12" Powerbook owners LOOK HERE

[AndrewMT]

Apple's repair service is the best in the business. I had to have my 15" Ti repaired twice for one thing or another and both times it came back in excellent shape. They even wash the case for you. So, saying the laptop will be less "pristine" is incorrect.

I hope you are not one of those people who likes to get replacements on their products to make you feel better about your purchase. For instance, maybe you scratched part of the case and you are going to use this defective cd drive to get a replacement. You wouldn't be doing that, would you?

 

[pilotgi]

to ichan

You didn't say where you bought your PowerBook.

I bought my iBook from MacMall and I'm 98% certain that you could make a return to them citing "defective" or something similar and just order another one, no questions asked.

 

[BubbaTAC]

warm, yes...hot? no. It is not uncomfortable to put your hand there if thats what you mean. It gets hotter when it is on batter power then plugged in, but it is fine...best laptop, scrath that, best computer I have ever owned...I am not talking about OSX (which is awesome), but the hardware is amazingly well thought out and the performance is just fine

 

[iJon]

Re: consumer affair

Originally posted by iChan
iJon, how can you be sure that they won't replace the PB for me? I'm going to bring my solictor into this and then i'm going to go to the director of cosumer affairs... they'll do something.

I mean, I'm a student of business and I know that any terms that Apple impose shall not and will not reduce any of my legal entitlements... it's is in addition to my statutory rights....

Ijon, why do you say that they won't give me a new one??? you had some experience with this before?

yes i do have experience with this. apple does not take back computers,its there policy. they will glady repair what is wrong free of cost. There is no need for them to replace the whole thing. you will have to do some major bitchin to get them to break that rule. good luck, although i dont think you will accomplish your goal.

iJon

 

[patrick0brien]

Re: Re: Re: consumer affairs

Originally posted by iChan
I can get it repaired, refund, or replace... why do I have to go for repair??? aren't the other two just as easy to do? I'm stressing that I want to stay with apple, I want to same Laptop... but I can't afford to have the same trouble again and if they are only going to repair it... it could happen again in another two weeks...

the only way I can be sure is if I get a brand new one... not because it is newer... because I want to excercise my rights... not for the sake of it... but so that these corporations don't get a grip on controlling what is right... because not giving me a refund (in accordance with the law) is simply wrong.

-iChan

The key phrase is "repaire, refund, or replace", which one the three is legally at the discression of the merchant, but they do have to address one of them.

 

[hacurio1]

Re: Re: Re: Re: consumer affairs

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-iChan

The key phrase is "repaire, refund, or replace", which one the three is legally at the discression of the merchant, but they do have to address one of them.

Yess!!! so don't worry, just give them a call and they should take care of it!!!

 

[beatle888]

Originally posted by iJon
sorry to bust your bubble but apple wont replace it. they will repair it but they wont give you a new one.

iJon

they will have to replace it if they cant fix it. its the consumer lemon law. send it in three times for the same problem and bam....new powerbook.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by beatle888
they will have to replace it if they cant fix it. its the consumer lemon law. send it in three times for the same problem and bam....new powerbook.

well duh, not to be mean but isnt that stating the obivous. the thing is they can fix it, its just a simple problem some of the powerbooks have had. they will put the part in and send it back to you, done. they make the computers, i dont think there is anyting they cant fix.

iJon

 

[hinrgmike]

interesting that iChan would mention a dvd getting "stuck" in his 12" PB. The same thing happened to myself and two other people I know of that have this model. In my case, I had been using the computer for 7 or 8 hours and went to put a cd in the slot and it just quietly sucked it in - not the usual THUD sound. I though, hmm that's interesting, and then I noticed that the cd did not mount and I could not get it to eject it. I ran the Apple System Profiler, and weirdly it indicated that I had NO internal Superdrive or any type of DVD/CD drive. I finally found on the applecare site http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88275 and part way down it discusses when DVD-ROMS will not eject. I tried resetting the PRAM AND NVRAM and nothing happened. So then I clicked on the link and followed the steps to reset the Power Manager http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449 and lo and behold it worked, my superdrive reappeared in System Profiler, and my disc mounted normally. Since then, I've had two friends suffer the same problem with their 12" PB's so maybe their is some tendency for these computers to act up like this. No problems since....knock on wood.

