[DylanG]

The Mac Genius at the Apple store confirmed what I suspected which is that the USB controller on my PowerBook's logic board is defective. He told me my only option is to give it up for a week while it's repaired. There's no way I can be without my PB for a week. Is there any way around this? I'm still within my regular one year warranty. If I upgrade to AppleCare will they give me faster service?

[jaybert]

no, you are already using applecare if they are willing to fix it for you.

what are able to purchase is an extension the warranty....so you get 3 years of support instead of the included 1

[Kyle Dreaden]

I work at one of the two Apple Stores in Atlanta. What you want to get is a service called ProCare. It's 99 dollars a year but it gives you a number of services I think you'll find very useful. In this situation, the one you'll be most interested in is the priority repair turn-around. ProCare members get a next day repair on Desktops, second day repair on notebooks.

No one wants to be without their notebook for any amount of time, but two days is better than seven, right?

If you need more info, PM me.

Kyle

[DylanG]

Kyle, thank you. I'll look into ProCare. Yes, two days will be much easier to live with than seven. It's probably worth $99 even if this is the only benefit I get from it.

[DylanG]

I just read the ProCare info at Apple's site and it applies only to products bought in the store. I ordered mine from the Apple website. Also, the rapid turnaround service is only available for in-store repairs. I was told that mine would be sent to Atlanta (where you already are) to be repaired. Am I correct in my reading of this?

[bighead]

If your livelihood depends on having a computer, then having a reasonable backup should not be much of a stress. I don't have a second laptop that I can take to school. My 1.67 is in for service currently, and I bought a 1.5 GHz refreshed laptop at an Apple Store to use in the interim. Once my old machine is back from service, I'll return the open box computer, no restocking fee.

Sure, it's an $1800 float on my credit card, but if the laptop is that important, it shouldn't be a problem to ensure your workflow is uninterrupted.

[DylanG]

Interesting idea. I don't care about floating it on my CC. I wish Apple would cross ship and put a hold on my CC pending me sending back the defective one. Frankly, I expect that from a premium vendor like Apple and I'm quite disappointed with them. Compaq (who have much lower margins then Apple) did my warranty exchange this way. If you pay $350 to Dell for a service contract they will come to your frickin home/office for 4 years and repair it on the spot. My company uses this all the tiem with Dell. Apple needs to step up their service options if they want to play with the big boys in the corporate world.

But I didn't know you could ever return anything to the Apple store without a restocking fee. So you're saying that open box units in the store can be returned for a full refund?

[bighead]

Originally Posted by DylanG

I wish Apple would cross ship and put a hold on my CC pending me sending back the defective one. Frankly, I expect that from a premium vendor like Apple and I'm quite disappointed with them.

I am personally more interested in keeping the same CPU and having the defective part replaced rather than getting a whole different refurbished computer. I know how well I take care of my books, and I don't want to inherit a bunch of problems from someone else's machine that just had one bad part replaced but other historical use or abuse issues not addressed.

I've seen the quality of some manufacturers' "replacement" computers and they look like a roomful of monkeys assembled them, though others have been OK.

[DylanG]

Interesting that you say that because this PB was a refurb. It had this problem from day one which I guess is probably why it was returned the first time. It also was missing a screw in the memory door and had a defect in the case. I should have returned it right away.