Here’s an e-mail I got from my friend John Kurokawa this morning:
Hey Aaron,
… I have to take my PowerBook in to the Apple Store in Cleveland. If anyone ever asks you why they should get AppleCare, show them these pictures.
I walked away from the machine for 2 minutes, and when I came back, found a lovely (Aqua?) blue line running through the screen. It was like I’d been bitchslapped by my ex. It’s there when I boot off my installation CD and it passes the Apple hardware test, so I’m pretty sure it’s a motherboard/videocard problem. Anyway, I’ll take it to a Genius and leave it in the hands of the gods!
…
Later,
John
He’s had that PowerBook for (I think) two years now, and who-knows-what created this particular problem. If I remember correctly, AppleCare for a PowerBook cost somewhere in the $300 range. LCD or logic board replacement would likely cost much more.
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August 13th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
A quick check of http://www.ifixit.com shows prices in the $400-$500 range for logic boards. I made the mistake of forgetting AppleCare on my old G3 iBook. A mistake my wife & I will never repeat.
August 13th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
[...] Aaron Adams in The value of AppleCare gives a great example on why Applecare pays for itself. [...]
August 13th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
So many “extended warranties / service contracts” are genuine wastes of money that its far too easy to overlook the good ones.
Applecare is worth it, at least for notebook computers.
August 13th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Luckily I haven’t had to use AppleCare for my PowerBook. But I like knowing that if I need it the service is usually very good. I definitely think it’s a worthwhile investment.
August 14th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
The display on my 4-1/2-year-old iBook G3 stopped working a few months ago but had no trouble booting in FireWire target mode to run a final backup. I never got AppleCare coverage for it (which wouldn’t have helped now anyway) so when the hard drive failed a couple years ago I bought a larger replacement and paid a tech to install it. Even if I could figure out what was wrong now it doesn’t seem worth repairing, with the risk of messing up something else attempting that myself.
Thanks for the iFixit link, Obi. Hadn’t heard of them before. I just submitted the form offering to sell them the system. If they don’t want it (or won’t pay enough) I’ll probably salvage whatever usable parts I can, especially the HD to use in an external case, regardless of what condition it ends up in.
Chose not to get AppleCare for the eMac I bought in mid 2004 that my wife uses now and it’s been a trouble free workhorse. The serial# qualifies it for the eMac Repair Extension Program so if it wants to break I’d obviously prefer it happens in some way that would be covered before that ends. Otherwise, I’d consider replacing it with a mini and maybe skip AppleCare. I’d appreciate the quieter mini but the eMac still has a faster HD and DVD burner so it’s been less tempting to replace.
Getting AppleCare for my iMac G5 shortly before the original one-year warranty ended was a no-brainer since it had already needed three repairs during that time. And I’ll definitely get it for the iBook’s eventual replacement, which I’m patiently postponing until after at least the next MacBook (Pro) revisions and possibly even after 10.5 is released.
August 20th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Well, I’m a little buggered about the repair- this computer is only 1 year and 4 months old! I’m definitely glad I got the extended warranty. The genius at the Apple Store in Cleveland took one look at it and said “bad logic board.” He also claimed that their turnaround was 5-7 days and I would “definitely be up and running by next week.” Well, we’re now on day 6, and as of day 5, my repair order was still on hold due to parts being on order. When I called AppleCare to inquire about the status of my repair, I was told that my repair would be investigated, and they would get back to me on Tuesday.
I understand these things can take time, but I’m bothered by the fact that the Genius told me I would be “up and running in 5-7 days” when he clearly had no business doing so- he did not: a.) check with anyone to see if the replacement part(s) were available, b.) call to let me know that the repair was going to take longer than 5-7 days, and c.) well, there is no c- I’m just going through total computer withdrawal, and I’m wondering what to do now that my department head is demanding my syllabi and other items that I can’t access on my backup hard drive because I have no computer to access them on! (The computer I’m using right now is at the guest house I’m staying at, and has no Firewire port- This thing is from the Eisenhower administration…)
I really wish Apple could provide you with a loaner, but that isn’t an option…
February 18th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Problem is it’s your word against Apple as to whose fault the damage is. And all apple has to do is cry “liquid damage” and that’s it, they refuse to fix.
http://appleliquiddamage.blogspot.com