17in G4 PowerBook vertical lines defect

Hi All,

I’m one of the unfortunate hundreds (thousands?) of owners of a 17inch G4 1.67Ghz PowerBook with a defective display. Beginning 12-24 months after purchase, our screens show an ever increasing number of one-pixel-wide vertical lines in several colours. Apple Discussions forum administrators have been using censorship and censuring since Nov 06 to try to stamp out public discussion of this defect, Apple Inc have failed to acknowledge the problem, and AppleCare centres claim this problem is unheard of – and direct callers to an Apple Store for an expensive and prolonged out-of-warranty repair. Meanwhile Dell have a three year free repair program in place for similarly afflicted 17inch displays on their PC notebooks.

In reaction to Apple’s censorship, censuring and silence regarding this obvious manufacturing defect, an end-user defect database initiative has proven that the defective PowerBooks were actually manufactured in the W8 Shanghai factory around Mar-Apr 05:
17inch “Bridget Riley” Powerbooks
http://crosspond.com/apple.php

For more info and five ACTION pages, please see:
Free Repair Campaign for Apple 17inch PowerBooks mini Wiki
http://simurl.com/pb17wiki

Warm regards,

dalinian

“I think the best thing in cases of censorship or things like this is to get as much media as possible.”
Kathy Acker

Body [quote="dalinian"]Hi All, I’m one of the unfortunate hundreds (thousands?) of owners of a 17inch G4 1.67Ghz PowerBook with a defective display. Beginning 12-24 months after purchase, our screens show an ever increasing number of one-pixel-wide vertical lines in several colours. Apple Discussions forum administrators have been using censorship and censuring since Nov 06 to try to stamp out public discussion of this defect, Apple Inc have failed to acknowledge the problem, and AppleCare centres claim this problem is unheard of – and direct callers to an Apple Store for an expensive and prolonged out-of-warranty repair. Meanwhile Dell have a three year free repair program in place for similarly afflicted 17inch displays on their PC notebooks. In reaction to Apple’s censorship, censuring and silence regarding this obvious manufacturing defect, an end-user defect database initiative has proven that the defective PowerBooks were actually manufactured in the W8 Shanghai factory around Mar-Apr 05: 17inch “Bridget Riley” Powerbooks http://crosspond.com/apple.php For more info and five ACTION pages, please see: Free Repair Campaign for Apple 17inch PowerBooks mini Wiki http://simurl.com/pb17wiki Warm regards, dalinian “I think the best thing in cases of censorship or things like this is to get as much media as possible.” Kathy Acker[/quote]

Alert me when my forum post is replied to.

If you have the Powerbook vertical lines defect, here's what to do:

(all this advice is summarized & kept up-to-date at
http://www.geocities.com/surfithead/pblines.htm

*** To receive future news on this issue (perhaps there'll be a class action lawsuit someday?), and to discuss this problem without Apple's heavy censorship, subscribe to this free Yahoo Group
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/applevlines/

*** Register your PowerBook at David Hudd's database at
http://www.crosspond.com/apple/welcome

*** Sign this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/maclines/petition.html

*** Read the exciting (& infuriating) info here:
http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Apple%27s_Censorship_%26_Censure

*** Post at Apple: Post in the "PowerBook G4 17-inch Display" discussion at Apple Discussions. To avoid censorship, something non-inflammatory like "I have this problem too, what can I do about it?" Here's a relevant thread that's been there for a while: "Colored vertical lines on PB 17" display"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=967815&tstart=0 You will have to check back periodically to see if you've been censored, since you don't get any kind of automatic notification when they edit/delete your post.

*** (new) Read censored info: If you want to get "all" the news out of the Apple forums (they attract a lot of people), be sure to subscribe to threads and request to get an email immediately with every change. Apple censors a lot to keep users from getting together or discussing certain topics, but if you get immediate email delivery you may receive posts before Apple gets a chance to edit/delete them.

*** AppleCare: Even if you can't afford a repair from Apple, call AppleCare, get a case #, and ask them how to file a formal complaint (so Apple has a record of the extent of the problem and is pressured to react).

