Apple techs,

(17" MPB early '08; OS 10.6.8; NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT)

Attached is what is happening now. For the last 2 months, it was 1/2 this, and screen was bright. Now it's only semi-bright.

Occasionally, in the past, it would startup as it is now, and a restart would bring it back to decent.

Can't say when this started, but possibly shortly after I replaced my right fan assembly. Possibly related?

The NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT had problems early on, and there was an Apple extended policy, however, I never had a problem, so never bothered with it. Related??

Diagnosis? Repairable or totally new screen?

348 (so far) views and not a single opinion or piece of advice?

I'm off to the Apple Store tomorrow on the slim hope they'll cover it for the graphics chip, but not holding out hope. :(

This has been my most troublesome Mac ever. Replaced keyboard early on, then the right fan, now this.

There's a great deal of discussion on this problem at
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1627678?threadID=1627678 and
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1423301?start=675&tstart=0

Probably the most helpful post is on the first page of the first link, but seems to be a hardware issue of some kind (with that chipset).

Pressing control-shift-eject may temporarily fix the issue.

Interesting, but no consensus of solutions. Tried user cures listed, but did not work.

It does, however, seem fairly common in early '08 MBP's. Mine just worked well longer than most.

It needs an LCD panel. Not anything to do with NVidia this time. LCD screens have a relatively short based upon usage. There is nothing but a very thin, delicate, ccfl fluorescent tube with several layers of delicate film on top. It makes sense as its a four year old machine (or close to it).

In this case, I think yours is one of the early edge LED panels. That's seems to be an issue with edge lit LED panels and why in televisions, monitors, etc, edge lit LED technology is getting a bad rep.

Deep down, I knew it was the screen, but needed professional confirmation.

How difficult is screen replacement? As said, I've replaced a keyboard & fan, but don't know if I'm capable of a screen replacement.

Deep down, I knew it was the screen, but needed professional confirmation.

How difficult is screen replacement? As said, I've replaced a keyboard & fan, but don't know if I'm capable of a screen replacement.

I've done plenty of them. You'll need a puty knife and one or two decent spudgers for prying the screen from the bezel. Definitely more difficult than a keyboard. You'll have to very careful not to destroy the screen bezel as they are prone to breaking on these models and it is impossible to find replacement pieces (breaking the LCD doesn't matter as it's getting replaced anyhow). Its a toss up though because powerbook medic charges $229 for the lcd panel where as Apple will most likely mail it to the depot in Houston and that route will most likely cost a little more than $300 (provided there is no damage to the machine) and you'll likely get a whole clamshell replacement.

Its a toss up though because powerbook medic charges $229 for the lcd panel where as Apple will most likely mail it to the depot in Houston and that route will most likely cost a little more than $300 (provided there is no damage to the machine) and you'll likely get a whole clamshell replacement.

UPDATE: Stopped by Apple Store: Yes it is the screen, and yes they'll replace it in the store, but $800-$1000! OUCH! In way home, I spotted a PC Direct store and decided to go in and ask. Yes they work on Apples, yes it is the screen, and Labor would be $89,95 plus the screen. Screen is $189.95. They'll order screen with deposit, and call when in. I'll drop it off in AM & pick it up that PM. I was convinced of their expertise by the tech who'll be doing the work. He also has a MBP.

Hope I didn't make a mistake, but it'll be a week before I'll know for sure.

Argh! Took MBP in this AM for replacement. They called 2 hours later to say they got the wrong screen & need to reorder. Another week. :(

Good news is that they're taking $50 off repair to compensate me.

Update: Screen was replaced yesterday. They did an excellent job; absolutely no sign of disassembly.

My MBP is bright (actually too bright--I've had to darken it a bit!), sharp, and not even one bad pixel.

'Case closed'

Glad it's back home and working properly.
It's always awesome when the laptop is bright enough - they can get a bit less bright over the years, so it's also future proofing it a bit.