Why are acers's so cheap?

pclancy

Im not sure you do have any comeback with that. Every type of TFT or LCD be it a 14" on a laptop, 19" desktop or 32" TV can have a certain number of dead pixels appear before they'll be replaced. This applies across the board of manufacturers. I agree with what your saying rights wise but ive never heard of people getting them fixed until the number of dead pixels has reached the manufacturers levels.

The OP

You keep saying it "can" have a cartain number, and it "applies" accross the board. WHERE does it state this as law? Because if it's not law, it cannot affect your statutory rights. If it's faulty (and dead pixels = faulty), you are entitled to a full refund, and if they argue otherwise, they will end up in the small claims court and lose.

pclancy

Well in that case i honestly dont know. I mean according to each manufacturer saying they wont take back or replace a screen until it has say 7 dead pixels for example. Law wise it would end up depending what the law and the manufacturers agreed was s faulty LCD. A couple of dead pixels doesnt make a screen unusable from their point of view but it might from a certain users point of view. Many people dont even know they have dead pixels.

Heres what tom says:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2003/03/19/penalty/

By the way im not trying to stand up for the manufacturers here, i dont agree that any dead pixles is okay, im just saying what ive seen to be the norm in the industry.

The OP

I just read Tom's page about it. Manufacturer "POLICY" cannot over-rule the law. It's just that simple. The fact that the manufacturers call it a "dead" pixel is enough proof and admittance to make any judge in the small claims court (who are mostly ignorant to technlogy anyway) agree that it's faulty - added to the fact that it IS actually faulty.
Maybe other people would be put off by the "policy" (which is most likely just a deterrant to stop people who don't fully know their rights from returning laptops, monitors, etc), but I know my rights and they wouldn't pull that sh*t on me.
Stand up for yourselves people - store policies and manufacturers policies don't mean squat - the law is there to protect consumers against that type of misdirection.
Anything you buy in Ireland, is covered by the Consumer laws of Ireland - not the manufacturers worldwide "policy". Anything you buy in the UK, etc, is covered under EU consumer law, which will also protect you from "dead" pixels.

Malafus

The OP wrote:

I just read Tom's page about it. Manufacturer "POLICY" cannot over-rule the law. It's just that simple. The fact that the manufactures call it a "dead" pixel is enough proof and admittance to make any judge in the small claims court agree that it's faulty - added to the fact that it IS faulty.
Maybe other people would be put off by the "policy" (which is most likely just a deterrant to stop people who don't fully know their rights from returning laptops, monitors, etc), but I know my rights and they wouldn't pull that sh*t on me.
Stand up for yourselves people - store policies and manufacturers policies don't mean squat - the law is there to protect consumers against that type of misdirection.

It's called "ISO 13406-2" - the standards that must be met by an LCD display, including a limited amount of leeway for dead pixels.

An LCD with a dead pixel or two is still "fit for purpose", still "of merchantable quality", and as long as it is ISO 13406-2 compliant, then it conforms to the description. If you absolutely NEED an LCD monitor without faults, then get one which conforms to ISO 13406-1 - no pixel or sub-pixel faults allowed. You will pay through the nose for it, though.

It's not really fair, but it does keep prices down, somewhat. We are, after all, paying for "potentially" defective displays when we buy ISO 13406-2 compliant monitors.

To regulate the acceptability of defects and to protect the end user, ISO have created a standard for manufacturers to follow. ISO 13406-2 recommends how many defaults are acceptable in a display before it should be replaced, within the terms & conditions of warranty.

All reputable manufacturers conform to and support the ISO 13406-2 standard.

