So, as mentioned earlier, Becky and I went to the Apple Store this afternoon. We ended up going to the one at the Chandler Fashion Center because the Genius Bar at the Biltmore was unavailable even at 9:30 AM, and the phone message said they were “closed”… weird.
Anyway, I gave the “genius” my handy list of problems and explained that the current 15-inch PowerBook line is unacceptable due to the horizontal lines defect and my two consecutive lemons. I said that my preference would be to exchange this LemonBook for a refurbished 15-incher from the January line, which didn’t have all these problems. But he explained that the retail Apple Stores do not and cannot sell refurbished models; those must be ordered directly from Apple. I pretty much expected that, but it was worth a shot.
So then my “genius” went and talked to his manager to see what he could work out. He came back with an offer to exchange this computer for a 17-inch PowerBook at a $100 discount (in addition to the $200 discount I already get for being a student). So I’d be getting a $2,499 machine for $2,199.
That’s actually only $40 more than what I paid for my 15-inch PowerBook, because I got the high-end model with extra RAM and hard-drive space, which costs $2,399 regularly, $2,159 with the student discount. In theory, the high-end 15″ and low-end 17″ should cost the same, once you factor in the special $100 discount they’re giving me. The only reason for the $40 difference is that the educational discount is, for some reason, not as generous for the 17-inch PBs as it is for the 15-inchers — it’s only $200 off, instead of $240.
The low-end 17-inch they’re offering me would have 512 MB of RAM, as opposed to the 1 GB that my 15-inch has. But hopefully the Apple Store would have the mid-range model, with RAM upgrade, in stock. If so, I’d get that for $100 more. (Oddly, the same exact RAM upgrade — from one 512 MB SO-DIMM to one 1 GB SO-DIMM — costs twice as much on a 15-inch as on a 17-inch.) So instead of $40 extra, I’d be paying $140 extra.
For $140 more, I’d be getting a computer that has a bigger screen (good) and 1680×1050 resolution instead of 1440×960 (good), is 1.3 pounds heavier (bad) and has a “footprint” that’s 27 square inches larger (bad), has 120 GB of hard-drive space instead of 100 GB (good), but said hard drive is slower — 5400 rpm instead of 7200 rpm (bad). The processing speed (1.67 GHz) is the same, as are all other major features, including the optical drive (8x SuperDrive, DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW).
Frankly, it’s a trade-off. The weight is my biggest concern. At 6.9 pounds, it’s a full 1 1/2 times heavier than my old, stolen 4.6-pound 12-inch PowerBook. I was already mildly purturbed by the 5.6-pound weight of the 15-inch PowerBook, which makes it difficult to carry the thing around with one hand. The extreme portability of the PowerBook is one of the things I really love about it (as opposed to my bulky old Dell Inspiron), and it’s for that very reason that I’ve never even considered buying a 17-incher before.
But what choice do I have? Getting a refurbished older (i.e., non-defective) 15-inch model is possible only through Apple corporate, and their phone guy previously told me to go to the local Apple Store if I wanted to do a return/exchange. I could try again with Apple corporate, but I doubt I’d have any luck, and even if I was able to do a mail exchange for a refurbished model, that whole process would take so long, I’d probably be without a computer for the duration of the wedding festivities and honeymoon. Not cool.
Another choice, of course, would be to do a direct exchange at the Apple Store for another new 15-inch PowerBook from the current line. But even if I get one that isn’t a total lemon like the last two, the endemic horizontal line problem remains, and that’s just totally unacceptable in a professional-level computer. It seriously interferes with some of my photo-related work, and I simply won’t tolerate it. Maybe Apple will be able to fix it with a software or firmware upgrade… but maybe they won’t, and that’s a $2,159 bet that I’m not willing to make.
So, faced with a choice between less-than-ideal options, and wanting to get a non-defective computer before too much more time passes, I am leaning toward the 17-inch option that they offered me today (and put in writing so that I can redeem it later this week or next).
But there’s one glitch. I need my box. And it’s in Indiana.
