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I'm cancelling my PowerBook order

CrackedButter

CrackedButter

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 15, 2003
3,221
0
51st State of America
I'm not completely satisfied so far with what i have heard about the new 15". I've emailed Apple and rang them about the delivery for this machine (but would like to mention the latch issue) and i get no answer about it and now i am having doubts alltogether and want to cancel the powerbook. I ordered on the 18th and its still being built today (the 27th), the wait in annoying me as well.

Maybe make a purchase later but not now. All these reports of the screen, hinge and latch have deterred me. I have an iBook now which doesn't fully close and while the OS is wondeful i havn't been completely satisfied with the hardware side of things.

Its enough to turn me off and i'm now waiting for a machine EXPECTING problems with it. Seems strange to accept the situation as it is merely because its either apple machine in general or because its a "PowerBook".


So it seems i will wait until i here about this latch problem clearing up and whether the reports of battery life are true as well. This iBook is great where battery life is concerned and the new powerbooks have half of what i get now and yet i am paying more for a machine! Again how could i accept this and would you accept this if this was you in my situation?

Don't worry i'm not going to defect to windows, i'll just keep using this iBook until somebody buys it off me then i will look at my options again.

I wish i had this doubt sooner since i just bought a special PB sleeve from Radtech (shipping overseas) and i bought a USB2 memory card reader, i'll be using a 1.1 interface with 128 and 256 meg cards since i've got the iBook, = slow.

I feel bad but i also feel i am paying £700 more for a laptop where i feel i am getting less.

I was only getting it for the FW800, the processor and the Gcard. I might even go back to a small laptop and pick the 12". but i would like the FW800, depends on wether i value it enough...hmm
 
What speccs did you get on your PBook, I ordered mine on the 18th as well, and I am posting on it from my bed in my dorm room. I received it yesterday morning, and I am already thoroughly impresssed. If you ordered a 1GB RAM chip, it'll be quite a wait because THOSE won't be available for another week or two. I did a BTO 1.25 with Combo Drive and 60GB HD and other than the expected slow HD "problems" it operates supurbly (in the neighborhood of twice as fast as my 733 QuickSilver Tower.
 
After being burnt way back when on a machine, I'm inclined to wait, so I agree with your decision.

It's especially a good idea not to buy the first revision, but some people have good luck. Considering the number of complaints, you're doing the right thing.
 
Oh come on. It's lunacy to let even "widespread" reports of problems scare you off. Maybe some people have problems with their hinges. Still, the overall number is likely just a small fraction of all machines shipped.

If yours isn't just right, Apple will fix it. Good enough?

I never understand the people who say "I'm waiting for 'Rev B'". I've always bought Apple stuff on the bleeding edge and I've never once had a repair.
 
Originally posted by stoid
What speccs did you get on your PBook, I ordered mine on the 18th as well, and I am posting on it from my bed in my dorm room. I received it yesterday morning, and I am already thoroughly impresssed. If you ordered a 1GB RAM chip, it'll be quite a wait because THOSE won't be available for another week or two. I did a BTO 1.25 with Combo Drive and 60GB HD and other than the expected slow HD "problems" it operates supurbly (in the neighborhood of twice as fast as my 733 QuickSilver Tower.
Click to expand...

Are you using the 5400 RPM drive?

I've been wondering if the 5400 RPM drive is worth the extra money, extra heat, and lower battery life...
 
i just received a new powerbook 15" with 512 DIMM and it has no problems to m knowledge. the latch is fine, there is no screen warp, and there are no dead pixels. i don't think quality will go up in manufacturing until a second revision comes out. you'll be waiting a long time for that, though.
 
Hitting the Button

I understand that is normal human behavior to post the problems that come up in a new product.

But the latch issue already has an easy fix. And we haven't really touched upon the final realities on the batteries.

So why hit the panic button unless you experience the PB in your hands.

Man, I can't believe how nice this thing is when I went to the store and got to look at it and work with it for a few minutes.
I'm way over looking to the rainbow for a G5 PB.

These things are damn fine machines from where I'm sitting.
I'm waiting on a 10/3 or sooner ship. Crossing my fingers.

UMAX S900 Clone - Sonnet 800 G4.
 
There's also the fact that i would like an external DVD burner, a multifunction printer, possible extra ram, a case, extra battery, Appleworks and i'm thinking some of these will have to wait. But maybe if i get the second revision of the 12" with superdrive then i can better afford these things. But then it comes down to screen size and Gcard. I have the ibook now and i also want to run sim city 4 and warcraft 3.
I am rethinking my need for FW800 and just doing with the 400 version.

Everything else about the 12" would seem better and i seem to be steering towards that now instead of the 15" would the .25Ghz make a difference and so would the ATI card (thankfully they have the same size keyboard). Man i wish they would BTO with more options.

But the Ram speed is different (would it make a difference however with the G4 not using DDR properly?) and the Gcard is another factor. Will it play those 2 games well enough? If it does then i might go and buy that instead.

