Advice Needed on Powerbook Repair!!!

Hello all.

Well, I've got a Powerbook G4 12" with a 1.5 GHz processor. I got in in November 2005, along with Applecare, and I have babied this thing ever since. I've got the Marware wrist rest pad and the Marware keyboard cover to protect the screen. I also use the iKlear screen wipes to keep it nice and clean. I ALSO use an InCase sleeve when I bring it to/from school, and it is placed in my Swiss Army backpack with a padded laptop section in it. So as you can see, I have taken very good care of this beautiful machine.

Ok, fast forward to Thursday. I was studying for a Finance final in my bedroom. My sister was in town visiting so I took the laptop into the bedroom, shut the door, and took out the laptop.

Imagine my surprise when I found the casing was bulged out above the release button for the screen, a small buldge in the casing on the top left of where the superdrive is, and the casing is no longer level, and the battery doesn't fit flush anymore. This laptop has never been dropped, or loaned out to anyone.

The only thing I can think of is that something happened in the student lounge on Wednesday when I was studying. I did leave my table several times to go to the bathroom. But again I didn't notice anything until Thursday when I began to study.

Now that the final is over and my sister is gone, I want to do something about it. I tried calling my local Apple store to get a hold of tech support to see if Applecare covers this sort of thing. Do you think they will cover this?? I didn't have alot of time to reflect upon the damage until this morning. And now that all of the distractions are gone, I am really upset. I have gone to huge lengths to make sure this PB was protected and in prisitine condition at all times, and now this..... neye:

Can they just replace a casing? What do you think? I am assuming I will need to back up all my files before sending it off (after I get a hold of someone of course). Any recommendations for doing this? My PC has a huge 400 gig drive with plenty of space left over that i could place backup material on. It seems that the NTFS limitation doesn't apply if you transfer files over a network. Well, at least I've been able to copy things from the PB onto the drive that way no problem.

Any words of advice for a despondent Powerbook owner???

They should be able to replace the case with no problem.

AppleCare doesn't cover accidents. You'll probably be on the hook for the cost of repairs. I'd take it in person to an Apple store, and tell them exactly what you posted above. Maybe you'll find an unusually compassionate tech who'll cut you a break--but that's very rare and unlikely; it's up to the individual's discretion.

If you have the space, try to make a Carbon Copy Cloner image of your disk, and then copy that over to the PC. It'd be a little easer (and more complete) than manually copying the files. But that works, too.

Oh no. That's what I was afraid of. The only thing I can think of is that someone maybe tripped on the power cord, it dropped, and then they put it back on the table? I really don't see how, though. I draped a piece of paper over the power cord so people could easily see it and not run into it.

I am devastated. Well, in the mean time I'm going to look for that Carbon Copy Cloner program and image the disk to my PC.

This is horrible..

Looks like CCC won't back up across a network. WHen I start it, it says that it can't find any other disks than the one local disk and then shuts down.

Tried copying my "Documents" folder across, but got this message: "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient priveleges for some of the items".

Any other ideas? I've never had to back anything up on this yet.

Scroatdog said:

Looks like CCC won't back up across a network. WHen I start it, it says that it can't find any other disks than the one local disk and then shuts down.
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You would need to make the image on your own machine, and then copy the completed image to the PC. If you don't have enough space on your Mac to do this, then you'll have to

Remember when you bring it back to the apple store, don't tell them you left it alone.. Tell them how well you keep care of it, and you can tell them you left the computer to go to the bathroom and that is the only time you left it.. but don't tell that it was in a crowed room of college students and that you think something could have happend to it when you were gone.

PowerBookG4 said:

Remember when you bring it back to the apple store, don't tell them you left it alone.. Tell them how well you keep care of it, and you can tell them you left the computer to go to the bathroom and that is the only time you left it.. but don't tell that it was in a crowed room of college students and that you think something could have happend to it when you were gone.

Click to expand...

Going at 5:30 today. They'll be able to tell just by looking at it how well I've maintained it. Well, of course, except for those buldges mentioned earlier.

UPDATE...

Tried to post this yesterday, but it didn't take. Hmm...

Anyway, went to TWO Apple stores and BOTH said that it wasn't covered under warranty. This "Tier III" repair would cost $900.00. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed, especially because I rememeber the time I brought my 2nd gen iPod in for repair from water-logged damage, it was one month out of warranty, and they REPLACED it for me on the spot. Too much wishful thinking for an expensive Powerbook though, I know.

Anyway, they gave me the number of a local place who is Apple repair certified, and they can do it for a lot less. Basically it's going to be a bottom case swap-out, plus all the labor that's involed. Since she's going "under the knife" I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get a 100 gig 7200 RPM drive in there to replace the 80 gig 5400 RPM I have now.

I found a Hitachi Travelstar 7K100, 100 gig 7200 RPM ATA-6 drive for $150.00 shipped from Newegg so I jumped on it. The repair place will not charge me any extra to put the drive in, and since they are a warranty repair place, it will be COVERED under my Applecare warranty!!! Woo Hoo! Taking her in today. From what I've read here and on many other forums, the jump to 7200 RPM in a Powerbook or other laptop is quite noticable.

So I've managed to find some silver lining out of all of this. One thing is for sure, I will NEVER leave my PB unattended in the library again. I'll take it with me when I go the bathroom from now on....

I suggest you get a cable lock. Then lock the laptop such it will move very far, if you leave it unattended.