hot power adaptor Plus other repair woes

Tue Apr 20 07:44:53 PDT 2004

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
> >
> >