I'm annoyed with Apple's unwillingness to repair my PowerBook.

[randomness]

I have a PowerBook G4 whose AppleCare will be running out in a week. It suffers from a wonky screen. The bottom two-thirds of it goes haywire occasionally. Usually, when it warms up, it settles down and works again, but I've stopped taking it with me anywhere because of it.

When I took it in in August, it was much worse than it is now. The tech at the Genius Bar took a look at it, said, "Well, it's damaged, and we don't cover damage. That problem never happens unless there's been some trauma to the machine, and I see you have scratches on the case. It's a $700 repair."

Trouble is, the scratches on the case are sliding it into and out of my backpack, and didn't correlate to when the screen started misbehaving.

That's the last time I pay for AppleCare, and possibly the last time I buy Apple. I'm considering a Panasonic Toughbook.

Comments

[nathanjw]

I tend to think AppleCare is a scam, on the scale of other extended warranties. Over a lifetime of computers you pay more for the warranties than you'd actually pay for repairs, given the overall reliability of the products. The fact that Apple seems to be pretty stingy about what they claim it covers certainly doesn't help.