 

[redAPPLE]

Originally posted by kwajo.com
for FCP (Express); I just finished editing an hour long film on my iMac 800, which has neither L3 cache nor more than 512ram, and it was more than worthy. I am not the most demanding video editor in the world, but final cut express worked at a good speed for me, and I was usually doing other things at the same time (like iTunes, or proteus). The one thing I would recommend is an external drive for the video files or scratch drive, because when you get down to under a gig free on a 60 gig HD, there is going to be trouble. . .

what is the L3 cache good for then? hmm? which apps would benefit from an L3 cache?

 

[bivaughn]

I do love my 12" PB so, but I have developed the following problems:

- My PB will no longer charge all the way, usually stopping at about 97%. xlr8yourmac.com has had some discussion about this, with some people saying a new AC adapter has fixed it, and some people saying new batteries, and some saying a software switch. I will take mine into the apple store soon to see if they can help me.

- The whole design was supposed to avoid latches or hinges that could "catch" and cause damage, but they apparently completely forgot about this with the plastic footies! I've lost one already, causing the darned thing to "rock" when I have it flat on a desk.

- Sometimes when it's been asleep for a while it just turns itself off and has to be started up from scratch again. Kind of annoying.

- Sometimes when sitting asleep, it will wake itself up periodically and then put itself back to sleep when the latch is closed. I know this because the throbbing LED goes blank and the HD spins up.

- When on battery with word open (I use it at school to take notes) there can be REALLY annoying 1 second or so delays. I think the problem with this is a lack of RAM, I only have 256M, and I think it keeps spinning the disk up.

And, finally:

Battery Life. Whoever decided that this thing can get 4 hours of battery life was LYING. The best I've gotten is 3:15 or so, running nothing, with the screen fully dimmed. I feel lied to and it really sucks.

But otherwise, the thing is so much better than the five PC laptops I have had previous to it. I would recommend it. And get the AppleCare!

-biv

 

[Anticipat3]

$20 says you didn't condition your battery properly right when you bought it.

My 12" pBook gets 4+ hours of battery life on a dimmed screen using only Word. by 4+ i mean 4:10 to 4:15, consistently, plus a couple hours of sleep time in there.

If you didn't condition your battery correctly, by first totally charging it, then totally letting it discharge, then charging it again right when you got the powerbook, then that's why your battery isn't performing so well. It has nothing to do with the Powerbook, it's how all Lithium Ion batteries work.

I also haven't ever had my powerbook wake up when closed, or turn off when it was asleep, but be advised that this is controlled by a magnetic switch between the screen and the palm-areas, so perhaps you have something in your backpack setting this off... ?

I also haven't lost any footies, but it doesn't sit even anyhow :-/, which is irritating, but a guitar pick seems just the right height to even it out, so I just carry one of those with me to prop up the high corner.

I'd give the thing two thumbs up for everything except gaming (pretty so-so, but then again I moved to this from a 2.8 p4 desktop with a geforce 4 ti), the touchpad button (which is a little chintsy), and the lack of a DVI port (it sucks that I have to hook my separate LCD panel up with a VGA port).

 

[bivaughn]

Okay...good for you. But you would lose your $20, because I can read directions, too, and I conditioned the battery properly. Charged the battery properly and ran it down (I did this TWICE) by playing a long DVD until the battery finally lost enough charge to force the system to go to sleep.

The waking up when closed I have noticed when sitting on a wooden countertop with nothing metallic nearby...

As I said, I'm taking it to the store with my complaints, and expect they will give me a new battery and AC adapter.

As for the mouse button, it's obviously there to support the screen from being broken when grabbed with a hand or whatnot...and I like the clickityness.

