[0157988944]

So as you may know, my imac has been emitting a tiny click every 2 seconds. It really sounded like a malfunctioning fan that was perhaps moving slowly or something. The iMac was feeling kind of hot, which would augment this point.

I take it to the Apple Store, and after the mac Genius FINALLY hears the sound, he diagnoses the hard Drive. But the hard drive, he says, is fine. He shows me a hard drive and he shows me the part that is making the sound. Ok, So I see where the sound is coming from, but I DONT REALLY CARE!

My imac is supposed to be silent. Whether or not my hard drive is safe from death, I still don't want it to click. It didn't click when I got it, it shouldn't click now.

Am I wrong about this?

[Dakarʒ]

No, I agree with you.

[0157988944]

Do I have any grounds asking for a replacement drive, considering that my iMac isn't under AppleCare anymore?

[iREZ]

no you do not, and you didn't have grounds to ask for a replacement before either.

you did however have the grounds to ask them to repair it for you free of charge unless you caused the ticking, but you do not have the grounds to ask any longer because your machine is not covered anymore.

sucks, shoulda took it in sooner

[Big Mac]

This is why technicians always say to buy AppleCare.

[0157988944]

It just developed... but yeah... it does suck.

[hldan]

Yep, put Applecare on your list on your next Mac purchase. I always do.

[mduell]

You can buy a new hard drive for less than the cost of AppleDoesn'tCare.

[0157988944]

Yeah, basically, I plan to get a new (larger) hard drive. I just hope the Mac Genius was right, otherwise my new hard drive wont help at all and I will be pissed.

Oh, yeah... the Apple Store is gonna have to install it. They'll do that, right? And how much do you think it will cost to either replace the existing 250 GB HD or to change it to a 500 GB HD?

[hldan]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Yeah, basically, I plan to get a new (larger) hard drive. I just hope the Mac Genius was right, otherwise my new hard drive wont help at all and I will be pissed.

Oh, yeah... the Apple Store is gonna have to install it. They'll do that, right? And how much do you think it will cost to either replace the existing 250 GB HD or to change it to a 500 GB HD?

Don't quote me but I don't think the Apple store installs after market drives into your Mac. I think you have to agree to have them replace it and install it.

[0157988944]

I think you have to agree to have them replace it and install it.

that's what i mean.

[iREZ]

too much at the applestore...ive read here on the forums that comp usa will take any compatible drive and install it for $50 and if you have applecare you still retain your 'warranty'

[0157988944]

well is it under $150 at the applestore? because the person who sold me the iMac has offered to pay for all repairs below $150, so I'd like it done by Apple if possible.

[Berman]

my 24" is silent :shrug:

[0157988944]

I know. And my iMac should be, too.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by mduell 

You can buy a new hard drive for less than the cost of AppleDoesn'tCare.

I also did not buy applecare for mine. I would buy it for a laptop, but not for a desktop. Possibly worth thinking about: if you bought a MacPro AND a cinemas display at the same time, then applecare covers both at the price for the MacPro alone (at least it was like that when I last heard about it).

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

a new (larger) hard drive.

Then you save yourself the money for external storage (except for the backup). That's the upside of the downside.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by iREZ 

too much at the applestore...ive read here on the forums that comp usa will take any compatible drive and install it for $50 and if you have applecare you still retain your 'warranty'

He doesn't have applecare, and his warranty is up. That was the main problem. (If he still had it under warrant, he wouldn't need compusa).

[iREZ]

i know that...i mentioned that to give the OP some assurance at the job compusa does, but i could see how you came to your conclusion...my bad

[0157988944]

Thanks for your help... I've decided to go to CompUSA. They will Install the Hard Drive ($80) for $130, and place the old one in an external casing for $40. So I'm looking at $250, which the person who sold the iMac to me will pay $200 of. So a $50 repair ain't bad, and I got an external drive out of it

[mduell]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Thanks for your help... I've decided to go to CompUSA. They will Install the Hard Drive ($80) for $130, and place the old one in an external casing for $40. So I'm looking at $250, which the person who sold the iMac to me will pay $200 of. So a $50 repair ain't bad, and I got an external drive out of it

WTF! I'm not sure what you've been sold, but it's $100 more than you need to spend. You want this $30 service and nothing more. You can easily copy the data from disk to disk yourself.
Also you can buy an external enclosure for $20 or a better one than they're going to provide for $40, and put it together yourself in about 5 minutes. Again, buy from Newegg.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Thanks for your help... I've decided to go to CompUSA. They will Install the Hard Drive ($80) for $130, and place the old one in an external casing for $40. So I'm looking at $250, which the person who sold the iMac to me will pay $200 of. So a $50 repair ain't bad, and I got an external drive out of it

mduell is right about what he proposes. It's always good to learn a few things about your hardware.

For you it's not bad to get out of the affair for 50$.

The only poor guy is the seller of you iMac. He's getting a pretty bad deal.