*** Leave "Management Comments" here:
http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html

*** (new) ZDNet story: Click the "thumbs up" to vote for this story at ZDNet
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2173
and to "digg" that ZDNet story click here
http://digg.com/apple/PowerBook_G4_display_manufacturing_defect_coverup

*** (new) Powerpage story: Click below to digg this story from powerpage.org
http://digg.com/apple/Apple_Censoring_Complaints_About_PowerBook_Defect

*** Write to high-profile Mac news & blog sites and ask them to cover this story. Sites such as http://www.tuaw.com/ etc

*** There are some other suggestions here:
http://www.crosspond.com/apple/links

*** Call and send a letter to Apple corporate HeadQuarters and Public Relations
http://www.apple.com/contact/

*** Non-U.S.A. AppleCare: Note that when people complain to AppleCare in non-U.S. countries, that info is not forwarded to any central location, so Apple never finds out about worldwide complaint patterns that indicate a defect. Ideally non-U.S. residents should be sure to call U.S. HeadQuarters and Public Relations so all the complaints hopefully also get to a central location.

*** Take some of the steps documented in various pages at this site:
http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Free_Repair_Campaign_for_Apple_17inch_PowerBooks

*** Contact your state Department of Consumer Protection (I don't know what options you have outside the U.S...anyone else know?)

*** Contact the Better Business Bureau

Body [quote="jasond22"]If you have the Powerbook vertical lines defect, here's what to do: (all this advice is summarized & kept up-to-date at http://www.geocities.com/surfithead/pblines.htm *** To receive future news on this issue (perhaps there'll be a class action lawsuit someday?), and to discuss this problem without Apple's heavy censorship, subscribe to this free Yahoo Group http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/applevlines/ *** Register your PowerBook at David Hudd's database at http://www.crosspond.com/apple/welcome *** Sign this petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/maclines/petition.html *** Read the exciting (& infuriating) info here: http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Apple%27s_Censorship_%26_Censure *** Post at Apple: Post in the "PowerBook G4 17-inch Display" discussion at Apple Discussions. To avoid censorship, something non-inflammatory like "I have this problem too, what can I do about it?" Here's a relevant thread that's been there for a while: "Colored vertical lines on PB 17" display" http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=967815&tstart=0 You will have to check back periodically to see if you've been censored, since you don't get any kind of automatic notification when they edit/delete your post. *** (new) Read censored info: If you want to get "all" the news out of the Apple forums (they attract a lot of people), be sure to subscribe to threads and request to get an email immediately with every change. Apple censors a lot to keep users from getting together or discussing certain topics, but if you get immediate email delivery you may receive posts before Apple gets a chance to edit/delete them. *** AppleCare: Even if you can't afford a repair from Apple, call AppleCare, get a case #, and ask them how to file a formal complaint (so Apple has a record of the extent of the problem and is pressured to react). *** Leave "Management Comments" here: http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html *** (new) ZDNet story: Click the "thumbs up" to vote for this story at ZDNet http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2173 and to "digg" that ZDNet story click here http://digg.com/apple/PowerBook_G4_display_manufacturing_defect_coverup *** (new) Powerpage story: Click below to digg this story from powerpage.org http://digg.com/apple/Apple_Censoring_Complaints_About_PowerBook_Defect *** Write to high-profile Mac news & blog sites and ask them to cover this story. Sites such as http://www.tuaw.com/ etc *** There are some other suggestions here: http://www.crosspond.com/apple/links *** Call and send a letter to Apple corporate HeadQuarters and Public Relations http://www.apple.com/contact/ *** Non-U.S.A. AppleCare: Note that when people complain to AppleCare in non-U.S. countries, that info is not forwarded to any central location, so Apple never finds out about worldwide complaint patterns that indicate a defect. Ideally non-U.S. residents should be sure to call U.S. HeadQuarters and Public Relations so all the complaints hopefully also get to a central location. *** Take some of the steps documented in various pages at this site: http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Free_Repair_Campaign_for_Apple_17inch_PowerBooks *** Contact your state Department of Consumer Protection (I don't know what options you have outside the U.S...anyone else know?) *** Contact the Better Business Bureau[/quote]

Alert me when my forum post is replied to.