Al 15" PBs still shipping?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Did anyone get a new Al 15" Powerbook?



MacBidouille suggests that they are halting production http://www.macbidouille.com/niouzcon...003-10-20#6939



... and Macfixit has on its homepage (http://www.macfixit.com/) the following:



UPDATE: More confirmation of delays Stewart Hector provides more confirmation that Apple is delaying shipment of some PowerBook G4 15" (FireWire 800) units:



"I live in Toronto, Canda, and I was in an Apple reseller (North Star Computers) on Saturday just passed. It indeed seems that Apple are delaying orders. I overheard a conversation between one of the sales people and an interested customer looking at the 15" (it is a small Apple reseller and the staff are quite knowledgeable). The sales person said that there was a delay in 15" PowerBook orders and he stated the screen defects as the reason."




What's up? Anyone got a PB recently? Still produced and shipped?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    Having had a defective new 15-inch model, I think Apple should give up on these new Al15's and bring back the Titanium. Bring back the Titanium and implement Airport Extreme and Built-In BT. The last model of the Ti seemed to be perfected. I have a Ti867 and it's flawless. I just wanted Airport Extreme and built-in Bluetooth, plus the new keyboard. The battery life on the new aluminum models sucks -- they use a 46-watt hour battery compared to the last Ti rev's 61-watt hour battery -- and that's just for starters.



    The fact that the 15-inch turns as hot all over, compared to just the bottom on the Ti, is another factor. These babies get hot and get uncomfortable to type on after they're on for an hour or so. I know some say theirs may be cool as a cucumber, but why the wide disparity in this issue other than to say that there's something wrong in production to which some run hot and some run cold.



    The latch is a bitch. Never have I heard so much disdain for the design of the PowerBook than I have with this new 15-inch.



    And the screen. What are they doing different with the new 15.2 inch screen that they weren't doing when they manufactured the Titanium and its 15.2 screen? This "pooling" spots problem is outrageous QC. I also hear users saying that the new aluminum model's display is not as sharp as the one used on the Titanium, and some on various forums, are saying that their screen is either bright on one side and darker on the other side. Truly bizarre.



    Lastly, there are other sporadic issues with these new models freezing on sleep (more likely software than hardware)...problems with some third party RAM not working and causing the machine to malfunction...and sporadic problems with airport extreme reception. Problems, problems, problems. This is not good for Apple.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    sunreinsunrein Posts: 138member
    I just got mine this morning. (first post on it, actually) It's in perfect working order. Incidentally, it was sent via Fed Ex, so that may indicate all sorts of changes...
  • Reply 3 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Of course, with my head buried in getting ready for conferences, I ordered my PB15" the night *before* seeing the scads of reports across the web about the screens... *sigh*



    My order is listed as shipping "On or before Oct 31st", which is beyond the original 7-10 day shipping time. Hopefully they're taking their time on this one.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha



    My order is listed as shipping "On or before Oct 31st", which is beyond the original 7-10 day shipping time. Hopefully they're taking their time on this one.




    It seems that indeed these delays are related to the problems of the 15" powerbook. One Macbidouille reader reports that, while tracking his powerbook, he noticed that it jumped from Luxembourg to... the Netherlands, instead of France. Note here that the Apple Repair Center for Europe's powerbooks is located in Holland. Could we say that now at least some of the 15" powerbooks they do make a tour to repair centers, prior to delivery, just to make sure all is OK?
  • Reply 5 of 9
    666666 Posts: 134member
    "screen is either bright on one side and darker on the other side. Truly bizarre."

    Yep, i'm glad I saw this! The right hand side of my screen on my 1.25 15" is darker than the left, but isn't really noticable when you turn the brightness up. Till now, I just thought it was me going a bit nuts and being paranoid. got whitespots too. Aside from that, the machine is amazing. I hope it's fixable, but i'm willing to use it till they can fix it within a day, it's not really that bad, but I don't want to leave it unfixed for ever.

    Asides from that, i LOVE it so much!!!
  • Reply 6 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Well, I don't know what to feel at this point.



    My new PBG415 shipped today.



    Is it good? Is it fixed? Does it have 10.3 preinstalled? Inquiring minds want to know!



    *sigh*
  • Reply 7 of 9
    badtzbadtz Posts: 949member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Well, I don't know what to feel at this point.



    My new PBG415 shipped today.



    Is it good? Is it fixed? Does it have 10.3 preinstalled? Inquiring minds want to know!



    *sigh*




    my brother's was shipped today also. Hopefully it's not in the "white spots" batch of powerbooks!
  • Reply 8 of 9
    c-bearc-bear Posts: 111member
    All shipments appear to be orders directly through Apple.



    According to my MacConnection rep, they're still waiting for Apple to ship them any new Alu15"s, and a check of other third party resellers seems to indicate that they're in the same boat.



    Backorders are piling up very high, but the reason isn't clear.
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