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iBook Refund On Its Way
bennomatic writes "Apple is finally making good on those iBook repairs we've heard so much about over the past several months. I just got my letter in the mail the other day which I had to sign and swear that I had indeed paid for the logic board repair in question. The letter stated that the refund would be made within 4-6 weeks following their receipt of my letter. It's funny that, with all of the fuss over the fact that they were not fixing the problem, there's been barely a whisper on the Mac web about the fact that it's all being taken care of."
Call me misinformed but what is this all about? I recently bought an ibook and haven't had a single problem with it.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
What about a refund on the 'mandatory' purchase of MacOS X on my G4? I prefer plain Darwin, since it's just used as a server, and Darwin I can download for free? So where's my refund on the copy of MacOS I was forced to purchase with my G4?
(is Raymond gonna appear at the demo dressed as R2D2 this time?)
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It's funny that, with all of the fuss over the fact that they were not fixing the problem, there's been barely a whisper on the Mac web about the fact that it's all being taken care of.
It's always more fun to bitch. I'd expect to see more along the lines of, "Well, they're FINALLY taking care of it!"
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
I remember finding this page by accident about a month ago and looking at the serial number on my iBook and finding it unaffected.
I did think it was interesting that around this time I had to have my battery replaced under warranty (which is only 6 mos. on the battery, even if you spring for AppleCare) that they had order my replacement battery...even though it was supposed to be normally in stock.
I'm in Japan, so I just took my 14" (which had lain unused for quite a few months) into the Apple Store in Ginza, up to the Genius Bar, and they promptly acknowledged that it was, well, fucked. Less than a week later and I had it back.
:)
Better still, they rang me the day before I collected it to say that the LCD cable (another iBook weakness) needed fixing and that it would cost 21,000 (about $200, I think) - a little steep, but I said OK. When I went to pick it up, there were a couple of rather dirty fingerprints on the screen and keyboard plastic surrounds. The man cleaned them off, but not satisfied that he had sufficiently allayed my concerns, reduced my repair bill from 21,000 to zero!
More importantly, viz the topic, the iBook is fine - the only troubling issue is that my 12" model appears to be going the same way - perhaps I shall be calling on their services again in the not too distant future.
iqu
"I'm in Japan, so I just took my 14" .... it was, well, fucked"
This sort of goes against Oriental genitalia stereotypes. Are you trascribing Hentai or something?
My 800mhz iBook was manufactured in June 2003 and thus not covered by their replacement program (since it's still under warranty), yet its logic board failed last week. I wonder when the later iBook models go out of warranty if this program will be extended to cover them as well. Since I have a PowerMac I've literally used my iBook 3-4 times every month since owning it, so it's not like it was used much; hell, it still smells brand new . . .
Also, I wish I could hear some clear reports of WHAT or if there's anything different with the new logic boards that will ensure they don't keep failing again. Some reports from those who've had their iBooks repaired since this program started would be nice. Frankly I'm thinking of selling my iBook as soon as it comes back and springing for either a 12" PB or G4 iBook. Though i don't use the machine often, when I need it, I need it to work. It's sad I have to consider buying a more expensive model even though I don't need/want its features, but am afraid of the one I already own failing.
For which computers is the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program available?
The program is available for iBooks with serial numbers in the following range(s):
UV220XXXXXX to UV318XXXXXX
iBooks with the serial numbers listed above may be referred to as:
* iBook (16 VRAM)
* iBook (14.1 LCD 16 VRAM)
* iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
* iBook (32 VRAM)
* iBook (14.1 LCD 32 VRAM)
Unfortunately mine is a few thousand from the end of UV318XXXXXX which means I've got one of the POS boards. Oh well, I bought it for my wife and she never uses it, so according to those that had the failure it will be a while before it breaks.
I bought my iBook (12" 800mhz) in January '02. I was more than happy with it until August '02 when the screen died on me right in the middle of a Bioinformatics conference. Luckily I was in Palo Alto, so I just went down to the Apple store and the guy at the genius bar sent it out for repairs. Apple repaired it and shipped it back to my home within 5 days.
Cut to November '02. Same thing happens, screen goes nuts, trouble with video on booting. I take it down to the closest Apple store and the genius bar once again sends it back for repairs, and it comes back within 7 days.
Basically after November I was freaking out, because I didn't have the extra cash to buy an extended warranty, and I just about know that my motherboard will go out again at some point. But then Apple came through and started the Logic Board replacement program exactly 1 year from the day I bought my computer.
