[shawend]

I yield to "apocalyptic" failure. That would probably be more accurate.

Shawen
#G8444CD....

[rifraf]

Well catastrophic or apocolyptic, it doesn't look like we're the only ones PO'd with Apple these days.
Apple gets sued for defective powerbook memory slots
(forum comments here)

Now my question is, "Is now a good time for all of us on macupdate and apple's support forums having issue with the G5 model to start flooding Apple with calls?" Because clearly they wouldn't want 2 class action suits on hand.

[shawend]

I do not think that Apple cares about another class action lawsuit against them. Even though I think that there is clearly an injured class here. My other concern is that IF there is a class action lawsuit we would end up getting the equivalent of nothing . However, I am certain that the lawyers would make out quite nicely. Feel free to call me bitter! Part of the problem is generic. If a company admits there is a problem then they are CERTAIN to face multiple legal cases against them. So Apple is playing it smart. Fixing computers of people who complain loudly enough to try and keep the complaining below the background noise level. By doing this they minimize their costs and minimize their legal exposure. Of course from our end it MAJORLY SUCKS!!! At least the G5 makes a good foot rest. I am thinking of making a small pillow to go between the handles on the top of the unit, the aluminum gets a little cold on bare feet.

Shawen
#G8444CD....

[notjaded]

microsoft has set aside ONE BILLION DOLLARS for their xbox 360 issues. You would think Apple would honor their customers with the same courtesy. I know it would be nowhere close to that amount as I'm sure not as many people ponied up 3 grand for a g5 as apposed to 300 bucks for a xbox.

[shawend]

Apple clearly has the money. I do not think that is the problem. I think they feel that if they stand up and say there was a problem that the cost of fixing the computers would equal the cost of the legal fees. Plus, the hit on the stock price would be fodder for the competition. Anything that is going to happen will happen after the first of the year. Apple is gearing up for Christmas sales and they do not want a PR "Incident" now. If you look at this the problem has seemed to blossom this year and seems to have grown larger this summer. This makes sense because the systems seem to fail after about three years. So if Apple is watching they probably have figured out that this is going to get worse before it gets better. i am sure they hope it gets worse after the first of the year. That way they can deal with it and get it contained before next years holiday sales.

The wild card here is the economy. If the economy worsens the beginning of next year or if Christmas sales are not as good as expected then I expect that Apple will fight strongly to minimize the expense this issue could bring. They would do this to protect their cash reserves which would allow them to survive or even thrive as the economy slows. Again, unfortunate for us.

Shawen
#G8444CD....

[gbenner6]

Just thought I'd add myself to the list of problematic G5's. I have a Dual 2.0 running the latest Leopard. Froze up and hard reboot just got gray Apple logo.. no spinning gear. Ran through every trick I knew and got it to boot on my second HD (with Tiger on it) once, but froze after about 5 min. Using the Option key, I could get it to boot to drive select screen every time. Booted to G5 owner CD and ran AHT.. all ok. Got it to boot to Leopard DVD and ran Disk Utility.. all ok. Permmissions all OK. Booted to Leopard.. and it did!! Ran only aboout 2 hours and locked up. Couldn't even boot to DVD after that. Took it to my local Mac reseller/repair shop.. says one processor bad. $350 for repair. If this is a large scale problem, Apple definitly needs to pony up some relief for us consumers!!

[keysmank]

Better idea is to email the NY Times technology editor at http://bits.blogs.ny...or/sam-grobart/
If we blitz him with our stories , he'll write an article which is the only thing public companies are scared of.

Let the emails begin!

[keysmank]

Better idea is to email the NY Times technology editor at http://bits.blogs.ny...or/sam-grobart/
If we blitz him with our stories , he'll write an article which is the only thing public companies are scared of.

Let the emails begin!

[keysmank]

What specifically was the problem?

[MacCheetah3]

Hi
OK...So..We have some with PSU failures. Of course, we know Apple admitted to this. However, it seems some of the single core, dual processor Power Mac G5s have at least one more defective hardware component. I'm leaning at the chipset. I don't know if Apple was using both a north and south bridge or just one but it would point to so many symptoms. RAM test failing, freezing, TAU ( Thermal Assist Unit ) problems -- of course, this happens when any G5 or later Apple just freezes as the TAU relies on software components -- and CPU failures. Perhaps the chipset fails and that can fry the CPU(s) or at least cause communication problems. H-h-h-m-m-m...Way may have something here George. It would make sense why so many components ( CPUs, RAM, HDD, GPU, ... ) are all getting fingers pointed at them. That's my theory anyway. Didn't IBM also manufacturer and help design the chipset for the G5s?

[rifraf]

Let the avalanche begin

grobart@nytimes.com

[shawend]

It may be worth a shot. However, wouldn't we want to e-mail John Markoff? Also, is NYT the best publication to write to? What about the San Jose Mercury News? My understanding is that is the paper that Steve and most everyone else reads in Silicon Valley. That may grab attention faster.

Shawen
#G8444CD....

[VladimerePain]

I'm starting to wonder if there might be some kind of manufacturing defect on the logic boards since they had to be designed to accommodate two separate voltages on the PCI and PCI-X slots. Never know could just be resistors that go bad over time. Did notice that all the parts were made in China. I'd be happy with a replacement system of an entry level quad-core Intel system with 2 gigs of ram and modern entry level entry graphics card. I already have the hard drives and software that I need. Of course an exchange like this would have to be subject to an original machine with original invoice receipt. I'm sure it's not planned obsolescence just sunject manufacturing. I would wait about a month or two before purchasing a mac mini sense Apple just upgraded the macbooks with nVidia graphics, I'm assuming they will trickle down to the minis.

[Droid]

I'm working on a borrowed computer at the moment. I have been reading there may be mini updates soonish & I'd love a new model instead of the current one that is getting old, but it's starting to be a real problem for my work. Waiting just more than a week isn't really an option for me. When the next cheque comes it it will be spent rather quickly.

I need all the apps that were set up on my G5, and the data becomes unwieldy once you are not using it from a boot drive.

I'm not holding my breath for a replacement from Apple, all of the things I have tried to fix this issue have invalidated any warranty I could have argued about. I have disassembled most of the G5 out of sheer desperation, as many others have stated in posts on various forums. It will be abundantly clear to Apple that this is the case, no matter how much faith I have in my technical skills, Apple has better lawyers than I could even find, let alone pay for.

Good luck with the NY Times emails, I may join in with you.