08-05-2007, 08:37 AM

my friend had given me a free G4 powerbook last summer, that worked,
except the screen would not turn on. he needed a new one immediatly,
and gave me the busted one....

i took it to the APPLE STORE near me, and they after a $100 service charge,
they told me it was the motherboard and would cost $950 to replace,
which made me say forget it, and buy a new MACBOOK.

okay, so my neighbor sees i have this broke G4 just laying around,
and is like yo let me get that for parts, i give him it and the adapter,
he comes back a week later and is like

" ohh you know that computer,, i put a new harddrive in there for like $100, and it works perfect,,,i just had to do a little surgery"



--now i am steaming mad,

i dont see how what my neighbor did was morally okay.

i dont see how what apple store did was legal.

(thats like going to a mechanic and he tells you he needs to replace the engine when the windshield is busted. )


i cant even explain how swindled i feel.

08-05-2007, 09:38 AM

First of I think your neighbor is full of crap. There is no way replacing a hard drive would fix a screen that won't turn on. So either he replaced or fixed more than he told you, or, he's lying and it still doesn't work.

The Apple Store did nothing illegal. Your neighbor is a liar. Besides, the Apple store makes money off of the labor, not the parts. They would have gotten money whether they replaced your HD or the logic board. I don't think they care.

As for your neighbor and morality, I don't see why anything he did was immoral? You gave him the thing for free. He fixed it. What's wrong with that?

08-05-2007, 09:48 AM

There has to be more to your neighbor's story. A blown hard drive will at worst give you a kernel panic screen, which isn't fun, but it is a screen none the less. You didn't know how to fix it, no crime, I can't fix the fuel injection system in my Ford. My car mechanic does, but he has no idea why his kids' Windows machine won't boot, I do. You got a great machine at a great price and you aren't mucking around with a three year old G4. Your neighbor may or may not have got it running. It sounds like a round of win-win-win.

08-05-2007, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by thebudderking

" ohh you know that computer,, i put a new harddrive in there for like $100, and it works perfect,,,i just had to do a little surgery"

Based on that quote, his statement that the hard drive was replaced may or may not have had anything to do with fixing it. The "I just had to do a little surgery" part could mean that he opened it up, found something was loose, then fixed it, which isn't that unlikely, then the hard drive part was completely unrelated.

If you gave the machine to him because you believed it to be worthless, then he got it working, I don't see anything wrong with that. Do you expect him to give it back to you after he put in the labor to fix it?

As far as what Apple said, unless they actually opened it up, replaced the motherboard and had that fix the problem, then there is no way they could be 100% sure it was actually the problem. Even if it was more than likely a motherboard issue based on the symptoms they saw.

08-05-2007, 02:47 PM

someone gives you something for free that you spend a few bucks on to try to fix and then you give it back to the guy who gave it to you and you think life isn't fair?

how old are you?

08-05-2007, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by eric

someone gives you something for free that you spend a few bucks on to try to fix and then you give it back to the guy who gave it to you and you think life isn't fair?

how old are you?

My thoughts exactly.....

08-05-2007, 06:44 PM

well first off i didnt give it back to the same person who gave it to me

and my point is that if it was fixable to begin with my neighbor should have helped me rather then being like oh yea sucks it doesnt work then fixing it in a week.

and i think apple did the wrong thing because they told me oh its definatly the motherboard......and somehow without replacing the mother board it works fine..

which it does, because ive seen it now, so i know hes not lying

and im 30 years old.....Eric....

08-05-2007, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by thebudderking

well first off i didnt give it back to the same person who gave it to me

and my point is that if it was fixable to begin with my neighbor should have helped me rather then being like oh yea sucks it doesnt work then fixing it in a week.

First, I don't think anyone implied you gave it back to the original person. Second, your neighbor would have no idea how easy it would be to fix it without actually opening it up to looking. Good for him, too bad for you. I'm sure he didn't rip you off.

and i think apple did the wrong thing because they told me oh its definatly the motherboard......and somehow without replacing the mother board it works fine..

I 100% guarantee you that the screen didn't start working because he changed the hard drive. I promise you that...it's impossible.

Secondly, 100% diagnosing of hardware issues correctly is next to impossible. The logic board could have solved the problem, but it could have been something else. People can only give you advice based on their best guess and experience.

08-05-2007, 07:05 PM

you GAVE it to your neighbor for parts for free. he fixed it. nothing wrong there. what if he gave you something and you fixed it with your time and money, would you give it back?

not sure with the apple thing though, sounds misleading. not sure if they were inept or what.

08-05-2007, 07:25 PM

schweb-- ( see erics post )

all i am saying is that i dont think they should jump to the most expensive option, which was 950, when it was fixed for 100.


and scooter--

i would give it back to him, because i am not a con man.

if he thought there was ANY chance of it being able to be fixed, as a friend he should have told me, before aquiring it for himself

08-05-2007, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by thebudderking

i would give it back to him, because i am not a con man.

if he thought there was ANY chance of it being able to be fixed, as a friend he should have told me, before aquiring it for himself

I think you have unrealistic expectations…especially since how would he know it could be fixed before he got it since I'm sure you told him it would need a new logic board?

I don't think I'd be your friend if you expect that kind of stuff.

08-05-2007, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by thebudderking

i would give it back to him, because i am not a con man.

So you are saying that if your neighbor gave it back to you, you would then return it to your friend that gave it to you? Because if you wouldn't then you are just a whining hypocrite.

08-05-2007, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by thebudderking

schweb-- ( see erics post )
and scooter--

i would give it back to him, because i am not a con man.

if he thought there was ANY chance of it being able to be fixed, as a friend he should have told me, before aquiring it for himself

i don't think he could have known what was the problem.

so, offer him the cost of the HD and his time spent on the machine and see if he'll sell it back to you. sounds fair that way.

08-05-2007, 07:38 PM

There were some Powerbooks with defective Logic boards. They caused that exact symptom. Apple probably figured it was one of those with the faulty board.

Your friend fixed whatever it was that was wrong. It might have been a loose or bad video cable. You Gave it to him. When I give someone a gift, I don't expect it back no matter what.

I would have been able to get the Powerbook working also and probably in a day unless I needed a part of the board was bad.

08-05-2007, 07:40 PM

i think because he knew Apple was I WAS A BAD BOY AND SWEARED me

he says yeaaa too bad theres nothing you can do

and magically a week later , he gets it working


i just think the thing a good friend would be for him to say "alright just pay me for the part