In October, 2000, I got a brand new 466MHz iBook SE. I loved my iBook, and treated it very nicely, using it all the time for school work and games and etc... But by the time Mac OS X was released in March, 2001, my iBook was developing an excruciatingly annoying whining noise that the hard drive was emitting. By August, 2001, I could no longer use my iBook, which could be heard two rooms away.

After calling Apple's tech support about the problem, and their refusal to replace my hard drive (which was still under the one year warranty), I got a 500MHz iBook in September, 2001. I thought that maybe the first one was just a lemon or something.

About two months later, in November, 2001, my new iBook had a long list of problems that were severely hindering the usability of the computer. The problems included the trackpad button sticking, magnet under keyboard wasnt working (between the F5 and F6 keys...), the plastic was coming off the LCD, the hinge was very stiff, the latch was broken, and the hard drive was starting to make noise like my old iBook.

So...I called Apple tech support again, hoping that a repair would work. I sent it in, and after being without a computer for two weeks at school, got it back. I was very displeased with the quality of service that was done on it...the new hard drive sounded worse than the old one, the latch sometimes still didn't work, and the new plastic around the keyboard and trackpad was not installed very well.

After several days of pondering over what to do, I sent a long E-Mail to sjobs@apple.com about the problems I had experienced with my iBooks. Sure enough...I got a phone call from Apple Executive Relations a few days later, and they arranged another repair. Two weeks later, my iBook was back from its second repair. Again, the service was not done very well, and two days after I got it back my iBook DIED completely. I called back Executive Relations, and after verifying that it was a hardware problem, Apple sent me a brand new 600MHz iBook.

The new computer was working great for several months, until recently. A few months ago it started developing some problems. The trackpad was becoming tempermental, the modem died, and the A/V port was acting strange. The plastic was also coming off the LCD just like my old iBook 500. *sigh*

I called up Executive Relations again, and after explaining that the machine history started fresh with the replacement, arranged a repair. I agreed, and this time the turnaround time was much shorter, only about 3 days. But when I received my iBook back from repair, the trackpad button was sticking, the combo drive wouldn't even open, and they had replaced the hard drive for no reason, which is making a high pitched noise and seems to be failing. I called back Executive Relations about these issues, and they want to send it in again (!) for another repair. The box was supposed to come last week, but still hasn't...

What should I do? I'm tired of repairs that don't work, and I want a computer that works :-D And I still support Apple...until they give me another lemon of an iBook. ;)

Does this mean that you did not pursue the first HD problem and bought another iBook? Or that Apple just replaced the first iBook with another? If the former, why in the world would you NOT have pursued it?

In either case, it sounds like the second iBook is indeed a lemon and Apple should just replace it, rather than trying to fix it. While you do hear horror stories like this one occasionally, most reports I have seen show people very happy with their iBooks. How are you treating the computer? Are you tossing it into a backpack and banging it around? Do you leave it out in the hot sun? While the iBooks are reportedly rugged comared to other laptops, they are delicate machines and require a lot of gentle TLC.

I agree with Cats: take both iBooks into the nearest Apple Store, along with your log of problems and repairs and any other documentation, and show them exactly what is wrong. You should be able to get some action, assuming it is clear that you haven't abused the computers.

/Mr Lynn

The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program.
--Larry Niven