Anyone with a G4 iMac?

[dylan]

i just need some help varifying some problems i have had with a computer i bought off of ebay..


well i bought this and as you can see i got ripped off horribly. I am thinking about taking it up with ebay and have made a list of all the problems i have found:

lack of any backup cds/dvd is it really that clearthat they aren't included?

display problems(?):

-yellow when angled, is this normal?
-point of light on the right hand side where the lcd connects to the frame, normal?
-very hot around the area where the light is
-the picture is shifted over about a centimeter from the right edge
-bright patches when watching fll screen movies
-wobbles

other problems i managed to find:

-speakers fade in and out at low volumes
-all of his stuff keeps turning up when i try to recover deleted files
-mouse sensor doesn't seam very sensitive, had to buy a mousepad. (aren't these thngs supposed to work on your hand?)
-some garageband loops missing (for example ballad stings starts at 2 and stops there also, normal?)
-keyboard yellowed
-speakers scratched
-blank cdr included in the original software pakage is a verbatim (i was expecting an apple one...)
-the world book he says is included with tiger looks liek a very old version 2001?

i know theres some nitpicking but i was promised an immaculate imac the works just like new "W/ full ADOBE CS Premium!" so i feel i little jipped.

do i have a case? should i bother to take this up with ebay?

im just 16 and i have no idea what to do im $1500 in the hole at the moment stuck with a computer that as it turns out is too slow for my needs and that i wasted $700 on...

thanks for your time. any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[macdon401]

Too bad!

hey Man
i am sorry to hear about your iMac, I just got a new G5 and had a G4 before
I never had any of the problems you seem to be having! The scratched speakers , OK, but that is cause they scratch easily, their not new after all.
i have never seen that many pictures of a computer on eBay before, I think you may be out of luck.
Sorry again
R

 

[tag]

Ok I'll give this a shot since I just got a perfect iMac G4 strait from apples refurb section a few months ago.

lack of any backup cds/dvd is it really that clearthat they aren't included?

Well he does specifically state which cds/dvds come with( OSX install discs, apple restore discs, worldbook and a blank cd-r) Seems that all other software is just installed (illegally no doubt) and thats it, in my opinion anyways.

display problems(?):

(Following based on my iMac G4 20")
-yellow when angled, is this normal? (I can't see any tint when looking at it from any angle)
-point of light on the right hand side where the lcd connects to the frame, normal?(it sounds like the frame isn't flush with the screen? Mine doesn't have this)
-very hot around the area where the light is(The frame and edge of screen can get warm, but not hot enough to hurt or even hot enough that you couldn't leave your hand on it for extended periods of time)
-the picture is shifted over about a centimeter from the right edge(The display should have equal margins on both sides, like a millimeter I guess? I don't have a ruler off hand)
-bright patches when watching fll screen movies(I'm not sure what would cause that but it can't be good)
-wobbles(The entire screen and frame itself? or like the desktop image? The screen is pretty heavy so it can wobble a bit if you tap it or hit the desk its on or so, but it shouldn't be wobbling all the time while your say just typing unless you are typing really quick and hard.)

other problems i managed to find:

-speakers fade in and out at low volumes (I haven't noticed this. Make sure the speaker connector/input hole is clean and not damaged)
-all of his stuff keeps turning up when i try to recover deleted files (Will probably want to reformat and do a clean install, always best after getting a used machine, though it is weird since he said on the ebay listing that he reinstalled the OS himself already)
-mouse sensor doesn't seam very sensitive, had to buy a mousepad. (aren't these thngs supposed to work on your hand?)
-some garageband loops missing (for example ballad stings starts at 2 and stops there also, normal?)(I checked my garageband loops, I only have '70s Ballad Strings 02.aif' I have no '01' of it so you seem good in that respect)
-keyboard yellowed (Cosmetic but still sucks)
-speakers scratched (Cosmetic or are they so badly scratched that they could cause the sound problem at low levels?)
-blank cdr included in the original software pakage is a verbatim (i was expecting an apple one...)(I cant be absolutely positive, but I believe they usually give some crappy one when you even buy one new.)( I don't think I still even have it)
-the world book he says is included with tiger looks liek a very old version 2001? (Yeah that sounds like it was worldbook that was included with panther, which is the OS that originally came with the iMac G4 since tiger had to be bought seperately for iMac G4s)

