[spalding12]

i am 41 years old and have been a member of many forums over the years. i am WELL aware that folks post negative thoughts all the time and the positive ones seem to be kept to themselves. please remind me that what i just mentioned is true for this forum as well. otherwise, with all these rants tonight about defective screens and defective ipods and apple's crappy service.... i am wondering just WHY i would plunk down almost $5,000.00 tomorrow morning at the apple store in tampa, florida....

i guess i have finally found something very positive about buying a stock powerbook off the shelf at my local store. if it IS defective i can more easily return it without question in the first 10 days. BTO computers with more RAM and faster drives maybe be somewhat more desirable... but not to me any longer because if that one goes bad it means 1 hour on the phone on hold and countless days without a computer....

that's the story i'm hearing tonight..
so it's time to reaffirm our positive thoughts about this beloved company.

who wants to come to her aid tonight?



greg

[schk]

Well, it seems Apple's retail stores are more willing to please customers with problems, even small ones. What sucks is that it doesn't translate over to their online division who basically don't give a damn. While technically retail stores have the same return policy of 10 days and opened products have 10% restocking fees, they seem very lenient in exchanging products. If I had an Apple Store closer to me, I'd definitely utilize it. If I happen to have a problem with my soon to arrive 12", I will probably make a trek down to an Apple Store assuming they have stock.

[MacsGalor]

I got a 15" Albook the day they came out and I was happy with it but the screen did bother me as it had those white spots. They are actually clamps that reflect back. Anyway they let me switch it out I got my new one and I love it. Yeah you could have a problem but it isn't that big of a deal. If you are worried go to the store open the box inside and check the screen out if there is a problem then exchange it before you even get home. You got the nail right on the head when you said that most people post neg stuff here, but that is because they are asking for help. I'm sure there is a lot more satisfied customers that you don't hear from simply because they are not looking for help. Also you would be better off if you bought the extra RAM from someone other than Apple they charge a lot more. Try 18004memory.com or memorytogo.com both good sites and cheaper too. I just wanted to tell you that even though I had to exchange mine once I am still very glad that I bought this machine, and I didn't even really need it yet. I hope you make the best choice for you, take care!

[fisherKing]

we come here to rant, bitch, seek guidance, find fixes.
this is home for a really small percentage of macusers, and the forum is the place to get into the problems with our macs (as opposed to, say, a place to simply rave about how great everything is...which people do here as well)

i know u know all this, but...
we all (mostly anyway) love our macs; in my experience, powerbook users are the most passionate of all...

go for it, enjoy yourself. a powerbook & osx is a joy to work with...

and here is where to come when u need that help.

[spalding12]

thank you for those kind words... i really appreciate them a great deal

greg

[sorkinesque]

are the retail stores better?

i spent two hours on the phone tonight in addition to the hour i spent on the phone two nights ago trying to track down where my ipod (shipped on the 19th). Found out that it has been sitting in the same spot somewhere in asia for the last 7 days....7 days just sitting there. they offered to refund the shipping charges (i paid for expedited) but they still couldn't tell me where my ipod is exactly, or when it would get to the US, or the amount of time it would take to get to my doorstep once it arrived in the US. that's an awfull lot to not know.

the last part seemed odd to me, that they couldn't tell me how long the ipod would take to get to my doorstep once it had gotten to the US, so I asked if the same would be true for my powerbook?
"Yes"
"But the order status says 'Overnight"...
"That doesn't matter"

...about five minutes of me trying to explain that that was deceptive and then realizing i was wasting my time and asking to speak to a supervisor....

lengthy explanation to the supervisor, asking to be corrected if my understanding of any detail was wrong...end up asking 'can't you see to someone like myself, someone who owns two imacs, and convinced other people to buy a couple of ibooks and an emac....basically a walking apple bulletin board....can't you see how if you, and by you i mean apple and/or airborne and not you personally of course, but can't you see how if you change the shipping on my order status page but in fact the amount of time that package is going to take to reach me- even from when it lands in the US to the time it gets to my door- isn't overnight, can't you see how I would perceive that to be deceptive- whether or not it is intended as such?'

response - it is physically impossible for an overseas package to get to you overnight

me- but from the time it lands in the US, is it going to get to me overnight?

response - it is physically impossible for an overseas package to get to you overnight

me- but, and maybe i'm not being clear, if i'm not please tell me, i understand it can take a while for the plane to get here, i understand how air travel works, but even assuming i'm willing to let go of the 7 days that the shipment sits in an airport or warehouse without anyone bothering to do anything about it- and that's happened with my ipod so i don't think it's an unreasonable concern to have about the powerbook, once it lands in the US, how long till it gets to my door?

response- i can't predict the future sir

me- and i'm not asking you to, what i'm asking is if the shipping method at that point is overnite

response- no, it is physically impossible..

eventually i gave up.

yesterday i had a conversation with apple customer relations about my gf's ibook. pmu is shot. she's studying in austria. has applecare. applecare austria was called 2 weeks ago about getting a box out to her. took a week for them to agree to sending it. a week after agreeing to send it, no recovery box has gotten to her yet. so i want to know who in the US, who in Apple can fix this for me. I was told no one, apparently apple US does not exercise corporate authority over apple austria or so i was told. i really miss my gf, spent 300 on icams to video conf with her. now i can't even do that. and on the off chance she gets to a lab i have t o be within earshot of my non-mobile imac to talk to her cus they can't get me a powerbook....and her bday gift of an ipod is now really late....hmmm maybe she could swing over to asia and pick it up...

i pay a premium so everything will *just work* very frustrated.

