My 2-day old PB crashed and burned!!!

[BoredinEdmonton]

I don't even know where to start, but I'm certainly not having a good experience.

I was working on the beast last nite, with safari, finder, messenger, and the trial version of excel open.

I tried a "Save-As" in Excel, and the computer just froze. FROZE.

I couldn't force quit, or do anything within the software, so I held down the power button and turned it off.

Tried turning it on again, but just got the Black Box with "blahblahblah, you must reboot or restart"

Tried everything, holding down C (with the install disc), holding down apple-option-p-r, holding down o-f, holding down a-b-c-d-e-f, etc etc etc.... NOTHING (my fingers got a good workout tho)

Had to call Apple Support, and we did the same thing, but I finally did get to boot off the CD. Even that didn't work.

But I could run the Hardware Test... which I did, and came up with an "invalid memory access" error.

So the dude on the line said it was that I had bad memory (1GB (2x512), straight from the factory).


Now I have to goto an apple dealer to get the freaking sticks replaced... even then, I'm not sure if it'll work... I'm so disillusioned about apples

 

[LeeTom]

Well, that totally sucks... but it's not normal, that's for sure. Don't give up on it yet. Go through the hoops, get the RAM replaced, and then give it a real shot.

Lee Tom

 

[eleveneastgate]

Ask to speak to a Manager. Explain you had to leave work/school early to deal with it, and mention it was an inconvenience. Maybe they'll give you a $50 credit voucher or something...

Sorry to hear about your PB, but hang in there.

Peace!

 

[JzzTrump22]

Sucks, but fi you live by an apple store, they do it for you right in the store. It sucks even more if you have to send it out to Apple.

 

[hikeNM]

If that's all it takes for disillusionment, then life must really be a drag. Just be happy it can be fixed.

 

[jane doe]

Ask to speak to a Manager. Explain you had to leave work/school early to deal with it, and mention it was an inconvenience. Maybe they'll give you a $50 credit voucher or something...

Sorry to hear about your PB, but hang in there.

Peace!

Wow, where in the warranty does it say they will give you something for needing warranty work done?

 

[Pismo]

That's good that you ran the Hardware test. I always run it after I install new RAM. At least it's an easy fix.

 

[JeDiBoYTJ]

sadly nothings perfect... not even Apple. Fortunatly I have been lucky, and I havn't had a single problem with my Powerbook... but anything can happen... the computer could self-implode after I hit "Submit Reply" for this message... althought I pray it doesnt

 

[Makosuke]

I wouldn't take this too hard--if something's going to go wrong with your computer, the most likely time is within the first few days of buying it (or after several years when stuff eventually starts wearing out, but that's no surprise). Such is the nature of electronics--not all problems are caught on the assembly line, but most that aren't will show up pretty quickly.

This is hardly limited to Apple though I've seen DOA components from them on rare occasions as well; I've seen brand-new Dell servers ship with dead CD drives, Gateways that failed within days, and HPs that never did work quite right. Get the part(s) that have the problem replaced, and unless the part they replace the first time through warranty service isn't the root cause of the issue (which does happen), it'll probably work fine for years to come.

That's why I always run whatever hardware tests are available (on a Mac or PC) first thing out of the box, and never really start to trust any new piece of hardware until it's been in service for at least a month.

 

[5300cs]

Hey, my 3 year old TiBook bit the dust one morning, and all I did was open the lid! Turns out the HD just went tits up, which was easy enough to repair.

Reminds you how fragile computers can be. Rest assured though, you'll have FAR less problems with Macs than you will on the other 2 major platforms (talking from experience.)

 

[spacepower7]

Ram Slots

I have been reading lots of reports of bad ram slots in Al books lately. Macintouch has many reports. My brothers ram slot failed after one month. Usually the top one fails, but the lower slot is still fine.

Good Luck

 

[tech4all]

If that's all it takes for disillusionment, then life must really be a drag. Just be happy it can be fixed.

Would you be happy if this happened to you on a 2-day old laptop and you spend a lot of money on it?

 

[Mechcozmo]

Would you be happy if this happened to you on a 2-day old laptop and you spend a lot of money on it?

I wouldn't be happy, but I would be comforted by the fact that it will get fixed. Also the fact that Apple takes good care of their customers is a nice thing.

Yes it sucks, but it will take less than a week to get yourself up and running again if previous AppleCare is any experience.