So it seems there is quite a few problems with this iMac. Did you actually get copies of the licenses for the software? Without the discs this seems like he just installed a bunch of illegal software onto the machine. Which makes it problematic if you want to reinstall the OS as you will lose that software for good. I really don't know what you can do. While the iMac G4s are pricey because they are so cool looking(at least in my opinion and at least a few other peoples I'd bet) It seems like you bought this specific one because of all the software, but since you got no CDs with it, well thats just not good. I know you seem disappointed but I don't know what to tell you in regards to action you can take as I've never tried filing a complaint or returning anything through ebay. But anyways good luck to you with whatever you do.

 

[dylan]

Thanks for your help. No licenses came with it and he is just getitgn the AppleCare to me next week... Yup all software from his new G5 and anything else he had lying around it seems... I guess I'll try filing a "Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Dispute" with eBay but I'm afraid it might be too late. This sucks.

 

[dylan]

Well looks like I'm a few days late . Oh well live and learn. Kind of an expensive lesson though. I'll be working the next year to pay it off... 'Scuze me while i go shoot myself.

 

[belvdr]

Sorry to hear about all of that happening to you. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but why wouldn't you spend that kind of money on a refurb instead of eBay?

 

[mcmillan]

-mouse sensor doesn't seam very sensitive, had to buy a mousepad.

If the surface where your mouse is placed on is too glossy, the optical sensor may not work properly. Too bad for all the other stuff that happened, the pictures in the eBay page make the iMac look beautiful, but all those display problems suck

 

[CanadaRAM]

Thanks for your help. No licenses came with it and he is just getitgn the AppleCare to me next week... Yup all software from his new G5 and anything else he had lying around it seems... I guess I'll try filing a "Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Dispute" with eBay but I'm afraid it might be too late. This sucks.

If the problems with the screen are substantial, you may have something to go on by way of a complaint, but he'll just tell eBay - it comes with the apple warranty, get it fixed.

Yes, you are nitpicking: Apple doesn't make CD-Rs, they include (Verbatim, Sony, whoever). If you run undelete on a drive, you don't have any complaints if it come up with files what the prior user had deleted... If you use all this to eBay they're going to dismiss you as a whiner. Stick to the real points.

Most of the other things if cosmetic, would be consistent with a used machine, and wouldn't be "Significantly not as described".

The Adobe software is flagrantly illegal - complain to piracy@adobe.com if you like. And it's against eBay policy. However... according to eBay if it doesn't say specifically that the auction comes with a certain thing, then the seller doesn't have to provide it.

You got played, man. You wanted $1,300 worth of commercial software to come with a $1,300 machine, and the greed got the better of your common sense. Sorry it's so. Next time, 1) spend some time on eBay to figure out the code words, like "preinstalled" means no CD's therefore pirated. Think it through: If someone is willing to cheat Adobe, what's stopping them from cheating you?
2) don't buy across the border -- even if you succeed in getting a refund, you're going to be out several hundred in tax, brokerage and shipping.

 

[tag]

I was looking at the ebay item page and it says that it comes with Nanosaur 2 and Marble Blast Gold and that they were both included from Tiger. I was remember playing Marble Blast Gold at Best Buy on an iMac G5 a while back, did this really come with Tiger because it never got installed for me, or should I go fish out my install DVD and see if its on there somewhere hidden away? Or did he just mislabel it? as that seems like something that he would have done from the looks of the rest of the software.

 

[dylan]

apple says it comes with imac g5s

 

[dukeblue91]

No licenses came with it and he is just getitgn the AppleCare to me next week.

Well if you have Apple care warranty you maybe in luck on getting some of the stuff fixed under warranty.

Also if you paid with Paypal do a buyers dispute as item not received as stated.

Good luck!