My 24" imac's video crapped out

[rigid]

So I began to use my 24" 3.06 ghz imac yesterday like normal, except it was locking up playing full screen videos and WoW. I couldn't even force quit the applications, the sound was still playing but I had to power cycle to get actual control of the machine again.

Further investigation proved it was also happening in windows, so I ruled it to be a video card problem. I called tech support and they ran me through all the normal stuff and I figured I was going to have to send it away to be fixed.

Come to find out that there's an apple certified repair place literally one minute from my house. Took it over there and they are going to diagnose it and let me know whats up.

The machine is exactly 1 year and 1 month old, so I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally glad I got the Apple Care.

Personally I think theres just some flaw in the imac casing in that if it gets heavy use for a year (like it did with me) the graphics card is just bound to fry given how much heat is generated. I only started using SMC fan 3 months ago and maybe that gave me a couple extra months before it finally crapped out. I plan on using it from the beginning once I get it back. I just really hope it doesn't cost me anything.

 

[rigid]

Update:

So I called the repair place today and they said it needed a new video card AND logic board! Wow. They came in today so I should be able to pick up my imac tomorrow. Hopefully the artifacts in the bottom right hand corner of my screen are gone too.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Update:

So I called the repair place today and they said it needed a new video card AND logic board! Wow. They came in today so I should be able to pick up my imac tomorrow. Hopefully the artifacts in the bottom right hand corner of my screen are gone too.

Wow, you should definitely be glad you got the Applecare! My first iMac, a 20" Intel Core Duo, had a logic board go bad 13 months in and I had not purchased Applecare. It was $600 out of pocket to replace it! The only part more expensive to replace in an iMac is the LCD panel.

I bought Applecare for my 24" mid-2007 iMac and used it 3 times, twice for LCD panel replacements and once this September for a crashed HD replacement.

I will definitely be buying it for my new i7 iMac as well.

By the way, I'm sure your machine will be as good as new once you get it back. Cheers!

 

[archipellago]

shouldn't a product like this, that costs that much work for far longer than 13 - 18 mths.

Otherwise, isn't it faulty by design.

 

[SaSaSushi]

shouldn't a product like this, that costs that much work for far longer than 13 - 18 mths.

Otherwise, isn't it faulty by design.

Yes, and I think the vast majority do. Applecare is as much for peace of mind as anything else. In my case it worked out to $5/month over the duration of the 3 years of coverage. Those who buy it on eBay can get it for as little as half that.

 

[flopticalcube]

Yes, and I think the vast majority do. Applecare is as much for peace of mind as anything else. In my case it worked out to $5/month over the duration of the 3 years of coverage. Those who buy it on eBay can get it for as little as half that.

2 things here:

1. If you use a credit card, your warranty is automatically doubled so you get 2 years covered already. AppleCare thus buys you only 1 extra year so $15/month.

2. Its not as easy as it once was to buy AC on eBay. Many scams around and Apple frowns on transacting AppleCare in this way.

 

[SaSaSushi]

2 things here:

1. If you use a credit card, your warranty is automatically doubled so you get 2 years covered already. AppleCare thus buys you only 1 extra year so $15/month.

That depends entirely on your credit card. In fact, here in Japan and I'm pretty sure in the states as well it is limited to American Express. That's a credit card that costs you $100/year in annual fees.

2. Its not as easy as it once was to buy AC on eBay. Many scams around and Apple frowns on transacting AppleCare in this way.

I would never buy it from eBay anyway. I was just saying that many apparently have with good experiences. I buy mine from L.A. Computer for $125.

 

[flopticalcube]

That depends entirely on your credit card. In fact, here in Japan and I'm pretty sure in the states as well it is limited to American Express. That's a credit card that costs you $100/year in annual fees.



I would never buy it from eBay anyway. I was just saying that many apparently have with good experiences. I buy mine from L.A. Computer for $125.

My VISA gives me extended coverage + a 1% rebate at no fees. My Costco Amex also gives me extended coverage + 2% rebate and comes with my membership to Costco.