That’s right… apparently the Apple Store absolutely, positively cannot exchange my 15-inch PowerBook for a 17-inch PowerBook without the original, 15-inch box. If the idea that a $2,199 purchase would ride on something as trivial as a cardboard box seems incredibly odd to you, you’re not the only one. But apparently it’s really, really super-duper important. Whatever. So I called our “critter sitter” in South Bend and asked if she’d be willing and able to empty out the box (which is in our living room) and send it out here via expedited shipping. I said we’d reimburse her for the shipping cost, and pay her for an extra day of cat-sitting for her trouble. I haven’t heard back from her yet.
So anyway, that’s where things stand right now. Despite my reservations about its size, I’m probably going to end up with a 17-inch PowerBook — but I’m waiting on the cat lady. :)
Stay tuned…
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Categories: PowerBook Problems
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December 21st, 2005 at 8:05:38 am
Yeah I get where you are coming from, the 17″ is not all that portable :/ Its like a moveable desktop more than an actual laptop.
It could be worse, you could have one of these suckers. One of the girls I work with at work got one when she was hired from her group (the model they had ordered was going to take to long, so she got an “upgrade” which no one bothered to check). Check out that weight. 9.3 lbs!
December 21st, 2005 at 8:25:15 am
Yup, the 17″ PB isn’t all that lightweight or compact, but it was designed with graphic designers and movie makers in mind–they need 1) extra storage , 2) more screen space, and 3) more RAM to work with raw photo and film footage.
I hope everything works out for you . . . ‘cuz living without a computer sucks.
December 21st, 2005 at 8:45:48 am
I think it’s extremely pretentious and frankly, quite assholish, of you to refer to the Apple Store Genius worker as “genius” …in quotations…as if to emphasize the fact that you think he’s completely stupid and incompetent. What did this guy ever do to you? Do you think he’s the one who makes up the Apple corporate rules? Or maybe you just think that no one could possibly be smarter than you, EVER, so you have to be a prick and make jabs at people on your blog. I’m sure this guy is a hard worker, I’m sure he’s smart. I’m sure he would have helped you if he could. But you we don’t always get our way, and life is not always fair. It’s too bad you haven’t learned that yet.
December 21st, 2005 at 8:58:34 am
I don’t think that was Brendan’s intentions at all. I could be wrong, never having actually met Brendan in person, but being an avid reader of his blog, he’s got a pretty sound head on his shoulders. I think his intentions of the “genius” simply meant to imply that this is a label that Apple has provided to its employees, not one proven by IQ or whatever measure you wish to use to measure “genius.” I don’t believe that Brendan was putting this “genius” below him by putting it in quotes, but only calling the employee by a title furnished by his employer. He could have used Apple Genius Bar Employee at Chandler Fashion Center, but “genius” is far easier to type…
December 21st, 2005 at 9:37:07 am
I’ve been reading this blog for a loong time, but I’ve never commented before.
Anyway, I honestly don’t think you’ll find the 17 inch Powerbook *that* big for very long. Mine is an upgrade from a 14 inch iBook and it didn’t really take me that long to get used to. Do make *certain* that you get the RAM upgrade though; I had the original 17 inch Powerbook (1 GHz) for about six months with a 7200 RPM hard drive and the gigabyte of RAM in it, and it was nice and speedy. Then I sent it in to Apple for a repair on the trackpad and they put it on hold for over a month, totally destroying my faith in AppleCare by the way, and I finally asked for a replacement. So here I have a brand new 1.67 GHz Powerbook on my desk, but it only has 512 MB of RAM (Apple is supposed to be mailing an extra 512, but I haven’t seen it yet) and a 5400 RPM disk in it, because I didn’t want to wait for anything other than the stock configuration to be made up. Anyway, it’s quite literally like going back to the iBook at times because the lack of RAM makes it so slow. I’m sure the slower hard drive doesn’t help either. The larger screen is *noticeably* larger, you’ll like that too.
Just as an extra note though, you may find it won’t fit in any of your bags now! I know mine doesn’t anymore.
Gook luck!
