G4 died now G5 died - OVER IT

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Hi everyone, this is my first post so I don't want to rant too much, but Im seriously in need of a pep talk or something. I am a long time mac user. My first serious machine was a g4 ($2700 in 2000) tower that mysteriously died with a dead logic board and blown power supply. replaced the power supply, a few days later the logic board goes. I buy a g5 late 2004($3400) with apple care. Sure enough a couple months past the warranty and now the power supply went on the g5. $500 bucks to order a new one ship it to Maui and then install it. One week later, the logic board is now intermittent and on its way out. ***? Is this just what ALL computer companies expect us to tolerate? I went to macs after PC nightmare, and now I'm basically in a different kind of nightmare.( A huge money draining corporate evil nightmare) Complete with built in obsolescence. Is everything in the world eventually going to be pieced together in China by people who hate us and don't care, for as cheap as humanly possible while charging as much as humanly possible?!? I'm am so utterly fed up with buying a new frekin mac every other year. I have a new Xeon quad core with apple care.( $4000 ) Im going to be waiting for it to stop working in 2-3 years and probably right after the warranty expires. ( more then likely right in time for a new machine they are launching) Is this just the way it goes for professionals who rely on macs to work? Mac obviously realizes that its cheaper and easier for me to buy a new machine every other year then it is to fix my now out of date, slower machine. This is just what the problem is with our BS disposable modern world reality. Mac is contributing to this problem BIG TIME. My Macbook that I didn't buy apple care with is now a piece of junk too after a little more then a year....... So why do I have
a new tower and new macbooks? Because I need to EAT! I love Macs and obviously couldn't exist without them but does mac really expect us hardcore users to buy a new machine every time they make a new one? Obviously getting us to buy the new machines is the most important thing to apple now. Many people say I just have had Bad Luck or Bad Karma and they have an apple g3 that still is perfect 10 years later. Well for anyone editing video, making dvds, and serious websites, I very seriously doubt that a g3 is performing these tasks. Not to even mention the incredible folly apple has put me through with final cut pro!( bought FCP for $1200 for a g5 and another $1200 on a new version,with no new features for $2400 just so I can use it on my Xeon intel quad core) ABSURD
So, am i just to accept that this g5 should become abstract art in my house like my g4, and countless other broken pc towers littering my home. Or am I to fork up the $700 (after just paying $500 for a power supply) for a new logic board. Lets see, for $1200 I could have just bought a new imac, refurbished macbook or 2 mac minis - Its a crime and Apple MUST address this! Why not make a frekin recycle program if nothing else. They MUST realize how many of their machines get thrown away after 2-4 years.
 
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Sorry to hear about that, but are your machines in a hot room or something? It could be that you are just unlucky. My first machine was a 1.0 GhZ G4 that lasted for 6 years and I just now bought a new iMac desktop, so I really hope it lasts.

Do you shut down the computer whenever you aren't using it?

At the end of the day, would you rather go back to Microsoft? I think that is the question you need to ask. Good luck. You'll be luckier next time around.
 

dtravis7


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Are you sure the Logic Board in the G5 Tower is going? What are the symptoms? One thing as a PC repair tech I have found is when a Power Supply dies, sometimes it damages the motherboard. I am wondering if there are power surges at your place. Just a guess.

I so far have never had a power supply issue with everything from a G3 B&W tower to my latest iMac with a lot of systems in between those.

I can understand your frustrations though and your love for OSX and apples applications in your line of work.
 
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thanx guys

Thanks for the replys. I live in Hawaii, so given its a more volatile environment, but i use ac as much as possible and have a hardcore battery backup, for all my machines. My machines are work horses, multiple machines multi tasking. On all night rendering video or motion files (or both) or uploading giant files to a server... I think your right about the power supply failure damaging the logic board. I'm going to try everything, but I'm still just unhappy that right after warranty, my machines fail. I worked in an office in nyc for years. Machines lasted a decent amount of time with only the occasional problem. My worry is that mac is not considering this kind of heavy duty use, and are making machines to cater to surfing the net, hobbyist video and audio enthusiasts and people trying to escape their pc's. Surges are a huge possibility but APC (the backup power supply company) say they don't cover areas with older power infrastructures. Like Maui - So, possibly bad luck really is whats going on here but, Mac ( over the phone) refuses to acknowledge the fact that three of my machines died RIGHT after warranty. BAD APPLE :Shouting:

PS - no, i will never return to microsoft EVER -good point
 
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the symptoms are, when you turn it on, the led lights up then fades, fans go for a second, then stop, no boot sound, no monitor. Sometimes, it will actually boot, and work fine, but then turn it off, and it goes back. Everything i read points to the logic board, but maybe its a bad on switch? Sometimes the led goes off all together. You guys and this forum are great! ALOHA
 

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I run some of my machines 24 a day also doing my work. The more Pro Macs like you are using are built for heavy usage.

