iBook bummer

pds

pds

Registered
In early December my 14 inch combo drive iBook died. It was used when I bought it and I figured it was just bad luck, the first time I ever had a premature death of a Mac (I still have a pair of LC IIIs running for the kid's homework). I depend on the machine every day at school and when the dealer here (Cairo) said that the repair would cost me around 800 clams (motherboard, shipping and taxes since it is out of warrantee) I decided to just take his generous offer on a new machine at his cost (friendship is a wonderful thing) and bought a new (out of the box) 12 inch.

Then I saw this.

One of the links http://flyweb.at/images/ads/ibook_crash01.jpg
has pix that could be my book.

I now experience gnawing anxiety at my Mac, not the accustomed joy.

So now, what to do with the 12 inch?

Class action is only going to help lawyers.
Applecare is unavailable here.
 
Does the one you have still work at least? If you don't trust it to stay working, then I'd unload it and buy a 12" Powerbook if I were you.

Oh, and can you fix that 2nd link?
 
Yeah, it works fine, brand new out of the box, but if you read the thread linked and follow a few of those links it seems that this is a basic flaw in the design of the ibook and that sooner or later it will happen to any dual usb ibook. Some people have replaced their logic board three and four times.

It is in the hinge mechanism and in the video chip. What's to say it's not in any cantilevered laptop?
 
I had the logic board issue happen on mine, once, after 1 month of use.

pds, I don't know what to suggest. You'll have at least 12 months of warranty for the iBook you now got. Maybe use it for 11 months and then change it to a newer model or to a powerbook, that way even if it would have any issues, they won't be on your warranty time.
 
Apple has sold around 1.6 million iBooks. Find me another maker of laptops who has sold basically the same model 1.6 million times. You won't. There are alot of people with the problem of the main board, but it's a small number compared to 1.6 million. If it was 1,000 people with the problem and they only sold 100,000 of them, it'd be an issue, but thats not the case. It's a tiny percentage of them. PC notebooks die all the time, but the don't sell as many of the same model as Apple does, so you don't get the same large number of people complaining.

This is the same type of issue with the iPod battery. Apple is far from the only mp3 maker that doesn't have a user replaceable battery. You don't see lawsuits and petitions against Sony for having a tiny non-user replaceable battery in their teeny tiny mp3 players. Why? Because Sony doesn't have over 30% of the market with essentially the same exact model. If they did, people would be complaining to Sony and filing lawsuits. It's purely because Apple sells so damn many of the same exact product do these issues come up, and make the news for them. All the other makers change their products so quickly, you don't get enough units out there to get enough unhappy customers to complain that their product dies after a year or so.

Go find some boards on Dell, IBM, Toshiba, and Gateway laptops. Take a look at home many people are pissing and moaning about their laptops having broken after "X" period of time. They just all have different models, so they don't come togeather to bitch collectively.

Mobile devices are more fragile then their non-mobile counterparts. They have lighter parts, they have smaller parts, they have larger heat issues, they have to withstand lots of different stresses. It could very well be that due to the design of the dual usb iBooks a part may fail during very specific types of stress, or due to repeated stresses. This will happen with any device, and does. This is why they come with a warranty and also why Apple sells an extended warranty The extended warranty's for laptops always cost more then for desktops. Why? Because laptops are more prone to failures, it's a fact of life.

Brian
 
I got a 12" G4 PowerBook and I feel pretty safe about my logic board etc. because they use the PowerBook logic boards, yeah?

The fact that Apple has some defective iBooks doesn't bother me. What is annoying me is how Apple is dealing with the issue. Now, I'm aware that they don't want to call a recall, because that would destroy the image of the iBook. I think that they need to say to all iBook customers, out of warantie, that although it is not covered by the warantie, they will do a logic board/video card repair for a much lower price, since it's a design fault. Personally, I believe that if Apple addressed it like this and deal with it more positively, Apple's image could actually boosted, especially if they state that it is not an issue with the G4 iBook.

Oh, and Apple REALLY needs to deal with their customer support. On a side note, I sent my iPod in for a warantie repair, because the bit between the headphone jack and the remote control ring connected had broken off (not due to my fault), and they were goign to charge me $400 to repair it, and cancelled my warantie, because they claim I dropped it, because a bit of polycarbonate was midding from a corner, where my sister accedentally dropped a knife onto it :S
 
I've had an iBook 14 inch 700mhz G3 for a year now, it's been into service once so far for the logic board, I hope it won't happen again, but it might....and it if it starts happening frequently i'll just sell it off and buy myself a dell :| Kidding....Kidding
 
So, Brian, if I hear you right you're saying

1- Relatively few people will have this problem
2- If I do, I should just deal with it
3- I should have bought the extra AppleCare (which is not available here)
4- So many people are po'ed with Apple because they are selling so many machines

I disagree.
1 - I think there are too many people with this problem, more than you say by a factor of 8 to 10 at the very least. It will only get bigger, since the problem seems to be related to regular use, not abuse. While it may not approach the 25% failure rate of Dells, it is a significant number.