I've purchased from LA before. They're very good.

 

[SaSaSushi]

My VISA gives me extended coverage + a 1% rebate at no fees. My Costco Amex also gives me extended coverage + 2% rebate and comes with my membership to Costco.

I got a special Costco Mastercard through local Japanese credit company, Orico, specifically because I did NOT want to pay the ridiculous annual fees of the AMEX. Unfortunately, here in Japan at least, the fees of the AMEX are not included with the Costco membership. The other downside is that the Costco Mastercard is only usable at Costcos here in Japan.

 

[flopticalcube]

I got a special Costco Mastercard through local Japanese credit company, Orico, specifically because I did NOT want to pay the ridiculous annual fees of the AMEX. Unfortunately, here in Japan at least, the fees of the AMEX are not included with the Costco membership. The other downside is that the Costco Mastercard is only usable at Costcos here in Japan.

Well that's a shame. I gather they don't sell Macs in Costco in Japan either.

At least in North America, the benefits of credit card extended coverage are often overlooked.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Well that's a shame. I gather they don't sell Macs in Costco in Japan either.

No, no Macs but they do sell iPods.

At least in North America, the benefits of credit card extended coverage are often overlooked.

Thanks for the correction on that. I was aware that AMEX offered such warranty extensions.

Unfortunately I didn't pay for my i7 by credit card so I will get my Applecare from L.A. Computer again. The price went down again at least. I see they were up to $139 for a while. I paid $120 for my last iMac and now it's back to $125.

I do like the ease of dealing with Applecare when I've had to. I call them and they have a courier out to pick up the machine in a day or two with all the boxes necessary. I just hand over the iMac and they get it back to me within 2 or 3 days depending on the repairs.

 

[rigid]

So I get my imac back today, working great so far, and cost me 0 dollars to get fixed. Such AN UNBELIEVABLY PAINLESS tech support experience, soooo glad I got the apple care!

Edit posting this from my new iPhone it totally crapped out worse than before get a huge video screen of crap before it even gets to desktop.

 

[rigid]

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/45178059@N05/4152013060/

 

[DarwinOSX]

No it's not. Stuff happens and this is an anomaly.

Applecare is close to half price on eBay and is recommended. But I also have a $10,000 rider for computer equipment on my homeowners insurance that will take care of issues like this. Only used it once in the 20 or so years I have had it. When I bought a new MBP last year my daughter spilled a glass of water right into the keyboard after I had only had it a week. Took it to the Apple Store, they replaced the logic board, my insurance company sent me a check for $1100 minus the $100 deductible. AppleCare won't cover that!

shouldn't a product like this, that costs that much work for far longer than 13 - 18 mths.

Otherwise, isn't it faulty by design.

 

[rigid]

New update:

My imac is in for its 3rd repair in a week right now. When I got it back on thursday night it was overheating like crazy, GPU diode was at 180 degrees F. It kept restarting itself over and over and over and over again. Doesn't even get past the apple logo before it restarts. I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

 

[sharkync]

New update:

My imac is in for its 3rd repair in a week right now. When I got it back on thursday night it was overheating like crazy, GPU diode was at 180 degrees F. It kept restarting itself over and over and over and over again. Doesn't even get past the apple logo before it restarts. I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

So much for a "painless" experience. Good luck!

 

[budgej867]

New update:

My imac is in for its 3rd repair in a week right now. When I got it back on thursday night it was overheating like crazy, GPU diode was at 180 degrees F. It kept restarting itself over and over and over and over again. Doesn't even get past the apple logo before it restarts. I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

I've had a similar experience. I bought a 24" iMac with a Geforce 8800 GS back in May 2008 and it worked great until Halloween this year. On that day, artifacts began appearing on the screen, whether in Windows or Mac OS, and every time I attempted to launch a program that would access the video card, the computer crashed. I took it to an authorized repair place, where they replaced both the video card and the logic board, and returned it to me nearly two weeks later. The computer died again, with the same exact symptoms, within a few hours.

