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bamchum · Nov 29, 2003, 02:52 PM

As a long-time Apple fan it pains me to say this, but my 15" aluminum powerbook is officially a POS as far as I'm concerned. It has now been to AppleCare in Amsterdam three times and every time it goes off it has 4 problems. They fix one, ignore three and add another. The latest is that they replaced the keyboard, which had sticky keys. But of course they screwed it up: replacing the American keyboard that was on there with a French one!

The AirPort reception on this machine has been appalling from the beginning and still is, even after they replaced the antennas and the airport card. It's much worse than my TiBook and basically unusable.

The lid of the machine is noticeably warped, with bigger gaps on the right and left front corners than in the middle when closed. It's still warped even after they replaced the cover.

The screen had large white spots all over it when I got it. This they managed to fix on the first trip to Amsterdam.

But I've basically had it. I want a new machine that works or I want a refund. Nothing else is acceptable at this point.

Has anyone else here been in a similar situation and gotten satisfaction from Apple?

Sakino · Nov 29, 2003, 03:22 PM

Well I am a first time switcher, and waited over 14 months to get this powerbook. Well unfortunately it has been nothing but a disaster for me.
I got up the morning of keynotes and instantly ordered my powerbook. When I received my powerbook I was shocked to see the number of problems I had. My first powerbook had the following problems: whitespots, heat issue, battery life couldn�t surpass 1 and half hours, ticking noise from hard drive, and the fan was on constantly.
Well sure enough they made me send it back instantly while they made my 2nd powerbook, so I was out a computer at college for 2 weeks.
Well the second one was just as bad as the first one. Here is a list of the problems with my second on: 2 white spots; if I pressed down anywhere on the keyboard or palm rest area a bunch of pixels would appear on the screen making the system unusable; battery life again, and my cd rom drive was loud as hell. Sure enough they built me a new powerbook and I waited another 3 weeks without a computer.
Well the 3rd one arrived and this is the one I am typing with right now. BUT BUT there are still problems?!?! My battery capacity has decreased over 20% in the first week, and a couple of buttons stick.
Well I had enough of this bullshit and I drove an hour an half to talk with a genius. He said he would offer me a brand-new powerbook, and I could keep mine in the meantime. So it looks like I am going on my forth powerbook now, and I am afraid to see what�s going to happen with the next one.

s4iscool · Nov 29, 2003, 03:40 PM

Ill jump on the wagon here, and repeat that my PB is junk as well, but I sold my PC notebook, and I will have to work through the problems on this PB.

look at the sig for the problems.

Dave Hagan · Nov 29, 2003, 03:58 PM

So did all of you get your PB around the same time (right after the keynote)?

s4iscool · Nov 29, 2003, 04:06 PM

I just got mine about 3 weeks ago. It took more than 2 weeks to get here, even though they said it would ship the next day. I had read that many were delayed because they were scrambling to fix the eraly problems. I dont think they did a good job of that because I have the same white spot problem, and dim half screen along with sticky keyboard buttons.

Eug · Nov 29, 2003, 04:17 PM

Still going strong here with my 1 GHz TiBook - a year old now.

anaphora68 · Nov 29, 2003, 04:22 PM

No problems to report with my 1Ghz Aluminum, got it over a month ago. Running along perfectly, love this machine!

C-Bear · Nov 29, 2003, 05:17 PM

Working on a flawless from the get-go 1Ghz Alu12" and lovin' it.

Renderdog · Dec 21, 2003, 12:50 AM

My 15" PowerBook arrived Friday, only six days after I ordered it, but without the 80Gb hard drive or backlit keyboard I ordered. It did have an airport card I did not order.

The lid had a 1/8" gap on the right side. Otherwise great machine, sending it back after waiting on hold for 2 hours. Should've been a five minute conversation at most, "Not the PowerBook I ordered"... "We'll pick it up Monday and ship you a new one." But they put me through a lot of hoops.

If they don't get it right the second time I'm going to start looking elsewhere... who am I kidding, I can't stand Windows so I'll probably keep trying. But I'll consider selling my AAPL stock if the quality control and support remain poor.

ryeguy · Dec 21, 2003, 05:00 AM

Hey banchum. I am living in Poland, where are you? Maybe we could stay in touch via email (freudling at hotmail dot com). I own an ibook that is a piece of junk. It is in Holland getting a new logic board. The powerbooks sound like a nightmare. Pismo anyone?

Dubya's Dealer · Dec 21, 2003, 02:40 PM

I second Eug, I've had my 1ghz Ti for about 9 months now. He's a frigging warrior. Traveled round the globe-crammed in all kinds of backpacks, carry-ons. I don't even sweat the airport security anymore, even those crazy Germans who use what looks like a minivac on it.

