15" PowerBook owners: please read

Boyd Ostroff · July 14th, 2005, 08:22 PM

I had the first two failures here in the US under normal use. The slot that failed had the original Apple 256MB RAM chips. Read the thread on Apple's site in that link above. Lots of people are having this problem, and many of them are using Apple RAM.

I think it's a design flaw. When I take the machine in to be fixed they pop in a refurbed logic board. Obviously they don't know how to screen for this problem, and it must affect most of the earlier models like mine which is a first generation Aluminim Powerbook. Very frustrating...

Riley Harmon · July 17th, 2005, 09:29 AM

is this problem on the newest gen of pb as well???

Boyd Ostroff · July 17th, 2005, 11:47 AM

It appears to affect every model of the 15" laptop, right up to the current ones. See post number 13 on the previous page of this same thread:

Quote:

have had my 15" G4 powerbook now for almost 4 1/2 months. It's the new version currently for sale (1.5Ghz etc etc.). My memory slot also died after only month of use.

Also see the thread on Apple's site. You may need to click "view all" at the bottom of the page to see the full thread (which is very long):

http://discussions.info.apple.com/we...Dl.0@.68ab7b77

Boyd Ostroff · July 17th, 2005, 12:08 PM

There is now a website dedicated exclusively to this topic:

http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/

Boyd Ostroff · July 19th, 2005, 07:59 AM

My powerbook is back home again with its fourth logic board installed. Aside from these problems, I really have to commend Apple on their service here in the US. I was only without my machine for 3 business days.

There are a couple symptoms to look for that I'd never really noticed when the lower slot fails. The startup chime goes away, and the boot process takes longer. You get a blank screen for a little while (possibly during a RAM test?) during boot with a bad lower slot.

Matthew Groff · July 21st, 2005, 06:43 PM

Finally got a chance and an accomodating workload to try and take care of this issue with the ram slot (although mysteriously mine is the upper slot). Went to the Apple Store here in New York and was told a) I can't skip the people at the genius bar who are here to find out how to load songs on their iPod even though I know what is wrong with my Powerbook and b) it will take 7 to 10 business days to repair my computer. Even though people have mentioned only having to deal with 3 business days, the idea of Apple having leeway to deal with my machine for two weeks is scary. Furthermore, the woman said that I could call Apple and have them send me a prepaid mailer to send the Powerbook back, but she made it sound like that would take even longer and the note of doubt in her voice left me less than enthused. I'm going to take it tomorrow at 8am (which, apparently, is express walk up genius bar time) I guess and see what they say. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that for the premium price a Powerbook commands, the service (and apparently the design) isn't a little better.

Boyd Ostroff · July 21st, 2005, 11:20 PM

I think this is just a "fringe benefit" of living in New York ;-) The 3 times I've taken my laptop to the local store here in NJ turnaround was extremely fast. However just recently a columnist somewhere (Forbes or Fortune I think) wrote of his experience getting his iMac fixed at the Soho store in NYC. It sounded a lot like your post. He had to wait to talk to a "genius," he got attitude, and it took a week.

I've used that option in the past with the mailers and it was also very fast. You call the apple support line, where you may wait for awhile and have to escalate the issue up to the supervisor level. But once approved they sent a box to me via Airborne Express overnight. The next day they picked it up, and a couple days later it came back. I was very impressed, although this was probably 10 years ago...

Matthew Groff · July 22nd, 2005, 10:10 AM

Well, unfortunately I woke up late today and wasn't able to make it to the Apple Store by 8am. Went anyway to see what the line was like and at 11am the earliest appointment was 5pm. I tried to tell the kid that I knew what was going on and all I needed to do was send it and get it fixed, that it's a known problem, etc.

He told me I could come to genius bar express from 6-8am. Thanks, kid. I did get to see what appeared to be a similar situation to mine. A guy with two Powerbooks in front of me was waiting at the genius bar. One of the kids came up to him and attempted to upbraid him for walking away in the middle of a conversation. Apparently, he had been trying to get his fixed and the kid basically wouldn't take care of him. I felt for the guy.

Anyone know what the support for Boxx or Alienware machines is like? I hate PC, but if I can get DESIGN FLAWS fixed in an appropriate timeframe, I may switch. What kind of switch campaign would that be for Apple?

Boyd Ostroff · July 28th, 2005, 12:53 PM

Another update: Apple has removed the long thread about this problem from their tech support site this morning, so the links in my earlier posts aren't going to work now. It had more than 300 posts at that time. I'm not really reading this as a "conspiracy" or anything; the thread was starting to cross the line with people suggesting legal action and so forth, which is clearly against their forum rules.

