M1330 - Am I crazy or is this bad light leakage?

My 1330 finally came yesterday after a 6 week wait and it has some weird light leakage going on which I am not sure is normal being that this is my first laptop. It's hard to describe so I took some pics, but it appears in a "wavy" pattern at the bottom of the screen:





This is only really visible against a black background and when the screen brightness is on full, but it still bothers me, especially since I paid nearly $2400 for this laptop. I notice a bit of grainyness against white backgrounds on max screen brightness as well, but this doesn't bother me nearly as much. Everything else about the system is fine (i.e. good build quality, no CPU whine, no wobble).

I'm wondering: Is this light leakage particularly bad compared to other M1330s or am I just being overcritical? My parents seem to think I'm crazy for wanting to return it over this. If I get an exchange system I'm afraid of finding the same problem or one of the many other issues people are experiencing with this laptop, and then being stuck with it. Do you guys think I should live with it, exchange it, or just return it for something else? Thanks.

 

I don't think that it is too bad but if you are not comfortable with it then it's time to call up dell cc.

 

You can exchange and then, if the screen is better on the other but it squeals, arrange to have the monitors switched by a tech.

Light leakage is a very 'hard to distinguish' thing on the sites as, when the picture is taken. it can unfairly embellish the actual leakage or flash and surrounding light can also affect it.

I can see light leakage in mine when I look at it on the startup screen at an angle but thats it. It does not affect me in any way, shape or form during normal usage. Its got great colour and I use it at full brightness continuously.

 

I wouldn't return an otherwise good system for that.

 

I guess I must be crazy then. Does the light leakage on other 1330s appear in that wavelike pattern though? If it was an even leakage like at the top of the screen I wouldn't really mind as much. My dad seems to be convinced that if I exchange it the new screen will be exactly the same, and if I can't live with it I should get something else.

 

that IS NOT AT ALL BAD... trust me you may get one thats a LOT WORSE THAN THAT... i know i did twice

 

It's not too bad. Also, it ususally gets better over time....

 

You're crazy

Julia

 

That does look weird to me. I've had 2 M1330's and neither had any light leakage like that!

 

The CMO panel I got had that sort of 'wave-like' bleed at the bottom, but it was far, far less than your photos show. (The TMD had very uniform bleeding, even less than the CMO) I don't know whether that's the result of the camera exaggerating your backlight bleed however. I know the CMO I have has very little backlight bleed.

You could take a look in device manager to see which panel you got (I'd bet CMO).

 

That looks like my current old Inspiron's light leakage which I also only see at full black, like Vista startup, or something like that, but never when actually using the machine.

Tough call, b/c I know I want mine to be perfect, but I wonder if a replacement would be any better...

 

I don't have access to the machine again until tomorrow, but if I recall it said 'Generic PnP monitor' in device manager. Not sure which manufacturer that corresponds to.
Also the 'waves' are not exaggerated much in the pic. They are almost an inch in length. It looks really weird. I think I'm going to call in for a replacement tomorrow and hope for the best.

 

You have to click the tab with the drop down menu and then select hardware lds. It should be in there.

 

I sent my Alienware M5550 back for bad backlight bleeding. Alienware did so without no questions asked, getting my M5550 back tommorow. Hopefully this LCD has no leakage.

 

Err, basically what I am saying is, give it a shot.. and be up the Techs asses about it. I called everyday since they got it and reminded them to please check for backlight bleeding etc...Their customer support has been all good so far... I'll let you know how the new display is.

 

just received mine yesturday and noticed that I also had that wave like pattern of leakage at the bottom. I don't know, maybe it's the way the LED's are arranged. I also see the graininess of the screen on white backgrounds as well and can even tell on some color wallpapers as well

 

Because of the wavy pattern, I would rate it low-medium. Light leakage can be MUCH worse.

 

Your light leakage is nothing. Really, if the system is good, KEEP IT! Don't chance an exchange and get a worse system. That light leakage IMO is really quite decent. I have had Lenovo and HP laptops with much worse light leakage and they still looked and performed fine.