I can say that if Apple didn't cover this and I was forced to extend my warranty, I would probably have never bought another Apple again. But as it is, they came through with their customer support and my next computer will probably be a G5 laptop when they finally come out.
Sorry, Leo, another disappointment.
To those who don't know, Leo Laporte, co-host of The Screen Savers on TechTV, got fed up with his iBook's problems and, rather than sending it in to Apple to be fixed, threw his away. Within a week before Apple acknowledged the problem and said they'd do free repairs. Or so it was disclosed on the show.
It is also said that one should not purchase a product from Apple until Leo does because it always drops in price shortly afterward.
Say Leo, did you see that X-Files/Verizon ad parody I uploaded, signed I.R. Scratcher? Feel free to share it.
Just another personal anecdote. My 14" 900MHz iBook was not in the serial number range listed as valid for the warranty extension but it failed at 9 months. Don't know if it's a coincedence or if Apple missed something. But unaffected or not I'd say that extended warranty is worth it if any of you iBook owners don't have one yet.
Apple's support has been quite excellent, I might add. I've never dealt with better support, honestly. And I've dealt with a lot of support working in a locally owned PC repair shop.
Apple laptops are effectively unusable for unix users.
I am a long-time Unix user. That means I need to have the Ctrl key to the left of the A key. This is a genuine need, not merely a want; it is based upon ergonomics. The Ctrl key is heavily used in unix, and it must be easily accessable. It cannot be off in the lower left corner of the keyboard where it is difficult to get at, and where it distorts the position of your left hand such that you can't easily type other keys while holding the Ctrl key down.
Apple desktop keyboards are now all USB. They are all OK. The CapsLock key can be re-mapped into a Ctrl key.
Unfortunately, even in this modern age, all Apple laptops have built-in ADB keyboards. The ADB keyboard is broken-by-design. It is, in general, not possible to remap the CapsLock key into a Ctrl key.
There are some exceptions, but they are horrible kludges. They are horrible kludges because the original design of the ADB keyboard was a horrible kludge. The correct solution would be for Apple to re-design their laptop motherboards to use built-in USB keyboards. This hasn't happened yet. If you run Linux, use Debian's solution. For Mac OS X users, uControl works. There are no solutions (that I know of) for either NetBSD or OpenBSD. Please note once again that the "solutions" above are in fact kludges, because of the original bad design of the ADB keyboard.
Apple provides a technical note on how to remap the keyboard, but provides no solution to the hardware problems caused by the design of the ADB keyboard. This tech note helps foreign language users, but does nothing for the CapsLock/Ctrl problem.
Apple is (currently) ignoring Unix users! This is not merely speculation on my part. In an on-going email exchange I am having with an Apple employee (whom I won't name) in their marketing department, the Apple marketing person directly stated to me that Apple was catering to their historic Mac customers, and is purposely ignoring the Unix market. He also claimed that Apple would soon start paying more attention to the Unix market. I won't hold my breath. Apple has been ignoring Unix users for more than 13 years. I expect that trend to continue. (Also note that my Apple contact indicated that Macs would never ship with a 3-button mouse, even though Apple intended to port almost all X-window software and deliver it either on a CD/DVD or installed directly on each Mac's hard drive. How Unix friendly is a 1-button mouse with X programs that often require 3 buttons?)
Apple has now lost two opportunities to sell me hardware. I really wanted an Apple laptop for their superior battery life, and for the PowerPC with Altivec CPU. (The Altivec is vastly superior to the x86 line for DSP.) Because I can't live with the broken-by-design built-in ADB keyboard in all Apple laptops, Sony and IBM sold me laptops instead. If Apple fixes this problem, they will sell me a PowerBook next year; if they don't, I'll still be running OpenBSD on x86 hardware, and wishing I could use a Mac.
Why don't you sit back, relax, put your feet up and let someone fix you a nice warm cup of HARDEN THE F&*K UP ?
A REAL Unix user would have hacked the keyboard driver by now if it bothered them that much.
Apple has to spend its efforts where it thinks it gets the best pay off, and like it or not, your views, at least at the level of emotion you express are nothing more than a narrow sliver of the bell curve.
Logic board failed three times on my 12" iBook, finally got bitchy enough about it and bingo, they sent me a 12" iBook G4.