[biscuit]

So there I was on Friday, happily typing away, when the screen goes dead and the thing starts buzzing. Next thing I know, there's smoke blowing out the back of it! Then everything went dead.

Obvioulsy the important stuff is backed up. The spectacle actually stopped me from being annoyed until yesterday. There's a bloke coming today to pick it up to see if I can get a new one on the home insurance, so fingers crossed. If that fails, do you peeps think I should contact Apple? I forgot to mention that it was bought in 2001, so it's well out of warranty (no AppleCare).

biscuit

[Randman]

No A/C, no reason to contact Apple. But wow, never heard of that before.

[f1000]

Originally posted by biscuit:
So there I was on Friday, happily typing away, when the screen goes dead and the thing starts buzzing. Next thing I know, there's smoke blowing out the back of it! Then everything went dead.

Obvioulsy the important stuff is backed up. The spectacle actually stopped me from being annoyed until yesterday. There's a bloke coming today to pick it up to see if I can get a new one on the home insurance, so fingers crossed. If that fails, do you peeps think I should contact Apple? I forgot to mention that it was bought in 2001, so it's well out of warranty (no AppleCare).

biscuit

You're lucky; I've seen worse. It's good that you had most everything backed up. I'm not sure what Apple would do in a situation like this. If your PB had still been under warranty, Apple would have asked you to ship the computer directly to their PowerBook Division so that their engineers could take a look at it. Once they had diagnosed the problem, they would probably have sent you a similar or even better model free of charge.

It might not hurt for you to call Apple. Apple can't hide behind an expired warranty if there's a risk of death or injury to a customer.

[biscuit]

Originally posted by f1000:
It might not hurt for you to call Apple. Apple can't hide behind an expired warranty if there's a risk of death or injury to a customer.

That was my theory too. I'll probably tell Apple anyway, since it seems like the sort of thing they ought to know about.

The insurance company will replace it if it's 'accidental damage', but not if it's a fault with the machine. I'm not holding out much hope. Do you think them poking at it will make any difference to Apple's viewpoint?

biscuit

[f1000]

Originally posted by biscuit:
That was my theory too. I'll probably tell Apple anyway, since it seems like the sort of thing they ought to know about.

The insurance company will replace it if it's 'accidental damage', but not if it's a fault with the machine. I'm not holding out much hope. Do you think them poking at it will make any difference to Apple's viewpoint?

biscuit

I don't know. I'd contact Apple sooner rather than later. If the insurance company breaks any seals inside the laptop, Apple might argue that you had made unauthorized modifications to the computer. You could counter that it was the insurance company's investigators that broke the seals, but you'd be hard pressed to prove it unless the insurance company backed you up.

[tae667]

I'd say that insurance company won't replace it, beacuse by itself. Call Apple and demand replacement, say you'll call consumer officials if they don't replace it. Law is probably on your side, at least in most of the countries in EU it is.

[biscuit]

The insurance company has arranged for it to be sent to a computer repair centre in Essex, who apparently have 'an Apple engineer'. I didn't press them as to whether this engineer is Apple certified, but hopefully it won't upset Apple. The DHL guy has been and taken it, so it's too late now.

I have a number for Apple and a customer ref from a previous (under-warranty) repair, so I'll give them a call when I get home. Do you think I can really demand a replacement? I didn't actually come to any harm, although that much smoke had to mean the thing was on fire inside...

biscuit

[Randman]

Don't think a demand is the right approach since it is out of warranty. Simply telling Apple what happened (yours is an extreme case opposed to a simple hard drive dying) might elicit a better response.

[biscuit]

I think that's the approach I'll take; phone them just to let them know about it and hope for a miracle.

biscuit

[B Gallagher]

wow.. that's bad. never heard of a computer spontaniously exploding before.
let us know how you get on.

[biscuit]

I had a long telephone conversation with a product specialist at Apple last night. I explained what had happened and told her that it had been sent to the insurance company, but also said I could ask the insurance company to send it on to Apple if they needed it. She asked me a whole load of questions about what happened: whether there was any visble damage, how much smoke, what type of smoke, has it been moved since (obviously yes), has the area been cleaned, can an investigator visit the scene, what was it plugged into, was anything else damaged and did I come to any harm amoungst others. She was very thoughrough and friendly. The case has been sent to the engineering department and she is going to call me back after 12 today to tell me what they say.

