Very interesting developement.

Dear ponkey,
 
Thank you for your post.  I would like to confirm that this is highly abnormal and not something that we have seen previously on other SC17 products.  
 
I assure you that we are here to help and I will be following up with your email in a little bit.

It's definitely not an issue isolated to ponkey. The first 980m model I received in July had the same issue and was showing both dots from first power on. I think they line up with the EVGA logo lighting on the cover. While support had me shut off the light it did not alleviate the display issue. EVGA replaced the laptop and the new one hasn't shown this, but I've kept the logo lights off since I got it. Maybe extended use of those lights cause damage to the screen?

Yikes, never mind the dots, the black light bleed (BLB) is unacceptable nooo, absolutely horrid. All 3 of the laptops had that amount of BLB?

ponkey
Yes they have all had that level of back light bleed. But it all honesty, BLB has never bothered me much. It definitely isn't even close to as distracting as the dots/lines.

I've been talking with Chris. I told him I would be happy to try a 1070 version if he thinks the problem has been resolved in the newer models (which he hasn't weighed in on). If the new version is going to develop the same thing I would really just prefer a refund. I have a feeling they are going to have a hard time getting pcrush.com to give me a refund, but here's to hoping.

Regardless of what solution they are able to offer I will update this post.

Lastly, I encourage anyone who owns an sc17 to change their background to solid black and see if you are affected by the dots and or lines. We've already had another person in this thread confirm that they had the same marks, in the same shape, on the same areas of the screen.

Well, EVGA will take care of you one way or another. Would be great if they did offer you a 1070 model but with them offering a free GTX 1070 desktop card w/purchase of a 980m version, I would say they have abundant stock they are trying to move.
 
I am in the market for a new laptop and was considering EVGA but that BLB concerns me, it is excessive particularly for a laptop in the $2700 range not to mention you can get a Sager with a 1080 for that price.

You couldn't give me an Apple product. One of my good friends in an Apple lemming but she always has problems her MacBook and iPhone. She bought the 6 plus and bent it in 3-days...lol
 
I was turned on to  Sager in 2008 and have purchased my gaming laptops from them. My latest one I think I purchased in 2011 or 12.... NP9170... Very solid nice performing rig. SSDs, GTX 680m, 16gb Ram, i7 3ghz EE cpu, customizable backlit keyboard and one the best looking screens I have seen on a laptop. Unfortunately, the graphic card is dated and can't handle newer titles very well not to mention it scores a 0 in chassis styling, it is just a rectangle...lol  With that said, I was hoping I could have simply update the graphics card since the rest of the hardware is decent but even if I could, a 980m is 800 bucks.... The other issue is the weight, it is 10 pounds and has a huge power block that is 2 pounds so it is a pain to lug it around which I do often for graduate school.
 
I am eyeballing a Sager NP8173-S with a couple of small customizations, no bloatware and it is still nearly 1k less than the SC17 but, there is a significant difference. The Sager comes with a 1080p HD IPS gsync monitor while the SC17 has a 4K monitor. Had the Sager come with a 1440p IPS gsync screen I would have bought it already. A few reviews I have watched show the 1070 man handles the 1080p resolution pushing games like Doom 100fps+ at ultra settings making gsync useless. I may hold off a bit and see if they begin to offer a 1440p 120hz screen like in the higher end models for their mid level offerings.
 
I will say, Sager customer service is great. I kept a farming team up nearly 24/7 in a game and ended up burning a ghost image in the screen, they replaced it and another time, I had a light go out on the keyboard. They asked me if I was comfortable replacing myself and sent it to me right away.
 
If EVGA would lop 800 bucks or so off the SC17 I would consider it..... Hope you get everything worked out!

Vlada011
Apple is great but not for fun. I can't connect Apple product with gaming and entertainment.
Only work/office but PC need to be close. It's perfect for cell phones. iPhone is for me best, than people who want to spare kids from gaming iMac example or Mac Mini.
PC could finish same job for far less price. Or faster for same money but Apple look cool for office.

Apple laptops are good if you are into graphic design and photoshop, but beyond that the price is too expensive.

ponkey
I've come to the realization that there is no laptop that isn't a compromise one way or the other. I loathe apple products, but man, if they released a 17" MacBook pro with a 1070 I sure would have a hard time passing it up.

I would bet you're right about old stock they are trying to move. But in my case, I won't be happy unless I'm given a 1070 version or my money back. This has just all been too much hassle. Constantly shipping laptops back and forth is not what I signed up for. It's compounded by the fact that I believe this issue will happen over and over again because I bepieve it's caused by a defect. Possibly the plate holding the EVGA logo being squeezed in too tightly between the top panel and the display.

