it? Do we go to the press? Should we put up a website and Digg it to death? A spoof video on YouTube? MySpace? Or will we just suffer in silence? Suggestions anyone?
P.S. Suggestions that involve any sort of violence or industrial sabotage are not acceptable, please.
Note that Ale_Tog has put up a Flickr page where we can post photos of our poor iMacs. Just send the photo to ale_tog@hotmail.com with the subject "Dead pixels on iMac". No text, just the photo attachment. (+Ale_Tog, if you read this, I hope you don't mind me posting this here. Also, I suggest that we at least put the first 5 chars of the serial number, the factory information which can be retrieved on the link in #2 above, and which country the unit is based.+). I highly recommend that everyone send a photo to show that these are not isolated issues.
To get an idea on how many people are experiencing this problem, here are a list of posts in these forums, as well as others, discussing this issue (feel free to add to this):
http://i7.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/b2/75/2e8d_1.JPG
http://i16.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/b2/75/2ee5_1.JPG
http://i12.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/b2/75/2faf_1.JPG
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=974094
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5146382&tstart=0
http://www.macusersg.org/forums/index.php?topic=40998.0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=607522&tstart=180
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=463075&tstart=270
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=197560&tstart=360 (this is about dead pixels, but one person reported a whole line)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=292889&tstart=390
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=293895&tstart=390
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=279138&tstart=420
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=197630&tstart=465
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=197745&tstart=510
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=197741&tstart=510
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=197641&tstart=585
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4227335�
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=976574󮚾
http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?messageID=4369582&stqc=true
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=778470&tstart=0
Please start sending your suggestions. The more the many-ier!
17" iMac G5 1.9ghz with iSight, Mac OS X (10.4.8)