[mephastopholes]

hello all...
i purchased a powerbook at the begining of march this year, but didn't purchase the applecare plan w/ it... i haven't had any probblems w/ the laptop so far, but i'm noticing that the hinge seems a bit loose now; it doesn't fall or slip when its up, it just has about a half inch of play back and forth before you can actually move it...
i checked out a few display models over the weekend at the local apple store when picking up a few thing and noticed that the ones on display felt much more solid... sooo...
1) is this a common/expected problem w/ the powerbooks
2) i was pondering buying the applecare plan, would this cover a repair such a shtis and is the cost of the plan worth it?
your opinions?
thanks in advance!

[asodamiac]

you have one year of apple care. wait until your year is almost up if youre planning to purchase additional apple care.

[MarkLT1]

Originally Posted by mephastopholes

hello all...
2) i was pondering buying the applecare plan, would this cover a repair such a shtis and is the cost of the plan worth it?

Applecare covers anything that goes wrong with your PB (not including damaging it yourself, having it stolen, etc..). Is it worth it? Let me tell you two stories-

1) My PB 3400 (was REALLY expensive back in the day) did not have applecare on it. 8 or so days out of warranty, the logic board goes bad. To get it fixed, I needed to pony up $1100. I did. The new hardware had a 30 day warranty on it. 34 days later, it goes bad again! (turns out it was the power module that was killing the logic boards). But hey, I was out of my 30 day warranty, so i would have had to pay ANOTHER 1100 to get it fixed again. As a student, I couldnt afford this, so I was not only out $1100, but the powerbook as well.

2) My TiBook. This time I learned my lesson, and purchased applecare. It had the dreaded TiBook hinge problem, about a year and a half after I bought it (Opened it up one morning, and the screen came off in my hands.. EEK!). Took it in, they replaced it for free (a ~$1200 fix). A few months ago, my superdrive stopped working. Took it in, they replaced it for free (~$500 fix). So, my $299 apple car, has gotten me $1700 in fixes over the past 2 years. On a desktop Mac, I wouldnt suggest it, but on a powerbook, I wouldnt buy one without Applecare.

[nate_02]

1. I don't think it's an expected problem with PBs, but I had the problem, and so did my brother. I do know other people who have not had the problem.

2. It will be covered under your regular 1 year of applecare. I do think it is worth it to buy the extended applecare, and safeware insurance (www.safeware.com).

[iboy]

I have this problem too (from time to time) and it is quite known. My local dealer said that he has to change displays all the time because of the hinges. Actually they replaced my display already several times but all had other quality issues till today so I let them replace it about every two month now :-(... with the 90 days warranty on spare parts:

- December 2004 because of defect hinges
- March 2005 because of not working sleeping mode when closing the lid and scratched surface
- May 2005 because of defect hinges
- in about 4 Weeks (mid July) because of not working sleeping mode when closing the lid and bended aluminium cover

I have to mention that I discover the mistakes of the failture in all the spare parts right away either in the repair center or one day later! I confronted the local dealer with my experiences and he told me that it is difficult do get "good" displays, mine he had to order two times twice because the first one was either "Dead On Arrival" or the hinges broken right from the beginning!

I really don't know what is going on in this company! I'm an Apple-user since 1991 and I never had so poor quality!!!

[pete]

I had the problem too but decided to fix it myself. I opend the top part of the powerbook (a little scary but completely doable if you're patient and gentle with it) and simply tightened the screws that hold down the hinges on the inside. I also lubricated them slightly so that it wouldn't be so tight. Did this probably 5 months ago and it's still holding up so I'm pretty confident it will continue to do so.

Since you're still under warranty, I'd just send it in though.

[d.fine]

I haven't gotten Applecare for any of my systems, mainly because it is so expensive here :
329 euro (405 USD) for PowerMac
446 euro (550 USD) for PowerBooks

But I plan on getting at least one : for my PM with ACD. When I can afford it

[mephastopholes]

thanks for all of the replies and info...
i apologize if this is a stupid question, but if i understood correctly, the pb came w/ a one year warranty which would cover the repair for this issue?
otherwise, i've hear similar repair cost justifications for the applecare plan and i think that we will go w/ one...

couple of more questions here;
-if i do send it in for repairs, generally how long does it take?
-would they just tighten screws on the hinge or would it be necessary for them to change the entire diplay?
-lastly, pete, what are you refering to when you mention the "top" of the laptop; the plate surrounding the keyboard w/ the speaker grills? w/ the two alan screws?

thanks again!

[iboy]

Hej mephastopholes

- In my case I can bring my Powerbook to a lokal dealer and he will fix the Powerbook within three or four working days.
- When you still have warranty on the Powerbook I wouldn't do anything on the Loptop by myself. On my Powerbook the hinges were clamping so there are so srews to tighten. I don't know if they just tighten it in your case!