Dead Pixels In New Laptops.

[BChico]

Just wanted to see what you guys thought.

I recently setup 6 new thinkpads for a university. Out of the six 2 had 2 dead pixels, and the other four had 1 each. So they all had at least one dead pixel. Does this really occur this often or is this just a bad batch. I would be kinda pissed if i got a new $2500 laptop and it had 2 dead pixels... These are IBM T41's by the way.

Let me know what you think...

 

[Budmantom]

That does seem high.

 

[arsbanned]

Just picked up one of those $599, 1100 Dells for my daughter and it had zero dead pixels. In this case you don't get what you pay for, evidently.

 

[Skiguy411]

I picked up an $999 emachines that had 2 dead pixals. Brought it back to best buy, exchanged it, and the new one is perfect

 

[JBT]

I got a a new lappy from www.powernotebooks.com and ther are no dead pixels on it.

 

[arsbanned]

I picked up an $999 emachines that had 2 dead pixals. Brought it back to best buy, exchanged it, and the new one is perfect

Yeah, Best Buy has a GREAT return policy doesn't it?
Most manufactures OTOH will not honor returns for any fewer than 5 dead pixels and some insist on you tolerating even more. Fug that!!

 

[WobbleWobble]

I think it's normal. Especially with SXGA+ and higher resolution screens. I'm never suprised to see a dead pixel or 2 with a new laptop.

 

[wjsulliv]

I never have had dead pixels upon purchase.

Bottom line:
You're the customer. If dead pixels are unacceptable, send the machine back and get good screens or a refund.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: wjsulliv
I never have had dead pixels upon purchase.

Bottom line:
You're the customer. If dead pixels are unacceptable, send the machine back and get good screens or a refund.

Depends where you buy from. Some stores require you to pay a 15% restocking fee if you choose to do so.

 

[dkozloski]

Another seldom mentioned factor is that dead pixels can sometimes be brought to life by gently massaging the affected area with a fingertip. Before going to battle over some sort of sales adjustment, it is worth a try. Besides if you succeed it makes you look really smart.

 

[NokiaDude]

Take it back, dead pixels are UNACCEPTABLE!

 

[vegetation]

I always thought more expensive laptops had tighter quality control and purchased the premium panels over budget companies. Evidently this theory is not true based on the OP. I would be extremely upset to buy such an expensive (overpriced IMO) machine and the screen isn't even pristine.

 

[OverVolt]

Bought a HPze4300 refurb for $750 without any dead pixels

 

[Pandaren]

Another seldom mentioned factor is that dead pixels can sometimes be brought to life by gently massaging the affected area with a fingertip

This does not work in the vast majority of cases. If it was really that easy to bring pixels back to life, we would see almost 0% of LCDs shipping with any defects.

Check the AnandTech FAQ on LCDs for more on this, but the general consensus is that this is a 'urban legend'.

My T40 has 2 defective pixels in the lower left hand portion of the screen. IBM won't replace the screen and since I bought it from a reseller, I couldn't return it without taking a 15% restocking fee + shipping :disgust:

My recommendation: buy direct only from vendors with a 30-day no-hassle return period, and return any defective products

I wonder if it is actually illegal in the US to sell panels with defective pixels - especially since vendors do not disclose that the panel may be defective.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Take it back, dead pixels are UNACCEPTABLE!

If dead pixels were unacceptable, then you'd still be paying $600 for a 15" LCD. Simply put, there are too few "perfect" panels produced out of an entire batch, and the fewer you sell out of a batch, the higher the average price needs to be to compensate. By selling slightly imperfect panels, manufacturers can sell far more panels in general, which brings the price down in general. If you really want a perfect panel, you can get them via eBay and what-not, but you're going to pay more because they're perfect.

 

[eriqesque]

Guess I am just lucky
I have 2 Desktop LCD's and No dead pixels.
I have had 2 Toshiba notebooks and a Fujitsu Notebook No dead pixels.
Now I have a T40 NO dead pixels.

 

[imported_Phil]

Actually, the other day I massaged a dead green subpixel back into life on a laptop in front of the customer. Needless to say, he was impressed.

No, I'm not making it up, and no, it's not an urban myth.

 

[Pandaren]

and no, it's not an urban myth

I beg to differ.

AnandTech on stuck pixels

As an act of desperation, some people recommend ?rubbing? the pixel to see if it will come back to life. We have seen dozens of monitors and dead pixels, but unfortunately, this has not worked once. From the experience of others, the majority of dead pixels that are stuck red seem to be totally broken and no amount of rubbing will fix them.

My own experience is similar to that of AnandTech.

If dead pixels were unacceptable, then you'd still be paying $600 for a 15" LCD. Simply put, there are too few "perfect" panels produced out of an entire batch, and the fewer you sell out of a batch, the higher the average price needs to be to compensate

It's easy to say that if you haven't been the victim of this pixel lottery scheme. Tell it to somebody who spend $3000 on an Apple Powerbook who got a red or white pixel smack in the center.

