iBook failure and AppleCare
From: Jeff Hewitt
Hey Charles!
I recently upgraded from a PB
5300ce to a 700 MHz iBook.
While I've been overjoyed with its performance, I've recently begun
to experience the random shutdowns referred to in your most recent
LEM column, and am greatly troubled. The gentleman I purchased the
'Book off eBay
advertised that the 'Book had 9 months of AppleCare left, but I
received no documentation on this. My question is as follows: How
does Apple track whether or not one of it's products are still under
warranty? Does the warranty still apply even tho I am not the
original purchaser? And am I eligible to upgrade the warranty?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! Love your
column!
-Jeff Hewitt
- Hi Jeff,
Wow! From a 5300 to a 700 MHz iBook is quite a performance
leap.
If your iBook is registered with AppleCare, its serial number will
be on file with Apple, and my understanding is that AppleCare
coverage is transferable, so you should, *I think* be OK.
I would suggest contacting
AppleCare, explaining the situation, to find out for sure
where you stand.
Glad to hear you enjoy the columns.
Charles
Lower cost Pismo upgrade
From Tim Lee
Charles,
Try FastMac
for a cheaper upgrade. 500 MHz @ $239.95 and 550 MHz @ $289.95.
I met with these guys at Mac Expo Paris, and they claimed to be
the people who did the actual work for the other players, but have
decided to have their own shop front now. At least that is what I
understood them to mean.
I bought a G4 upgrade for a Blue & White at a far lower cost
than I had ever seen it anywhere else.
Tim Lee
- Hi Tim,
Thanks for jogging my memory on that one - an unfortunate
omission from the article. I posted an
item on the FastMac Pismo upgrades in the 'Book Review last
Friday.
Another reason the FastMac upgrades are less expensive is that
they require you to send in only your processor daughtercard, not
the whole computer.
Charles
Go with a G4 for OS X
From Fred Goff
Folks who say there's not difference between a G3 and a G4 except
AltiVec are right. What they fail to mention is that OS X, the
operating system itself, makes heavy use of AltiVec. You will see an
improvement in OS X performance by using a G4 chip as opposed to
a G3 chip.
- Hi Fred,
You're right, although I expect there's not much in the difference
between a 900 MHz G3 and a 500-550 MHz G4.
The real shortcoming of the Pismo for OS X is, of course, its
lack of Quartz Extreme support. My 700 MHz iBook, which does
support QE, is quite lively in OS X.
Charles
TiBooks and wireless
From Robert Friede
Hi Charles,
I'm using a 1 GHz TiBook
nowadays and by default enjoy the usual abysmal AirPort signal
strength. I have tried some of the items you're touting this
week and thought I'd provide some feedback.
QuickerTek's Whip provides moderate improvement, although having
an antenna stuck to the back of my machine's lid and attached by a
wire generously running out of the PC Card port is no aesthetic
triumph. QuickerTek's Stub (I have what QTek says is an early model)
provides only the slightest improvement over the internal antenna. I
have tested these with all three ABS models.
For me, using an Orinoco/WaveLAN Gold 802.11b PC Card beats
QuickerTek's offerings hands down in Jaguar with the addition of
essential Jaguar-compliant
software from SourceForge.
Internet Connect won't work now, but it's easily replaced by Jon
Sevy's functionally superior freeware AirPort
Modem Utility.
Other goodies there, too.
Still waiting for someone to produce a good 802.11b/g PC Card for
Macs!
Best wishes,
Bob F
- Thanks for the report, tips and links, Bob.
Charles
Question on RAM for NuBus Macs
From amacman
Which should I get or which is better EDO SIM OR FPM my 6100,
7100, 7200,
8100, 840Q?
Where is there a list of sellers on VRAM and cache memory?
And which VRAM will fit other models or are interchangeable?
- Hi amacman,
Other
World Computing is a good source for RAM for the NuBus
Power Macs and for the Quadra. You can check stock numbers for
compatibility among your various machines
Unfortunately, they don't appear to have video RAM or cache memory
upgrades for any of these units.
You might also try Galaxy
On-Line.
Charles
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