We were having a nice glass of wine with Sammy’s cousin Susan and her husband, and Susan added another data point to a disturbing trend: almost everyone we know with 12 inch Powerbooks have had them fail, and the diagnosis, by experts or amateurs, is that it’s dead for good.
The power supply to the logic board expires, or some other ailment causes the machine to “lock up hard,” and most folks take it as a sign that it’s time to get a new laptop.
Adding Susan to our list, we have more than 7 people we know to whom this has happened; ironically our own 12 inch (‘El Libreto’) had a different problem within the first year of its life—the DVD drive went out—and because the Apple store in Atlanta had trouble finding a replacement (or so they said), the nice folks there offered us a new black MacBook in replacement.
It’s interesting that this convenient size (writers in particular seem to love it) has not migrated to the land of Intel-powered MacBooks…it’s more interesting still that those who hung on to the ‘old technology’ are being forced to jump ship.
August 22nd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I assume I’m one of the lucky 7. The good news is, at least you can get the hard drive out. That is, you, personally, John — can get the hard drive out.
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
OK, mine’s not a PowerBook but my employer-supplied laptop failed to respond at power-up today. Those who know suggest the power supply’s the culprit. Mine occurred, er DIDN’T occur, on the drive home from Cedar Point, a trip that included some need for canoes. For more on that, visit any news site.