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Thought I bought a 1GHz PB?

OldManJimbo

OldManJimbo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 1, 2004
415
1
California Coast
I bought the 12" G4 in April, just before they jumped up to the 1.5Ghz processor. I thought I had pruchased a 1Ghz machine but today as I was looking for something else, I noticed in the "About This Mac" area that I have a "867 MHZ PowerPC G4."

Is there something else that takes this up to a 1Ghz clock speed, or did I buy something other than what I thought I was buying?
 
That's strange. There's nothing you need to do to make it a 1Ghz G4. What you have there is a Rev. A 12" PB. Did you buy a refurb.? If not, take it back to Apple and maybe they'll give you a Rev. C ;)

JOD8FY
 
Check your receipt/invoice. If it says you ordered a 1ghz and you received an 867mhz then bring it back to them and they should upgrade you.
 
Update

After talking to the retailer - an approved Apple Reseller - they are scratching their heads. The box and all the paper work says I have a 1GHz CPU but the "About This Mac" says I don't. I have an appointment with them on Tuesday.

Another strange thing - I bought the machine in April, but when I called AppleCare last week on a software issue, the technician said I had purchased the machine in January.

I'm wondering if I somehow did not receive a machine that had been returned or rebuilt.
 
OldManJimbo said:
After talking to the retailer - an approved Apple Reseller - they are scratching their heads. The box and all the paper work says I have a 1GHz CPU but the "About This Mac" says I don't. I have an appointment with them on Tuesday.

Another strange thing - I bought the machine in April, but when I called AppleCare last week on a software issue, the technician said I had purchased the machine in January.

I'm wondering if I somehow did not receive a machine that had been returned or rebuilt.
Click to expand...

I bought an iMac from a reseller in May, 2004 and got it home to find out it had 10.2.7 on it even though I paid full retail price for it. The reseller *scratched* their heads, and Apple kept telling me I bought an "old machine" - I had to buy Panther if I wanted it. Ended up the machine was messed up anyway so I raised enough fuss that they had to take it back.

Apple is running some shady deal with resellers. It seems like they're dumping stock into the reseller chain just before the next upgrade and allowing the resellers to keep on selling it at the full price. Apple has always dumped the old stock into the reseller chain, but before you at least got a break on the price.

Make some noise, don't take no for an answer, they tried to charge me a restocking fee when I took the iMac back but when they realized that the store was quickly clearing out even though I was barely raising my voice, they suddenly found that they could refund all my money.

Good luck, m
 
Sounds like a problem with the resellers. Which is why I buy directly from Apple. Resellers are sneaky.
 
In fairness to the same reseller, I also bought a discontinues model of a 1 Ghz PB from them at the same time. The difference was they told me it was a discontinued model, and I was able to check out what I was getting on the net before I paid for it. I got a good price on it, it was sealed in the box and came fully loaded with Panther - that's how business should be done.

Don't know what they thought they were doing with the iMac - stupid move on their part.

m
 
7on said:
Sounds like a problem with the resellers. Which is why I buy directly from Apple. Resellers are sneaky.
Click to expand...

I've had great experiences with resellers. I've bought multiple computers at general cybernetics. John is a great guy and will hook you up with a good deal if you call and tell him what you want.

I had a problem with a powerbook I bought through him but john replaced it quickly with zero hassle.

The only apple item I did not buy through him was an ipod, and only because i had a gift certificate to the mall the apple store is in.
 
Kwyjibo said:
well hmmm

does it have a mini DVI or a Mini VGA ?
Click to expand...

It has the mini DVI - and came in a sealed box.

This reseller has a tremndous reputation in the local community and knowing the owner, i highly doubt it was purposeful. That does not deter me from asserting my rights and asking that they make it right.

Does anyone know - if they offer to replace the CPU chip, is that a time-consuming process? I am in a very busy season at work and can't afford to lose any time while they fix things.
 
OldManJimbo said:
It has the mini DVI - and came in a sealed box.

This reseller has a tremndous reputation in the local community and knowing the owner, i highly doubt it was purposeful. That does not deter me from asserting my rights and asking that they make it right.

