Fixing the Dreaded iBook Backlight?

Aliencow inquires: "I've recently bought an iBook, and it started having the very common backlight problem. Basically, there are two types of things that can cause the problem: either the screen hinges pinching the cables, which is pretty easy to fix if you're not scared of opening things up; or it could be the logic board, which is what happened in my case. I've heard of someone being able to fix it by doing a bypass operation on the board, soldering a wire before the break and soldering it directly on the backlight connector. Aside from that, however I haven't been able to find much about how to fix that particular problem. Have any of you iBook-owning Slashdot readers had to repair your iBook like this? Any hints? If my repair is successful I'll surely snap a bunch of pictures and make a website, as this is a problem that affects a lot of iBook owners."

which backlight problem is it?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a dual usb iBook and have a problem with the backlight on the LCD going dim. According to apple, this is a common problem that comes with the age of the screen. I suppose thats an answer, but its a sucky one when the iBook just went out of warranty.

Which backlight problem are you talking about?

Apple should recall them

[Kevin Burtch]

If it's this common a problem, Apple should recall them.

Danger replaced my HipTop (AKA T-Mobile Sidekick) without me even contacting them, when a very large production run was found to have a defective hinge that may (or may not) damage the wires going to the display.
This must have cost them a fortune, but is good business and impressed me enough to recommend the product highly.

On the other hand, my Vaio F-series has the oh-so-common won't-charge-the-perfectly-good-battery problem and Sony wants to charge me something like $400 to flash the BIOS to fix it (they refuse to post the fix for download)... not to mention I'd be without the unit for a month since it has to be shipped to their repair center, etc.
I won't buy another Sony after this (there's much more to it than that, including a brand new $250 battery that took over a year and a half to get, etc.).

If you recently bought the damn thing

[MoneyT]

Call Apple to get it fixed.

I had it happen...

[zaren]

and I sent it in to be fixed. I dropped it off at the only authorized Apple service center in the area on Wednesday, and got it back Friday afternoon - and yes, they shipped it back to Apple to get it fixed, and yes, they sent me back the same iBook (unless part of their service involves putting all the same dings and chips in a new machine so it looks like the old one). They said it was a problem with the motherboard.

In other words... yeah, the fix is to send it back to Apple to have them take care of it. That's what warranties are all about.

Re:Quality hardware?

[Clockwurk]

Apple hardware has never been subject to any higher manufacturing standards than dell or any other OEM. Apple gets their laptops made by AlphaTop, the same company that makes IBM and compaq [theregister.co.uk]

Re:Quality hardware?

[Anonymous Coward]

you'll here more about it because Apple users expect more

I rather think that you'll hear more about it because Apple users paid more. Any piece of equipment can fail, but when the relation ``more money -> more quality'' doesn't hold, it's like getting ripped off twice.

The iBook is the cheapest, lowest-margin laptop Apple has ever made, and it has had a high failure rate.

For any particular company that has several similar products at varying costs, it's not a good idea to have a quality/money tradeoff. The better tradeoff is features/money.

Out of 3,000,000

[Onan]

Apple's SEC filings indicate that they sell about 250,000 ibooks a quarter. The dual-usb model came out very nearly three years ago. So even if every one of those 1800 signatures is accurate and unique, that puts the incidence rate at around one in two thousand units.

That doesn't exactly sound like lawsuit time to me.

Re:Quality hardware?

[addaon]

What company /doesn't/ have a quality/money tradeoff? Features are, in today's electrical age, essentially free, up to a certain point. Even when you have a feature tradeoff, that can only take you so far... and on the cheaper item, the consumer really expects it to be cheap, so costs must be cut somehow. Look at Apple, yes, with there 12" iBook vs. 12" pBook. Look at Canon and there consumer vs. L series lenses. Look at any bike company, say Shimano. Look at movie theatres. Look at shoe companies!

Re:Very common problem.

[egomaniac]

I've owned three Apple laptops-- A powerbook 140, an Powerbook 1400, and an iBook 500. They've all had problems with the backlight or scan lines turning on or off. It's probably not specific to Apple, though.

You had problems with three out of three laptops. Admittedly a very small sample size, but judging by the other posts here, it seems to be a very widespread problem with Apple laptops.

Here's my experience. My wife is on her second Sony Vaio, I used to have a Thinkpad, and I know at least a dozen people at work with a company-standard-issue Compaq laptop.

Know how many backlight/scan line problems I've seen or heard of? Zero. Not one of these laptops has, to the best of my knowledge, ever had any problems more significant than a worn-out cooling fan.

Well, other than the time I set my wife's Vaio down on an unsteady surface and it fell two feet to the floor, but that was obviously my fault. And even then the damage was minor.