[0157988944]

No, Mduell, for Macs they charge $129.99, because they are harder to get into. Believe me, I wouldn't have just accepted the $129.99 service without asking first.As I said, it's only costing me $50, and every other place I've looked charges about $100 more. I haven't found anything cheaper on newegg, either. I do my research first. I'm a miser

[mduell]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

No, Mduell, for Macs they charge $129.99, because they are harder to get into. Believe me, I wouldn't have just accepted the $129.99 service without asking first.As I said, it's only costing me $50, and every other place I've looked charges about $100 more. I haven't found anything cheaper on newegg, either. I do my research first. I'm a miser

No! Whoever is telling you this is wrong! They're probably upselling you into some other service (like one that's supposed to include the hard drive or data transfer) or just ripping you off. I had them swap the hard drive and optical drive in a 12" PowerBook (perhaps one of the most difficult Macs to work on) for $45. Do not accept paying $130!

Is the enclosure they're selling your USB2 or FW400? Are they aware that the internal drive is SATA, not IDE? I'd hate to see them gouge you on price at the end.
Newegg has good USB2-SATA enclosures for $22, but the cheapest FW400-SATA enclosures is $55.

[0157988944]

Check out the page... it agrees with me:

CompUSA.com - Flat-Rate Repairs and Service

Desktop Computer Repair
(Windows® and Apple) Starting at $129.99

The $29.99 repair is for Windows Machines and easy-access machines. I spoke with three different representatives on this issue, and the website agrees, that $129 is the price of a repair for the iMac. Perhaps a RAM upgrade would have been covered under the $29.99 repair.

It sucks, but it's their policy, and it is still cheaper than ANY other Apple Authorized Repair store.

[besson3c]

Google Apple's service manuals, download them, and install the new drive yourself. It is really not hard to install a drive given the instructions provided in the service manual, which are laid out in a nice and clear step-by-step fasion.

[0157988944]

I don't want to screw anything up, and am fine with paying a little money.

[Veltliner]

If Adam hasn't done it before and feels uncomfortable, he shouldn't do it.

I just found out he bought the computer on ebay. The previous owner should have told him about the clicking, so it is just OK that Adam does what is least difficult for him.

After all, the previous owner pays 80% of it.

I also think a 130$ bill for exchanging hard drives is outrageous. They have possible technicians with two left hands and five thumbs on each hand, and under these conditions the repair looks more like a stunt, which results in higher fees.

[Gavin]

Buy the parts (1 drive, 1 enclosure) and take it to a Mac user group meting. Somebody will do the swap for you for free.

It's really not that hard to do it yourself, maybe two notches up from replacing the batteries in a remote control. You just need a small phillips screwdriver. You remove 6 screws, pop out the old drive, slide in the new one, put the screws back in. It should take about a 1/2 hour: (step by step instructions from apple) http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/ima..._HardDrive.pdf

[mduell]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Check out the page... it agrees with me:

CompUSA.com - Flat-Rate Repairs and Service

The $29.99 repair is for Windows Machines and easy-access machines. I spoke with three different representatives on this issue, and the website agrees, that $129 is the price of a repair for the iMac. Perhaps a RAM upgrade would have been covered under the $29.99 repair.

The $130 repair is to "[b]ring your technology to us for whatever ails it. We are happy to provide you with fast, superior service no matter where you originally purchased your hardware. With our "while-you-wait" pre-diagnostic assessment, you can know what's ahead for your repair and authorize it on the spot. And if the repair becomes more extensive, we contact you for additional authorization."

The $30 repair is to "[h]ave a certified in-store CompUSA TechPro install and configure your new software or hardware upgrade at our low CompUSA price." The page goes on to say it "[a]pplies to upgrades only (limited to RAM, hard drives, sound card, video card, peripheral cards, power supply, and software)"

The $130 service is for the clueless newb who comes in and says "whaa my computer doesn't work fix it fix it!" where the technicians actually have to do some troubleshooting. You know exactly what you want and it falls within the limitations of the $30 service. There is no distinction made about 'easy-access machines' on the website, and nothing on the website to exclude the iMac from the $30 service.

Either speak to a local manager, or if he is also trying to rip you off, call corporate to file a complaint against the store. I understand this isn't costing you much, but it's still $100 difference and making $50 is a lot better than paying $50.

[0157988944]

Yeah, I realize, but I am fairly confident that because of its difficulty to get to the hard drive compared to a PC, the iMac is a $130 thing. I called about 3 times, spoke to 4 people, phrased by question three ways, and every time, once I mentioned I had an iMac, I was told it was $130.

Also, the "CompUSA TechPro"s aren't the same as the "Apple Tech" apparently. There's only one of him.

[mduell]

It has nothing to do with the difficulty of opening the computer. I had a 12" PowerBook done for $45 for 2 drives ($30 for the first and $15 for the second). The flat-rate service for a notebook is $160.

I just called a nearby CompUSA (but not the one I went to last time, since it was one of the 100+ stores that closed recently) and said "Hi I have an iMac I need to have the hard drive replaced and I already have the replacement, does that fall under your $29.99 upgrade service" and they said yes. So either speak to a manager and if they give you the same bs call corporate.

[0157988944]

Well, turns out that it's a fan anyway (As I originally thought... thanks Apple Genius for leading me to believe it was the HD...) so the whole HD price thing is moot.