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Apple Replaces Some 15" PowerBook Displays
boredMDer writes "Apple up until now has been replacing G4 15" PowerBook displays on a case-by-case basis, but has now implemented a worldwide repair program to machines that exhibit these white spots. Affected machines are 867 MHz or 1 GHz TiBooks, and the 1 or 1.25 GHz 15" AlBooks. Serial numbers are QT331xxxxxx to QT339xxxxxx and V7334xxxxxx to V7345xxxxxx."
I purchased a Powerbook in Dec 2003 from the Apple Store online. I, like you, was unsure about purchasing a Mac versus a PC. I even had the white spot problem show up several months ago, which Apple happily took care of for fee, and I can tell you I'm very glad I went with the Powerbook.
It's just been an excellent machine, overall. It definitely is a turn-off to discover hardware issues like this white spot thing, but as long as Apple takes care of the problem, there's really nothing for you be worried about in terms of the product quality.
If you're worried about having the white spot problem on your Powerbook, just know that the revision 2 15" AlBooks have been out for a few months now and the problem seemed to be resolved last January or so.
Don't let a few ruin the whole thing. I've had a few PowerBooks, all with impeccable finish. The one problem I had was a loose power connector, 6 months down the line. I walk into an Apple Store, they replace it in 2 minutes, I walk out of the store.
It doesn't get any better.
- oZ
// i am here.
It's probably safe to get a PowerBook now. Might not be upgrade-safe, since the new one came out a while back, but I'd say they identified all the problems and have fixed them. I got mine in June, which apparently was the best time, since I avoided the battery issue as well.
Apple puts the latest and greatest out as soon as they can make enough of them. This is obviously problematic since the product hasn't gone through as much Q&A as something that you test for a couple months before sending off to the assembly line. The pressure points on the AlBook are a symptom of this, as they only show up after extended use. I think it would be safe to say when they see a critical mass of returns/complains on a common problem, they admit their messup, like you said. They're cool like that.
Note the date ranges of the books in question. The books outside of the range don't have this problem. That's probably because somebody noticed a potential problem and when the line went under review, retooled it to fix a potential problem before it got out of hand.
Now, you're probably thinking "well why didn't they recall them right then and there." That's because it doesn't make any business sense to make a recall on something you *think* is a problem. Once the returns (most of which were under warranty, since the latest date is July 03) start to build up, then it's time to get a replacement operation into gear. Otherwise, it could have been an isolated incident that an engineer observed and would have been a waste to automatically do a recall.
Some will say that the time to do a recall is far overdue. This is debatable, since if you claimed it under warranty, only people who exhibited the problem in the last 3 months were out of luck. Yes, that's still a quite a bit of time. But they still fixed it, no? I'd say, from the number of recalls that Apple does do, that they're committed to solving the major problems with their products, even the ones out of warranty (iBook especially).
Speaking of the iBook, the problems with the logic board were bizarre and hard to replicate. It could be perfectly fine for an entire year and then screw up tomorrow. Two friends of mine with iBooks spontaneously developed distinctly different problems that were due to the logic board. Because of that, tracking down the problem probably took more time, and the problem propagated to more than one revision of the iBook. But hey, Apple finally found it and replaced everybody's board, even the ones out of warranty. They even *expanded* it after they discovered problems outside the date range. They're doing the same thing for this AlBook recall. How can that be poor commitment to quality?
Compare this to other manufacturers.... does anybody else get screen time as much as Apple for recalls? No. Why is this? Maybe because people expect PCs to screw up? Blame HW problems on Windows? Companies never admit failure and quietly replace anything under warranty? Sony wouldn't even admit that there could possibly be a problem with the fans on a Vaio I was working on for work. The fans just stopped coming on, overheating the laptop (Pentium 4 heatmonger!), and crashing the computer. Their solution? After returning it to Circuit City and waiting a month, they bypassed the heat sensing circuitry and wired the fans to go full-blast all the time. Oh yeah, that's quality....
Apple recalls get headlines *because* they have a commitment to quality. Don't let them dissuade you.
If you are buying an Apple laptop, buy AppleCare and use it. If you are getting a PC laptop, get an extended warranty. All laptops break all the time. This is the case whether or not Apple laptops are of a higher quality than PC laptops.
Your tone seems weirdly antagonistic.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.