2 - Dealing with it is an on-going thing. If you replace the logic board once, you will replace it again and again and again until you dump the machine. That doubles and triples the extent of the problem, not by people but by motherboards affected.

3 - Not an option, I wish it were, I'd get it in a heartbeat.

4 - Life is tough at the top :D ;)

I am apprehensive every time I open my lovely iBook (which, even with the anxiety I wouldn't trade for one of the other laptops mentioned) and find myself leaving it open more than I used to.

I owned my 145 for 4 years without problem. A 175 (upgraded from another 145) gave me 3 years of faultless service. My 1400/117 has battery issues and is now a desktop; but it basically still works as well as could be expected (it was crippled out of the box, no cache) on it's 6th birthday. I bought a three year old clamshell banged it around for a year and traded it in for the 14 inch. It still works on the dealer's desktop as an e-mail station. It is still pluggin', but the 14 is plugged after 6 months (it was used)! :p

Yes, mobile stuff is more susceptible to problems, but I am accustomed to better longevity.

I will keep the new 12 incher and watch closely for the tell-tale glitches that forespell the disaster and take it for warantee work as soon as I see them. After one motherboard replacement, it goes on the block.
 
Congratulations, I really liked my 14 inch, I hope you enjoy it.

The problems seem to be in the g3's, but the g4's are new. Most of the logicboard failures I have been reading about happen at 13 months.

Applecare is a good investment even if there are no issues, If it were available here, I'd get it.

BTW, learn about the warning signs of impending failure. If you see nasty horizontal lines flash by even once, it's time to visit the apple store. A stitch in time saves nine. The logicboard failure seems connected to the fraying of the video harness which is what give you the horizontal glitches.
 
Surronded said:
Thanx, my guarantee is for a year. In January 2005 i'll get Applecare.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't wait too long, especially not until next January. You don't want to wait too long and forget to get Applecare, then slap yourself because something goes wrong and you have to shell out for it.
 
I heard that the G4 iBooks have had some modifications do the part that frays the cable. I still think that AppleCare is a good idea, and if/when I can afford it, I will get it.
 
I've got a friend who recently switched to Mac with an iBook, and he loves it. BUT, his iBook and one of his friends' appears to have the same problem. They've been looking a lot on the internet, and have been interested in this lawsuit thing. But more than anything they wanted their laptops to just work again.

So, they brought it in somewhere (I forget where) and the guy there kind of did a custom fix job with some rubber bands and electrical tape! And it worked! At least for now.

Any advice? What would a victory against Apple be in a class-action lawsuit? A recall of all affected iBooks?
 
There seem to be two problems. One is the frayed video cable and the other is logic board failure. The former may be a source of the latter, but I already wrote that.

Chewing gum rubber bands etc may fix things for a while, but if you have the frayed cable, run - don't walk - to a real service center and have it replaced. I read somewhere that the harness costs 70 dollars and that if you are a DIYer, you can do it fairly easily. He called the job a 6 on a scale of ten. Unfortunately I can't remember where I found that, maybe in the forum at Apple's own site.

Hopefully they'll make a special warrantee extension for this problem or a good deal on trade-in or a special price on this repair. None of it is too exciting.

A general recall could break Apple - as Brian said, they have sold 1.6 million of these puppies. A cash settlement will break down to 45 million for ten lawyers and $6.35 for each sufferer. I won't sign up on principle, but I don't want to just be pee'd on either.

That's why it's a bummer!
 
Well well. My iBook was bought in summer 2002. In one month of use, its logic board died, so it got replaced. Now the new user of the iBook emailed me -- it appears either the board is fried again, or there is something else wrong again (the hard drive? the screen?). Seems a lot out of luck for that laptop.

I loved that laptop. And I feel truly sorry for the guy. And for anyone who has had the same issue .. once, even sadder for those with the same thing occurring twice.
 
I have been thinking about the longevity of my machine and looking at the g4 ibook. Its form is the same as the G3 with the exception of the slot-loading cd. I wonder if the board will fit in the G3 case. Does anybody know?

Reportedly the G4 board was redesigned and is better than the old G3 board, though the cable problem will be the same. That would be the sensible solution to the problem if it works.
 
My first ibook had a fault and locked up when I adjusted the screen, the charger went after having my new ibook 2 weeks and in the last week display has gone for a SECOND time, a friend of mine has just got his ibook back from apple too, bit of a coincidence if you ask me!! :mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top