The table below shows the allowable number of malfunctioning pixels that are acceptable, depending on the native resolution of the LCD and allowing for 2 malfunctioning pixels per million pixels.
Native resolution No. of pixels No. of million pixels Acceptable defects
1024 x 768 786,432 0.8 2
1280 x 1024 1,310,720 1.3 3
1600 x 1200 1,920,200 1.9 4
2048 x 1536 3,145,728 3.1 6

The table below shows the allowable number of malfunctioning sub-pixels that are acceptable, depending on the native resolution of the LCD and allowing for 5 malfunctioning sub-pixels per million pixels.
Native resolution No. of pixels No. of million pixels Acceptable defects
1024 x768 786,432 0.8 4
1280 x 1024 1,310,720 1.3 7
1600 x 1200 1,920,200 1.9 10
2048 x 1536 3,145,728 3.1 16

The table below shows the allowable number of malfunctioning sub-pixels that are acceptable within a 5 x 5 block of pixels, depending on the native resolution and allowing for 2 malfunctioning sub-pixels within a 5 x 5 block, per million pixels.
Native resolution No. of pixels No. of million pixels Acceptable defects
1024 x 768 786,432 0.8 2
1280 x 1024 1,310,720 1.3 3
1600 x 1200 1,920,200 1.9 4
2048 x 1536 3,145,728 3.1 6

The above is relevant to Class II LCD panels.

maxheadroom

The OP wrote:

I just read Tom's page about it. Manufacturer "POLICY" cannot over-rule the law. It's just that simple. The fact that the manufacturers call it a "dead" pixel is enough proof and admittance to make any judge in the small claims court (who are mostly ignorant to technlogy anyway) agree that it's faulty - added to the fact that it IS actually faulty.
Maybe other people would be put off by the "policy" (which is most likely just a deterrant to stop people who don't fully know their rights from returning laptops, monitors, etc), but I know my rights and they wouldn't pull that sh*t on me.
Stand up for yourselves people - store policies and manufacturers policies don't mean squat - the law is there to protect consumers against that type of misdirection.
Anything you buy in Ireland, is covered by the Consumer laws of Ireland - not the manufacturers worldwide "policy". Anything you buy in the UK, etc, is covered under EU consumer law, which will also protect you from "dead" pixels.

I'm sorry, but this is complete bull. You are agreeing to buy an LCD panel manufactured to a certain specification. This specification includes the number of stuck pixels and / or subpixels which are acceptable, inlcuding rules for clusters of pixels, spacing, etc. This isn't a 'manufacturer policy' it is an internationally agreed standard. If you don't like it, buy a higher spec panel which will be guaranteed to be stuck pixel free - but you're going to pay more for the higher spec. Something isn't 'faulty' until it is outside the specification under which it was sold. If you buy a monitor and it has stuck pixels, then tough, you haven't got a legal leg to stand on.

EDIT: posted at the same time as Malafus

The OP

maxheadroom wrote:

I'm sorry, but this is complete bull. You are agreeing to buy an LCD panel manufactured to a certain specification. This specification includes the number of stuck pixels and / or subpixels which are acceptable, inlcuding rules for clusters of pixels, spacing, etc. This isn't a 'manufacturer policy' it is an internationally agreed standard. If you don't like it, buy a higher spec panel which will be guaranteed to be stuck pixel free - but you're going to pay more for the higher spec. Something isn't 'faulty' until it is outside the specification under which it was sold. If you buy a monitor and it has stuck pixels, then tough, you haven't got a legal leg to stand on.

EDIT: posted at the same time as Malafus

I'll be getting an Acer in a few weeks. I won't be paying for the gay pixel check. If it has any dead pixels, I GUARANTEE I'll get it replaced for free. I'll keep you posted.

maxheadroom

The OP wrote:

I'll be getting an Acer in a few weeks. I won't be paying for the gay pixel check. If it has any dead pixels, I GUARANTEE I'll get it replaced for free. I'll keep you posted.

You might get it replaced out of an act of goodwill by the company supplying the machine, or through their incompetence in defending their position if it comes to a legal case. You will have no legal right to a replacement though, and if you get it from a company which knows enough about these things to offer a pixel check then you'll probably find yourself out of luck.