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repair powerbook or buy new ibook?

D

dirtyfacade

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Recently my year and a half old 12" powerbook took a nasty fall onto a concrete floor. Long story short the logic board is broken along with some other things that will total about 955$ to fix.

I'm wondering if it's really worth paying for the repair or should I just go ahead and buy a new 14" ibook? I don't know what the major differences are between my older powerbook and the new ibooks.

I primarily use the computer for schoolwork (internet and papers) and to edit photographs (nothing really too intense, just some resizing and color correction usually). I'm scared that if I repair the powerbook something else will break and by that time i wont be able to invest anymore money in repairs.

Any advice is welcome!! Thanks!!
 
For $955 you can very likely get a new iBook, so I’d go that route. Amazon in particular is running some good deals on iBooks right now, and depending where you live, they don't charge tax. Perhaps you can also sell any surviving bits of your PB for a little money, too?

For your needs, an iBook sounds plenty fine. Also, the iBooks are bit a little more “tough” than their aluminum PB counterparts, so your iBook could stand a chance of survival in future falls. (Though hopefully there won’t be any! 😱 )
 
If it was me, I would go ahead and purchase a new Mac. My fear would also be more damage that hasn't shown up at the moment. The iBook is a good machine now that its a G4.
 
Embrace the new

My vote would be for the new iBook. With the update these are great machines in direct competition with the PBook line currently and they are quite cost effective to say the least. From what you said your uses are the iBook should be fine computing wise, and then its new with no back-of-your-mind wondering about what will go wrong next.
Best of luck on whatever route you choose to follow.
 
Your PB would be an 867MHz machine so the new iBooks would win hands down on performance. Don't necessarily go for the 14" - the 12" iBook is sweet (and the same screen resolution) - for just $999 I think and now a 1.2GHz G4 processor. It also has a better graphics chip than your PB.

My brother has just picked up one of these beauties and it's great. Bad luck on your PB though - that must hurt!
 
I think I probably will go with the ibook. I'm really nervous about other things going wrong with the PB. They first told me it was just the logic board and would be 310$ but then three days later told me there was more to it and it'd be 955$.
 
johnnyjibbs is right, go for the iBook. The 12"er IS really nice, almost making me debate going there instead of a PBook...we shall see. Between the two however, I would vote 12 over 14 because the screen res is the same and the platform is just that much cooler when its sooooo small 😀
 
if you have a 12" pb then get the 12" ibook. the 14" still only does 1024x768 so the only advantage is video. the 12" will give you a screen you're used to and its of course smaller and lighter also. maybe its just me but I sure see a lot more 12" ibooks around my campus than 14". the 14" is only worth it if you really need a superdrive.

I just bought the 12" 1.2GHz and i'm hooked. it smokes my sawtooth G4 500.

get the 12" ibook. I swear you won't be disapointed. plus your pb is a rev A and the ibook G4 is now on rev. C so it has more gremlins worked out.
 
I don't know exactly how much you could sell a PB for parts for, similar to a PC I would assume. You can sell laptops, but is there a huge market for laptop parts like this?
Side question I guess...if your slot-load drive malfunctions or breaks or whatever, could you install a different one easily or is that an Apple thing to do?
 
efoto said:
Side question I guess...if your slot-load drive malfunctions or breaks or whatever, could you install a different one easily or is that an Apple thing to do?
Click to expand...

Within 1 year- Apple does it.

Beyond that- Some guy you pay. Or yourself.
 
So this is something that could be done by ones self given the proper knowledge and parts? I wasn't sure if it was even feasible.
 
efoto said:
Side question I guess...if your slot-load drive malfunctions or breaks or whatever, could you install a different one easily or is that an Apple thing to do?
Click to expand...

apple service manuals are very good things to have around when you need to take one apart. they show you all the small things that need to be done that in the end help prevent anything from being harmed. anything beyond that is common sense. I recently took my powermac totally apart to where it was in about 40 pieces so I could paint it and give it a new look. it was a bit challenging but a laptop will be even more trouble as there isn't much room for movement or error. apple designs products very well inside and out so it won't be too hard. just be gentle!
 
Thanks for all the advice!!

I went ahead and got the 14" ibook with the combo drive from amazon.com. Now all i can do is wait.

Waiting is better than having Apple tell me it's going to be $970 dollars to fix then calling and saying only $360 then calling and saying $955. I'd rather just not deal with that anymore.
 
You made a wise choice. I bet this iBook will just as good as your older PBook, and I'm sure you will truly enjoy it. Plus, you don't have to worry about future failures anymore...or at least the costly kind that are not covered by warranty 😛
 
efoto said:
I don't know exactly how much you could sell a PB for parts for, similar to a PC I would assume. You can sell laptops, but is there a huge market for laptop parts like this?
Side question I guess...if your slot-load drive malfunctions or breaks or whatever, could you install a different one easily or is that an Apple thing to do?
Click to expand...

I have bought Powerbook parts off Ebay several times. Trust me there is a market, some people just like to do the repairs themselves.
 
couldnt you just get apple care and regsiter it , and then say you broke it? haha kinda scammy but youd get your pb fixed for the price of apple care
 
noirnoir said:
couldnt you just get apple care and regsiter it , and then say you broke it? haha kinda scammy but youd get your pb fixed for the price of apple care
Click to expand...
Two problems with that. First of all, it's dishonest and part of the reason we pay so much for insurance and warranty programs, and secondly, it won't be of any use anyway because Applecare does not cover accidental damage. I'd find it hard to believe that they'd belive you if you said it got all bent out of shape all of its own accord...
 
You could claim it was a rev. A model with extreme heat problems. The thing go soooo hot that it bent all out of shape, in some cases causing one part of the case to seperate from another part of the case in an almost droppage-like pattern 🙄
 
i got the 14" instead of the 12" because sometimes i forget my glasses in my desk at work and i had so much trouble with everything so small on the pb.

i'm definitely going to try and sell my pb for parts.

re: applecare. it's pretty apparent it's been dropped. supposedly the reason that it's so much to repair is because the case got warped and the new logic board will not fit correctly in the computer. other than that though.. everything is fine. i don't think i'm dishonest enough to pull off registering applecare anyway. i would feel really guilty and bad because if enough people do stuff like that people who are actually legit wont be able to get repairs done anymore or the price will just become insane.
 
dirtyfacade said:
Thanks for all the advice!!

I went ahead and got the 14" ibook with the combo drive from amazon.com. Now all i can do is wait.

Waiting is better than having Apple tell me it's going to be $970 dollars to fix then calling and saying only $360 then calling and saying $955. I'd rather just not deal with that anymore.
Click to expand...

I think that you made a very wise decision. It's one that you won't regret. The peace of mind will mean a lot. I hope that your wait for the iBook will be short.
 
johnnyjibbs said:
Two problems with that. First of all, it's dishonest and part of the reason we pay so much for insurance and warranty programs, and secondly, it won't be of any use anyway because Applecare does not cover accidental damage. I'd find it hard to believe that they'd belive you if you said it got all bent out of shape all of its own accord...
Click to expand...

Third problem: He said it was a year and a half old.
 
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