[JimiMac]

Well, that was fun! My beautiful but slippery new iBook slid off my pants and fell lees than 3 feet onto my carpeted bedroom floor. At first I was happy cause I saw no scratches or dents.....HA!

The main unit is now warped and doesn't sit flat anymore. The lid release button sticks. The LCD screen had a large gap along the inside bottom till I pushed the inside screen lining back. It would not start up. It was dead! Thank god I kept playing with the reset buttons and it finally started up.

Sturdy?!? I think not!! I also have no idea if I have any internal damage. AppleCare told me the minimum charge to have it checked out, even under my 90 day warranty, would be $329 minimum.

This is crazy! It fell onto carpet from my lap, not 7 stories! Yes, I dropped it, but I guess it's just my tough luck that the iBook isn't built strong enough to survive a 3 ft drop onto carpet. Not happy.

[Arty50]

From Apple's website:

The iBook�s weight, now only 4.9 pounds, is well below that of other full-featured PC notebooks. With a sleek new case made out of impact-resistant polycarbonate plastic, it survives the rigors of daily use and abuse. Inside a sturdy magnesium frame provides superior strength.

If they advertise it, then they have to back it up. This should be covered under the warranty, and the last time I checked you don't have to pay for warranty repairs.

Try calling again. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting the right operator. If that doesn't work, then break out the quote and any others you can find and say you're going to sue for false advertisement.

[Circa]

Ouch! That for sure isn't good. Hmm ya persistance pays off man everyone knows this. Just keep trying apples support has always been the ****, so keep trying you will succeed man.

As far as the ibook for durability, that is crap. I mean carpet! Gee there was a guy in the powerbook forum that just dropped his tibook and the left hinge just broke off, but still works fine.

Conclusion the ti is still in my opinion stronger than the ibook. But people should know these two portables are still very fragile and shouldn't be underestimated.

[jeromep]

Yes, Apple support is rather crappy and inconsistant. Some days they hate you for purchasing their product, the next day you are their best friend. I'll play devil's advocate here and say that Apple is probably not going to pony up for a repair as long as the unit looks like it was dropped. I seriously doubt that you are going to be able to patch it up enough to make it look factory fresh, but DOA.

Anyway, Any drop of a laptop can be seriously detrimental to its life and condition. I'm not at all surprised by a 3 foot drop doing that much damage. I wish I still rememberd my HS physics becuse I'm sure that the force it hit the floor with was fairly substantial.

I always insure my laptops just incase of this.

I'm sorry for your loss.

[Gee4orce]

Check your household contents insurance. Mine covers me for this kind of damage

I am about to purchase an ibook & already bought insurance from Safeware. It is supposed to cover theft and droppage with no deductible. $72 per year. People at work are giving me a hard time for my paranoia, but now I'm thinking it wasn't a bad idea. If any of you out there have insurance, what company are you using, and how satisfied are you with it (if you've made a claim...)

[iMan]

Hello Everybody,

I would call back Apple. I think the person you were talking didn't know anything. If they won't cover buy the AppleCare which is only $250 which is less than the repair would be and you would have coverage for 3 years.

[MaxMac]

Can you buy Applecare after you have bought the laptop, or does it need to be concurrent?

[AppleCello]

im pretty sure that you can purchase applecare up to 1 year from the purchase date. it doesn't last any longer if you wait to buy it though. Its good for 3 years from the machine's purchase date.

[Tzaar]

according to the zero halliburton web page, a laptop dropped from 30 inches is under 300gs of force at impact. Don't know if it's true or what, but that's too bad.

[icruise]

I don't think there would be any point in getting Applecare, since it doesn't cover things like dropping the laptop. I think the ibook is very rugged for a laptop, but it is still a precision piece of equipment. I've heard of people having much worse accidents with their ibooks and powerbooks, and escaping without so much as a scratch -- I'm afraid that you just got unlucky.

[milhous]

Forget about going through Apple/AppleCare directly! Here's what you do....

GO TO YOUR NEAREST AUTHORIZED LEGIT APPLE SERVICE CENTER. Apple seems to put more creedence and flexibility in the local techs than the actual clients themselves!

AppleCare refused to replace my screen and dvd-rom drive while it was covered under the balance of the factory warranty. But I took it somewhere local and they were able to have Apple authorize a return shipment for it. In the end both components were replaced and I just got it back yesterday.

[iMan]

Hello Everybody,

You can get AppleCare anytime before your One Year warranty that comes with your iBook.

[PeteWK]

Come on here people. The dude DROPPED the computer! An iBook isn't a super ball. We all do bone headed things in our lives and this is one of his. Suck it up and take it like a man. Apple isn't responsible for our stupidity. COMPUTERS AREN'T MEANT TO BE DROPPED THREE FEET!

Jeez.

PeteWK

Originally posted by iMan:
<STRONG>Hello Everybody,

I would call back Apple. I think the person you were talking didn't know anything. If they won't cover buy the AppleCare which is only $250 which is less than the repair would be and you would have coverage for 3 years. </STRONG>

Originally posted by iMan:
<STRONG>Hello Everybody,

I would call back Apple. I think the person you were talking didn't know anything. If they won't cover buy the AppleCare which is only $250 which is less than the repair would be and you would have coverage for 3 years. </STRONG>

If they won't cover it under warranty, they won't cover it under Apple Care.

my PB520 took a dive from the top of a dresser onto concrete covered by thin carpet and survived.

my tan iBook rev. a took a dive from the dining room table after someone tripped over the modem line. it landed its front edge and bounced. both the computer and the modem were fine.

would i expect my 2001 iBook to survive either of these falls? NO.

would i expect apple to repair them for free if they had broken? NO.

we're not talking about your super-sized soda you spill at mcdonalds. that only costs them a few cents to replace and clean up.

would you expect the dealer to fix your new car if you drove it off lot and wrapped it around a tree? NO. even if the car has 5-mph bumpers, you couldn't expect the dealer to repair the damage.

consider yourself lucky if you can find a less expensive way to fix it.

but remember -- it is better to have loved (had a mac) and to have lost (broken your mac) than to have never have loved (used a pc) at all.

[segaslave]

my old skool ibook rev.A has has a very ruff life, but still runs like a champ, its been dropped off the couch on to the carpet a few times, its driven in the back of a car on a floor as a friend ran up over curbs and catching air, stepped on... prolly the worst(size 13 foot crashing down unaware feeling 245 pounds stepping down on poor ibook) but no damage, guess plastic is better than metal.

[ 07-28-2001: Message edited by: segaslave ]