I haven't heard from the repair company yet, but I doubt they recieved the machine until this morning. I just hope them dismantling it doesn't create problems for Apple. I told Apple the name of the repair company so they should be able to find out about them.

Thanks for the advice peeps, I'll keep you all posted.

biscuit

[macaddict0001]

That sounds good

[biscuit]

Quick update; the case has been elevated to a team in the US. The person from AppleCare tried to call today but I was out (D'oh!). I'll have to call tomorow...

biscuit

[biscuit]

I'm getting a new iBook! So here's what happened; Apple said it was a standard failure and not a safety issue, so that went no futher. The repair company said it couldn't be repaired and needed replacing with an iBook G4, 640+ megs RAM, 30 gig HD. The insurance company gave the go ahead and it'll be delivered on Tuesday! I considered upgrading the machine a little but they were charging �10 more for Bluetooth than Apple, so I decided to leave it as the stock config. Better to have an iBook than none at all though, right?

Two things sour it a little. First, my HD was completely kaput so I've lost various replaceble but annoying things (pics, music etc.). I only had my really important stuff backed up. Second, this new machine is worth �800, whereas my iBook was insured for �1400. Don't get me wrong, the new one is better than my old one, but what was the point of valuing the old one (and probably boosting my premium) if they only do a like-for-like replacement? I might call the insurance compnay about that.

Anyway, can't complain, in fact I'm pretty pleased

Thanks again,

biscuit

[iDORK]

never heard of that before either wow!

[StonedRose]

Originally posted by iDORK:
never heard of that before either wow!

Good deal. Wondered if the iBook qulified for REA? Then you wouldn't have to touch the insurance.
Aloha.

[StonedRose]

Originally posted by StonedRose:
Good deal. Wondered if the iBook qulified for REA? Then you wouldn't have to touch the insurance.
Aloha.

qualified. Sorry.

[f1000]

Originally posted by biscuit:
Anyway, can't complain, in fact I'm pretty pleased

[the_snitch]

The exact same thing happened to an ibook i was repairing. The backlight cable that goes into the screen from the right becomes pinched in the hinge, and gets disconnected.
I soldered it up, and "thought" i had re-insulated it. Turns out it was touching the negative, and smoke poured out as soon as i plugged it in.

My co-worker, whos been doing this alot longer than me said "wow, ive had some pretty strange things happen to computers, but ive never had one catch on fire!!", just to make me feel stupid!

[Mulattabianca]

you were lucky, as nothing worse happened, and you get a new one.

it would not have qualified for MLB REA, since it was eitehr until 18 mar 05, or 3 years of purchase, whichever longer coverage, so if it happened past 18 mar .. oow.

do you have any pics of the old one? sounds a scary experience, but would be interesting to see some pics..

[biscuit]

There'd be no point in pics, since it looked abolutely fine. It smelt terrible though.

That's interesting about the backlight cable. Can I ask if the HD got busted on that machine? I'm getting a sneaking feeling that the repair company just assumed it was a power surge (thier stated cause) rather than really investigating it. Still, that's better for me because a power surge is an accident and therefore covered on my insurance.

Sorry for being dim, but what's MLB REA?

biscuit

[agentz]

Hi biscuit, glad to hear you're getting a new machine.

We had an iBook G3 500 (or was it a 600, can't remember) do almost exactly the same thing on us. Because it was one of our end users that had the problem we never actually got to see the smoke but by the time it made it to us it smelt worse than a very smelly thing indeed.

The customer claimed that they had just plugged in their power supply to the machine and something made a small popping sound then they started getting wisps of smoke out of the DC board area then from the other side of the machine.

Our AASP didn't even quibble and replced the machine. The hard drive on ours wasn't fried so all data was transferrable over to the replacement machine.

[biscuit]

Hi all. The new iBook arrived yesterday and is really nice, although I wish I'd asked for a much larger HD. Still, I survived for 3 years with 20 gigs. I guess I won't be getting a free copy of Tiger, since it was bought before the 12th.

