Hello all. I just wanted to add my experience into this thread to tell you all that there is hope. You can get an iPad 2 that has no screen defects (backlight bleeding or dead pixels). You'll just have to keep trying.
I bought a 32 GB Wifi Black iPad 2 on launch day, took it home, turned it on and noticed there was severe backlight bleeding in the bottom left and right corners. It was a yellowish/orange glow that seeped out from the corners of the screen. My point of sale (my University's tech store) was out of stock and had no estimations on when they would get more stock in (they only had 6 iPad 2's to begin with), so I had no option but to deal with Apple. I made an appointment at the Genius bar for the next day and had a Genius guy look at it. I tried my best to explain the backlight bleeding issue to him, but he didn't seem impressed and the lighting in the Apple store was so bright that you really couldn't see the issue, even with a black background on the screen. He didn't offer to look at it in the back room, but didn't really give any resistance on swapping it out. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of the same SKU in stock, but told me to come back the next day. I returned to the store the following day as instructed, and traded my iPad for a new sealed one. I took it home, turned it on, and the backlight bleed issue was even worse on this one, with the yellowish/orange light seeping out from the borders all around the screen. Not only was the backlight bleed worse, but it had a significant "dead spot" in the upper-middle part of the screen. It wasn't a dead pixel per-se, but it was a spot that was whiter than the rest of the screen and in a very odd shape.
I was pretty infuriated at this point, and had been reading forum threads on this issue (such as this one), so I wasn't sure if I should go back to Apple again immediately, or just wait a bit until more stock started to arrive. I used the 2nd (worse) iPad for a couple days, but any time I was on a screen with an overly light/white background (e-mail, safari, etc.) my eyes kept catching the "dead spot" and it was bothering me to no end. I said screw it and decided to go back to the Apple store again. I made a Genius bar appointment, waited patiently until it was my turn, and talked to the Genius guy that approached me. I explained to him that this was my second iPad 2 and went on to describe the backlight bleed issue that had affected both and the dead spot on the screen. He said he clearly could see the dead spot, which he said was a "swappable issue", but wanted to take the iPad in the back room to see if he could look at the backlight bleed issue. I told him to knock himself out. He returned from the back room and said "well, the backlight bleeding doesn't seem as evident as you had described, but since the dead spot is obviously there, we'll swap it out". When he said this, I rolled my eyes and said "fine", attempting to keep my growing anger under control. Fortunately, they had a few iPad 2's of the same SKU in stock for swaps only (not new sales). When he was processing the exchange paperwork at the counter, I asked him if the backlight issue has a common issue that they've seen at this location since launch. He told me "we have heard some reports of it, but we believe it is a "pressure" issue and have been suggesting that people not squeeze the iPad so tightly when they are holding it". I literally laughed in his face at this response and told him that the issue was clearly evident even when the iPad was sitting flat on the table. So basically, he was essentially telling me that I WAS HOLDING IT WRONG. SERIOUSLY?! IS THIS JUST APPLE'S DEFAULT RESPONSE NOW?
I was livid.
Anyway, as soon as I had my new iPad in my hands (now my 3rd one), I bolted out of the store as quickly as I could because I was frankly quite ****** off regarding the attitude of the Genius guy. I took the new iPad home, turned it on, and was relieved to see no backlight bleeding as the Apple logo popped up on the screen. As soon as I activated it with iTunes, I loaded up Safari and couldn't see any dead pixels either. So this unit, my 3rd iPad 2, seems to be without screen issues.
So I think the moral of my story is that there is hope out there for all of those that want an iPad 2 with a mint screen. Don't give up--keep going to your Apple store and demand replacements until you get one that has NO backlight bleeding. Don't take any crap from the Genius guys. Raise **** and demand that you want a product that functions as it should WITHOUT defects.
If any of you want to see a pic of my iPad that has no backlight leakage, let me know, and I will be glad to post one.
