Sigh, I am resigning myself that my MacBookPro may be a fruit more in the citrus family.
Three days after a 12 day stint to the Apple Repair Facility in Somewhereville, the backlit screen is no longer lit, so off it goes again. “It will be a priority, but expect it to be a week”.
What recourse really is there? How, besides my barking here, and my “you just shot my puppy face” can I shout “HOW THE *#&^#^# AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ANY CREATIVE WORK WHEN A REPAIRED MACHINE BREAKS 3 DAYS LATER?”
I’ll make do using my 2002 G3 iBook.
I’ve got my data backed up and accessible via my external FW drive. But I’ve got many applications I cannot run on this old iBook.
But man, oh man, in 19 years of using Apple Computers, I’m singing “Step On”:
He’s gonna step on you again, he’s gonna step on you
He’s gonna step on you again, he’s gonna step on you
You’re twistin’ my melon man, you know you talk so hip man
You’re twistin’ my melon man
You’ve had a lot of problems with this, Alan. I love the Intel Macs, but every product in its first iteration is going to have some random glitches. Sorry to see you being in a touch position with this.
This might be of interest for you (in case you haven’t heard):
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/31/apple-initiates-macbook-pro-battery-recall-program/
Thanks Jeff. I’d be checking my battery…. except it is on its way to Apple right now, so I would hope they would swap it out if I had a hot one.
And yes, typically I would not plunge into the first generation of hardware or software, but with the timing of my new job at NMC, and my (listen up..) fervent desire to continue 20 years of creation under the Apple banner…. well the MBP was the future looking choice. And it has served well, as I did not have to plunk a second PC on my desk to be able to test how bad IE mucks up my web designs. And now, I have some screen casts t do with Captivate (Windows only). And the software that reads data from my insulin pump? Windows only.
A few friends IM-ed last night suggestion I had a strong case to ask Apple for a replacement (one suggested I waltz into the Apple Store and demand to see “the man”). I was doubtful, as I had suffered not traumatic hardware faiulre (disk drives were good). I called Apple Customer Care more or less to whine and complain (hey maybe they’d give me a free video iPod for my sad tale), but got nothing but bubkas and a line.
I have another week to go without a machine faster than my 700 MhZ G3 iBook. Still coding, still watching beachballs spin as Photoshop churns… but alas, no buying new skins and things in Second Life.
Man! I’m bummed you’re still having trouble with your shiny MacBook Pro.
But yay! I love the Happy Mondays! Boppin’ along, singin’ “hey rainmaker…”
Hang in. You’ll eventually get it fixed or replaced. Oh, and NEVER talk to the balding “genius” in the Biltmore Apple Store, he is clueless. You want the short guy with the dark curly hair and beard.
Having to become a technology enthusiast and aplogist, I must say we live and die by the sword. Living by it comes with a price, but when I think of all the problems it solves, the price is worth it….most of the time.
That being said, I’m looking forward to what may come of the Apple Dev conference next week.
(And for what it’s worth, our MacBookPro in the Mesa CTL was one of the ones in need of a battery replacement per the link I posted earlier. We sent out for it a day and a half ago and arrived promptly today. You just replace the box the new one came in with the recall and send it back free of charge. Nice for Apple to pick up the tab for the sake of bad PR)
Good luck with yours in the future.