There’s something wrong with my baby. Okay, yeah, it’s not a real human child, of course. It’s my computer, also known as my iMac. Also also known as the best gift ever, circa Christmas 2005.
Now let me tell you, this is the best computer ever. I never thought I’d be one of those Apple snobs, one of those “ew, Windows is for losers” proclaimers; but I have to admit, those cheesy TV commercials are right. In my opinion, Macs are pretty darn superior to PCs. But that’s just me…I mean, I’ve had this thing for almost three years now, and I haven’t had one single problem with it at all.
Until yesterday. GASP!
Yesterday afternoon, I was on the computer, just basically browsing normal websites, like Makeup Alley. When suddenly, I noticed this weird flickering vertical line in the middle of my screen. I was like, whatever, I probably just need to restart my computer. So, I did that. Weird blue line was still prominently smack dab in the middle of my screen when my iMac started up again.
So, okay, no big deal. I turned my computer off and left it alone. Today, I got on my computer again after school, and there it was. That irritating cyan line, in the middle of my LCD screen, constantly intruding over everything I was looking at. Whatever window I have open, Mr. Blue Line is in the middle of it. Quite frankly, Mr. Blue Line wasn’t invited, and he needs to go away!
I whipped up a quick little visual aid for you guys to get an idea of what I’m talking about. I made this in about 2 minutes, lol, so it isn’t perfect, but it gets the concept across:
That’s an example of my computer, with the blue line right in the middle.
I don’t know what to do about it. I’m not very computer savvy…I mean, I know how to use one pretty well, and how to make websites and all that other crap, but I don’t know the first thing about fixing computers. This is a very peculiar problem, and I didn’t really find very many beneficial websites that could help me…but I basically learned that this situation might be called “dead pixels”. Which, I guess, basically means part of my screen is technically not showing up right, so those pixels in that vertical line are “dead”. I read that the problem could get worse.
I’m a little freaked out and of course very upset about it, since I haven’t had ANY issues with this computer at ALL. And now this line is right there in the middle of everything. I try to ignore it and look at websites as I normally would, but that intrusive blue line is all I can focus on. It shows up especially on dark backgrounds.
I’ve dealt with worse computer related problems than this. Before I had my iMac, I literally had the Worst Computer Ever. It was a horrible PC I had for about six or seven years, with many problems. For one thing, whenever I turned on the PC, it made this really loud and annoying constant rattling sound, like pieces of plastic flying around inside. I also could not download or install anything either after a while, for some weird reason. Sometimes the computer would randomly shut off for no reason. And forget about Javascript, because it couldn’t display it. In other words, it was a piece of junk. Maybe I’m just spoiled now because my Mac was so immaculate up to this point.
I guess I need to find a local Apple store and call them and ask what to do about it. This totally, completely sucks.
Hannah is a quiet 21 year old college student living in FL. She has an insatiable lust for lip glosses and beauty products. She's an addict of chocolate, upbeat music, everything pink, 
Kiara said:
May 28, 08 at 1:55 amCould it be your monitor? I had that problem with a monitor about a year and a half ago, and I just replaced it with a new monitor and voila! Problem solved.
It was a PC, not an iMac, so I dunno if the difference in computers makes this suggestion viable or not.
Shannon said:
May 28, 08 at 7:49 pmI’ve heard about very similar situations with MACs and most of the time the screen needed to be replaced.
Munin said:
May 28, 08 at 10:19 pmSped over here after your Twitter reply.
What I was reading online is if you turn the iMac off and get a wash cloth, wet the cloth (don’t soak it or anything) with warm water and geeently rub in the area where the dead pixels are. A website said sometimes you just need to kick the pixels into gear.
I hope this works because otherwise you’d have to pay for a screen replacement via Apple =/
Holly said:
May 29, 08 at 5:44 amOh dear! Poor Mac! I think mine has one dead pixel on it, since there’s a random bright green spot, but not nearly as bad as yours sounds! :O
I hope it’s able to be fixed!
Britney said:
May 29, 08 at 2:34 pmThat sucks. I hate computer problems. You’ll probably have to have it looked at/fixed. :/
Pat said:
May 30, 08 at 6:12 amI think it’s easy to fix that, but find an Apple store and have it checked! Apple must give you another computer if your have more than… I don’t know, 10 dead pixels?
Gina said:
May 30, 08 at 11:55 amyou never return comments…..why?
Hannah said:
May 30, 08 at 1:30 pmTo Gina:
I do try to return comments, but I’m usually pretty slow about it since I’m not on the computer that much anymore. If it bothers you that I don’t return comments right away, I’m sorry; I’m not trying to be rude, I just don’t always return them super quickly.
Jamie said:
May 31, 08 at 3:10 pmOh wow that is weird. You were telling me about it the other day. I kinda got a visual of what it would look like, but that is just scary. Maybe it’s a sign of some sort? Anyway, as far as commenting goes, you shouldn’t have to jump up right away and leave a comment on someone’s website, just because they left you one and got mad when you didn’t leave one right away. Don’t stress over it. okay? You’re not being rude, you’re just leading a busy lifestyle right now. So I can understand that.
kc* said:
May 31, 08 at 9:16 pmawwwwwww! i hope you can get it fixed or something! :]
and you change themes like everyday! lol i like this one… very pretty.
