Anyone noticing a little distortion?

[craneo]

Bright spots that some posts in this forum refer to as light leakage. I contacted Palm yesterday because I have this issue on mine, and they acknowledged they are aware of it but as of yet had not identified why this is happening. They suggested I exchange if I felt it was bothersome. While most of the time tolerable, the yellowish areas sometime appeared more pronounced and I could not tell if this was because of the light conditions and worried it could get worse. I exchanged my Pre tonight and the new one does not seem to have this issue and so far so good. The backup program worked well and even the applications I downloaded earlier were backed up. I also backed up several of the files (like messaging photos) on my HD.

Palm called me this afternoon to check on what I decided to do and told them I was exchanging. They said if I had any problems exchanging to let them know and they said they would call me tomorrow again to see how the exchange went. I was impressed by that level of customer service.

[YeOj]

My replacement from Palm was supposed to be here this week but the guy I originally talked to didn't finish the order correctly. I called mid-week to check on it and they informed me of that wonderful detail. So, they supposedly completed my order this time and the phone should be here sometime next week. I'm hoping the fourth time is the charm...

I am going to swap my wife's pre out tomorrow, she has the dreaded wobbly screen. Hers is so bad that I thought she had dropped it. You can hold the phone in the palm of your hand, slightly move from left to right, and the phone rattles. It's pretty bad. Her screen is the best one I have seen yet with only 1 dead pixel. I'm afraid to see what new problems we are in store with once we get the replacement.

I'm really dissappointed in the build quality of these phones. I honestly don't have much hope that I will actually get a perfect screen even coming straight from palm themselves. I'll post an update once I get it.

[ScrapMaker]

Originally Posted by YeOj

I'm really dissappointed in the build quality of these phones. I honestly don't have much hope that I will actually get a perfect screen even coming straight from palm themselves. I'll post an update once I get it.

You must not have ever held an HTC device

Creaky battery doors, inconsistent screen brightness/touch sensitivity, wobbily sliders, buttons FALLING off, batteries overheating, not charging, you name it.

Coming from HTC, this feels like a gift from the gods.

[preman2be913]

I too was experiencing blotching and discoloration on all three of my pres so I tested out a theory from Palm...

Just got off the phone with palm and found something quite interesting... I removed the touchstone battery door and put the original back door on and guess what? Screen blotch was GONE! Screen now looks flawless. The Pre itself feels cool and not nearly as warm as it did when I had the touchstone batt door on it. Also, for some reason when i place my pre on stone the screen doesn't turn off and I don't mean that it shows the clock and dims which palm calls nightmode, I mean it stays on as bright as I had it when it wasn't on the stone.

Palm is AWARE of this issue, as someone else stated on here. and recommend me to return the touchstone and use the original battery door that comes with the phone. They said they are working on an update to fix this issue and once they do then I should repurchase the stone and use the stone battery door. I personally like the stone batt door better but I have no screen blotches or discoloration whatsoever with the original batt door so I am definitely going to return the stone and wait for an update with my fingers crossed.

[Spydaz]

i have the cloudy area on the left part of the screen and cloud on the bottom left corner. I can say this... It was real bad the first days of owning the phone. Now on my 5th day it is getting better and can barly notice it, only in Pandora ever so slightly.

I have the touchstone and use it at my work and home. The phone had these "clouds" from day one before i even thought about purchasing the touchstone. Did a test today, took off the touchstone battery cover and reaplced with original and it made no difference.

I allready have a new pre on order to replace this one. If the "clouds" completely go away i will have no need to replace. Radio Shack is probably the best place to buy these things as its no hassel. Have a problem with the phone for the first 30 days... you get a brand NEW device!

[jcbklyny]

I just exchanged my Pre for the second time today!

1. I bought the first one on launch day and loved it! It came in the flower box. Then I noticed the nasty clouding issue along the bottom of the screen like many others have reported. Not too bad when you first start using the phone, but gets out of control once the unit heats up. So I brought it back.