Paint's still perfect, heat issues are minimal, screen looks terrific, hinges fine, ports in back just fine by me, keyboard ditto, airport recepetion is fine-smallish apartment.

And fast as I need it, never crashes...

Eevryone I know who owns this model loves it and I've only heard complaints on these forums. I'm sure the als are nice, but these Tis are certainly battle tested.

krux` · Dec 21, 2003, 03:24 PM

My powerbook is quite flawless, Not only does it performe well, (XBench Scores First 105 with 512MB Ram, then 114 with 1GB, and now 124 with OSX Update) however i cant find Anything wrong with it, thats quite a case to make however that is certainly excellent, no dead pixels, no hard drive sound anymore, no case warping, no white spots, no no no, there is nothing wrong and i guess its becuase i ordered long enough after release, however even that wasnt that long!

euphras · Dec 21, 2003, 03:35 PM

Quote:"I second Eug"

Same here: Tibook 667 / DVI (may 2002), still no paint flaking, all runs perfectly.

All i wish for the future is a powerbook in Ti-design but with magnesium-alloy rims and anodized (perfectly scratch resistant) surfaces...

striker100 · Dec 21, 2003, 04:38 PM

I thought most european countries have laws that allowed you to return for a refund items that are not repaired correctly after a couple of times.
Am I mistaken?

Zaffir · Dec 21, 2003, 05:10 PM

I'm kind of upset at mine, but i still love it.

Warped screen and loose latch is annoying. White spots are too. My PCMCIA is totally dead. Airport reception sucks compared to my mom's 12" iBook.

The problems suck, and i'm not happy with Apple. I'm sending it in after christmas to get all of this stuff repaired. But i still love the machine - sitting in a nice lazy boy chair with it is just too nice.

urrl78 · Dec 21, 2003, 08:13 PM

I dumped a paint flaking 667 DVI after Apple re-skinned it for a Rev A 17" and it is cooler, quieter and has no additional problems after 8 months. But I sympathize with the origional poster and suggest he insist on a refund or keep having it repaired. I sent my 667 Ti back about 5 times before they stopped adding additional problems and finally repaired it right.

elvis2000 · Dec 21, 2003, 08:16 PM

Bought my 1Ghz 15" on October 17th and no problems.

bstone · Dec 22, 2003, 03:45 PM

15" Al (1.25ghz, Superdrive) has been the BEST laptop I've ever owned (out of 5).

No complaints at all. Only smiles.

RealMac · Dec 22, 2003, 04:14 PM

Originally posted by bstone:
15" Al (1.25ghz, Superdrive) has been the BEST laptop I've ever owned (out of 5).

No complaints at all. Only smiles.

It's good to hear that you're having a Powerbook without any significant problems. I'm on my 6th unit (had white spots before and on the 6th too) with a replacement screen. It has a dead pixel or two and a micro white spot when I look at it from an off angle, but it isn't visible when I look at it from straight on.

I dropped it twice while in my Booq sleeve and although there's a very small dent, the book has been working fine. Under 10.3.1, I had 26 days of uptime, which is purely amazing.

[APi]TheMan · Dec 22, 2003, 07:33 PM

I wasn't really involved with the internet Macintosh community until 3 years or so ago so I didn't have a chance to read reviews/complaints/praise about older Powerbooks (Lombard, Wallstreet, Pismo, etc). I've had this Pismo for 2 years now and it's been a champ. It runs 24/7 (on AC power) and burns DVDs, has upgraded everything (processor, hard drive, RAM) and it's still working fine...

My question is, did Apple start slacking in quality recently or is this a bi-product of the parts Apple chooses for their displays, boards, etc being victim to the computer industry's leaning towards smaller, cheaper, faster, and in turn, lower quality?

I'll be in the market for a new Powerbook soon and because this is a once every few years thing for me, I'm fairly scared at what could happen.

Jim Paradise · Dec 22, 2003, 07:47 PM

Originally posted by Eug:
Still going strong here with my 1 GHz TiBook - a year old now.

Seriously.... it's alllll about having a ghz TiBook!

*joins in on gloating*

Apple really did **** up with the latest Powerbooks.

WizOSX · Dec 22, 2003, 08:13 PM

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan

My question is, did Apple start slacking in quality recently or is this a bi-product of the parts Apple chooses for their displays, boards, etc being victim to the computer industry's leaning towards smaller, cheaper, faster, and in turn, lower quality?

I think it is very recent. The cause seems to be experimenting with companies who produce the entire machine. Apple is not on site during production and things "just happen." Certainly most of the Ti Powerbooks were very good. Since then Apple has tried different manufacturers for each model.