December 21st, 2005 at 11:23:17 am
If you would like to buy me a ticket, I will be more than happy to deliver the box to you personally!! I’m sick of the damn cold here in Chicago!!! ;-)
December 21st, 2005 at 11:46:17 am
I thought about the 17″ when I got my 15″ back in March. Ultimately though, when I have it in a Desktop context I use three screens, so the 17″ screen did not make an appreciable difference in that situation, and the portability of the 15″ was enough better to basically make the decision for me (given I got the absolute top of the line 15 which was identical to the top of the line 17″ at the time (save screen size, physical dimensions.))
In your case you want to be able to use the computer to take notes in class, and in that context a 17″ is a bit of a monster book. Even a 15″ is a bit of a monster in that context (I know, I’ve done it…) Use on air lines the 15 pushes the try table limit, but does not quite max out the space so the 17 should be usable, but you will probably have all your neighbors watching your DVD too (so no porno…) given that the screen is almost twice as large as those damn airplane screens…
Be that as it may, I know people with 17″ and they find them to be awesome in most contexts… and very useful. I know people that have taken portable 7200 RPM drives and 17″ powerbooks on an airplane with raw footage on one side of the country and come out with a nearly completed pice when they get to their destination (granted that will suck down power, and you need on of those planes with the fancy outlet next to your seat to do it or a lot of batteries.) That is something you cannot do on a 12 and something that would stretch the bounds of credulity on a 15 (Final cut is a major screen hog. Great program, major screen hog…)
All in all, I would say you will probably be happy with the 17″ for only about 140 more. I think it is a good computer, and has not had all the issues that the 15″ has. I would advise getting good case for it with a nice strap… and get to class early so you can stake out two seats…
December 21st, 2005 at 3:16:56 pm
Jo,
The cold isn’t that bad - it’s almost 20 today.
Question to the science and weather crowd: Is 20 degrees twice as warm as 10 degrees (ignoring wind chill)?
December 21st, 2005 at 4:37:50 pm
The weight is my biggest concern. At 6.9 pounds, it’s a full 1 1/2 times heavier than my old, stolen 4.6-pound 12-inch PowerBook. I was already mildly purturbed by the 5.6-pound weight of the 15-inch PowerBook, which makes it difficult to carry the thing around with one hand.
How about you lift weights and get some muscles? Sheesh.
December 21st, 2005 at 4:38:52 pm
By the way, I think a 17″ is overkill unless the keyboard has a number pad on the right. If you still don’t get a number pad on the right, then stick with the smaller, lighter laptop.
December 21st, 2005 at 5:32:57 pm
“”"”Genius”"”", ND Lauren is exactly right. I didn’t mean to denigrate the Genius Bar guy in any way. He was a very nice guy and very competent and I had no problem with him at all. I simply put the term in quotes because that’s the appropriate thing to do; calling him a genius without quotes would be incorrect, as he’s not a literal genius. He is, however, a “genius,” as in, “one who works at the Genius Bar.” Likewise, if I was talking about a member of Best Buy’s “Geek Squad,” I would have called him a “geek,” not a geek. That’s only sensible. Way to jump to conclusions about my motivations, though. Care to retract your stream of insults now?
December 21st, 2005 at 5:33:40 pm
P.S. Trust me, if I had wanted to insult the guy, I would have been much more caustic. Have you read much of my stuff? I’m not usually all that subtle. :)
December 21st, 2005 at 7:36:30 pm
Brendan my boy, how do you know weather or not he is a genius or not. It is possible that he does indeed qualify as a genius, as do you, mike and several other people I know and which comment on this site…
December 21st, 2005 at 7:49:51 pm
Well, dcl, and other BL haters….a genius, by definition, sees solutions to problems that mere “competants” cannot. Heck, they see problems before they are problems.
Anyway, the “genius” rep at Apple did nothing extraordinary whatsoever. He did not get BL a replacement machine with equivalent performance, he did not know how to make BL whole with the earlier, more reliable, model. And he did not offer to take the machine back absent the box.
Some genius. The boy had no satisfactory solutions.
BL - do NOT settle for the 512 RAM. Get the 1024. You will so appreciate the differance.
December 21st, 2005 at 8:37:42 pm
dcl, whether … leave the weather out of this.
December 21st, 2005 at 10:53:08 pm
Normally I don’t pick on people for misspellings, but this was just to funny:
“competants”
You mean perhaps competents :-)