death of a pixel: a philosophical inquiry

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Dutch · #1 Post by **Dutch** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:34 pm

I just took delivery of a T42 about an hour ago, and there appears to be one dead pixel. Not in the dead center of the screen, but nearly. It's green, and is very evident on dark screens but just about invisible on white. I'm writing most of the time, so I work on white backgrounds primarily.

My first reaction--after, of course, waiting and watching the UPS website tracking updates for the past three days like a 4-year-old watching the hearth on Christmas Eve--is to say hell with it and send it back. My second thought is that maybe I should just suck it up and live with it. I really, really like everything else about the T42 (been using a T41 for work for a while now, and loving it), and I'm thinking that, philosophically, a mania for perfection is not necessarily a healthy thing so that perhaps it would be best to just live with the dead little feller. An interesting (maybe) related observation: We're buying a three-year old Honda Civic later today, and it has a decent-sized scratch on the front bumper. My wife said to me, "Well, at least we won't have to worry about getting the first scratch." And she's right, there is a certain liberating quality about buying something that's nice and solid but not necessarily perfect. On the other hand, the LCD, in many ways IS the computing experience, so...

I'm just wondering, those of you with dead pixels, have you been able to accept them philosophically and put them out of your mind? I worry that that little green pinpoint will nag at me like a dripping faucet. But I'd also like to think it's possible to overcome that niggling desire for perfection, see beyond this little defect, and make good use of this otherwise fantastic laptop (on which, I might add, I got a great (epp) deal). Does the bad pixel eventually become part of the background and assume its proper proportion in the grand scheme of things? Or does it continue to drive you nuts until you either replace the screen or pitch the thing out the window?

Thanks for any thoughts.
D

JonathanGennick · #2 Post by **JonathanGennick** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:49 pm

I've one dead pixel on my Thinkpad X30. Like you, I thought about returning it. But you know, who knows whether I wouldn't have gotten even more dead pixels on my next try. And I couldn't afford to be without the laptop either, so I just sucked it up and lived with it. Honestly, I hardly notice it.

Ironically, over the past six years, I've run through four laptops. The two that I've paid for with my own cash, have each had exactly one dead pixel. The two corporate-supplied laptops have been perfect. The two Thinkpads that I bought last year for my mom and daughter? Those are perfect too.

I'm planning to buy a new Thinkpad this year. With my luck, it'll have another dead pixel

rocketman · #3 Post by **rocketman** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:01 pm

Dutch wrote:I just took delivery of a T42 about an hour ago, and there appears to be one dead pixel. Not in the dead center of the screen, but nearly. It's green, and is very evident on dark screens but just about invisible on white. I'm writing most of the time, so I work on white backgrounds primarily.

My first reaction--after, of course, waiting and watching the UPS website tracking updates for the past three days like a 4-year-old watching the hearth on Christmas Eve--is to say hell with it and send it back. My second thought is that maybe I should just suck it up and live with it. I really, really like everything else about the T42 (been using a T41 for work for a while now, and loving it), and I'm thinking that, philosophically, a mania for perfection is not necessarily a healthy thing so that perhaps it would be best to just live with the dead little feller. An interesting (maybe) related observation: We're buying a three-year old Honda Civic later today, and it has a decent-sized scratch on the front bumper. My wife said to me, "Well, at least we won't have to worry about getting the first scratch." And she's right, there is a certain liberating quality about buying something that's nice and solid but not necessarily perfect. On the other hand, the LCD, in many ways IS the computing experience, so...

I'm just wondering, those of you with dead pixels, have you been able to accept them philosophically and put them out of your mind? I worry that that little green pinpoint will nag at me like a dripping faucet. But I'd also like to think it's possible to overcome that niggling desire for perfection, see beyond this little defect, and make good use of this otherwise fantastic laptop (on which, I might add, I got a great (epp) deal). Does the bad pixel eventually become part of the background and assume its proper proportion in the grand scheme of things? Or does it continue to drive you nuts until you either replace the screen or pitch the thing out the window?

Thanks for any thoughts.
D

What you have is a "stuck" pixel not a dead pixel. If it were me and I still could I would return it.

egibbs · #4 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:25 pm

I'd just suck it up - but if you want perfection return it and pay Bill to cherry pick one for you.

