pudge's Journal: PowerBook Saga Really Over This Time (I Hope)

I finally got my new PowerBook from Apple today. It first went in for a sprained ankle on Dec. 19, and it came back with cancer. Over three weeks ago they decided to replace it, and finally, it got replaced.

So my almost 9-month-old (well, now, over 10-month-old) PowerBook G4/667/512/30/AirPort/combo became a new PowerBook G4/867/512/40/AirPort/combo. I lost IrDA, and gained better AirPort reception (I can now compute from the bathroom and bedroom without the external WaveLAN card, but I installed WirelessDriver just in case). I gained a better screen, which has resolution that seems too high for my cherished Geneva 9 and ProFont 9. I am not sure about whether or not I get a new 1-year warranty, or just something like "old warranty or 90 days, whichever is longer."

I spent much of today fixing the machine up again. I am almost done with Mac OS X, just doing a fresh fink install now. My Mac OS apps are back in place, but I need to reinstall some stuff into the Mac OS System Folder. But I will just add things back to the System Folder as needed. I am keeping the 10GB compressed disk image from the old system around, so I can grab things as I find I forgot them.

I am unhappy with Apple's repair service, which broke my computer and couldn't fix it on three trips to the repair facility. And it took over three weeks to get me a replacement PowerBook once they decided to replace it. All told, I was without my computer for two days shy of seven weeks. But, I am happy to have it now.

But... you got a faster model...

[berniecase]

I can understand your frustration with Apple's repair service, but you did get a faster, better version of your PowerBook. I've got an older Pismo PowerBook, and the one time I had to send it to Apple for repair (broken sound card) I didn't have any problems. Of course, there weren't any newer versions of the PowerBook out at that time (mid-2000).

I would say that you got good service from Apple, considering what you got back from them. I'm still hesitant to replace my PowerBook with any of the TiBooks or even the AlBooks, thanks to some of the problems I've seen other people having with them.

Re:But... you got a faster model...

[pudge]

I was without the computer for seven weeks, and I spent dozens of hours of my life dealingn with it all. I'd gladly rewind time and keep my working old computer than have gone through all this to get this new computer. It's a consolation of sorts, but it doesn't make up for it.