Subject: Wintel-oriented Repair Woes. . .

From: Charles Hurd, (gibson60@icanect.net)

Recently I tried to start up my 3 year old 6100. To my surprise, the screen remained black. I was obviously shocked, having never had a problem with a Mac of this nature previously. Trying to save time, I dropped it off on the way to work at a Wintel-oriented repair shop instead of taking it to an authorized Apple dealer. They did a quick "test" on the cpu box and then the Apple monitor. The diagnosis was that "it is definitely a problem with the monitor". I left the Monitor which they would look at further and fix if possible. When I returned in a few days, they said that the monitor was "burnt out" and I would just have to buy a new one. That diagnosis cost me $35.00.

I of course believed them, and did precisely what they said to do, I went out to purchase a new monitor. I brought home a nice Sony 17" and hooked it up to the 6100, started it up and....the screen stayed black. Oh no, not only the Apple monitor was ruined, but my 6100 also.

I then took the 6100 to Computer City which also is a Wintel-oriented store(What store isn't these days?)they tested it and quickly discovered that all it needed was a new battery. I was very relieved and asked them how much that would cost. They said "$14.00 for the battery and $89.00 to install it. By the way, they refused to sell me the battery to install myself. The diagnosis cost me $10.00 or so. I took the 6100 and left.

I then did what I should have done to begin with. I called the Apple Store which has an Apple Authorized repair service. I explained the situation to them and they advised me to go to Radio Shack and get the battery for an even cheaper price and to install it myself and kindly gave me instructions over the phone on how to do it.

I installed the new battery, hooked up the new monitor and FINALLY a display came on the screen. Then I started thinking that maybe the original repair shop didn't know what they were doing and I hooked up the "burnt out" Apple monitor and to my pleasant surprise it worked perfectly. I returned the Sony 17" for a full refund.

Lessons learned:

1. Use Apple Authorized dealers only.

2. If this is the way Wintel-oriented stores operate, I want no part of it.

_______________________________

(the Evangelist's) Digital Guy Sez:

The sharp reader will remember that the battery on the motherboard is what keeps the Mac's clock running when the system is turned off or unplugged, and preserves assorted information in the Macs PRAM...including some video information. It also can cause a problem where hitting the power key on the keyboard will not respond. While this is an oversimplification, this is often the answer to a whole slew of odd Mac problems.

The only macs that didn't have user installable batteries were the Mac II, IIx, IIfx...well, that's all I remember off-hand (most earlier macs used AA batteries accessible through a back panel to do the same job). But even those can have new batteries installed by anyone moderately comfortable with a soldering iron (I had to do that once with a couple of Mac II's that otherwise would have sat around useless. A cheap way to impress my fellow employees at the time. :)

Back to index of articles

Back to Resources page

Thanks To The Great Folks At