2. At first glance the replacement looked great, it was the sunset box. I was mainly checking the bottom of the screen looking for that same clouding... it didn't have it so I was happy. Then I noticed the same clouding in the middle of the screen as well as along the top and sides!! ***!! Thats when I finally found the screen test in device info and when you flip to the solid green screen it's the very easy to see every little clouding blemish.

3. So I finally got a chance to go back to the sprint store and exchange it for a third time this morning. This one also came in the sunset box, so I was a little worried. Again at first it looked fine. It's not like I can sit in the store for 20 minutes testing before I leave. So after a little bit of use at home I went into the screen test again and sure enough... clouding. This time along the sides and top. But this one is very hard to see in applications and I only notice it when watching videos. Which sucks...

This third unit I may actually keep because when cool there is no clouding what-so-ever. The other 2 had slight clouding even when cold. At least now I'm convinced that all of the early shipment Pre's have some form of LCD clouding. ALL-OF-THEM. All of the demos I've seen have the problem, and I even pointed it out to a few sprint employees on their own Pre's. Again, just goto the green screen in the screen test after using the phone a bit and you'll see the patches of clouds.

I love the phone, but they really need to fix this hardware! Maybe a firmware update can bring temps down a bit, but this is a problem I dont see being fixed with software.

Now it's a matter of whether or not I want to keep the phone.

[jcbklyny]

I should also note that none of the 3 phones had dead pixels. All of them had a few stuck on pixels which isn't bad at all.

For those that don't know a dead pixel stays black no matter what's being displayed and a stuck on pixel will get stuck on either red green or blue on an all black screen. Stuck on pixels can sometimes be brought back to life.

[Big Dookie]

For you guys that called an were able to get an exchange unit sent to you, can you please give me the exact number you called to do so? I've called Palm's main number listed on their "contact us" section of the website, and after being transferred a couple of times and put on hold for a quite a while, was told to check again with Sprint. After doing so and being told they had no units available and a waiting list, I called the same Palm number and told them the situation and they told me there was nothing they could do.

It certainly doesn't sound like the same people you guys talked to, and I'm getting pretty frustrated here. Honestly, it sounded like a generic call center, and I could barely understand anything any of them were telling me half the time because the line quality was so bad, and I could tell my voice was being delayed to them. I don't think it was the same people you guys talked to.

Can anyone help me out here? I just want to get this taken care of.

[qst4]

I've had about the same experience and came to the same conclusion, "most units will have this problem to some degree". I exchanged mine yesterday in Paramus, NJ. My first one had a black box the new one has a yellow box with the sprint pen icons. The second has more blotches then the first, but they are far less noticeable and restricted to the peripheries of the screen. On the first they were all at the bottom, this new one has them on the right side. top and bottom left. Again barely noticeably and I only noticed them because I've spent nearly 10 days analyzing the first one.

Overall, I am very very happy with the new unit and glad the store in Paramus stood tall and gave me a new replacement without a lot of hassle. A nice example of customer service.

[qst4]

Some things I checked during the exchange.

1. Slider, looking for looseness etc.
2. The screen. Go to Device info->More Info->Preferences->Interactive Test->Screen.
(This allows you to test the screen with different colors) again the device needs to be a little warm for the blotches to show so good luck, but this is the best quick test.
3. Try to work with the store you got the pre from. I bought mine an hour away so unfortunately I had to make a trip, but from what I gathered from the the sales rep, I probably would have been hassled going to a different store. I would recommend going in face to face. I called when I first noticed the blotches and was told I would be informed when a replacement was available. Ten days later no call.
4. Check sound/video with you tube.

I really just followed everything that was posted here previously, but I would recommend trying to have your ducks in order, it "may" prevent a third visit. I would also recommend doing all the interactive test while you are in the store.

[jcbklyny]

I don't think there's anything actually wrong with the lcd modules in the phones. I think this clouding issue or blotching is a problem with the plastic casing.

