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cube4all · Jun 21, 2003, 08:29 AM

hi,

have scanned the forum and it seems everyone is quite content with their current PB12. I wish I could say the same.

When it was announce in January, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this super machine. Finally, in late Feb it arrived with extra ram superdrive, airport extreme etc. A month later, the whole machine died. I couldn't power it up..nothing. So I took it to the service center, and they told me that the mother board was faulty. After some quarreling, they finally agreed to replace the whole unit with a new one. Now it is June and just yesterday, the whole PB display went black. It powers up alright, and the Caps Lock button lightens up but nothing on the display (Yes I tried to hit F2 key many of times).

I just can't believe the built or quality controls on this. I have a IBM Thinkpad T23 from work for over a year now, and never had such problems, comparing that the IBM gets about 80-90% of my time compared to the PB.

would love to hear from you guys if you had any similar experience, or give me some advice how to take this up with Apple.

PS: Steve if you read this...send me a mail

michael_sugirin@yahoo.com

icruise · Jun 21, 2003, 08:56 AM

Is the computer working ok aside from the screen not coming on (can you hear any sounds, or get other indications that it is still functioning, aside from the caps lock)? I assume you've tried rebooting and so forth? You shouldn't have any problems getting it serviced if the screen has gone bad -- just call Apple. It sucks, but you're under warranty and all, so you shouldn't have to pay anything.

superlarry · Jun 21, 2003, 09:10 AM

if you have an external vga monitor, try plugging it into the powerbook after booting. it should mirror the display by default, meaning it'll show you what should be on the screen. if this works, then your built-in screen is bad. if it doesn't, it's something more complicated and bad.

Mastrap · Jun 21, 2003, 11:47 AM

That has happened to a friend of mine, same problem. Rebooting sorted it and it hasn't happen since. He thinks it might have to do with his energy saver settings.

Sorry to hear that you're having a bad time with your PB.

cube4all · Jun 21, 2003, 02:12 PM

during boot-up i am hearing sounds alright.

I will try the VGA option.

in any case I will make a trip to Apple Service Center.

akuma-x · Jun 21, 2003, 05:44 PM

They are most likely going to have to replace the logic board. i had the same thing happen to my iBook and it was an issue w/ the logic board. The more and more I read about the 12" PB there more and more they are just like the iBooks. They both have the same issues.

mosch · Jun 21, 2003, 10:10 PM

Originally posted by cube4all:

I just can't believe the built or quality controls on this. I have a IBM Thinkpad T23 from work for over a year now, and never had such problems, comparing that the IBM gets about 80-90% of my time compared to the PB.

Well, Apple has the lowest first month total failure rate in the computer business, but it's still about 7%. Thus, despite being the leader in reliability, approximately 1 in 14 people will have their machine die in a fashion that requires major service, and approximately 1 in 200 people will not only have their first PB die, but their second one as well.

Unfortunately, it's still simply not possible to achieve 99% unit reliability without increasing the price to a level that most people wouldn't accept. (And the 1% of failures there would be considered even more unacceptable, due to the extra expense.

cube4all · Jun 23, 2003, 04:59 AM

i must be that 1% then...twice

akuma-x, after replacing the logic board any problems? I read somewhere that after opening the PB is not the best thing to do. I might plea with them to replace the whole unit again.

what do you all think?

akuma-x · Jun 28, 2003, 01:28 PM

After I got the logic board replaced the only issues I have had have been w/ my battery. But that's a whole other ball game.

Mac Zealot · Jun 28, 2003, 05:20 PM

It might be a good idea. After all, a replacement is much better since you get another chance to try again

Problem is the repair center (from my experience) isn't too great on partial failures, on total failures (like your screen), that could be a totally different result.

Either way, call and see what can be done, since you've only had the powerbook so long, perhaps they can just bill it off as DOA and let you try again

Sorry to hear.