Also, just so you know since you're considering this laptop, if you are a trackpad snob I advise you stay away. I was using a Dell XPS before I got the sc17. The Dell had a Windows precision touchpad that I dare say was nearing MacBook levels of awesomeness. In contrast, the sc17 track pad is a big pile of you know what. I hate synaptics so much...you have no idea. What I had to go through to get a tolerable driver on the sc17 is beyond reasonable.

Anyway, I hope you find something decent. As you can tell I'm still on that quest with you.

Alienware? I actually don't have a single issue with my 17 R3 other then the fact that the 4k IPS Screen, requires more power then the puny 3GB 970M can output. Beyond that, this laptop has been a workhorse so far for me with zero issues.

I'm actually impressed with Alienware's design refresh for Pascal. And this is coming from someone who never even considered Alienware as an option before. Obviously they still look like "gaming" laptops, which is what I was trying to avoid, but there is a lot of praise for the displays they use. I've seen a lot of people say that there is no backlight bleed to speak of. Also, they use a windows precision touchpad, which to me, is worth switching from the sc17 alone--Synaptics truly is a garbage company. 
 
As soon as they take this thing off my hands and get me a refund I'm gonna get a Alienware 17 / 1070 / 4k / 512ssd + 1tb hdd. Either that, Or I'm gonna wait until November because they are talking about adding another display with 400 nits of brightness which would be ideal for me. 
 
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I will let you guys know if and when the refund actually happens. I have faith in EVGA, but I really don't see pcrush.com being cooperative. We'll see...

ponkey
I'm actually impressed with Alienware's design refresh for Pascal. And this is coming from someone who never even considered Alienware as an option before. Obviously they still look like "gaming" laptops, which is what I was trying to avoid, but there is a lot of praise for the displays they use. I've seen a lot of people say that there is no backlight bleed to speak of. Also, they use a windows precision touchpad, which to me, is worth switching from the sc17 alone--Synaptics truly is a garbage company. 
 
As soon as they take this thing off my hands and get me a refund I'm gonna get a Alienware 17 / 1070 / 4k / 512ssd + 1tb hdd. Either that, Or I'm gonna wait until November because they are talking about adding another display with 400 nits of brightness which would be ideal for me. 
 
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I will let you guys know if and when the refund actually happens. I have faith in EVGA, but I really don't see pcrush.com being cooperative. We'll see...

Don't have any issues of back light bleed on my 17 R3. The screen is amazing. As for 4k display, yes and No. I generally run it in 1080p only because of the fact 4k makes a huge draw on the 970M. It doesn't have the muscles to run all the bells and whistles and minus AA to keep frames enjoyable IMHO.

my 17 R3 uses Synaptics for touchpad, but its much more.. fluid, solid compared to quite a few laptops i've owned in the past.

there is a lot more customization and it's very precise over the others.  Go to a nearest Bestbuy and poke around on there Alienware's. It's what I did before I bought this one.

Honestly wouldn't go to any other company sense I owned this one. Touchpad is great, keyboard is amazing. Heating and cooling is awesome, gaming the 970M never goes over 73'C and it's using the stock fan setting. I can change the fan profile in bio's and make it faster.

Keyboard gets a little warm, but nothing major vs I had with an Asus ROG, battery pack for the AC Adapter gets hot but they ALL get hot while gaming.

I'm surprised we haven't received an update about this. 

This will probably be my final update to this thread.
 
Yesterday I received a check from EVGA for the full purchase price I paid to PCRUSH.com (a third party vendor) for my SC-17. I am extremely grateful to EVGA and specifically Chris B. for helping with these issues, and getting me a refund even when I don't believe they were obligated to do so. While I won't ever purchase another laptop from EVGA, I will continue to purchase my desktop GPUs from them just like I have in the past.
 
I ended up getting a gtx1060 Razer Blade that I am extremely satisfied with. I haven't had a single issue, and I am completely in love with the glossy screen instead of the matte one on the SC-17 and most other gaming laptops. I know people say matte is better for gaming, but I really don't like the washed out colors, overall dimmer display, and fuzziness that comes with a matte overlay. The build quality on this Razer laptop is unmatched, and it feel like a product I will have for many years. I can't say that I felt the same about the MSI latop I tried or the SC-17.
 
I am glad that I have this whole debacle behind me, and that I have a new machine that suites my needs perfectly.
 
Once again, thanks Chris, and thank you to the EVGA support team--you guys are truly unmatched in this industry.