12" Powerbook, bright spot on bottom of screen.

[adric22]

I just bought a 12" powerbook from craigslist. The guy I bought it from powered it up outside in the sunlight so I didn't notice until I drove an hour home and booted it up. The bottom of the screen towards the very center is extremely bright compared to the rest of the screen. I discovered that if I push on the bezel right below the LCD, the screen normalizes. However, I can't see anything that looks bent, dented, or cracked anywhere on the screen, bezel, or back of the LCD.

I'm very adept at working on laptops, but I've never worked on this model before. So before I started tearing it apart, I wanted to see if anyone had seen anything like this before.

[Natobasso]

A photo of the issue would help, but I can tell you I had a Powerbook Pismo and its screen started going bad (after years of good use) and the best remedy was buying a new screen on eBay (Apple ROBS you when you buy parts from them).

I'd imagine there's some pressure (or not enough) imbalance causing the brightness. Unless you are highly skilled I'd suggest taking it to an apple store to get fixed, or just get a new screen. Again, not from Apple.

[adric22]

OH MY GOD! I took this thing apart today. I have taken hundreds of laptops apart, but never in my life have I seen one so difficult to get the screen off. Well, I finally got it off but little good it did. I can't see much of anything wrong other than the lid was slightly bent. So I bent it back, maybe that was putting pressure on the LCD? Who knows. I'm not even sure if I can get this thing back together. Usually when I take laptops apart I have these little plastic craft cases that I put the screws in and label the tops with a dry-erase marker. Well, a typical laptop like an iBook would require about 25 containers. This unit required 42! I actually had to go buy some more containers. This is a record!

I also noticed that many of the screws inside the lid that hold the LCD to the frame of the lid were completely loose and/or fallen out of their sockets. Is this a normal thing that happens over time? I put them all back in the correct holes and screwed them down.

Honestly, I'm getting the impression that somebody stepped on the corner of this thing at some point, bending the bottom corner of the lid down. No telling what kind of damage that caused.

[Natobasso]

You're a braver man than I. A few screws loose, eh? I'd imagine that laptop was used by a dj with some bass shaking the laptop all night long; that's the only thing I can think of that would cause screws to loosen like that. He he.

Anyway, what an adventure you're having! Keep us posted.

[adric22]

haha. I didn't think about loud music causing vibrations. I suppose it could have been. He seemed like the type that would probably listen to gangster rap.

Well, after re-assembling it, I can honestly say it is the hardest laptop disassembly/reassembly I've ever done. I was actually afraid at one point that I'd bitten off more than I could chew and might not get it back together. That is saying something considering I am proficient at working on laptops.

Anyway, I bent the lid back into shape once I had it apart. After re-assembly, the problem still exists. Though, I think it is only half as bad as it was before. I took a picture of it after the repair.. You can see it here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_m...90995/sizes/o/

Trouble is, being the bright spot is right where the dock is, it may be hard to notice. But believe me, when watching a full-screen movie or something, it is irritating as heck. Then again, my wife says I'm unusually picky about that kind of thing. I've decided to re-sale the laptop since it would cost $100 to replace the LCD with one on ebay, and there is no way I'm going to spend another 6 hours tearing this thing apart and putting it back together. A real pitty too, considering it is a nice system and the rest of the computer is in good shape.

[Natobasso]

Ah. Bright red spot usually means a dead pixel (one ore more). Why not just move the dock?

[adric22]

bright red spot? No, I know what a dead pixel looks like. This is nothing of the sort. It is a bit difficult to see in the picture. But an entire area almost the size of the dock is about twice as bright as the rest of the screen. It is an issue with the light-spreader, I believe. As I mentioned, I should have turned the dock off and put a plain-solid background. Then it would have been more obvious in the photo.

[Natobasso]

Yeah, I can't see SQUAT from your photo, red spot, bright spot, or otherwise.

Anyway, you're going to run into the wall that is "diminishing returns". Why not just get a new screen on eBay?