My horrible 17" laptop story
Well, I'm really bummed. (I'm posting this on a crappy PC.)
I've had my 17" for about 8 months now. Two months into owning it a friend had inadvertantly set the laptop down rather hard. It was in its case. There is a little support dimple on the case that slightly dented the latch area around the laptop. Fortunately, there was no internal damage and the latch still worked fine.
Well, after all this time, I've suddenly gotten some VERY bad problems. I mean I get Kernal panics immediately on startup, no matter if I'm starting up from a CD or an external drive or the internal drive. I've attempted to start up in target disk mode and the hard drive will show up, but when I try any utility (disk warrior, norton, apple's disk utility) the laptop will immediately shut itself off. If I try to copy any info off of the mac onto another mac, it shuts off after a couple of seconds.
This is really bad.
I've checked many forums, including Apple's own support forum. Nothing indicating this exact problem. I've removed both RAM modules, that doesn't seem to be the culprit. Safe mode, verbose mode, etc. will not work.
The only explaination is that the logic board is toast.
The really distressing part of this is that when I took it to the Apple Store, they immediately said, "oh, well, you've dropped this machine, that's the problem. Your warrenty does not cover this. You're out of luck."
Even though it's been almost seven months of flawless performance, I suddenly have a big problem. And Apple's answer is simple.
I'm screwed.
Since everything is tied into the logicboard on these laptops, that means that pretty much the entire mac has to be replaced, and I have to pay for it.
I can't fault my friend and guilt him into paying for it. After all, it was so long ago and there's no proof that what he did was the problem. He doesn't have Home-owners insurance and the credit card I used to buy it with only provides 90 days warrenty.
What this means is that after going through a Titanium whos both latches completely broke (Apple wanted $1200 to fix this, so I opted just to buy a new laptop) rendering it useless, I now have a useless 17" laptop that Apple wants another $1200 - $1400 to fix.
What it seems like to me is that anything that ever happens to this computer, Apple will say that it has been abused because of the tiny dent in the front and will refuse to fix it ever again.
I'm really bummed. Do you have ANY suggestions at all on what I could do? I'm at wits end. Thanks.
P.S. I'm posting to several forums I'm a member of since this is a really big deal for me. I'm hoping for a really wonderful solution.
I've had my 17" for about 8 months now. Two months into owning it a friend had inadvertantly set the laptop down rather hard. It was in its case. There is a little support dimple on the case that slightly dented the latch area around the laptop. Fortunately, there was no internal damage and the latch still worked fine.
Well, after all this time, I've suddenly gotten some VERY bad problems. I mean I get Kernal panics immediately on startup, no matter if I'm starting up from a CD or an external drive or the internal drive. I've attempted to start up in target disk mode and the hard drive will show up, but when I try any utility (disk warrior, norton, apple's disk utility) the laptop will immediately shut itself off. If I try to copy any info off of the mac onto another mac, it shuts off after a couple of seconds.
This is really bad.
I've checked many forums, including Apple's own support forum. Nothing indicating this exact problem. I've removed both RAM modules, that doesn't seem to be the culprit. Safe mode, verbose mode, etc. will not work.
The only explaination is that the logic board is toast.
The really distressing part of this is that when I took it to the Apple Store, they immediately said, "oh, well, you've dropped this machine, that's the problem. Your warrenty does not cover this. You're out of luck."
Even though it's been almost seven months of flawless performance, I suddenly have a big problem. And Apple's answer is simple.
I'm screwed.
Since everything is tied into the logicboard on these laptops, that means that pretty much the entire mac has to be replaced, and I have to pay for it.
I can't fault my friend and guilt him into paying for it. After all, it was so long ago and there's no proof that what he did was the problem. He doesn't have Home-owners insurance and the credit card I used to buy it with only provides 90 days warrenty.
What this means is that after going through a Titanium whos both latches completely broke (Apple wanted $1200 to fix this, so I opted just to buy a new laptop) rendering it useless, I now have a useless 17" laptop that Apple wants another $1200 - $1400 to fix.
What it seems like to me is that anything that ever happens to this computer, Apple will say that it has been abused because of the tiny dent in the front and will refuse to fix it ever again.
I'm really bummed. Do you have ANY suggestions at all on what I could do? I'm at wits end. Thanks.