You could try VERY gently massaging the area around the pixel with a finger wrapped in a soft cloth. Some people have been able to unstick pixels this way. I have personally had perfect screens develop bad pixels after while, and also had screens with bad pixels become perfect on their own.

Ed Gibbs

Leon · #5 Post by **Leon** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:37 pm

agree with all of egibbs statements in the above post.....

Kenn · #6 Post by **Kenn** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:50 pm

The fact that you wrote such a long and contemplative missive suggests that you would be happier sending it back. That way, at least you would have tried to do something about a problem that irks you. If you get a perfect screen in return, huzzah! If not, you know that you tried, and perhaps it was not meant to be. At the very least, you're not sitting there staring at a green dot wondering "what could have been."

Of course, if you send it back and get an even more noticeablely defective screen it'll be easier to send that one back.

I also urge you to make use of the full 30 days (more like 20 since IBM accounts for shipping/delivery time to reach them). You might just find that it doesn't bother you as much after a couple of weeks.

Dutch · #7 Post by **Dutch** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:02 pm

Wow, thanks for all the thoughts, everyone. It's a bittersweet day, to be sure. I think I will take Kenn's recommendation and use the machine for a week or so before making the decision whether or not to return it. I had no idea the LCD screens were such a crapshoot, pixel-wise. I've had two employer-supplied Thinkpads over the past three years, with no pixel problems on either. It is disconcerting to think that I could go to the trouble of returning this one only to get something worse.

Question: Given that the 30-day return is supposedly for "any reason," will they give me grief about returning it for the reason of one stuck pixel? Will they try to make me pay for the shipping?

Thanks again for all the opinions.

D

Kenn · #8 Post by **Kenn** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:13 pm

I don't think they'll give you grief over the pixel as it is "for any reason." I think many people just say they weren't satisfied with it.

I only returned one thinkpad before, and I didn't have to pay for shipping. I believe you just call the (incredibly well-hidden) 800-number and they'll send you an RMA form and prepaid shipping label. All you need to do is arrange pickup with Airborne Express/DHL.

lzy_tek · #9 Post by **lzy_tek** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:23 pm

Before you send it back, press the middle button ( light blue ) in the touch pad to see if it's gone.

It's a known software problem, but not a dead pixel.

It works for me all the time.

Good luck!

Leon · #10 Post by **Leon** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:31 pm

Dutch:

Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting that you don't return it... it's your decision. However, you WILL pay shipping TO you each time (i.e. they will not credit you for the shipping you paid (if any) to get it to you. My suggestion, though, if a 100% no dead pixel screen is that important, that you contact Bill for a price on the same or similar system including a "no dead pixel" check.

JHEM · #11 Post by **JHEM** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:33 pm

Dutch wrote:Question: Given that the 30-day return is supposedly for "any reason," will they give me grief about returning it for the reason of one stuck pixel? Will they try to make me pay for the shipping?

Among the acceptable reasons is none, i.e. you need not give them a reason for returning it.

If a question does arise as to why you're returning it, you can simply say you changed your mind.

Regards,

James

Leon · #12 Post by **Leon** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:35 pm

Only problem with that is, in my experience, if you have "no reason" or just "changed mind", they DO NOT pay to ship it back.

Kenn · #13 Post by **Kenn** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:01 pm

Leon wrote:Only problem with that is, in my experience, if you have "no reason" or just "changed mind", they DO NOT pay to ship it back.

That wasn't my experience, but I imagine it may depend on the CSR you speak with. Bottom line is to confirm when you ask about the return.

Dutch · #14 Post by **Dutch** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:47 am

Izy_tek, I tried the button-pushing remedy, but to no avail. It was worth a shot, though.
Thanks again all, for the input.

D

lzy_tek · #15 Post by **lzy_tek** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:07 am

Before I knew the middle button trick, I always reboot the machine and it's usually gone after that.

Ryan T. · #16 Post by **Ryan T.** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:11 am

My thinkpad seems to have one stuck (white) pixel that is only there half the time and actually is never in the same spot. I've updates all drivers and the BIOS, and this has done nothing.

It doesn't bother me anymore, but it's a strange problem.