I'm pricing up the 12" right now and it seems i can get everything i want while only spending an extra 100 pounds on what i would be spending if i got the 15".

With the 15" there is some waste, i don't need AE (nothing around here at college uses it) BT is useless as well. The keyboard is nice but not worth it really other than to brag with others. Like i said screen size and Gcard.

If somebody can help me with this then i would be most grateful.
 
Don't bag on the 15" PowerBook.

My dad just got his 2 days ago, it was the highend 15" SuperDrive model. He got the 5400RPM 80GB drive too.

This thing screams. Its light, good looking, nice keyboard, GREAT screen, good airport range, bluetooth, fast CD drive, quiet, doesn't get hot.

The latch issue hasn't concerned him. Ours is functioning fine. I have opened it and closed it numerous times, pulling up on the lid when it is closed, seeing if it opens, and it does not.

This machine is not really a Rev. A machine. Its the old 15" PowerBook in a new shell.
 
well, I've got the 1 Ghz 12" on order, so I certainly can't tell you that would be a bad choice. But I do think it's a little silly to cancel an order based on problems that *might* occur with your powerbook. You have to remember that those with problems are much more likely to post than those without. So "many reports" of PB 15" problems still probably means that the overall % of defects is low...

(i.e. I agree with Romanesq :) )

On the other hand, if getting the 12" allows you to get many more of the extras that you want/ need, well, that's a different story, and seems to me a pretty good reason to bail on the 15"er.
 
Its a combo of the both however after working everything out and getting everything that i would like. the difference between the 15" SD and the 12" SD is £408.81 or $678.257.

Thats including these items:

Printer, pen scanner, laptop skin, appleworks, ram (512)(for the 12), a bag. This difference might decrease depending on battery life.

I can tell you this, i am going to cancel but instead i will get either a 12"SD or a 15" SD with different options.

I was gunning for an external DVD burner and thats added to the cost and i might as well bite the bullet and get one preinstalled saving myself some money in the long term.
 
Problems

Actually, I just took a closer look at the PowerBook.

I think the screen may be warped or something. When it is shut, the right side (when the latch is facing you) is fine, but on the left side, there is a 1mm or more gap between the screen and the keyboard.

When you push down on the left side, the screen wobbles and the right side lifts up.

The airport range is horrible also. With the Pismo that we have, it can go into our kitchen, down the hall and around the corner. This one barely makes it out of the kitchen.

It has 3/4 Bars of reception when the basestation is in line of sight, and only about 40 feet away!

My dad said hes not going to deal with it today, he has a whole year for that :rolleyes:
 
You're making a great decision, I think. By cancelling the order, you can see exactly how big of a problem the latch is, see what the proven battery life is, and hopefully get it shipped with Panther. Plus, with all the shipping delays now, if Panther comes out in the next few weeks the ship date probably won't be very far off what it was on the original order.
 
Oh for pete's sake.. some of you are really whiney.

My 15" rules and I adore it. No heat, no noise, no screen issues, great battery life (3 hours at minimum).. grow up.
 
Re: Problems

Originally posted by MacAztec
The airport range is horrible also. With the Pismo that we have, it can go into our kitchen, down the hall and around the corner. This one barely makes it out of the kitchen.
Click to expand...

I've heard rumors that Rev. B Powerbooks will be able to, in fact, make it out of the kitchen. I was trying to use my Rev. A 15" in the hallway around the corner too, and I was barely getting one bar. ARRRGGG!!! Why can't Apple test this before they ship a defective, worthless product?
 
FWIW, I will list my experience so far...

Ordered on the 16th, received this Friday..

Superdrive 15" with upgraded hard drive.

Battery life under normal use, with wireless is a little over 2 hours. I have no idea how Apple came up with the 4.5 hour figure... a little disappointed there...

So far the latch seems fine provided that I don't close it real gently. Just a wee bit of force closing it seems to make it latch fine.

So far I am happy with everything except one thing....

In two days I have been able to crash my lovely system over 10 times... force starting the finder doesn't work, neither does patience.. I have to force it off and reboot.

So far, all the problems seem to stem from the Airport Extreme. I am using it with a 802.11b Linksys router. Basically, any time the connection drops or I lose my internet connection (not so relaible cable) my computer get stuck showing me a spinning colored wheel and nothing makes it go away. Crash, no timout.

Also, if I attempt to connect with two different IPs with the wireless and the gigabit, the OS can't seem to handle it.. does the same think.. spinning rainbow wheel.

Additionally, I was trying to copy two large groups of files, from my pc to the new mac using samba over wireless... locked up at the same place each time. Copied over gigabit, worked fine.

I also get about a 70% signal strength in line of sight of the router, but mine does seem to work at 30 feet through walls. However, I can't seem to get it to authenticate using WAP passwords either...

I seriously hope that Apple resolves whatever issues it has with the Airport Extreme firmware and software. I am not a big fan of my system locking up.

Brandon
 
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