Originally posted by Anticipat3
$20 says you didn't condition your battery properly right when you bought it.

My 12" pBook gets 4+ hours of battery life on a dimmed screen using only Word. by 4+ i mean 4:10 to 4:15, consistently, plus a couple hours of sleep time in there.

If you didn't condition your battery correctly, by first totally charging it, then totally letting it discharge, then charging it again right when you got the powerbook, then that's why your battery isn't performing so well. It has nothing to do with the Powerbook, it's how all Lithium Ion batteries work.

I also haven't ever had my powerbook wake up when closed, or turn off when it was asleep, but be advised that this is controlled by a magnetic switch between the screen and the palm-areas, so perhaps you have something in your backpack setting this off... ?

I also haven't lost any footies, but it doesn't sit even anyhow :-/, which is irritating, but a guitar pick seems just the right height to even it out, so I just carry one of those with me to prop up the high corner.

I'd give the thing two thumbs up for everything except gaming (pretty so-so, but then again I moved to this from a 2.8 p4 desktop with a geforce 4 ti), the touchpad button (which is a little chintsy), and the lack of a DVI port (it sucks that I have to hook my separate LCD panel up with a VGA port).

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by redAPPLE
what is the L3 cache good for then? hmm? which apps would benefit from an L3 cache?

pretty much everything benefits from the extra cache. it just gives your machine more power and its more memory the computer can hold when it does things. i have noticed the powermac g4 1ghz is somewhat faster and things than the 1ghz imac, not enough though to justify a price difference. a processor guy will explain more to you about it in geeky terms, thats more of a real world explanation.

iJon

 

[Soma_Addict]

Apple does replace computers

I have had an experience with replacing a defective iBook. When I bought my girlfriend her iBook it came with a defective CD drive. The drive would not open at all. I called apple and they wanted me to send it in for repair. I said that I did not pay for a repaired computer. I paid to have a fully functional working computer right out of the box. Also I told them that I would not trust the computer since it already had one defect. I wanted a replacement. After a little discussing my position apple relented and sent a brand new iBook.

So iJon, I have personal experience with getting a replacement for a defective computer. It is possible.

 

[dabirdwell]

Apple is replacing my 12".

It had a bent lid, I sent it for service (after some hassle), and it came back with a different bend in it. They had forced the lid to close at the edge by hand-bending it in the middle.

This is Apple Service?

Technical support said it was within specs. and said I could send them some more photos. They basically told me that they would rather I return it than them fix the lid.

I called Apple developer and bitched at them a little, and I'm getting a refund, an ADC asset, and I can order a new one or wait for a 15".

Now, how long to wait for the 15?...

 

[Macmaniac]

One question does it play warcraft 3 well??
I may by a superdrive one with my sis, we share the cost and get a kicka$$ notebook in the process. Talk about brother sister copoperation.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by Macmaniac
One question does it play warcraft 3 well??
I may by a superdrive one with my sis, we share the cost and get a kicka$$ notebook in the process. Talk about brother sister copoperation.

warcraft played very nicely on my computer. i will go back later tonight and tell you what it settings it sets for me for you.

iJon

 

[samsflagdrummer]

Yeah, my dads is AWESOME, just wish I had it...

it does get pretty hot though, but who cares...

 

[john123]

Re: consumer affair

Originally posted by iChan
iJon, how can you be sure that they won't replace the PB for me? I'm going to bring my solictor into this and then i'm going to go to the director of cosumer affairs... they'll do something.

I mean, I'm a student of business and I know that any terms that Apple impose shall not and will not reduce any of my legal entitlements... it's is in addition to my statutory rights....

Ijon, why do you say that they won't give me a new one??? you had some experience with this before?

You misunderstand your statutory rights. Repair is at the discretion of the manufacturer -- not you.

You are also not entitled to a refund. Your entitlement to a refund is only per the terms of the merchant from which you purchased the product. If you bought from Apple, the terms of that agreement are spelled out clearly and plainly on their web site.

Replacement is the final alternative. Quite rare...