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My PB is busted. Should I get a new one now or wait?

W

wowoah

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2003
187
0
Berkeley, CA
My poor TiBook is officially busted, and although I still maintain I didnt do anything wrong, AppleCare (very compassionately) told me that they have some type of solid evidence that I spilled a drink on my PowerBook and thus my warranty is void. After a long, arduous process of arguing and arguing, they've agreed to give me $100 off a new Mac and refund the remaining year on my AppleCare. The problem is that I don't have money to buy a new 15" PB now, and if I pull together everything I have, I can only afford an iBook or 12" PB at most. Plus we all know new IntelMac's are coming out next year, but I do need a laptop for grad school this fall.

Should I (a) pull out my crappy old Dell laptop from my closet and wait out the PowerBooks next year? (Aren't they supposed to arrive early 2006?) Or should I (b) just bite the bullet and get an iBook or PB?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Call them back and argue some more. As long as you are sure no one you know spilled anything on it (friend, family, roommate) don't just lay down and accept it. If you think someone might have, get a refurb iBook or wait a bit for the new one and use your educational discount. Then, after you graduate or when you're ready to upgrade, buy a Rev. B or C MacIntel portable.
 
As Solvs has said argue your case. Assuming you didn't spill anything then ask what the evidence they have is. As how they can be sure. Seek legal advice if necessary to clarrify your position in this matter.

If they still will not fix your PB only you can decide whether or not you need a mac now. If you do use it for work then what about a cheap mac mini, it may not be a laptop but it is cheap and powerful enough for most everyday tasks. Look at a second hand Powerbook, in the UK we have reputable companies that deal with second hand macs I'm sure you will have the same where you live. If you don't need a mac urgently then you may as well wait and see what happens.
 
I agree, as long as you know for certain that nothing was spilled causing the motherboard or power supply to short out or that it was exposed to water or
extreme humidity.

Have they told you exactly what is wrong?

Burnt circuit board, power supply, modem, or something else.

What solid evidence do they have that YOU caused the damage?


There is one other possibility and that could be IF you want to call in a claim on your home owners insurance or possibly your car insurance.

??? Windows left down during a sudden thunderstorm???

A power surge took out my entire FX rack here at home and my home owner's policy covered the depreciated value. So this might help.

You could also claim that an unknown house guest spilled something on it
and go that route.

In fact, your insurance may reimburse you for a diagnostic check
to confirm the cause of the damage.

As far as replacement.

The current PowerBooks are twice the machine you have, but you might want to keep any spending on a single G4 based machine to only what will get you by. You can't go wrong with a 12" PB and should always be able to find a new owner when you decide to upgrade.

Good luck!
 
what tibook is it?, if it's a non DVI one a new logic board is very cheap and easy enough to replace yourself, if it's a DVI tibook it's a little more costly but just as feasible, what exactly are the symptoms of the failure?
 
If you can't get your Tibook repaired under Apple warranty i would agree with some of the other posters here: either buy a mac mini if you don't really need the portability or a second hand powerbook / ibook that will last you well into the macintel era.
 
Hector said:
what tibook is it?, if it's a non DVI one a new logic board is very cheap and easy enough to replace yourself, if it's a DVI tibook it's a little more costly but just as feasible, what exactly are the symptoms of the failure?
Click to expand...

In the UK prices for all G4 Powerbook logic boards are the price of a new iBook. You may be able to get a reconditioned one cheaper but even taking in to account any trade in the price is still steep.

Claiming on your insurance in an option especially as what Apple are telling you contitutes an accident so check that out as well.
 
psycho bob said:
In the UK prices for all G4 Powerbook logic boards are the price of a new iBook. You may be able to get a reconditioned one cheaper but even taking in to account any trade in the price is still steep.

Claiming on your insurance in an option especially as what Apple are telling you contitutes an accident so check that out as well.
Click to expand...

ebay, either buy a logic board or a whole book with a broken screen.
 
Argue your case! If you have truly done nothing to void your warranty, Apple is legally obligated to replace your product. You are lucky enough to be in a state of many Apple Stores, so start talking to some Apple Genius Bar people. If one store turns you down after you've been persistent, try another Apple Store. My experience with Genius Bar reps has been mixed; some are eager to help while others are simply full of themselves for standing behind the counter. Just keeping trying. If push comes to shove, talk to someone in the legal field.

Don't expect MacTel PowerBooks next year. The MacTel roadmap said Mac minis would be the initial transition (in mid 2006) and would continue through the PowerBook line (in mid 2007). You'll want to have a healthy machine for grad school, so I would recommend you to get a nice PowerBook now. A 12" PB is a wonderful machine and will last for years. Do not be misled by naysayers who assume software developers will suddenly cease supporting Power PC - they want your money and will write universal binaries until Jobs gives the OK to stop. Jobs himself, during the WWDC Keynote, said the transition will likely take about a decade.

Again, the current 12" PB is a fantastic overall laptop.
 
javiercr said:
the macs with intels are coming back this time next year, not early this year
Click to expand...

Actually, Jobs said that Intel Macs would be "in the market" already BY this time next year. He didn't state when they'd be introduced. Maybe they'll be introduced at the last minute by WWDC, but MWSF in January is equally likely--especially if new Intel chips like Yonah will be sold late this year.

Anyway, I agree about arguing your case--ask what their evidence is. (Maybe there's sticky Coke in there! Are you sure someone ELSE didn't spill and try to hide it?)

Assuming you fail in that, and you already have that old Dell, maybe hauling that out and gritting your teeth for a semester or so makes sense: you'll end up with a MUCH nicer PowerBook than they have today.

Tough dilemma, though!

There may be a middle option: better PowerBook G4s might come along between now and then--maybe in time for fall. Or iBooks for that matter.
 
I'd get the 12" PB over the iBook. Also, check Apple's Certified section. There's a 15" PB on sale now with these specs:

PowerBook G4 1.25GHz/ 512MB/ 80GB/ SuperDrive/ AP Extreme Card/ GigE/ Aluminum/ 15-inch TFT - Apple Certified Refurbished

Also has Install/Restore 10.2.7

(1) 1 Year Warranty Card
(1) OSX 10.3 "Panther" Update CD

Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger included
iLife '05 included

All for $1599 right now.

Anyone think this is a good deal? Might bite since I sold my 15" 667GHz DVI PB last year. Using my PC right now. Miss my PB. Waiting for a *really* good deal or the next PB update (in july?).
 

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Thanks everyone for all their impassioned remarks and encouragement. I'll probably pester Apple a bit more, but right now that's complicated by the problem that I'm not in the US right now: I'm 1 week into a 4 week backpacking tour of Europe. Although I've been sending emails to the Apple representative, he refuses to deal with me via email and has instead be talking to my Mom over the phone, who has thus been relaying all this info to me. My mom's one tough cookie and I know she wouldn't let this down without a fight, but at all of your urgings, I'll keep pressing at Apple.

In the event that I don't prevail, I guess I've been convinced to go and get a new laptop. I was somehow under the impression that the Intel books would be out in early 2006, but I guess that's not true. Is there any reason why I should spring for the 12" AlBook or would an iBook suffice? I'm going to be a law student so my demands won't be that high (and yeah I know about the whole ExamSoft not working on Macs thing, I've got that figured out. Still fighting the power :p)

And thanks again for everyone's help. No matter how many times Apple f---s me over, it's always the Mac community that keeps me from switching back *shudder*
 
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