Apple Displays v. All the Rest

Question

This is my first post to the Apple Discussions. I would just like to note the following:
I am a first-time Mac user, and I am generally satisfied with Apple. My Mini has offered no problems, runs smoothly, and is a fine machine. When I purchased the Mini, I decided to try and use my old Gateway FPD 1500 LCD. I was thrilled when it worked, and I have been using it for several months. However, this is where I start to have an issue.
After several months of using the 15-inch monitor, I decided a bigger monitor was necessary. Apple Displays are supposed to be the best, so I investigated them. To my horror, I discovered Apple only offers a one-year warranty on their monitors if they are purchased separately. Considering Apple's monitors are some of the most expensive on the market, it seems counter intuitive to pay $800 for a 20-inch display and get a one-year warranty.
Why, when companies such as Dell are offering three-year warranty's, does Apple stick with one? Considering the amount of the investment that seems to be a bad idea from an economic and equitable perspective. Unless, and until, Apple offers a a fair warranty on its monitors, I cannot see myself purchasing one however good it may be.

Answer 1

Hi Bill,
No reason to hesitate indeed. This merits further consideration, that's for sure. The following points should be investigated:
• serial numbers of the defective units
• kind of problem vs serial number
• is the light involved (is it the main cause)
• has someone tried to pinpoint the main cause
• have the units been brought back to the Apple reseller
• have the units been repaired
• if not, has the answer "no" been taken for granted
Now Bill, you will allow me to rectify a major mistake by omission that you did:
This thread began August 17, 2004, more than one year ago.
I didn't look at the curve of responses vs time (didn't have the... time). Didn't look either how many times the same guy has written. But I am confident that those factors as a whole should return the epidemic to... yes, I will say it, a hospital sick room.
(I talked a few minutes ago with an ex-Senior Scientist Level 2 at Apple (those who know me know who...) and he tells me that even he can't have this kind of stats.)
Well, I am first of all a Chemistry Ph.D. This means nothing expect perhaps that I am bone-headed, and that I know about stats inside and out. We simply do not know the number of defective units here. I do not know, that's for sure.
About the professional photo studios, of which I know several: A good number still stick to CRTs and their degraded phosphors. All the serious ones (not all studios are serious, professional or not, alas) calibrate their displays very regularly. Our displays here are calibrated with a Spyder every two weeks. I just checked on a 20" and a 23", just to be sure. No problem there. Granted, one never proves anything with a few examples.
Frankly, in ordinary usage, I would not know if the colours have shifted or not. The thing is calibrated and appears OK by definition, which is absolutely all that counts. I would indeed take a major shift not to be able to calibrate it correctly. If you tell me: I am no longer able to calibrate correctly with my spectrometer, or colours are uneven, that's a different story: back to shop time.
Still another angle: last year, more than half a dozen topics appeared about freezes on desktop G5s. We're speaking here of 1500-post topics, closed by Apple when they were unmanageable. Still, it was later shown that the vast majority of G5s were healthy. My first one was an exception: it was deep-sixed by AppleCare and replaced, pure and simple.
So I repeat: you have a defective display? Bring it back, by all means!
P.S.: If you want to see the importance we give to colour, look at the "River and Waterfalls" or the "Portraits" series on my web site.
Bill, this is an interesting discussion indeed. I hope that it is useful to Eric!!!
Roger the Photographer
Montréal