For the latest news on this issue you can visit the following site:

http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/

Greg Boston · July 28th, 2005, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Another update: Apple has removed the long thread about this problem from their tech support site this morning, so the links in my earlier posts aren't going to work now. It had more than 300 posts at that time. I'm not really reading this as a "conspiracy" or anything; the thread was starting to cross the line with people suggesting legal action and so forth, which is clearly against their forum rules.

For the latest news on this issue you can visit the following site:

http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/

I think Apple may be in about an obvious design flaw. Many companies, including car manufacturers used to be able to say, "This is the first I've heard of this problem". Thanks to the power of the internet, what seemed like an isolated issue is now immediately recognizable as a frequent problem and companies don't like to admit to things like that.

-gb-

Matthew Groff · July 28th, 2005, 02:47 PM

My repair has been put on hold (seemingly indefinitely) due to a part shortage. The part, of course, being a new logic board. It appears to me that this may be a wide ranging product design issue.

Boyd, or anyone else for that matter, is there any benefit to trying to call and pester these guys about it? I have a feeling it's going to take a full 2 business weeks to get this back, which is just completely unacceptable. Right now I'm stuck with a friend's TiBook with a dead battery. What other courses of action might I have in this situation?

Boyd Ostroff · July 28th, 2005, 03:02 PM

I think the site in the link above is a good clearinghouse for these issues, the owner has setup some forums dedicated to the problem there. I don't think we can discuss some of the "solutions" they're considering here at DVinfo because of legal concerns unfortunately.

Which model powerbook do you have Matthew? To Apple's credit, all of my logic board swaps were done very quickly and I was only without a computer for a few days. However mine is a first generation 1ghz Aluminum model, so I imagine availability varies by model. Somewhere I've read that while the motherboards are basically the same design, the newer ones have different connector locations and won't fit my old model.

Are they fixing it at the store? My local store said that would take much longer since they'd have to wait for parts, so they sent it to the repair depot instead. You might want to inquire about this, and ask them to send it out instead of doing and in-store repair (if that's the case).

It's really too bad that Apple is angering so many loyal users with this flaw in an otherwise great product. Once again, I'd urge anyone buying a 15" Powerbook to get the Applecare warranty.

Boyd Ostroff · July 29th, 2005, 08:27 AM

For more information on the lower slot failure issue, copy the text below, paste it into Google and do a search. Looks like we are not alone...

Lower Memory Slot Failure? CONTACT APPLE HERE

Matthew Groff · August 2nd, 2005, 11:00 AM

I received my Powerbook today from Apple via DHL. I booted up and immediately checked About This Mac and found 1GB of RAM. Finally. It seems the saga is over.

But wait. Now I find that my battery won't charge my battery. Ugh.

Boyd Ostroff · August 2nd, 2005, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Groff

Now I find that my battery won't charge my battery. Ugh.

Does this help? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

July 14th, 2005, 08:22 PM	#16
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I had the first two failures here in the US under normal use. The slot that failed had the original Apple 256MB RAM chips. Read the thread on Apple's site in that link above. Lots of people are having this problem, and many of them are using Apple RAM. I think it's a design flaw. When I take the machine in to be fixed they pop in a refurbed logic board. Obviously they don't know how to screen for this problem, and it must affect most of the earlier models like mine which is a first generation Aluminim Powerbook. Very frustrating...

July 17th, 2005, 09:29 AM	#17
Riley Harmon Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 424	is this problem on the newest gen of pb as well???

July 17th, 2005, 12:08 PM	#19
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	There is now a website dedicated exclusively to this topic: http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/

July 19th, 2005, 07:59 AM	#20
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	My powerbook is back home again with its fourth logic board installed. Aside from these problems, I really have to commend Apple on their service here in the US. I was only without my machine for 3 business days. There are a couple symptoms to look for that I'd never really noticed when the lower slot fails. The startup chime goes away, and the boot process takes longer. You get a blank screen for a little while (possibly during a RAM test?) during boot with a bad lower slot.

