Another switchere here

Another switcher here

I got my mac mini last Tuesday. That thing was great. (yes, past tense for now). I wish I had switched to mac years ago. But, alas, my new computer died over night. Something is shot on the motherboard. And I have a program disk stuck in the drive. Apple says they won't/can't return the disk, but they are shipping me a new computer via over-night express and they are giving me a $40 credit for this $35 program. Seems fair to me.

Of course, I had just finished personalizing everything and now I have to start over. doh!

ouch, sorry that happened! I've never heard of such and unusual thing...Welcome to the forums!

if you still have the system, just clone the hard drive.

That's why we should all keep our backups. No matter how new the system. A good program for backing up is http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/dejavu.html . Or BackitiyMac which does a nice job too... BackityMac is great for restoring lost stuff, because it directly can restore your iPhoto, iTunes, Calendat and Address Book Files wothout you having to scavenge all over the Finder.

bad luck. i hope your new mac works ok.

the machine wouldn't boot, wouldn't chime...nothing. the light would start blinking immediately (not the fade-in/fade-out when sleeping - hard/steady blink)...no video at all.

Last night the wife and I heard an odd pop-like noise. I looked around and couldn't find anything unusual. I think that was the sound of the power controller on the motherboard dying. There was no power to the USB ports (no caps lock light, etc). just dead.

I didn't lose any data thanks to me just migrating from windows (which I'm back on now)...I use a USB external drive, but want to get a firewire drive so I can clone away.

The hardest part is WAITING for Apple to ship the replacement. They won't until FedEx shows the tracking number on their site as being valid...that won't happen until tomorrow, so one day lost there. And then there's the wait for FedEx to bring the new one.

One week and I really took to that thing...dreaded firing up this old beast (50lbs Compaq Workstation with PIII Xeon 866Mhz and 256 MB RAM).

I would just switch the harddrives.

I need to vent a little....
Ok, so far this is NOT a good experience with Apple. Sure hardware fails - I know that. But the service I'm "getting" needs to be improved.

1st the guy in support tells me they will ship it over-night express. Well, they don't - they use 2nd day express. Minor issue, but shows a lack of accurate information.

2nd - they put a hold on the replacement order until they receive the RMA computer. I called and they "allowed" it to be processed after FedEx showed the tracking number in their system. By the time FedEx actually picked up the box and updated their system, I lost 2 days (all of Monday and all of Tuesday - updated Tuesday night).

What they should have done was "Gee Mr. Clark - we're sorry your system died less than a week after you got it. We'll ship you a new one over-night express as soon as it's built. Once you get the new computer, pack your old one in the same box and ship it back to us with the return shipping label we provide. Please note that if we do not receive the computer or proof of shipment within 15 days, we will charge your credit card for the full retail price of the replacement system." I asked for that, but they refused.

3rd - instead of having the replacement ready in the mean time, they seem to have ignored it or they are out of stock and didn't let me in on that. Estimated ship date was 20 July. By 10pm, it still had not shipped (according to the web site). Checked this morning and now it won't ship until next Wed. It's very frustrating waiting for a home computer and putting everything on hold. Had I gone the route of Dell, they would have had someone at my house the next day with parts...had I built it my self, I would have had it fixed that day. Quite frankly the only reason I want the Apple hardware is so I can run Mac OS X. That OS is what I'm looking for - a UNIX system with mass hardware/software support. I'm tired of the hoops it takes to get Linux to work with hardware (once you get it working, don't you dare update the kernel or supporting libraries).

Not a good first-time experience (but, then is your first time ever that good?

time to chill now...

jc1350 said:

the machine wouldn't boot, wouldn't chime...nothing. the light would start blinking immediately (not the fade-in/fade-out when sleeping - hard/steady blink)...no video at all.

Click to expand...

Sounds like the RAM wasn't installed correctly. neye:

surfwax95 said:

Sounds like the RAM wasn't installed correctly. neye:

Click to expand...

The wife and I heard a pop from another room. I looked around and couldn't find anything. I didn't check the mac until the next morning when I wen to use it and I think it was the system board/power control unit on the board that fried and caused that noise. Probably just a manufacturing flaw on the board. At least that's what I'm telling my self because the retail store refused to open it (claimed I would not be able to exchange it if they did), and if all they had to do was re-seat the RAM.....no, it wasn't that (/me keeps saying that over and over

At this point I wish they would have just swapped parts. I got used to that thing real fast and I really miss it. *sigh*