[Ti] Anyone know how to get a replacement latch?

[Henry Kalir]

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003, Sherman Gregory wrote:

> I have a Ti 800MHz with a broken latch so it will not stay closed, which makes sleep mode unusable.  The part that is broken is not the hook that pops out of the top, but the push button in the lower case.  The part is very easy to replace once the hard disk is out, which is pretty easy in the 800MHz version.
> 
> Apple has agreed to replace it under warrantee by replacing the whole top cover assembly (which seems silly to me, but it is their money).  The problem is that for this 20 minute repair I need to send the machine away for a week.  This is not only a problem because I will be without the machine, but also because I need to first remove the hard drive due to the company sensitive information that it contains.  I am not sure how bad they will freak out about getting a machine without a hard drive.
> 
> I talked to my local Apple store (where I personally spent about $40,000 in 2002 BTW), and they cannot come up with the part, nor can they touch PowerBooks, so they were of no real help.
> 
> I talked to a local Apple authorized repair center.  They said the could replace the top cover there, but they cannot order parts unless they have physical possession of the machine.  So that does not solve either the problem of being without the machine, nor the problem of having to remove the hard drive.
> 
> I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for the latch, if I could just get it.  I have the feeling if I could talk to the right person at Apple, I could talk them out of one, I just have not found the right person yet.  It seems that these latches break often enough that they would be a normal replacement part.
> 
> Short of getting a latch, I guess it will be duct tape holding my lid closed.  It is about the same color anyway.
> 
> Thanks everyone for your help and/or sympathy.
> 
This is very disappointing! I have the same machine - so far, no latch
problems but I do close it with much trepidation!

For an over $3K laptop I would have expected better quality. After all -
we've been told time and again by some of us, that the reason Macs cost
more is because they are of a superior quality...

Best,

Henry