Again, I hate to draw conclusions from a small sample size, but this is definitely scaring me away from wanting to own an Apple laptop (which I was actually considering).

Re:Apple should recall them

[ce25254]

So how come Sony doesn't get tons of nasty press about charging for fixing a consumer's equipment (the "oh-so-common won't-charge-the-perfectly-good-battery problem"?), but Apple gets hate-movies made when the iPod battery has the same characteristics as many other PDA batteries (i.e. non-user-replacable), or when they have trouble with their iBooks?

Maybe it's because the Vaio runs M$Windows (by default)?

Hmmmm?

Re:Very common problem.

[JonathanBoyd]

Well you're in a thread discussing problems with Apple laptops, so you're vastly more likely to hear about problems than you normally would. Personally I have an iBook G3, as does my sister and both my parents have Powerbook G3s. They're all running great, with no problems other than my power cable wearing through, which is a genuine concern for Apple laptops. The only major problem aside from that is me putting a plug through the screen. It cracked, but still worked fine. The replacement seemed a wee bit brighter as well. Survived many a drop from tables and chairs and being run through the rain once while on. Not trying that again.

Re:"highend"?

[Moofie]

So, you got suckered by somebody's marketing scheme, and you think they should then pay up?

Seems like some people posting here have had some really good experiences getting their iBooks fixed. Some other people have had bad experiences. Apple being a "premium" brand has nothing to do with it.

I have had good experiences, both first- and second-hand, with Apple hardware. Therefore, they will be my next vendor of choice. You are free to make a different decision. What exactly do you want? Steve to fly to your house and personally repair your $1200 laptop? Come on.

Re:Well, I try not to whine...

[Paradox]

You do know that AppleCare is expensive, I was unemployed, and by the time I gained employment, it was out of original warranty, right?

People do have a point when they say laptops should last longer than a year, you know.

Re:Well, I try not to whine...

[misterpies]

When I buy a product new - any product - I have the legal right to expect it to be properly designed and manufactured.

I have the legal right to expect the manufacturer to take care of any problems that result from bad design and/or quality control, without having to buy an extended warranty, because such problems arise from the manufacturer's negligence.

Warranties are there to fix unexpected/unpredictable problems which can happen to even the best built products.

Contract law is there to fix the rest.

Why Apple gets attacked and Sony Not?

[calyphus]

how come Sony doesn't get tons of nasty press... but Apple gets hate-movies...?

It's a love thing. Really, I'm serious. It's the hazard of loyalty. That loyalty has been cultivated personality that equates Apple and it's proponents on a human level. Mac users have a hard time seeing Apple as just another callous, bottom-line first organization. It's part of having built an OS from the the user's perspective. The engineering serves the user. The user isn't forced to serve the engineer's laziness. When people get accustomed to having things work well, they take offense. It's unexpected.

It's tough to live to such a standard, and some people take their loyalty, and any betrayal of it a little too far. Some cheated spouses will forgive. Others carry through quite acrimonious divorces. Sorry to say, those hate sites are aggrevied spouses.

That's one group, but there are those others that have never liked Apple or it's products. They just like those people who take an instant, unaccountable, dislike of another individual. Having taken a dislike, they will look for reasons to rationalize it. Using the thinnest of reasons, they will tear down the other's character without even knowing the other person.

The fact that Apple suffers from stupid attacks is testament to it's ability to make people think of it as a friend, a company that is looking out for their best interest. Despite the fact that it's a corporation, people ascribe the company a measure of humanity.

I can't think of another company that engenders such affection. Hate, yes, but the best example of that is M$, and the hate directed at them is, for the most part, a defense of the love of Apple (or Linux).

For the most part, we don't expect corporations to have our best interests at heart. Hell, we don't expect them to have a heart, just a cold avariscious greed to separate us from our earnings. So, when Sony, or another corporation, treats customer's poorly there is little protest.

We've learned to take corporate mistreatment with diffidence. Apple is very rare in this respect. We expect them to treat us well. When they act like any other corporation it's a betrayal of those expectations, and betrayal is one of the most aggrieved emotions.

Re:iBook Backlight - Apple Care

[dfj225]

"I'll replace the sob every 11 mos. if I have to."

My question is, is it really worth it? Personally, if had to go through the hassel of replacing one of my computers every 11 months I would forsake whatever company I bought it from forever. Right now I'm using one of the cheapest laptops that I could find 4 years ago, and it is still chugging along fine. The only problem I have ever had with this sucker was having some keys on the keyboard stop responding. The problem was fixed in a week under warranty. Seriously, I would look into a different brand.

Re:Right there with you guys...

[l0wland]

I know that, that's why I asked it ;-) Very odd that our reactions are being modded as troll though..

Good to hear that some people have positive experiences with Apple support. Mine are far worse.