Thanks agentz, that's very interesting indeed. Most of the stuff I lost can and has been replaced now. I'd have preferred to transfer all my stuff though. As it is I lost all my archived e-mails, a few videos, some pics and a bunch of music. If I'm honest though, the music I lost was never really mine anyway The annoying part is that I had a 60 gig external HD on order before this happened. It was due to be delivered a fortnight before the death of my old machine, but the company had messed up and they didn't actually have it. I'd have had a bit-for-bit duplicate if they hadn't messed it up

What I didn't mention was the �50 salvage fee the insurance company wanted to charge me to send the old one back. Since they told me the HD dead it just didn't seem worth risking 70 odd quid (including an external caddy), so I put the money towards an AirPort Express instead

Thanks again for your help peeps.

biscuit

[tae667]

Great for you.

Now you'll backup every week to external drive, right?

[ghporter]

I hope you have exceptional service from your new iBook-and that you don't have any more "interesting" events with it!

Just a note, when I clicked on this thread, it had been viewed 666 times, so I decided to post to make sure it didn't stay that way.

[StonedRose]

Originally posted by biscuit:
Hi all. The new iBook arrived yesterday and is really nice, although I wish I'd asked for a much larger HD. Still, I survived for 3 years with 20 gigs. I guess I won't be getting a free copy of Tiger, since it was bought before the 12th.

Thanks agentz, that's very interesting indeed. Most of the stuff I lost can and has been replaced now. I'd have preferred to transfer all my stuff though. As it is I lost all my archived e-mails, a few videos, some pics and a bunch of music. If I'm honest though, the ....
Thanks again for your help peeps.

biscuit

Good deal. Another satisfied customer.

[turtle777]

What insurance do you have that covers these kind of failures ?

-t

[webb3201]

Originally Posted by biscuit

That was my theory too. I'll probably tell Apple anyway, since it seems like the sort of thing they ought to know about.

The insurance company will replace it if it's 'accidental damage', but not if it's a fault with the machine. I'm not holding out much hope. Do you think them poking at it will make any difference to Apple's viewpoint?

biscuit

Accidentally drop it on the floor before the insurance guy arrives...hurry.

[MrForgetable]

throwing it on the floor would probably be more convincing.

[biscuit]

The insurance is just standard home and contents insurance, and the iBook was a named item because it was worth more than �500. It covers accidental damage like floods, fires and apparently power surges

I was surprised they insurance people replaced it, but then I guess they just go with whatever the repair company tell them. I was really very lucky in the end.

biscuit

[KianD]

Originally Posted by biscuit

The insurance is just standard home and contents insurance, and the iBook was a named item because it was worth more than �500. It covers accidental damage like floods, fires and apparently power surges

I was surprised they insurance people replaced it, but then I guess they just go with whatever the repair company tell them. I was really very lucky in the end.

biscuit

I'm surprised you had to name it, as my insurance specifically covers a laptop up to 3,000 and a desktop up to 2,000 without specified items

However, they never copped on me claiming on two seperate laptops for one power surge, as I claimed three months apart....

[rozwado1]

I need more info on this as my old iBook 500 recently caught fire bc of the inverter cable shorting out at the hinge.

My catch: I disassembled the thing to get my HD out - which works fine. I know how to get it all together, but it's pretty damn obvious it's been opened. Think it's worth a shot?

[biscuit]

Originally Posted by rozwado1

I need more info on this as my old iBook 500 recently caught fire bc of the inverter cable shorting out at the hinge.

My catch: I disassembled the thing to get my HD out - which works fine. I know how to get it all together, but it's pretty damn obvious it's been opened. Think it's worth a shot?

So your HD was fully recoverable? I really think that my repair company didn't even look at it. Not that I'm particularly bothered, but some people might think they'd lost important stuff. I wonder if it's too late to get the old one back...they've probably binned it by now.

As for more details....what did you have in mind? Do you have home & contents insurance? When you say it's obvious your iBook has been opened, what do you mean? I'd say it's worth a go since they can only refuse to replace it. Just make sure they'll send it back to you free of charge (if you want it back that is).

biscuit

[rozwado1]

My insurance wouldn't cover it, so I'm selling it for parts instead...