iBook logic board failure AGAIN

[bankshot]

Ugh. Our G3 iBook is on its third logic board (original + 2 replacements). The last replacement came in 2004 and has been working flawlessly for the past 2 years. That is, until last night, when suddenly it froze and showed the dreaded pattern of video garbage on the screen. This morning I booted it up and got about 2 minutes of use before the same thing happened. Unfortunately it's now 3 years and 6 months since the date of original purchase, and Apple's logic board repair program only covers the first 3 years. I was kind of hoping it would fail again before the 3 years were up, because I'd read about several people complaining and getting G4 iBooks as replacements. But no, it had to wait until now. Bah!

The first option would be to pay the $280 to repair it AGAIN. What really bugs me about this is that Apple obviously never fixed the design flaw that caused this problem in the first place. It's obvious from my experience, plus reading that of countless others, that they felt it was cheaper to replace faulty boards with others having the same potential flaw, and cross their fingers that it didn't happen again. As a result, many people went back for multiple repairs. Maybe good for their bottom line, but not good for customer service if you ask me.

So this means a replacement has no guarantee of working for any significant period of time. It could work for 3 weeks like the first replacement board we got, 3 months, or 3 years. Who knows? Sounds like quite a gamble to me.

A second option would be to simply forego having a notebook computer for awhile. The bank account certainly likes this one best. We have plenty of funds to buy any new Mac right now, but we'd rather stick that money into long term savings or investment. Plus there's that pesky tax bill coming up in a few weeks... We do have plenty of other computers around the house, but I absolutely hate being chained to a desk to do work, after being spoiled by a laptop and being able to work anywhere in the house.

Of course the third option is to buy a replacement. Ideally we'd wait for the iBook to go Intel before doing so. The MBP is awesome, but more computer than we need in a laptop. Any Intel iBook would certainly be a major upgrade over any other Mac we currently have.

So, soon it will be time to figure out what to do. If we replace it, I suppose I could sell it for parts on eBay. I'd probably salvage the hard drive and sell the rest, either all together or as pieces. Might be interesting to see what it would get.

I suppose I posted this for myself to blow off steam as much as anything else. But if you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free. Otherwise carry on...

 

[ewinemiller]

The first option would be to pay the $280 to repair it AGAIN.

I wouldn't pay $280 to repair a 3+ year old laptop that is just going to fail again (with the same problem). I'd suggest cutting your losses and not throw more good money at it. You may be able to pick up some extra cash selling the parts.

 

[munckee]

Mines in the same boat, although (knock on wood) it's still running ok on #3. Have you tried taking it into the store to have it replaced to see if they say anything about its age?

On a side note, I personally believe this is a heat-related issue. I purchased mine used at 18 months old and it had never been repaired. In the 9 months I've owned it, it's been replaced twice. I think it has something to do with the fact that I was using it on my bed constantly where it would get very hot. I've since taken precautions against letting it heat up and have been ok so far.

 

[California]

Call Apple and complain. You should have three years since 2004, by my calculations, on the logic board.

What the heck else are they going to do with the old logic boards?

And why did you have to pay 280 for repairs on it?

I'd ask them for a refurbed 1.2ghz 12" iBook machine. They've got to have those lying around, too.

I had a friend who babied here G3 14" 600mhz combodrive and that thing lasted and lasted, so it may be as another poster said, a heat issue.

In the case you get it fixed, get one of those QuickerTek iBook handles and stands built in and KEEP THE LAPTOP COOL. The more air around them, the cooler they run and the less chance of heat aging the components.

I'm currenlty babying an old Tibook and I keep it on a laptop stand that elevates it and keeps air circulating around so the heat doesn't build up.

 

[princealfie]

Logic boards yum... my clamshell logic board still lives!

 

[helphelper]

ibook 14" g3 logic board failure

Hi, Just a quick recommendation: My daughter had the logic board problem. I googled and found out that someone had luck in restarting their machine by placing pressure over the location of the graphics chip (to the left of the mouse pad). I did this and found that I could start the machine, but it quickly failed. So I used a woodworker's c-clamp with some wood blocks to distribute the pressure. The machine is still running after 4 hours - enough time to off load any critical files.
Hope this might help.

 

[CoMpX]

The harddrive is to the left of the palmrest. Please don't do this as it will probably ruin your harddrive.

 

[disconap]

What the poster above said.

Also, I have a G3 ibook that has gone through three LB replacements. Take it to an Apple store and bring your previous replacement receipts, you will probably get them to go ahead and replace it (my last one was billed by Apple, and the tech at the store crossed out the $280 charge and wrote in $0)...

 

[bankshot]

Also, I have a G3 ibook that has gone through three LB replacements. Take it to an Apple store and bring your previous replacement receipts, you will probably get them to go ahead and replace it (my last one was billed by Apple, and the tech at the store crossed out the $280 charge and wrote in $0)...

Hey, cool. We've since gotten a Macbook to replace the iBook, but I keep thinking about bringing in the iBook to see if they'll still honor the repair program. It's still a good machine when it's working. The worst that can happen is they'll say no, and it doesn't hurt to try. This is certainly encouraging, even if it's only an anecdote involving one particular store with one particular employee who felt generous.