PowerBook G4 problems **HELP**

[crisuno]

Hello,

My name is Cris and I'm new to this Forum, and I ran into a problem with my Powerbook G4 last night.....while I was browsing, out of nowhere, a sound started, like a fan type noise, and it wasn't my fan for the heat sensor, the laptop froze on me and the "thinking wheel" just kept on going, so I powered it off and re-booted it, after the initial boot-up, the noise started again, but this time my screen didnt come up at all, as the noise persist, it would shut down and restart itself up but with the same symptoms.

I'm not too familiar with the "insides" of my G4, I tried to do research and came up with a "Logic Board", "Optical Board", and my Hard Drive.

I don't want to bring in my PowerBook for repairs and pay for somethng else.

How much will it cost to repair or buy the new item???

Please, any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

Cris.

 

[iSaint]

Apple's Genius Bar is a free diagnostic service. It's available at the Apple Store. Do you live near one? You can make an appointment through Apple's web site by locating your closest store here.

As far as costs, for $280 plus tax ($299), Apple replaced the harddrive, logic board, and keyboard in my G4 iBook. It's not quite three years old.

You might check to see if your Powerbook is eligible for the battery exchange program. If your Powerbook is getting hot, this may be part of the problem.

Also, give us more information on your Powerbook: processor, etc. Someone here may know of specific issues related to your laptop.

 

[crisuno]

^ Thank you, I scheduled an appointment for Monday, as of the Battery, would anyone recommend a "good" affordable Battery, I have a "Newer Technology NuPower 53.3 Watt-Hour Battery", and it only last maybe 30 min the most fully charged.

As of my PowerBook, it's 1.5 Mhz, 80 Gig HD, 1 Gig Ram.

Thanks in advance.

Cris.

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

^ Thank you, I scheduled an appointment for Monday, as of the Battery, would anyone recommend a "good" affordable Battery, I have a "Newer Technology NuPower 53.3 Watt-Hour Battery", and it only last maybe 30 min the most fully charged.

As of my PowerBook, it's 1.5 Mhz, 80 Gig HD, 1 Gig Ram.

Thanks in advance.

Cris.

powerbookmedic.com

 

[California]

Long shot but try taking out the ram. Dont know if you have a 15 or 12" PB by the way. Ram at times goes bad. Also, hold down the power button until you hear it beep and the fan goes on and then it turns on normal resetting the machine. Also, bad batteries can sometimes screw up the computer even if you are plugged in. Check the ram, tho. Don't know if you have a 12" in which case you would have 256ram built in or not.

 

[crisuno]

^^ Thanks for the info, I just got back from the Genius Bar and they told me it was my HD, so I got to look for a new HD plus services, any suggestions??? They told me to look for an ATA, Ultra ATA, or IDE Drive.

Also, a new Battery needs to be purchased.

Thanks again.

Cris.

 

[Kamikaze]

I'll cast my vote for Newegg (hard drive) and Newer Tech for the battery.

 

[crisuno]

Hello again.....

I just purchased a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 120GB 5400RPM, Internal, 8MB, ATA/100 Hard Drive from compusa for $100 and to install it through compusa, it cost about $30 extra, but, one of the workers quoted me $210 to install the HD and to install my OS using my OS CD, he said it cost that much because they had to "optimize" my HD and so forth, seems like the worker was trying to hustle me by the way his attitude was.

My question is, would this be easy if I install it myself??? Or is it worth it to have compusa install everything???

Any info will help.

Thank you.

Cris.

 

[pootsey]

have him install the hardrive and nothing else.

I just bought a new hardrive for a PB and installed osx myself on it with no troubles.

 

[crisuno]

^ Thank you.....will do.

Cris.

 

[jng]

My question is, would this be easy if I install it myself??? Or is it worth it to have compusa install everything???

Wouldn't be terribly difficult. I ordered a 100GB HD from OWC and installed it myself using this guide.

Took a little under a day (including copying files, installing OS etc) and cost me less than $110.

I'm not a huge fan of COMP USA.