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Monday, June 26, 2006
D8517290
The story didn’t end with the last post (here).
Shipping: I got notified that my laptop had shipped back to me complete with a tracking number for DHL. Apple wisely ships things next day air, so I knew exactely when it was going to arrive. I also knew that it was being shipped to my house; on a weekday; to be delivered at 10:30 am. The question of whether a signature would be required was paramount in my mind. So, I called the DHL number and asked if it would require a signature; seems simple enough, wouldn’t you think? The woman said it would not. Being paranoid I kept checking the DHL tracking website to see when it got there. At around 10:45 I saw a new notice: “Delivery attempted. Will attempt next business day.” CRAP! So I called DHL back and spoke with a wonderfully nice woman in the local office. She was quite considerate and said that if I could go and sign the delivery ticket they would swing back around that afternoon. So I did, and they did. The package got left at my door and I eagerly went home at 4:00 to see how the repairs had gone.
Unpacking: When I unpacked the box, everything initially looked ok. I saw from the letter included that they had replaced the inverter board (as expected) and the LCD screen. Unfortunately, when I powered it up, I noticed two long scratches down the right side of the LCD. the more I looked, I noticed that at the top of the LCD (where the iSight camera is mounted), the bezel surrounding the LCD was not fully seated in the case, and as a result it had gotten bent. Not good.
Tech Support: So I called Apple again and explained the situation. The guy on the phone was not particularly apologetic, but he also was perfectly accepting of my explanation and opened another support ticket. My MacBook Pro was going to take a second trip.
Home again, home again: I got my laptop back today, and everything is in good shape. Apple replaced both the LCD and the bezel that was bent. I’m happy.
Oh. The picture? I find it very commendable that the support guy verified that the iSight camera was working. I find it amusing he forgot to empty the trash. But since this is the second support guy (the one who fixed everything properly) I can only raise my hat to this unnamed Apple employee for doing a much better job than the last guy and getting my MacBook Pro back in only 2 business days
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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Cupertino, we have a problem.
R8442269
That would be my AppleCare support incident number. I feel it is only fair to list the bad things that I have experienced with my MacBook Pro along with the good things I have listed in previous posts (here, and here). On Wednesday of last week, I was at home and using my laptop to play World of Warcraft when the screen went dark. I don’t say blank because the display was still showing data, just no backlight. So iputzed with it for a while to verify it wasn’t a software issue, but the subtle fritzing noise that happened from the bottom left hand corner of the screen when I powered it on pretty much convinced me that the inverter board had burned out. (The inverter board is the thing that converts the DC power that comes from the battery to AC current to power the backlight.)
Side note: This kind of problem is what I usually refer to as “infant death syndrome.” Most parts in a computer either die very early in their life or last for their expected (long) lifetime. I have ahd this happen with several computers in the past, so while annoying, it wasn’t overly surpising.
So on Thursday I drove up to the Apple store in Richmond and made myself known to the Genius Bar. Being a rainy day in the middle of the week, Chris was able to help me almost immediately. He asked what was up as he was finishing with his last customer. I explained the problem and he nodded. We booted up the laptop, he verified that there was actually video even though the backlight was dead and confirmed it was the inverter board. He filled out some paperwork and my laptop was prepared to take a voyage further west than i had ever been (that would be Texas).
Apple has declared my MacBook Pro fixed and I should be getting it back today. 6 day turnaround seems quite good to me. Oh and it was completely free. I’m obviously not happy that I had a problem, but I was very impressed both with the help at my local Apple store and the speed at which they have taken care of the issue. Let’s just hope it is fixed.
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Friday, June 16, 2006
No Parking Hear
Found on the ground outside our garage.
Such vigor and forcefulness is really to be appreciated.
But, on the other hand, spelling takes away from the true intent of the writer.
Sad, but true.
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Thursday, June 1, 2006
MacBook Pro - Observations
Since Matt asked how things were going with the new laptop now that I have had it for almost 2 weeks, I’ll try to put down some of my observations.
Known Issues — There have been many reports of MacBook Pros making odd hissing noises. Now, these reports came out after the first MacBook Pros were purchased. Mine is after Apple made a small upgrade in speed and after a silent hardware revision (or so I understand). If I take mine into a very quiet room (no other computers, people, etc.) I can hear a very small noise; but given any amount of ambient noise, I don’t hear anything. I find the MacBook Pro to be quieter than my old Titanium Powerbook both in terms of fan and hard drive noise.
Speed — This computer is fast. No questions asked. I have played games, compiled software, done everything I do with other computers and I have no complaints. It is obviously faster than my old laptop, but I think it is probably faster than my dual 2.5GHz G5 tower I have at home. I honestly don’t want to test that as it would just bug me if I knew for sure.
Heat — This could be considered a problem for some people. The bottom of the case gets quite warm; I would not recommend running it on bare skin as you will probably hurt yourself after some time. I use it at work on my desk and when I do use it "freehand" I usually cross my legs so I have it perched in the air. I don’t see this as a problem, but other people might.
Display — Gorgeous, not much more to say than that. The display runs at 1440 by 900 and the video card has plenty of umpf to back it up. Text is crisp and clear. Games run fast.
Light Sensors — This is just cool. If the light in the room dims, the computer dims the video display and lights up the keyboard (there are lights under each letter of each key that glow). How useful is this? I don’t entirely know. But what I can say is that when I first got it, I went into a room with no windows and turned the lights on and off many times to see it work.
Well that is all I can think of now. Want to know anything else? Ask in the comments.
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