[APi]TheMan · Dec 22, 2003, 10:33 PM

Originally posted by WizOSX:
I think it is very recent. The cause seems to be experimenting with companies who produce the entire machine. Apple is not on site during production and things "just happen." Certainly most of the Ti Powerbooks were very good. Since then Apple has tried different manufacturers for each model.

I guess I'm just not familiar with the process. So Apple designs them and then has other companies assemble the machines?

I think I'd be better off buying a Powerbook off of eBay or maybe an Apple refurb just so I know it's good, albeit maybe a year old.

bamchum · Dec 22, 2003, 10:38 PM

I've still got my Ghz TiBook along with the POS AlBook (that Apple is about to replace). The Ghz TiBook wasn't really a lot better in my view. The one I have has had it's motherboard changed 3 times. It also has very loud fans, so loud that they are very distracting and make it impossible to take the machine with me to work in a library. This is partly why I bought the AlBook.

Whatever problems the AlBook has, loud fans aren't one of them.

Zatt · Dec 23, 2003, 08:07 AM

I have to agree with the people who love their PowerBooks. I've had it for a week now and can't stop using it. It's a dream machine. My only complaint was the hell that I had to go through to get the thing.

Synotic · Dec 23, 2003, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
Seriously.... it's alllll about having a ghz TiBook! *joins in on gloating*

Apple really did **** up with the latest Powerbooks.

I don't know how common these problems are, but for what it's worth I had a 1GHz TiBook and I wouldn't go back. I don't have any of the aforementioned problems with my 1.25 GHz AlBook... white spots, warping etc...

The only differences are things like the hinge where you don't have to hold down the computer to open. Essentially no fans which was a big problem with my Ti. Also the ports on the side are a lot more convenient. The whole Aluminum build quality is also superior in my eyes. It doesn't feel like it's going to break.

I did order my AlBook about 6 days or so after they were released though, which might of been why I didn't get a lemon.

PBG4 User · Dec 23, 2003, 03:39 PM

I picked up Al on 20-Sep and I haven't had any issues that seem to be plaguing other people. No white-spots, the screen is evenly lit, everything works, etc., etc.

Just thought I'd throw in a positive as not everyone received a bad PB (or 6! holy cow!).

juanpacolopez · Dec 23, 2003, 04:54 PM

Originally posted by Eug:
Still going strong here with my 1 GHz TiBook - a year old now.

I second that Eug...

My 1Ghz Ti is just over a year old (Nov. 2002), though I've only personally had it for six of those months.

It is still in immaculate condition, with the exception of 1 tiny scratch my cat so lovingly put on the back of the LCD; that, and the little rubber feet to prop up the screen have long since disintigrated, though I never notice this problem since I bought some replacement feet (ratpadz I believe) mostly as soon as I got the machine to prevent the keyboard-skin-oil problem.

Seems the fan comes on a bit more running 10.3.2 (compared to 10.3.0), but I never notice it anyways as I'm almost always wearing headphones when it is in any heavy use (i.e., at work).

jimf_81 · Dec 23, 2003, 09:04 PM

It's too bad that there seem to be so many problems with the 15" PB. I ended up upgrading to the 17" so that it would actually ship (15 was delayed for over 6 weeks with no end in sight). The 17 is absolutely flawless.

bamchum · Dec 25, 2003, 02:28 AM

Well, I finally got my new replacement 15" Powerbook yesterday and, in almost every respect, it's much better than the previous model.

The basic problem with the previous one was that, after being sent in to Apple for 4 repairs, it looked like what it was: a machine that had been disassembled and reassembled 4 times. In the end, it'd had 3 screens, 3 keyboards, Airport antennas replaced or adjusted twice and the case reassembled several times.

The new one (from week 49 where the previous one was from week 33) just feels much tighter in general. There is still a small gap between the lid and the base, but it is even on both sides and much smaller than on the previous one.

I can't say I consider myself an entirely satisfied customer because it took a lot of insisting to get Apple to replace this machine and I was without the previous one for about a month all told during its 4 trips to Holland.

But I like my new machine a lot.

typoon · Dec 26, 2003, 09:23 AM

I think this is always the case with Apple and there rev A machines. everyone of them seem to have issues. they usually seem to get it about right in Rev b. HOpefully they will fix these issues in the 15' Powerbook.

Powaqqatsi · Dec 26, 2003, 11:46 AM

My Ti867, which is exactly one year old (well within a day or two) is quite perfect and it looks better than the alu books

spitty27 · Dec 26, 2003, 02:27 PM

pismo 400MHZ since august of '00 and i've had ONE problem. the first month my dvd rom drive broke and no cd's would mount. they sent me a new one within 2 days and asked me to send back the old one. that was about the only bad thing that happened to this machine.

i do think that apple's service has dropped...a lot...within the past few years