Display anomolies on 17 inch 2006 imac... replacement?

Question

Ok,
Ive searched and searched this problem and finally i went into an apple store and spoke to a genius and told him the following:
1. I have a late 2006 intel imac (september 2006)
2. The machine is out of warranty
3. With leopard the machine STOPPED working and has tons of the horizontal lines etc and now is completely unstable.
4. As it is a known problem will apple do anything to support it without charging me an arm and a leg? Since it is basically the same problem as the macbooks had can i get a replacement?
He told me that there is an outside chance that there is a three year period for known problems that they may replace it for FREE and that i can always try and drop it off for a 24 hour period to get a diagnostic.
Has anyone ever heard of a successful "replace it for free" with this sort of thing?
i am at wits end and this is OBVIOUSLY APPLE'S PROBLEM.

Answer 1

There are a couple of threads on this as it is a pretty common issue -- I have the identical computer and started experiencing the glitches a few months ago -- the vertical lines are contained to a window as opposed to going outside the window. There were also strange graphic anomalies -- all of which I could live with. However, the computer began to freeze up constantly which rendered it unusable.
Per the discussion on this thread and others, do try smcfancontrol -- it's free and it's easy. It might work as it seems to have worked for many people with the exact symptoms. If it doesn't you are no worse off than you are.
It's VERY frustrating that Apple tech services aren't being apprised of this issue and what might be a simple fix for most people.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1999489&start=0&tstart=0
There are a couple of threads on this issue.
I have a late 2006 imac (24" screen) which was experiencing these problems -- lines which were contained to specific windows -- other graphic anomalies -- intermittent freezes as the lines increased. It got quite bad about 3 weeks ago and the computer became virtually unusable.
Genius bar was unhelpful after I shlepped the whole thing in -- suggested doing a clean reinstall of system and also (after my query) suggested replaced the Video Card -- which wasn't in stock anyway.
At any rate, I brought the computer home -- searched the forums and read threads. Based upon MANY suggestions, I downloaded smcfancontrol which increases fan speed and decreases the temperature of the computer. Fingers crossed my problem is solved -- no lines and no freezes since then.
I certainly would recommend trying it before doing anything more drastic. The problem seems to be particularly acute with NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphic cards -- perhaps they are more heat sensitive -- perhaps as they age, they become more heat sensitive. That it is heat related (at least for me) is also supported since the computer "crisis" occurred during the first heat wave so the ambient temperature of my condo was higher than it's been in many months.
At any rate, it's a simple application -- if it doesn't work, you haven't invested much but it worked for me and a lot of other people with the identical issue.