Ajemi said:
Jun 01, 08 at 8:23 pmI’ve heard about this with Macs. As someone else said, I’m pretty sure your screen will have to be replaced.
Brandi said:
Jun 01, 08 at 10:22 pmEK! Hopefully you find a solution and QUICK! That can’t be good =/ I’m sure it is minor, however. Good luck getting help from the Apple people.
I’m definitely not computer savvy either, so the slightest problem with my computer completely worries me.
Marie said:
Jun 02, 08 at 3:21 amI could go on and on about my very first Mac that I got 4 months ago, which is a MacBook pro. I’ll try to be brief.
I will never buy anything from them again. I got it from the Apple store, and I knew something was wrong with it immediately. I took it back one day later, and they refused to EVEN exchange it with out a $200 restocking fee without them seeing the problem. I waited there for 2 hours, and the error finally came up.
This new one I am already having problems with. A line came up on the screen also, and it wasn’t like the one you described. It went away though. If I plug something in one of the USB ports, it connects and disconnects. I don’t like the OS all that much, but that may because I am not used to it.
I HATE my iPhone.
That’s just me though. Some people love them.
I wish I could help, but usually screen problems are things only professionals can fix. Most of the time you have to replace the screen. Sorry, don’t mean to scare you, that’s just what I’ve seen.
Shellz said:
Jun 02, 08 at 1:29 pmHmm…I kind of wanted a Mac…they’re pretty cool, I like how the desktop is on them.
Maybe that line is “mac” problem? Well, I don’t know. I just personally heard Mac has more issues than PCs. Maybe you just need a new monitor, it doesn’t seem something like that could be fixed.
My PC used to make a loud rattling noise to, for some reason, but it stopped. It happened when I went on my friend’s myspace, she had loads of graphics and stuff on there.
I hope you get it sorted out though!
Lauren said:
Jun 02, 08 at 2:57 pmThat does really suck. We had one black pixel on our old screen, and some how you keep always looking at it. I hope that you get the problem fixed, without having to buy a new screen.
Mallory said:
Jun 02, 08 at 8:14 pmI’m fairly much a computer expert, as I’ve been using and fixing computers since I was about 12. As sad as that may seem to some, it’s useful to others! =P
Anyway, here’s my advice: You need to contact Apple. This is a known problem with iMacs and Macs in general.
If you look on the bottom of your iMac on the big silver metal foot ((While it’s off!)) At your serial number and the model number of your iMac. Then compare it to the below information:
1. The affected iMac G5 computers have serial numbers where the first five digits fall into the ranges noted below:
– W8435xxxxxx - W8522xxxxxx
– QP435xxxxxx - QP522xxxxxx
– CK435xxxxxx - CK522xxxxxx
– YD435xxxxxx - YD522xxxxxx
2. The affected iMac G5 models have EMC codes 1989 and 2008. The EMC number is located on the label on the bottom of the iMac stand.
If this is the case, call up Apple or a repair center. There is a ‘Repair Extension Program’, meaning that specific problems are being fixed out of warranty. The blue line is a bad logic board problem ((Most likely!)) And probably falls under that category.
Good luck! Don’t worry, you’re not alone … LOADS of iMac and Mac users in general have this specific problem.
Thank goodness I’m a PC user.
=P! =P! =P! ((Just kidding.))
…
Hello, I’m a PC! And I don’t suck, unlike Mac over there.
Kidding again. XD; I couldn’t resist! I may ‘be a PC’, but those commercials are great.
Mallory said:
Jun 02, 08 at 8:17 pmOh, and if anyone is getting advice to physically/’massage’ clean their screen to get rid of dead pixels, they’re being trolled/scammed. This method will not work, I assure everyone. And just to clarify, this iMac’s problem isn’t dead pixels, anyway!
Hope I helped.
;Scampers off.;
Mallory said:
Jun 02, 08 at 8:18 pmI meant to say ‘getting advice to physically clean/’massage’ their screen’. x_X; Apologies.
Amy said:
Jun 05, 08 at 9:39 amyeah i have to say it does sound like dead pixles. Not cool. I know of NO WAY to get that type of thing fixed. If you had a PC I’d say the monitor needs to be replaced. Being that with Macs everything is all together in one console, I haven’t a clue what you could do.
I guess finding a nearby Apple store is probably your best bet.
Crystal said:
Jun 05, 08 at 3:24 pmOh nos! Hope you get/have got the thing fixed! I had a Mac a long time ago, and it was ancient! I’m talking from 1990 or something, it was super small and the screen was in black and white.
Btw…do you still make designs for people? I love the way you edit themes.
Peach-Autumn.Net » Blog Archive » Let Him Learn said:
Jun 30, 08 at 7:53 pm[…] I go off and start ranting, I just want to make a quick note on my last post. I had read the suggestion Munin gave me about taking a damp wash cloth and “massaging” […]