You also said something about a Macbook dying? What happened with it?
 
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I know, i try to not over tax my laptops too. Basically the macbook just wouldn't start at all one day. And since it was not in warranty, I would need to pay $$ just to see whats wrong. I tried to replace the battery. I gave it to a friend who had high hopes, but so far nothing... I just bought a new macbook, and didn't buy applecare. Im going to rectify that immediately.
 

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I would tend to believe there is something environmental at work here too. Sometimes older homes with poor grounding are more susceptible to electrical issues. If the problems coincide with thunderstorms, my suggestion would be to invest in a good surge suppression system or UPS at least for your computer equipment.
 
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Thats what is so frustrating, My machines ARE on a serious UPS. 2 of them actually. Im going to fix it. Ill keep you all posted. ALOHA
 
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Just thought Id bump this thread back up, so everyone can see that there are four separate threads about bad logic boards in a few days... Come on, is this bad luck or bad karma for all of us or do logic boards die after 2-3 years VERY OFTEN?
 
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You're Not Alone

I too have been using macs since the Mac Plus and now I have to face the indignity of loosing my G5 iMac -- 3 DAYS AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRES!!! 3 year warranty!! In that time I have had to have the iMac serviced TWICE: one for a blown power supply and the other time for a dodgy superdrive. héll -- those two components combined don't equate to the current problem in costs - THE LOGIC BOARD!!! So now I have to fork almost a thousand dollars (32,000 Thai baht here in Thailand) just to get the logic board replaced!?!?!

Apple should come up with a better solution -- that the warranty should cover at least another week after the expiry date.

I just keep telling myself that the iMac was jealous of my upcoming macbook pro ... that it must have sensed I was getting the MBPro to "replace" it and my ageing Powerbook (which btw, has never had to be serviced ONCE except by myself - the harddisk needed to be replaced)!!

Well héll.

If anyone knows how to fix a G5 iMac with a blood-red cursor (it still boots in safe-mode), let me know!

But c'mon... 3 FRIGGIN DAYS!!!!!!????
 
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I choose none of the above.
I've never kept my new Macs for more than a year. None have had problems. I've bought plenty of used Macs (G3 to G5) and never had a problem. I use a dual 2GHz G5 at work and it's on 24/7 and still runs strong. Two friends own G4 laptops and they each had a HD that went bad. One had a logic board go bad within a couple months after purchase. It was the first gen G4. Both are still running strong today.
I don't know of any other computer company that offers a buy back program. I don't know of any other company that would even entertain the thought of repairing a machine for free, even if it is 3 days out of warranty. I understand you're frustrated but you poll is sort of extreme.
 
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I choose none of the above.
I've never kept my new Macs for more than a year. None have had problems. I've bought plenty of used Macs (G3 to G5) and never had a problem. I use a dual 2GHz G5 at work and it's on 24/7 and still runs strong. Two friends own G4 laptops and they each had a HD that went bad. One had a logic board go bad within a couple months after purchase. It was the first gen G4. Both are still running strong today.
I don't know of any other computer company that offers a buy back program. I don't know of any other company that would even entertain the thought of repairing a machine for free, even if it is 3 days out of warranty. I understand you're frustrated but you poll is sort of extreme.

Hey... the happier the customer, the better. Some might argue that Apple intentionally hotwires their machines to give up the ghost moments after the warranty expires... :Evil:
 
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How do they know which one to kill after the year warranty or three year warranty? :p
 
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How do they know which one to kill after the year warranty or three year warranty? :p

Oh that's easy. They see which ones have been using TimeMachine. I have, hence I was able to back everything up before reinstalling everything.

Or on the evil side, they see which ones are using iPhoto a lot. Nothing hurts more than losing your entire library of memories. This makes less sense than the first though, as surely it'll make people switch back to PC.

Oh oh... maybe somehow they know I'm a mac fanboy who's been posting only PROs and little CONs about the mac on numerous online forums. It's people like me who would never think of switching to a Windoze box because it is better to have a big problem happen when your computer is technically obsolete rather than countless, numerous problems plaguing your workflow throughout the life of your computer. Yeah, that must be it.

iApps are always phoning home on launch. I've witnessed it myself, in one case Mail would refuse to work properly (spinning beachball of death) just because there was something wrong with the modem connection. Turning off Airport on the mac solved the problem!
 

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