My main arguments:

(1) It is fundamentally unfair that people pay the same amount of money for the same product, and that one person might receive their product in perfect condition, while the other recieves one with defects. This is especially true for very expensive items that are not easily replaced (computers, automobiles, expensive watches). How would you feel if you paid $200 for a watch, and discovered that it had a scratch when you got home and opened the box, and the manufacturer said it was "within spec". Pretty bad I'd imagine.

(2) Consumers are not honestly advised that they might receive a defective product, and in many cases these defects are material to the decision to purchase the product.

For example, suppose a person who wants a notebook to do video/graphic editing decides to buy a Dell Inspiron 8600. He gets it with a couple white pixels smack in the middle, which proves to be very distracting while working. If he were advised that his panel was likely to have that many defects (and Dell would not cover them under warrranty), he probably would have chosen not to buy it (and chosen instead a high end Sager, which is certified to have no defects in the center and no more than 1 on the edges).

 

[eLinux]

Well...I guess I'm lucky (and I never really thought about the dead pixel thing all that much until reading this screen).

Firstly, the t40 I purchased from a merchant about a month ago was in absolutely perfect condition...not a single dead pixel. I guess I got lucky! Whew!

The NEC 1765 I just bought at Best Buy two days ago has two lit pixels...and I'm exchanging it today actually. (they don't care much: BBY will happily switch out the panel).

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: Pandaren

and no, it's not an urban myth

I beg to differ.

AnandTech on stuck pixels

As an act of desperation, some people recommend ?rubbing? the pixel to see if it will come back to life. We have seen dozens of monitors and dead pixels, but unfortunately, this has not worked once. From the experience of others, the majority of dead pixels that are stuck red seem to be totally broken and no amount of rubbing will fix them.

My own experience is similar to that of AnandTech.

Now go and read that article again.

majority of dead pixels that are stuck red seem to be totally broken and no amount of rubbing will fix them

Red pixel. Not green.

"Other pixels stuck off or on seem to have much greater chances of success."

Also, note that the word "red" in the first above quote is in italics in the article, denoting a firm or important term. Hence, I stick by what I said- I massaged a green pixel back into life in front of someone. You cannot tell me that did not happen, as you weren't there.
Also, what you have quoted supports what I said.

End of story.

 

[Pandaren]

Also, note that the word "red" in the first above quote is in italics in the article, denoting a firm or important term.

We[AnandTech] have seen dozens of monitors and dead pixels, but unfortunately, this has not worked once

AnandTech's labs have not been able to revive any dead pixels.

From the experience of others, the majority of dead pixels that are stuck red seem to be totally broken and no amount of rubbing will fix them.

The statement about red pixels is from others.

I stick by what I said- I massaged a green pixel back into life in front of someone. You cannot tell me that did not happen, as you weren't there.

And I have tried to bring back red, green, and blue pixels on various monitors without any success. You were probably very lucky and rubbing the area caused some physical connection to establish, allowing the pixel to function.

However, as I have said before, if rubbing a pixel were really a common, easy way to fix dead pixels, every manufacturer would do this to improve yields and we would see close to 0% defects in shipped panels.

Nothing I have seen or read convinces me that pixel massaging is an effective way to repair stuck pixels. If you do a search on posts of this same topic you will find that even AnandTech's Evan Lieb will tell you the same thing.

Of course it is always worth a try to massage the pixel, but I think that the chances of success are not too good.

 

[BChico]

I called dell about those laptops and they said they would replace them, though the school isnt willing to ship them back. So just thought you all wanted to know...

 

[BChico]

double...

 

[htmlmasterdave]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Take it back, dead pixels are UNACCEPTABLE!

 

[imported_Phil]

And I have tried to bring back red, green, and blue pixels on various monitors without any success. You were probably very lucky and rubbing the area caused some physical connection to establish, allowing the pixel to function.

However, as I have said before, if rubbing a pixel were really a common, easy way to fix dead pixels, every manufacturer would do this to improve yields and we would see close to 0% defects in shipped panels.

Nothing I have seen or read convinces me that pixel massaging is an effective way to repair stuck pixels. If you do a search on posts of this same topic you will find that even AnandTech's Evan Lieb will tell you the same thing.

Of course it is always worth a try to massage the pixel, but I think that the chances of success are not too good.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I do agree that most of the time it's a pointless exercise, but I could see this turning into a schoolyard-esque "I did!" "No you didn't" "I did"... etc spiele.

So far, my "repair rate" is 33% or so. I doubt if it'll work again, but it worked that time, and away went a happy customer :evil:. While we usually return all panels with stuck/dead pixels (or subpixels), sometimes the Need For Revenge on particulary annoying & whiney customers kicks in and the talk about massaging pixels happens. Keeps me sane, to be honest!