P.S. I'm posting to several forums I'm a member of since this is a really big deal for me. I'm hoping for a really wonderful solution.
Comments
I guess all I can say is be persistent. Some tech support people seem to thrive on your suffering (or it just seems that way because they're lazy and don't want to have to deal with anything), but if you insist they'll probably help you. It's worth a shot at least. It seems like Apple has pushed you around. If you can get through to anyone slightly higher up than a tech support grunt, and tell them that this is the second time they have refused support based on an inconsequential cosmetic defect, you might get somewhere.
Maybe you can even try not telling them about it at all. When my iPod broke a while ago, I got a pre-paid shipping box sent to me the next day. Although it had a pretty major scuff on one corner, they sent me a replacement within the week. It's not like you'd be able to do anything else with the machine, so maybe it would be a good idea to call in and see if you can get them to send you a box. If you're lucky, they won't even notice the small dent.
So call them on the phone. Do not mention the drop. If the tech will not help, get his manager. And so on.
Good luck.
Pretend I didn't just say that.
Do what Luca said.
Just my $0.02
Originally posted by Ebby
Just a friendly reminder to check the simple things. You charger works and charges the battery, right. If there is no power going to your laptop it won't have enough juice to boot or stay in target disk mode.
Just my $0.02
Actually good advice, seeing as that we often overlook the simple solution when we're distressed. However, this isn't the case here, when the bad restart first occured, the copmuter had been plugged in for several hours and was fully charge.
I think the thing to do here is to simply send it in after calling tech support about it. I still welcome your comments and suggestions here and will report back to you what happens.
I just hope this doesn' happen to the rest of you. Make sure that you have the steps in place that it doesn't becuase this is a nightmare.
Cheers.
What this means is that after going through a Titanium whos both latches completely broke (Apple wanted $1200 to fix this, so I opted just to buy a new laptop) rendering it useless, I now have a useless 17" laptop that Apple wants another $1200 - $1400 to fix.
first, if you don't mind my asking, what'd you do with the first machine with the latch problem?
second, what happens when you attach this machine in target disk mode to another machine? also, what does the KP say when it kicks through?
Originally posted by alcimedes
first, if you don't mind my asking, what'd you do with the first machine with the latch problem?
second, what happens when you attach this machine in target disk mode to another machine? also, what does the KP say when it kicks through?
I closetted the first machine, it sits gathering dust. There was nothing I could do for it, it was just too expensive to fix.
When I attach the machine to another in target disk mode, the hard drive mounts, but the laptop will without warning shut itself off within seconds, no matter the battery power. I have been able to get some data off of the machine this way, one file at a time...starting in target disk mode, copying a 60k file until it shuts off, and repeating the process over and over again.
I don't recall off hand what the KP says, I don't have the laptop with me at the moment, but the first thing is "driver not recognized" or something like that, then about 100 lines of code and ends with "we are stalling here".
I looked up some of the key words in various places, including Apples support area, but the only solution I found was to start up in safe mode, which in my case won't work. I can't even get to that point.
After the startup chime, the grey screen comes on, I see the Grey Apple for a couple of seconds, then the KP takes place.
I did try to use the Hardware Test disk for G4 that Apple provides and was able to get to a prompt, but at that point, don't know what to do. It does give the option of something like either "boot-mac", which results in the KP, or "exit" or something, which just shuts the laptop down again.
I closetted the first machine, it sits gathering dust. There was nothing I could do for it, it was just too expensive to fix.
well, i'd be more than willing to pay the shipping on it if you wanted to clear it out of your closet.
actually, i'd even be able to do you one better. i'd be willing to pull all the data off of your current drive and send it back to you on CD's or DVD's if you like. i've got hardware that will convert a standard laptop HD connection to a firewire connection. (something you might want to look into as well).
i think it ran close to $200, but for my work it's been invaluable.
it does sound like there's something wrong with the board, but i'd be surprised if Apple won't fix it. try calling on the phone and see what they say, a small dent like that (assuming it's actually small) shouldn't give them cart blanche to refuse all further repairs.
of course, the other option (which i did on my Ti) is to take the skin off, and careflly work the bump out. took me an hour or two, but now what was a good nickle sized dent on my machine is no bigger than a pencil ereaser.