Q: display anomalies

How desperate must I be to actually evaluate the practical use of such installation...

Bad news update: You gotta care about your thermal paste/grease/compound. I used a crappy one last time, and turns out it dried up after a few months, it became almost solid and stopped working. That led to rise in temperatures, I got like 55/53 ° C minimum for my CPU/GPU when idle.

I reapplied the same crap paste (because I didn't have any other), now it's around 49/47. And better put a tiny amount than a truckload. Good luck fixing your MBPs.

Desperate??? Disgusted!!!

I'm not even sure why i'm bothering to post anymore... it will probably get deleted from the thread by the forum admin, like so many other posts before (and not just mine)... Anyways, are we not forgetting something here? We can come up with all sorts of 'fixes' to keep the thing cool enough to run - BUT, at the end of the day, let's not forget the hardware is going to fail. This is a fundamental design flaw. These early, 'beta' shall we call them, machines were poorly designed and manufactured using poorly matched components (the dreaded ATI GPU for one)... I'm disgusted by the lack of acknowledgment from Apple on this, and their lack of compensation to customers! Unfortunately, i work in an industry that uses Apple hardware - but when and where ever i can i'm moving over to generic brand hardware (in most cases these days using the exact same components as Apple does) and Linux!

Sure it's disgusting but then again a day may come when without such a sick cooling device the laptop will just be unusable. I'd rather swallow my disgust then.

I might think that until we *_constantly keep_* the GPU temp *_way below_* 53-54°C all is gonna be fine. In my case 54°C is pure magic. Top to it and the GPU will always start failing.

Just thought I'd update on how my MacBook saga is going, it's still at the repairers. It got damaged and they are now replacing an upper and lower case. Interestingly the battery wouldn't clip in properly to the new lower case, it's faulty! So we've had one brand new faulty mother board and now this brand new lower case, both faulty!!! I really thought this product was quality. Doesn't look that way any more to me!
I wonder how everyone is getting on with their m b p? There have been very few posts on this disscussion lately...... Are people getting them taken off I wonder?

I just want to add my name to this list, since I have had the same problems for almost a year now. Really frustrating, and whenever I contact a service person, I get the runaround because I am no longer covered with apple care, and because this computer has the radeon card instead of the other one. What a dud. This is clearly a hardware issue, and it's really disappointing since it is beyond what anyone would consider average wear and tear. I have been a mac owner since 1994 and, before owning this computer (a 17" macbook pro 2.16), have never had problems that would cause me to reconsider owning a mac. I do hope apple will address this issue, but since the problem has been out in the open for many years now, i am not holding my breath.

I am very disappointed, too. Usually Macs just last forever and I get a new one when my current machine will no longer support the latest operating system. We have an older 17 Macbook Pro that we bought a year before this one and no problems at all with that. I am surprised Apple is just ignoring this.

I've been trying to find an address for the managing director of apple uk, having a bit of a job. Does any one know it? I am going to write a nd complain, ask them topay for mynew logic board.
Also I think this is anon for trade descriptions act. Exact wording is :-

Faulty goods and sale of goods act 1979 (as amended).
states that when a consumer buys goods from a trader they must be: of a satisfactory quality; and fit for any purpose made known at the time of sale to the seller.
This legislation also states that the seller not the manufacturer, is legally obliged to sort out a problem if the goods do not meet these requirements.
The law also says I have six years from the date of purchase to claim
damages for faulty goods.

I got this information from the citezens advice website.

Probably my last update on here, I've been here since this post was small.
SInce I found this site, I have done what I could for my mac, but is at the end.
Because of the constant crashing, and hard reboots, I destroyed my 1 Tb external hard drive.
I am pretty sure it also was involved with the death of my 500 Gb external too.
After 6 crashes in one day with fan control running, a cooling pad, and everything else I could think of having been done to it, I had to concede that apple has won. I can no longer wait for a fix that has not appeared in the 3 years I have been looking for it.
I am sorry to say this to all of you, but unless your country has some serious laws to help, and even then, Apple is big business, and we the people matter little to them, as long as the big-wigs get the fat cheques every month and big bonuses, why would they care about us.
I only got this Mac because I was told that it was so great, and never crashed, and never had any problems, I was not informed that mac gave out beta computers at a ridiculous price.

All the best to you, guys.

Oh yeah, don't dwell on this like I did, you will only end up angry and bitter, and waste years of your life, like I did. If you want a lasting computer, never buy the latest and greatest, buy the tried and tested.

Ciao.

I agree. I gave up thinking Apple were going to address what is an obvious hardware issue ages ago and bought another better computer and got on with my life.

Apple know about the issue, disappointing that they have not addressed it. I also bought this faulty machine and exactly the same premise that drove the decision was being told by other Apple users that Apples were very well built and reliable.

I knew about the Apple Care program, but again i was told you dont really need it cos Apple are a nice company, making nice products with excellent customer support anyway.


If they ever make enough money to afford to deal with this faulty machine it would be most welcome if they contacted me one day, could be next week, could be next year, i dont care anymore it would just be nice if they would.

Well, I have plans for a consumer tv programe in uk, theywill love this story !

What can we do in the US? Do we have any laws in place... ?

What about 'downunder' here in Aus?

Although i did purchase my "betaMac" MacBook Pro (Pro?) whilst in the US i now live in Australia.

Like DHD-03 i'm pretty much at the end of the line, been on this forum way too long, gone through ALL the 'fixes' - talked to Apple PR etc., still got a prematurely dead MBP at the end of the day... Oh, BTW in reponse to John-Doe earlier... i'm not disgi=usted with the attempts to keep these things running, only with Apples lack of customer care and the fall from producing quality products.

Like spagbol23 , i'd still be interested to hear if Apple ever does the right thing an recall these betaMacs...

Finally, yes please 'denise CLARK', keep us posted...

The +one and only thing+ that will make Apple rectify this is a class action law suit. No amount of pleading to their good heart is going to make one scrap of difference. We are talking millions of dollars in replacement/repair cost here. No company facing such expenses is going to go to the negotiating table quietly. They will scream and kick all the way. One lawyer firm in the US is/was looking into this but I don't think they received enough support from affected Mac owners to take the matter any further (Apple representatives reading this will sigh with relief). I put my details down on their site but too many people haven't. Do a Google search using the words 'X1600' 'apple' and 'investigation' and you should find the page. There, I haven't mentioned any company names or said anything to offend anyone in person.

Guys, I'm posting again with an update. Changed the thermal compound from generic white silicon to Arctic Silver 5, it sure does the trick. 44°C on GPU while watching youtube is not bad.

But here's the thing I really wanted to write - please mind that keeping your MBP "barely usable" or "it kinda seems OK now" *is not enough*. I mean it. It still might die sooner or later. And as you can read, some of the guys had it die soon.

Set the fans to around 3800rpm, which is audible but bearable, change the thermal compound to Arctic Silver 5, Zalman STG-1 or other good stuff, and get Coolbook. Really. And even get a cooling pad on top of all that.

The lower the GPU temp you get, the longer your MBP will last and while this is a long shot, I'd say that there's hope.

If anyone could post some links where you can get the Arctic Silver 5, Zalman STG-1 reasonably I'd appreciate it. I picked up someDYNEX DX-StC1001 thermal compound at Bestbuy but I'm guessing if and when I go to the trouble to re-goop I should use the good stuff.
Thanks
Steve