Does anyone know - if they offer to replace the CPU chip, is that a time-consuming process? I am in a very busy season at work and can't afford to lose any time while they fix things.
Click to expand...
Odd - you have mini-DVI 12" PB but only with an 867MHz processor? A hybrid of rev A and B? What about the graphics card - nVidia 420 GO or 5200 GO?
 
johnnyjibbs said:
Odd - you have mini-DVI 12" PB but only with an 867MHz processor? A hybrid of rev A and B? What about the graphics card - nVidia 420 GO or 5200 GO?
Click to expand...

Here's what I found in the System profile -

GeForce FX Go5200 32MB:

Type: display
Bus: AGP
Display Type: CRT
VRAM (Total): 32 MB
Vendor: nVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0329
Revision ID: 0x00a3
ROM Revision: 2069.1
 
They can't just "replace the CPU chip". You will be getting a whole new 1GHz Powerbook!

Lee Tom
 
http://www.xbench.com/

bench mark the cpu and compare the score to a 867MHz powerbook and then compare it to a 1GHz powerbook whichever one is closer is the one you have

the asp is screwed up and reports strange thing sometimes like saying the cpu is a 0MHz or at 9999MHz and other crazy reports

if it is closer to a 1GHz powerbook just reinstall OS X and see if that fixes it
 
I have heard of macs reading the processor speed incorrectly in "about this mac" before. Most likely it is a 1 Ghz processor and it is just reading wrong. Have you repaired permissions, for starters?
 
hmm....

Perhaps Apple gave you a Rev. B but forgot to overclock the processor to 1 GHz. Does anyone know if the Rev. A and Rev. B PowerBooks use different processors or does the Rev. B just use an overclocked version?

I know programs exist that allow you to overclock your computer.

Maybe you could underclock it to 400 MHz, bring it to Apple, and get is exchanged for a brand-new PowerBook? :)
 
QCassidy352 said:
I have heard of macs reading the processor speed incorrectly in "about this mac" before. Most likely it is a 1 Ghz processor and it is just reading wrong. Have you repaired permissions, for starters?
Click to expand...

Can you tell me what this means? I'm an old PC reject.
 
repairing permissions

Every file on your Mac has a set of permissions attached to it that says who/what prosseses can read/write to it. Sometimes these get messed up and can cause all sorts of trouble.

To fix them, simply run disk utility from the utilities folder in your applications folder. Select you boot drive and click the "repair permissions" button under the first aid tab. Then wait and restart your computer when done.
 
Update

First - thanks to all for your concern and suggestions.
I ran the xbench utility and it certainly looks like I have an 867 MHz chip.
I also ran the Disk Ultility and repaired permissions, restarted and - it still reads 867 MHz.
Looks like my next step is an appointment with the Apple reseller on Tuesday of next week. I am in the middle of an incredibly busy season at work and can't afford to be without my Mac for any time at all. Whatever they decide to do, they won't be able to do it until after July 5.

If you have any other ideas - please pass them along. My hope is that we find a software issue and not the more serious situation of them selling me a bogus machine.

If I hear nothing else - I will report back on what the Apple store says after my meeting on Tuesday.

Cheers.
 
hey!

How many of you did clic on the "about this mac" area to check your info??? :D hehehe

OldManJimbo, did you pulled off the battery to see what the model stiker says about your model???

Take out the battery and you should see written next to your serial number wich model you own

Hope you'll get the 1ghz you paid.
 
what do you have your processor set to? if it's on speed management, maybe that's causing it? check in the energy settings, i think its in customize. try setting it to highest n rebooting.

maybe reset the p-ram, but i think it looks like you got a bogus machine. my 12" 1.33 says it's 1.33 and my 933 G4 says its 933 in the About Me.
 
If you ran xbench, the very first few results tell you the exact clock speed of the cpu, the model (7457, 7447 ect..)

so just check that, and if that tells you 867, then it probably really is, also there is a terminal command that tells you your exact speed, but i don't remember what it is, perhaps someone here does?

aethier
 
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