Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

shecky · May 15, 2003, 03:02 PM

like many, I am waiting for the Aluminum 15.4" powerbook to hit the shelves before making a purchase for school. Because i MUST buy this by the 1st week of September it will most definetly be a revision A - i will not have time to wait for a rev. B

so the question I have is thus:

in the past, how many problems do rev. a powerbooks have? are they major problems? minor problems? covered by apple under warranty? etc... If historically its minor type bugs that are covered under warranty/replaced by apple/whatever I am OK with that. but if its major problems that are going to be a headache for the life of the powerbook then I am concerned.

Jean-Loup · May 15, 2003, 04:15 PM

Simple, never, ever, EVER buy a rev A of anything lest you be the "guinea pig" for the following revs. That's not to say you will automatically have a problem but you have MUCH greater chances of it occuring.

My 2�,
Wolf

cambro · May 15, 2003, 04:33 PM

I picked up a discounted early rev. A Ti400 after the rev. B was announced (the box on the sucker was all scagged up and the DVD region wasn't US...would like to know its history because it certainly knocked around before landing in my lap). I've never had a problem with the Ti400 of any kind, including paint, and I carried it all over the country in a Spire backpack. My uncle has it now and it is still clicking along just fine.

Like every other product, there is a probability of getting a "bad apple" but the probability is low in general. It is *probably* greater with early releases but it is also *probably* not worth worrying about the difference there until you move beyond impressions on discussion boards to hard numbers.

Good luck.

fldsfslmn · May 15, 2003, 04:45 PM

It is *probably* greater with early releases but it is also *probably* not worth worrying about the difference there until you move beyond impressions on discussion boards to hard numbers.

wise words, in fact the most reassuring and probably most realistic i've read regarding the mac in some time.

parsec_kadets · May 15, 2003, 05:00 PM

I got the original Ti400 when it came out and now I have the 17" PB. I haven't had a single problem with the 17", and the only problems I had with the Ti were my fault (like scratched paint due to a ragged zipper inside my bag). I wouldn't worry too much. Plus, for the vast majority of issues people have encountered (such as slot loading drives scratching CDs in the original Tis) Apple has offered to fix the affected units under warranty.

msykes · May 15, 2003, 05:20 PM

Yeah, I'd avoid buying a revision A if I could, but I wouldn't use the word "never".

One thing, should we really consider the 15" a revision A? Since the 12" and 17" will have been out for awhile, I feel like Apple might be able to draw on their experience with those machines to make sure the 15" AlBook is more problem free. But maybe I'm just being optimistic.

It also seems like the 15" form factor has been around much longer than 12" or 17", so the engineering of the case might be better understood.

phedge · May 16, 2003, 06:50 AM

Your chances of a rev A problem are probably higher, but not high enough they should scare you away. Especially after a few months when you've had time to read others reactions.

I've owned at least 6 Apple rev A products, and only had a problem with one (DOA), which was quickly replaced by Apple.

My rev A G3 Wallstreet just gave up the ghost last month after many years of hard work and no problems.

This rev A AlBook 17 is about as sweet an engineered machine as you'll find. I would expect the new 15 to be the same.

Good luck.