July 21st, 2005, 06:43 PM	#21
Matthew Groff Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 132	Finally got a chance and an accomodating workload to try and take care of this issue with the ram slot (although mysteriously mine is the upper slot). Went to the Apple Store here in New York and was told a) I can't skip the people at the genius bar who are here to find out how to load songs on their iPod even though I know what is wrong with my Powerbook and b) it will take 7 to 10 business days to repair my computer. Even though people have mentioned only having to deal with 3 business days, the idea of Apple having leeway to deal with my machine for two weeks is scary. Furthermore, the woman said that I could call Apple and have them send me a prepaid mailer to send the Powerbook back, but she made it sound like that would take even longer and the note of doubt in her voice left me less than enthused. I'm going to take it tomorrow at 8am (which, apparently, is express walk up genius bar time) I guess and see what they say. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that for the premium price a Powerbook commands, the service (and apparently the design) isn't a little better.

July 21st, 2005, 11:20 PM	#22
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I think this is just a "fringe benefit" of living in New York ;-) The 3 times I've taken my laptop to the local store here in NJ turnaround was extremely fast. However just recently a columnist somewhere (Forbes or Fortune I think) wrote of his experience getting his iMac fixed at the Soho store in NYC. It sounded a lot like your post. He had to wait to talk to a "genius," he got attitude, and it took a week. I've used that option in the past with the mailers and it was also very fast. You call the apple support line, where you may wait for awhile and have to escalate the issue up to the supervisor level. But once approved they sent a box to me via Airborne Express overnight. The next day they picked it up, and a couple days later it came back. I was very impressed, although this was probably 10 years ago...

July 22nd, 2005, 10:10 AM	#23
Matthew Groff Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 132	Well, unfortunately I woke up late today and wasn't able to make it to the Apple Store by 8am. Went anyway to see what the line was like and at 11am the earliest appointment was 5pm. I tried to tell the kid that I knew what was going on and all I needed to do was send it and get it fixed, that it's a known problem, etc. He told me I could come to genius bar express from 6-8am. Thanks, kid. I did get to see what appeared to be a similar situation to mine. A guy with two Powerbooks in front of me was waiting at the genius bar. One of the kids came up to him and attempted to upbraid him for walking away in the middle of a conversation. Apparently, he had been trying to get his fixed and the kid basically wouldn't take care of him. I felt for the guy. Anyone know what the support for Boxx or Alienware machines is like? I hate PC, but if I can get DESIGN FLAWS fixed in an appropriate timeframe, I may switch. What kind of switch campaign would that be for Apple?

July 28th, 2005, 12:53 PM	#24
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Another update: Apple has removed the long thread about this problem from their tech support site this morning, so the links in my earlier posts aren't going to work now. It had more than 300 posts at that time. I'm not really reading this as a "conspiracy" or anything; the thread was starting to cross the line with people suggesting legal action and so forth, which is clearly against their forum rules. For the latest news on this issue you can visit the following site: http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/

July 28th, 2005, 02:47 PM	#26
Matthew Groff Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 132	My repair has been put on hold (seemingly indefinitely) due to a part shortage. The part, of course, being a new logic board. It appears to me that this may be a wide ranging product design issue. Boyd, or anyone else for that matter, is there any benefit to trying to call and pester these guys about it? I have a feeling it's going to take a full 2 business weeks to get this back, which is just completely unacceptable. Right now I'm stuck with a friend's TiBook with a dead battery. What other courses of action might I have in this situation?

July 28th, 2005, 03:02 PM	#27
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I think the site in the link above is a good clearinghouse for these issues, the owner has setup some forums dedicated to the problem there. I don't think we can discuss some of the "solutions" they're considering here at DVinfo because of legal concerns unfortunately. Which model powerbook do you have Matthew? To Apple's credit, all of my logic board swaps were done very quickly and I was only without a computer for a few days. However mine is a first generation 1ghz Aluminum model, so I imagine availability varies by model. Somewhere I've read that while the motherboards are basically the same design, the newer ones have different connector locations and won't fit my old model. Are they fixing it at the store? My local store said that would take much longer since they'd have to wait for parts, so they sent it to the repair depot instead. You might want to inquire about this, and ask them to send it out instead of doing and in-store repair (if that's the case). It's really too bad that Apple is angering so many loyal users with this flaw in an otherwise great product. Once again, I'd urge anyone buying a 15" Powerbook to get the Applecare warranty.

July 29th, 2005, 08:27 AM	#28
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	For more information on the lower slot failure issue, copy the text below, paste it into Google and do a search. Looks like we are not alone... Lower Memory Slot Failure? CONTACT APPLE HERE

August 2nd, 2005, 11:00 AM	#29
Matthew Groff Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 132	I received my Powerbook today from Apple via DHL. I booted up and immediately checked About This Mac and found 1GB of RAM. Finally. It seems the saga is over. But wait. Now I find that my battery won't charge my battery. Ugh.