Applying pressure to the center of the screen (or different areas of the screen depending on the location of the clouding) basically fixes the problem. The screen is fixed too tightly to the plastic casing and when it heats up with use - it expands. The case isn't allowing enough room for this to happen and the lcd is actually warping causing the clouding effect.

I think Palm is hoping that with ongoing use the heat will eventually warp the plastic case and fix the problem.

A quick fix would be to take the phone apart and loosen the screen mounts a little. Or replacing the top casing could also fix the problem. But it's not the LCD.

This tight fit could also be the reason for all of the Pre screen cracking reports.

In the end I'm now very hopeful that this problem isn't a very expensive one or difficult one to fix.

Anyone know the guys over at Rapid Repair?

[michaeld13]

I tried applying pressure as suggested, but it didn't have any affect on mine. The screen ripples some (like normal) when some pressure is applied , but the spots never really moved- and definitley did not go away. The screen being too tight and crack etc., makes a lot of sense though. This is my second pre and am thinking about returning for a third- the first had a smal "bubble" at the edge of the screen that appeared a few days after owning (I'm sure others have posted about this before). I love this phone, but on the replacement, I see that spot everytime I look at it... I don;t think the first had this problem. My second pre came in the newer box. And it does feel a little different than the first one. Which is perfect- except for the screen.

[michaeld13]

Does anyone have any theories why red and blue look so much better? White and green really show off the problem?

[ScrapMaker]

Originally Posted by michaeld13

Does anyone have any theories why red and blue look so much better? White and green really show off the problem?

Has to do with your eyes, and the color spectrum. It's always the same, but your eyes perceive it differently, depending on the color and angle. Red and blue are darker in nature, which helps to mask the issue.

I notice the problems on lighter colors, especially white--I see the yellow splotches.

[michaeld13]

I just can;t win here. I now see I have two very visible stuck pixels (and a couple of others I think- but hardly noticeable). They were not there before. They just showed up today.

[michaeld13]

This thread has died down. Are the previous posters problems now fixed? I'm getting ready to return my second pre for a third. Are folks feeling better about this problem being resolved with newer units?

[jcbklyny]

Well, like I said before - I'm on my third Pre and all of them had this clouding issue in some way. It's really like bobbing for apples. You may get a good one, and you may not. This third one still has some clouding around the sides and top, but at least it's not in the middle of the screen and I have to look for it to notice.... I'm not happy about it, but I'm happy enough to keep the phone.

I have no doubt that I'll be taking the phone apart to fix the problem myself shortly. I still think it's just the casing.

[ScrapMaker]

My Pre has no clouding, only splotches at the very bottom of the screen, concentrated in the corners. Appear as lighter colors, or yellow when it's a white background. No clouding or discoloration on any other part of the screen. I've never seen this 'clouding' as people have been putting it.

[michaeld13]

Yes, no "clouding" on mine- just a bright spot in the top left corner (yellow on white background, etc)- and a couple of dead pixels- I just left a message w/ my sprint store- so we'll see how it goes. A bit off topic- but do you know if within the 30 days you can get your money back and cancel everything? I realize phone time/data will be charged. I was looking through the agreement papers and didn;t really see anything definitive.

[ScrapMaker]

Originally Posted by michaeld13

Yes, no "clouding" on mine- just a bright spot in the top left corner (yellow on white background, etc)- and a couple of dead pixels- I just left a message w/ my sprint store- so we'll see how it goes. A bit off topic- but do you know if within the 30 days you can get your money back and cancel everything? I realize phone time/data will be charged. I was looking through the agreement papers and didn;t really see anything definitive.

Yes, within 30 days of purchase you can return it completely with no penalty, whatsoever.

I did this on the Touch Pro. After 6 different phones, I told them I was done. Turned it in 5 days before the 30-day deadline. Make sure you get them to note your account that the 2-year must be rolled back, and all that jazz.