About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.



--
http://flickr.com/gp/hakr/8272ug

In article , dump-on-
says...

About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

So you used a Thinkpad for 5 years and sold it still working.
Now your Apple breaks down after 3 years.
You have a computer with a flashing screen that may or may not be the
same again, and an unknown time-consuming hassle before you'll know.
And you say that's why you buy Apple.
Riiiight.

On 12/11/11 8:45 PM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article3vydnQiCw47z0HjTnZ2dnUVZ_radnZ2d@earthlink .com, dump-on-
says...

About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

So you used a Thinkpad for 5 years and sold it still working.
Now your Apple breaks down after 3 years.
You have a computer with a flashing screen that may or may not be the
same again, and an unknown time-consuming hassle before you'll know.
And you say that's why you buy Apple.
Riiiight.


D'oh. The screen flashing is only at start-up, and according to a
service bulletin from Apple is a known issue for *some* of the video
adapters Apple sourced from NVIDIA. Apparently the defect can show up
immediately or years after purchase.

What's important to me is that Apple extended the warranty for my model
laptop, told me about the extended warranty almost immediately after I
called, had a service bulletin number for the problem, and made an
appointment for me to have it fixed at my convenience this week.

I'll be in and out of apple store in 15 minutes...unless they are fixing
it while I wait, in which case I'll be there for an hour. There's no
hassle involved. If I am at the store for an hour, I can do some holiday
shopping at the mall, and avoid going there this coming weekend, which I
was expecting to do.

I buy Apple because of the ergonomics, because of the operating system,
and because of the first-class customer service. I've never spoken with
anyone at Apple who isn't in the United States and who doesn't speak
unaccented English. Apparently there are no "Peggies" at Apple support.



--
http://flickr.com/gp/hakr/8272ug

On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:40:13 -0500, X ` Man
wrote:

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

===

Question for you. Is it possible to transfer jpeg photos from an IBM
PC to a Mac by putting them on a USB memory stick and reading them
back in on the Apple?

On 12/11/11 9:00 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:40:13 -0500, X ` Man
wrote:

About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

That sure is a great way to take care of American Laborers:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397421,00.asp


I "frequent" two Apple stores. At both stores, I know personnel who work
as sales help. The majority of sales help consists of college students
working part-time, and making between $12 and $15 an hour, plus
benefits. That's above average for retail employees in this area. I
don't personally know any of the "Genius" crew, but $30 an hour plus
benefits seems reasonable for first-line technicians who perform simple
diagnoses and repairs.

--
http://flickr.com/gp/hakr/8272ug

On 12/11/11 9:07 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:40:13 -0500, X ` Man
wrote:

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

===

Question for you. Is it possible to transfer jpeg photos from an IBM
PC to a Mac by putting them on a USB memory stick and reading them
back in on the Apple?


I'll have to give that a try. I haven't used a memstick in a long time.
I've had no difficulty transferring jpg's from OS 10 to Windows OS and
the reverse running Windows under an emulator.

In article , dump-on-
says...

About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

When are you going? I'd like to meet you there!

In article , dump-on-
says...

On 12/11/11 8:45 PM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article3vydnQiCw47z0HjTnZ2dnUVZ_radnZ2d@earthlink .com, dump-on-
says...

About three years ago, I sold my very decent IBM Thinkpad, made the
plunge, and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. Never had any problems with it.
Today, I was using it and the screen started flashing a little. Weird.
So I called Apple. I'm out of warranty, but...there was an issue with
the video cards on these machines, so Apple extended service for that
item to four years. So I'm covered. The tech made an appointment for me
at the Apple store. I'm not sure what the repair is, but "it will be
fixed," I was assured, and at no cost to me.

Interestingly, this laptop cost me less than the Thinkpad I had. I had
that machine for about five years, I think, before I sold it.

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

So you used a Thinkpad for 5 years and sold it still working.
Now your Apple breaks down after 3 years.
You have a computer with a flashing screen that may or may not be the
same again, and an unknown time-consuming hassle before you'll know.
And you say that's why you buy Apple.
Riiiight.


D'oh. The screen flashing is only at start-up, and according to a
service bulletin from Apple is a known issue for *some* of the video
adapters Apple sourced from NVIDIA. Apparently the defect can show up
immediately or years after purchase.

What's important to me is that Apple extended the warranty for my model
laptop, told me about the extended warranty almost immediately after I
called, had a service bulletin number for the problem, and made an
appointment for me to have it fixed at my convenience this week.

I'll be in and out of apple store in 15 minutes...unless they are fixing
it while I wait, in which case I'll be there for an hour. There's no
hassle involved. If I am at the store for an hour, I can do some holiday
shopping at the mall, and avoid going there this coming weekend, which I
was expecting to do.

I buy Apple because of the ergonomics, because of the operating system,
and because of the first-class customer service. I've never spoken with
anyone at Apple who isn't in the United States and who doesn't speak
unaccented English. Apparently there are no "Peggies" at Apple support.

Maybe you'll learn not to buy crap choked full of Chinese chips.

In article , dump-on-
says...

On 12/11/11 9:07 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:40:13 -0500, X ` Man
wrote:

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook Pro.

===

Question for you. Is it possible to transfer jpeg photos from an IBM
PC to a Mac by putting them on a USB memory stick and reading them
back in on the Apple?


I'll have to give that a try. I haven't used a memstick in a long time.
I've had no difficulty transferring jpg's from OS 10 to Windows OS and
the reverse running Windows under an emulator.

I love it. Says he dislikes windows and pc's, but then uses his apple
under a windows emulator so that it will act just like a windows pc!!!

On 12/11/11 9:30 PM, X ` Man wrote:
On 12/11/11 9:07 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:40:13 -0500, X ` Man
wrote:

Boating related, because I run chart plotting software on the Macbook
Pro.

===

Question for you. Is it possible to transfer jpeg photos from an IBM
PC to a Mac by putting them on a USB memory stick and reading them
back in on the Apple?


I'll have to give that a try. I haven't used a memstick in a long time.
I've had no difficulty transferring jpg's from OS 10 to Windows OS and
the reverse running Windows under an emulator.



Updates:

Will have to buy another memstick, since I can't seem to find any of the
half-dozen I used to have kicking around here. I'd say the dog ate them,
but...we don't have a dog, and the cats aren't dumb enough to eat that
sort of stuff. I'm still looking, though. Got to be one somewhere.

Got an email from the Apple tech I spoke with on the phone about my
MacBook Pro. The "repair" consists of replacing the logic board (Apple's
term for motherboard), one whose hard-wired video chipset doesn't have
the "problems" of the video chipset I now have.

I still don't know if it is a "while you wait" repair. Probably not at
this time of year. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the logic board
in these MacBooks...and the case fasteners are "0" sized Phillips head
screws. Then it is probably another 20 minutes to remove and replace the
logic board.