Imac Advice

[Corruptitudes]

I have an early 2008 24" Imac 2.8ghz, 500gb Hard drive, 8800GS with applecare. I came home tonight with a screen that flickered. A reboot froze at the apple logo, and beeped 3 times. I tried booting to a Snow Leopard install Disc to see if maybe the hard drive had failed. The computer started to boot up, got to the apple logo, I selected the install disc, it worked for a minute or two, and then the screen flashed orange.

At this point I was pretty sure it was the video card had fried. Ive had no problems with the video card...and has functioned beautifully till now. So I called Apple, and spoke with "Dave" he asked me to put the original disc for leopard in and see if we could boot off of it. I told him that I had to eject the Snow Leopard disc to put in Leopard, he told me to reboot. At which point the reboot got the three chimes again. He told me at that point he believed it was the memory needed to be reseated. So he had me undo the door, and pull it out, and insert back in and reboot. No change.... He then gave up and told me I had to take it to an Apple store. I told him the nearest one is 500 miles away in Dallas, Tx. He gave me the information for a Apple Authorized Repair Center about 3 hours away. I told him I would like to ship it to them and have it fixed, and then they ship it back. He stated that wasnt an option for the 24" Imac. I advised thats how I got the machine in 2008, as I custom built to order the machine from apple.com, and they had no problem shipping it to me. He said sorry. I advised I would see what I could do about getting to the Apple Store.

I have plans to take my son to his doctor in Dallas next month. So I could take the machine at that point. Its just that I will be without my iMac til then. Im typing this on my wife's macbook at this point, while she isnt home, when she gets home it hers and not mine.

Do ya'll have any other suggestions? Should I call back and get another agent and try to get it shipped? I dont want to wait till next month to hopefully get my computer fixed. At which point they may have to order parts, and get back with me, which Im only going to be in Dallas for 2 days. And that might not be enough time to get it fixed. Secondly, Ive done this before on this machine. Last year the dvd drive failed, and I had to drag it to Dallas to get it fixed. Luckily that happened just a few days before our yearly trip to Dallas to see the doctor. So I was able to take it and get fixed then. But this time its starting to seem like this machine is a lemon. I have about 8 months left on my applecare, and Im not to hopeful it will last much beyond that...

What do you suggest I do?

 

[3lionsbecks]

What do you suggest I do?

I suggest you get a new signature.

 

[JHorstmann]

Hey man, sorry about the iMac. A couple of things.

1) It's not a lemon. It's been 2.5 years, and if you've used it at all consistently then every once in awhile things will go wrong. - not saying that all machines do that, just saying desktops usually last anywhere from 3-5 years with all original parts.

First thing I would do would be to contact that Apple Repair Center near you, ask them if you can ship it to them- the Apple Co. can't tell you you can't. I would also talk to the Apple Store in Dallas and see if they'll let you ship it there- if you pack it right- and they'll tell you how if you ask- it shouldn't be a problem.

If neither of those two work, I would then call Apple Support again, get a new person, and talk to them again, sometimes if you get a bad/new guy, a more experienced one will be there next time and they'll help you out.

 

[Corruptitudes]

I suggest you get a new signature.

Get out of here Troll

Hey man, sorry about the iMac. A couple of things.

1) It's not a lemon. It's been 2.5 years, and if you've used it at all consistently then every once in awhile things will go wrong. - not saying that all machines do that, just saying desktops usually last anywhere from 3-5 years with all original parts.

First thing I would do would be to contact that Apple Repair Center near you, ask them if you can ship it to them- the Apple Co. can't tell you you can't. I would also talk to the Apple Store in Dallas and see if they'll let you ship it there- if you pack it right- and they'll tell you how if you ask- it shouldn't be a problem.

If neither of those two work, I would then call Apple Support again, get a new person, and talk to them again, sometimes if you get a bad/new guy, a more experienced one will be there next time and they'll help you out.

Thanks for the response. But I wonder why you believe spending over 2000 dollars on a machine 2.5 years ago only to break before the applecare is up is not considered a lemon? I understand parts fail, but this is the second time parts have failed on this machine. Luckily both just in time of the warranty to cover it.

I purchased an el cheapo Dell that was about 400 bucks 6 years ago, and its still kicking away. No a single hardware problem at all. I expected this Imac to last longer then 2.5 years is all Im saying.

I will check into calling the Dallas store and see if I can have it shipped there, thats a good idea. I also have the original box to put it in. I just hope it will be acceptable to them to do it.