Plinkerton · #17 Post by **Plinkerton** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:38 pm

I had a stuck red one on my first T42. I sucked it up, and it was fine, but then the whole computer died.

My second one had a stuck pixel also, but unlike the first one, this one was dead center of the whole screen. I figured I was out of luck, but then after I wrote an email to IBM, I was contacted with a deal I couldn't pass up.

I have now been stuck pixel free for months, and it was worth the hassle. It's wonderful having a perfect screen, after having one with a stuck pixel.

But, if my first one didn't die, I would still love the TP, even with the pixel. I'd say suck it up. It's just easier that way.

Kenn · #18 Post by **Kenn** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:48 pm

Ryan T. wrote:My thinkpad seems to have one stuck (white) pixel that is only there half the time and actually is never in the same spot. I've updates all drivers and the BIOS, and this has done nothing.

It doesn't bother me anymore, but it's a strange problem.

Ryan, that's the ultranav bug, it's not really a dead pixel. You just have to click the middle (blue) ultranav button and the white pixel will go away (until next time).

Dutch · #19 Post by **Dutch** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:12 pm

I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles to learn what I would do about my new T42 with the eternally lit green pixel.

After playing around with it over the weekend, I decided it was bothering me enough to return the machine. They're going to send me another one.

It was just bugging me that they would send out a machine with an imperfect screen, when it has to be well within their capabilities to actually test those dudes before they ship them. If Bill the moderator can do it, why can't IBM?

They tried to sell me on the fact that a screen's not considered defective until it has 8 pixels gone. Defective is in the eye of the beholder, I think.

Keeping my fingers crossed until the new machine shows up. It'll make typing difficult, but I'm superstitious.

D

Leon · #20 Post by **Leon** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:39 pm

Bill charges for it; it is a (valuable for some) service. Did they pay your shipping both ways?

Dutch · #21 Post by **Dutch** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:11 pm

I know Bill charges for it; my point was that if he is capable of doing it, IBM would certainly be able to do it themselves--and should. I suppose it would result in tossing out too many LCDs, though.

They wanted me to pay shipping back to them (it shipped free to me) but I politely insisted that it was a defective screen, and I shouldn't have to pay the freight. The CSR was sticking to the anything-less-than-8-dead-pixels-is-not-defective story. And I politely stuck to my one-dead-pixel-means-the-screen-is-not-100% line of thought.

I also made the point that since they apparently felt OK shipping out screens with dead pixels, there was every chance in the world that my next computer would also have a bum screen, and I didn't feel like rolling the dice that way with a shipping charge.

The call had to be handed up one level to a supervisor, but he agreed to send me pre-paid shipping labels "this one time." I wasn't a jerk; I just decided I wasn't going to roll over. They were very polite. It ended amicably.

D

partlycloudlike · #22 Post by **partlycloudlike** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:38 pm

lzy_tek wrote:Before I knew the middle button trick, I always reboot the machine and it's usually gone after that.

HOLY MOLEY, it worked!!! I had a strange pixel that would always change to the color of the previous page. For instance, when I used a dead pixel checker the pixel in question would maintain the color of each previous screen. VERY STRANGE. I was about to call IBM and schedule a return until I searched for "dead pixel" and came across that odd suggestion. "It wouldn't hurt," I thought, so I pressed it about three times. A message popped up about Trackpoint Scrolling Tips, and the pixel color matched the appropriate screen color once again -- fixed! THANK YOU.

partlycloudlike · #23 Post by **partlycloudlike** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:42 pm

Hehe now i have a greasy smudge on that spot from trying to massage the thing back to life.

Leon · #24 Post by **Leon** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:27 pm

Oh-oh. Time for the cleaning thread!

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=8578

Please add Location and other relevant information to your profile. Not required, but appreciated.

partlycloudlike · #25 Post by **partlycloudlike** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:32 pm

hehe thanks for that.

#26 Post by **JaneL** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:34 pm

>Oh-oh. Time for the cleaning thread!
>

Sorry, have to wait for that. It's not scheduled for another 3 weeks!

(This message brought to you by the Department for Scheduling Recurring Threads.)

death of a pixel: a philosophical inquiry

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