[spalding12]

i can't blame you for your frustration. many have heard the story about my relationship with apple for the past 21 years...
but i only really became interested in the powerbooks after spending a great deal of time in the chicago apple store on michigan avenue. the layout of that store amazed me... all the money they spent trying to get folks to buy stuff with visual "encouragement" sure worked on me. i buy stuff online all the time... but NEVER for $5,000.00. i realize that most of you buy online for various reasons:
1. you don't live near an apple store
2. you want a BTO product
3. etc

but i don't think i'd buy this one online with all i've heard here.
i love apple
i love the operating system
i'm tired of microsoft though i'm typing on a gateway p4 right now
and i have a pc clone at my desk at work as well

i will go to the apple store in the morning and attempt to motivate myself to buy that 17" powerbook
and the isight
and the brenthaven shoulder bag
and the keynote at the discount
and the final cut express at the discount
and the applecare (wouldn't live without that)
and the airport extreme with antenna port
and maybe an ipod....

my point is i'm ready to plunk down a chunk of change and i want to be sure i'm doing the right thing. i am usually NOT swayed by the "pesimism of the crowd."

so why have i let it get to me this time?

i'm going to bed now to contemplate the morning.....
.... shall i make that expensive purchase........????


greg

[CobraNT]

Buy it and don't look back. You won't regret it.

[beijinger]

Originally posted by spalding12:


[/B]

Your history of 21 years of up and downs with Apple rivals that of mine- started first computing experience with an Apple IIe, bet thats before many in this forum were born. Not only using them, I played the stock, including options on the stock for many years. When I moved to China for a major investment bank, I fought headquarters for the entire office to be hooked up to Macs. Five years ago, however, when doing everything in Chinese became a necessity, I had no choice but to move to the Windows platform. Until today, Windows Office has only localized the Word portion, no Chinese for PP and Excel. So in the office today, bunch of Dells and IBMs.

But my main computer today is a new Al 17 inch picked up last week in Hong Kong and I have two more 17 inch being brought over from the US by my staff next week.

The reason to go for it? Everything one can imagine and every function one can use to simplify your daily life is built in. For example, even the Apple Store guys didn't know this, with my Bluetooth enabled cell phone and the bluetooth on the PB turned on, SMS messages just pops up on the PB when it comes in, automatically! A simple click on any name in your addressbook will allow you to send SMS messages to that phone number. This may be just a little thing, but accumulation of many little things have made the new PB an indespensible part of making my working and leisure life that much easier, that much more enjoyable and ultimately more productive.

Sure, as in any mechanical device, however well designed and built, there will be problems of one type or another. But ultimately, I am just so incredibly grateful for the designers (both artistic and content) and planners at Apple for all that they have brought to the computing world over the decades.

Do it! and you will also not worry about virus and worms any more.

[nagromme]

I've only bought online--and gotten GREAT service from Apple. They even fixed some things on my THREE year old PowerBook that could well have been considered wear and tear. I didn't demand it, merely mentioned the issues, and they took care of it: replaced a cracked case, keyboard with a couple sticking keys, missing feet, and other issues.

Look at ANY product and you'll find dissatisfied people--especially in forums!

But don't expect to find a better product than that PowerBook you're eyeing

[spalding12]

thanks again for all the kind words...
for me AND the powerbook

greg

[forcelite]

I have had 2 powerbooks, the first 12' and the new 15'

Also an old ibook

Every computer has been wonderful, and the new 15' is the best of all

I agree that people talk more about the bad side of things than the good.

Life is that way

"Eat at a good restaurant and you'll tell your best friend, eat at a bad one and you'll tell the world"

[WOPR]

Bought my 12" 867 last week as a refurb from Apple UK. Ordered it Monday after they phoned me to say they had one (I missed out the week before after I placed an order) and I got it on the Wednesday. Well pleased and £450 off!

[MusicalTone]

I got a 1Ghz TiBook and am really happy with it. Yes Applecare service stinks. I have had to deal with them a couple of times (faulty power adapter that needed replacing and faulty isight that was repaired and then sent to another country for delivery instead of mine [still sorting that one out]. Unfortunately Apple has a really bad call-centre type support system. But that aside I wouls say go for the PB - it really is an excellent machine and OSX is the dogs ****ocks. Just cross your fingers that the hardware never goes wrong - which by all accounts it rarely does.

[MacsGalor]

spalding12 Let us know if you got it and how it is, I hope you did I don't think you'll be dissapointed

[Cincojoe]

What, are you kidding me???? Get your butt in the car and go buy that Powerbook !!!

[CobraNT]

Did you buy it....did you.....huh....huh?
We are all excited to see you bought it and your impressions.

[Cincojoe]

no news is good news...maybe he's still in the Apple store playing....