[Ti] (hot power adaptor Plus other repair woes) => LCD lifetime

Tue Apr 20 10:02:04 PDT 2004

Hey Daniel,

how long did your lcd screen last you, or when did you actually realize 
that there was soething wrong ?
My powerbook is running 24/7 and although the screen turns off after 3 
minutes i can already see some weaker spots on some corners ...... 
well, it is now almost 3 years old ...
an estimate of lifetime of the lcd screen would help to calculate 
future cost for me =)

william

On Apr 20, 2004, at 10:44 AM, Ritz, Daniel wrote:

> My block has outlasted two LCDs!  (Back light blew, and now the bottom 
> 2/3 is dead). My latch is broken and the bottom shell of the titanium 
> case is loose.  But the adapter is fine.  Yup it runs hot.  That is 
> something I keep in mind when I am tempted to prop up the back of the 
> PB with it.  Not a good idea to put a heat generator under the already 
> hot processor.  I am careful to never strangulate the thing when 
> wrapping the cord.  That is a habit I learned from using DC power 
> adopters with the black cord that are always weak where they meet the 
> brick/plug portion.  Battery is going strong too after two years -  it 
> keeps a healthy charge.
>
> My tale of repair woe: The LCD goes bad on bottom 2/3.  I call Apple 
> to invoke an Apple Care case and they say I am not enrolled.  They 
> offer me a 'flat fee' repair, which means for approximately $340 they 
> will fix anything that would be a warranty repair, if the unit was 
> still under warranty.  This was on 10/5, and I decide to check my 
> credit card statements 'cause I am still convinced that I DID enroll 
> for Apple Care.  So I let a week slip by, and then am out of town and 
> on the 20th I decide to bite the bullet and go ahead with the repair.  
> I call Apple and they quote me over $1,000 for the LCD.  "what about 
> the 'flat rate' repair?" I ask.  They tell me they have a written 
> policy that a quote is good for only 6 days.  I complained that I was 
> not told of the policy, but then I decide to play along:  I ask them 
> to quote me a 'flat rate' repair like last time..."LCD is excluded 
> from that program"..."But I was given that option on the fifth?!"  
> "The exclusion is a new policy, effective the tenth..."  AARRGH.
>
> I am kicking myself about not getting Apple care and the PB is 
> essentially a desktop now. Thought I enrolled, but I must have 
> postponed it having just incurred the cost of upgrading to a combo 
> drive, than confused myself into thinking I enrolled.
>
> I am sooo tempted by the new PB series, but feel the PB case is not a 
> durable design.  According to the literature, the iBooks  are designed 
> to hold up better.  Now that you can get a Superdrive in an iBook, I 
> may go that route.  Still, the 12" Superdrive model has me drooling... 
>  Or maybe, the cheapest iBook plus an eMac for larger storage, burning 
> etc.  Anyone notice the cost of upgrading RAM in a PB versus a eMac. 
> To upgrade to a gig you spend $700 on the PB cause you need it on one 
> card.
>
> Whatever laptop I get I will a) get Applecare, b)get a sleeve and 
> keyboard/lcd protector and keep the thing as mint as possible, c) 
> consider selling it on eBay after AppleCare expires and upgrade.  If 
> it stays as mint as I hope, it will still have decent residual value 
> after 3 years.
>
> Daniel
>
>
>
>
>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message-Id: <65D186AC-92BC-11D8-8673-000393A49120 at mac.com>
>> From: Sambouka <sambouka at mac.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Ti] hot power adaptor (square white ones) for TiBook
>> Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 15:18:06 +0400
>>
>> I had my power adaptor for 2 years and never it never broke
>> down on me.
>> Though I must point out that two hinges broke a few weeks ago.
>>
>> Sam
>> -- 
>> OS 10.3.3
>> Tibook G4 867 MHz,
>> 1GB RAM, 32MB Video,
>> 60GB HD, 250GB External HD
>> 30GB iPod
>> iChat: Sambouka
>> http://homepage.mac.com/sambouka
>>
>> On Apr 9, 2004, at 9:27 PM, Justin R. Miller wrote:
>>
>>> On Apr 9, 2004, at 12:34 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>>>
>>>> Can anyone shed light on the following issue?
>>>>
>>>> I have a G4 titanium powerbook (1 Ghz), and a couple of
>> weeks ago the
>>>> [white square] power adaptor broke down -- the light (indicating
>>>> charging/charge) at the end of the adaptor stopped working, and the
>>>> adaptor was very hot and smelt burnt.
>>>>
>>>> I got a replacement from Apple under apple care, but now
>> I've noticed
>>>> the replacement is running hot too when the machine is on and
>>>> charging, although it still works currently.  Is there likely to be
>>>> anything wrong with my laptop?  Apple didn't seemed to
>> know much about
>>>> this, and suggested I send it in for an engineer to look
>> at, but I'd
>>>> rather not lose it for a few days just yet.
>>>
>>> In my opinion they generally run pretty hot.  I am on my
>> third adapter
>>> since buying my PowerBook in late 2002.  They generally
>> last about six
>>> months in my experience... and at $80US a pop they aren't
>> cheap :-/  I
>>> am being cautious, biding my time, and hoping someone initiates a
>>> class action suit at some point in the future.  They should have
>>> lasted longer, and we should be reimbursed.  Fortunately my first
>>> replacement was within my one year warranty.
>>>
>>> Out of curiousity, who has had one of these boxes fail in
>> this manner?
>>>  Please reply (and with how many)... I'm curious.
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Justin R. Miller
>>> incanus at codesorcery.net
>>> PGP key at http://codesorcery.net/pubkey.html
>>>
>>>
>
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