Figuring it was an overheating issue, I booted into Mac OS X while it was still able to boot, and found that iStat was reporting some strange numbers: 65° C for the GPU diode, and 42° for the GPU heatsink. I figured the repair place had failed to attach the heatsink properly, so I decided to drive much farther this time, to an actual Apple store. Within 3 days (compared to 10 days with the other place!), they called me back saying that they had replaced the logic board and video card again and that it was STILL not working correctly, so they decided just to upgrade me to a 27" iMac. So perhaps it wasn't the previous repair place's fault, but I was glad that the Apple store worked so quickly.

However, I have some remaining questions. First, I assume your iMac also had an 8800 GS. Perhaps this model is plagued with the same doomed-to-failure defect that affected the 8600M? I remember Apple or nVidia releasing a statement showing that the 8800 GS (or really the 8800M GTS) was not an affected card, but perhaps nVidia was still covering it up. Second, which version of Windows had you installed? My iMac began having issues one week after I installed Windows 7, and I was frightened that it was the cause. However, I'm not sure of that anymore, but it would be an interesting correlation.

Lastly, I definitely recommend Applecare, even for a desktop, to anyone who questions its value. I know that I would have had to pay for my iMac to be repaired twice already and that it would still have issues. And I was a proud owner of the May 2005 built-in-Shanghai 17" Powerbook, with the defective Bridget-Riley screen issue. For that, I had not purchased Applecare, which I regret very much. It has been rotting in my basement for years now and Apple will do nothing for it.

 

[rigid]

Yeah I had an 8800 GS. The guy at the repair place said he left it on all day today and it didn't restart so I'm getting it back if it restarts again I am going to be pissed.

 

[rigid]

Update: Dropped it off at repair place but they couldn't replicate restarting issue. Picked it back up and it was okay for 24 hours until now, when it restarted itself again and now I'm pretty upset.

 

[budgej867]

Is there any chance you could visit an actual Apple store? They seem to be much more helpful and are determined to make things right (in my experience).

 

[DRATM]

I feel your pain. Still waiting for my 24" 3.06 to have its logic board and GPU replaced for the second time--out of warranty. Apple very kindly covered the repair costs the first time around when it was just 2 months out of warranty. This time around, 42 days into a 90 day warranty on the replacement LB and GPU, it's being covered again.

 

[Aadhil]

The good news is; if the problem ends up being unfixable, you'll end up getting a totally new 27" machine

 

[AlexisV]

I feel sorry for you people!

In the UK the law covers items for up to 6 years, depending on the amount the product originally cost and the nature of the fault.

If a £1000 computer broke after 3 years you'd still have a good case for getting it repaired or replaced.

 

[SaSaSushi]

The good news is; if the problem ends up being unfixable, you'll end up getting a totally new 27" machine

How would Apple ever deem a machine "unfixable"? Also, although there have been some rare cases involving service nightmares Apple does not replace faulty machines with higher models.

I could see them replacing his 24" with a 24" refurb I guess.

They already did him a huge favor by agreeing to repairs over a month past the limited warranty's expiration. I had a 20" Core Duo iMac that's logic board died 6 weeks past the one year warranty and I had to pay for it ($550! ).

Needless to say, I've purchased Applecare on all of my Macs since then.

 

[DRATM]

How would Apple ever deem a machine "unfixable"? Also, although there have been some rare cases involving service nightmares Apple does not replace faulty machines with higher models.

I could see them replacing his 24" with a 24" refurb I guess.

They already did him a huge favor by agreeing to repairs over a month past the limited warranty's expiration. I had a 20" Core Duo iMac that's logic board died 6 weeks past the one year warranty and I had to pay for it ($550! ).

Needless to say, I've purchased Applecare on all of my Macs since then.

According to a couple of Apple technicians I've spoken with, it happens more often than one would be inclined to believe--here in North America, at least.