• September 6th, 2007
• Joseph Crawford
• 12:12 PM (GMT-5)
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I have been using Apple products since the end of 2005 and I must say that I am in love with the computer systems. I made the switch after using PC computers for 12 years and really got sick of Windows crashing all of the time. I did try different flavors of Linux over the years but never found a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that I liked.

I bought my first mac in 2005 and it was the Quad G5 PowerPC with the 23″ Apple Cinema Display. I had the system for about 6 months and traded it in towards a Mac Pro. The computer systems that I have had have been great. I only upgraded due to the switch to Intel processors.

My biggest gripe with Apple is with the quality of their displays. I bought my 23″ display for $1200 and had to have it repaired 5 times. There was image persistence the first 2 times and then the rest were due to Apple installing faulty LCD modules that had about 15-20 dead pixels in each. After I finally got sick of having to be without my display for 3+ days with each repair I emailed the Apple Executives. I spoke with a gentleman there who got the display replaced for me with a new one. After about a year of use this one started having image persistence as well. When it comes to losing this much time from work it simply is unacceptable. If I said it was 3 days for each repair (estimation as some took longer) it would be 18 days I have missed from work due to this display. I have lost enough money to buy 3 of these displays. I guess with Apple displays you should always have a back-up just for occasions like this. That is what the Apple Product Specialist told me. The question is why should you need a back-up. I could see 2 maybe 3 repairs over a period of 3 years but 6 is under 2?

When I first called into the support line about this persistence issue they had me try putting a blank white image up as a screen saver and leaving it there for a length of time. Repeat if necessary. I turned off power save mode and let it run overnight for 9 hours. It did seem to lighten it a bit but it was still really noticeable. What really ticked me off is that I have seen this 3 times over 2 displays now and when I called in they acted like they had no idea, they had never seen this issue and it MUST be a hardware issue and not the display. The tech concluded this because with the monitors brightness turned all the way up on the white screen it did not show the image persistence. Although they had *never* heard about this they were sure to point out this article on how to *possibly* resolve the issue.

Everyone I have talked to and showed the persistence images to stated that I need to start using a screen saver and power save mode. Well.. I have my screen saver set to kick in after 5 minutes and power save turns the display off after 15 minutes of inactivity. I am not sure what else I could possibly do.

With this last repair I have to say they did do a great job. While I was without my display for about 3 working days it came back in pristine condition (thus far).

I have also figured out that when the apple support reps just cannot seem to help you, there is always the possibility of e-mailing the Apple Executives and they try to get things taken care of.

So my question for you is are Apple’s displays really worth their cost?

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UPDATE 11:23 PM
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I have found an issue with this display already, I am not sure what is going on with it however it is a new issue and I am sure it has been introduced with the latest repair. When I touch the power button on the display to turn it off, it goes off immediately and the light flashes white and then goes out. Now when I turn it back on it takes up to 10 seconds for the display to actually come on. Also the little power light does not come on when the display is on. Some times it takes 4 seconds others 6 and others longer. The longest it has taken was 20 seconds. I will be calling the Apple Executive back tomorrow morning and getting something done about this.

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UPDATE 09/10/2007 9:33 AM
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Well I have been trying to get a hold of the Apple executive since Thursday however I have not been able to contact them. This morning the display finally kicked the bucket. It will no longer turn on at all. Last night was odd, every time I would turn it off it would turn back on in about 10 seconds. Now however no matter what I do it will not come on at all. I have tried unplugging it and plugging it back in. I tried disconnecting it from the computer and unplugging it thinking it had the ability for a reset. No go. I am going to continue to try to get in touch with the Apple executive today. I am just so unhappy that with every repair I get done there is always another issue introduced. When will this just come to an end?

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UPDATE 09/17/2007 2:58 PM
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Today I finally got my display back from the repair depot.  It is fixed so it seems.  I will give it some time to die once again as I have lost all faith in these displays.  I am guessing that within a few days I will have image persistence again and have to ship it out yet again.