Defective 20" 2007 Aluminum iMac

[unfrozen.jon]

I bought an Aluminum late 2007 20" iMac and I'm considering returning it. I put in 4GB ram and it ran beautiful for the first 4 months then began the random shutdowns and it took several tries to get it start up without shutting down. Also the wireless mighty mouse is defective, it looses its ability to detect one finger right clicks for long periods of time so I put it in a drawer and have yet to get it exchanged. I did check several forums and guides to make sure I was using the mouse correctly and that it seemed to match others situations where it was deamed defective.

I procrastinated on sending it in for repairs since I have AppleCare and also I didn't realize that I could have it repaired by an Apple certified tech in my own city. The problems began in Feb 08 and I sent it in finally in September when the random shutdowns happened constantly, and I bought an external HD to backup with Time Machine first. It turned out to be a defective logic board and the shop that repaired it was quick and pretty helpful.

About a month after that it is back to its random shutdown and no startup habits, and I took it away to use while I was away with work for a month. I was pretty embarassed to be there with Vista users being able to criticize my iMac for being a peice of junk, considering I had just had it repaired.

I am pretty loyal to Apple products, in my house between me and my wife we have: a MacBook, iMac, Airport Extreme, 2 iPods, 2 iPhone 3G's and I was planning on getting either an Apple TV or Mac Mini to use as a home theatre to replace our satellite tv service for the holidays. I have used Mac's for years and I am generally very pleased although I am feeling pretty embarassed and ripped off considering my defective iMac with defective mighty mouse. I mean paying $1,500 for a computer that has amazing features but can't be used for more than 5 mins without a shutdown (using the wifes MacBook for this).

I have obviously been sold a lemon and still have almost 2 years on my AppleCare and I have read most of the policies and documentation although I want to know from other peoples experiences whats the best option to go for:

1) I have already been looking at getting a Mac Mini and a good size NAS/home server if I am going to make a Mac home theatre. I am also a gamer and have noticed the lack of upgradability in most Mac's so I might just demand a refund for my iMac(I still have all the packaging and everything it came with) and then get a Mac Pro. It would eliminate the need to get multiple devices, iMac for graphics intensive gaming, Mac Mini and NAS/home server for a home theatre and its upgradability would mean a much longer life usage for my needs. I could hook it up in my living room for use as the home theatre, gaming or general computer use and I don't mind using my iPhone (if the wife wants to use the tv) instead since its such a joy to use. I'm wondering how good Apple is about refunding defective Mac's after 1 year when you have AppleCare.

2) Demanding a replacement for my iMac and sticking with the Mac Mini and NAS home theatre idea. This would probably be the most painless option when dealing with Apple and I'd feel guilty to take advantage of their warranty to correct my own short-sighted purchase but I think being a loyal customer that was sold a lemon entitles me to some compensation.

3) Playing another round of Russian Roullette on trying to get my current iMac repaired(if it can be) locally without replacement.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated, and I know this rants a bit long but this issue has been plaguing me for almost a year.

 

[mikecenizal]

just curious as to what brand ram you put in it? do people fork up the extra dough for the genuine apple brand ram or do they get after market ram? i didnt wanna spend the extra money and ordered ram from ebay. it was super talent branded ram. i hope it works ok when i get it. anyone else have experience with that brand?

 

[rpaloalto]

I have never heard of Apple doing a refund. I doubt they would just give you a mac mini and refund the rest of the difference on a mac older than a year.

Usually they give you a replacement. Of the same or similar model mac. If you want to add your own money. To upgrade, to a better model. is something they sometimes allow.

But in order for any of that to happen. I think they will require you. To at least give them 2 or 3 opportunities to fix your mac.

Just curios when you bring your mac in. Are you brining it in with your 3rd party ram? How do you know thats not the cause?
Try removing your 3rd party ram for a few weeks see if that fixes anything.

Also if the mac is giving you problems. Don't sit on it. Bring it to their attention right away. So you can get this resolved.

 

[luoy38]

I have never heard of Apple doing a refund. I doubt they would just give you a mac mini and refund the rest of the difference on a mac older than a year.

Usually they give you a replacement. Of the same or similar model mac. If you want to add your own money. To upgrade, to a better model. is something they sometimes allow.

But in order for any of that to happen. I think they will require you. To at least give them 2 or 3 opportunities to fix your mac.

Just curios when you bring your mac in. Are you brining it in with your 3rd party ram? How do you know thats not the cause?
Try removing your 3rd party ram for a few weeks see if that fixes anything.

Also if the mac is giving you problems. Don't sit on it. Bring it to their attention right away. So you can get this resolved.

It seems to me an overheating problem. Yes, they will try to fix it for you since you have the care plan (although it's very slow), if it is a hardware problem, they replace it, but the data recovery extra (if you want the data back on the hard driver).

 

[unfrozen.jon]

I got Crucial ram for it, its got great reviews so I put that possibility to the back of the line but it could always be it. I just got my iMac back from another trip the Apple repair techs, they apologized for me having to take it in a second time, they immediately swapped out the logic board again thinking it was a dud. He brought up that he thought it could be another issue, specifically heating so he ran a benchmark app on it for 4 hours to see if that caused any problems but none happened.

I was optimistic, thanked him and took it home. I plugged it in, turned it on and when I went to enter my password at the login it rebooted then again a few minutes after login. I don't it seems to be a heat issue but I'm getting pissed. And in case anyone is wondering, yes I tried swapping power bars and this problems occurs regardless.

The tech actually brought up that if it started having problems along the same line they would talk to apple and just get me a replacement. I am going to take it in tommorow and let them know its still going on, I'll mention that I'm interested in an upgrade to a Mac Pro if I am going to get a new Mac.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

they will not refund. period.

 

[Schtumple]

Have you been using the same RAM all that time, cause to me, it sounds like that's the culprit... Dodgy memory can do pretty harmful things.

 

[unfrozen.jon]

Brought it in again, its not Hard Drive related because it continued random shutdowns when booted from a firwire drive, not software related (because it happens in XP too), the logic boards been replaced twice. They are thinking its a power supply issue and will checking that. I have rEFIt on my iMac and they suggested if it comes to the point its being sent back to Apple that I should remove that although it couldn't be the culprit. I also asked about the RAM and they said its possible. This is such a pain in the A$$.

I know I wouldn't be able to get a refund but if its going to be replaced with a new one I'll see about upgrading to a Mac Pro and paying the difference.

 

[Miteuser]

Random Shutdown Syndrome

I had RSS and complete shutdowns for long periods. My 20" Imac had its power supply and logic board replaced (under extra applecare), as well as the new memory card replaced (repair shop issued). By the 3rd visit my applecare ran out. After 3 visits to the Apple-recommended repair shop, I'm stuck with a piece of furniture that looks good but is useless. This computer is only 4 years old and I don't have 1600$ to get another imac!! - I'm not crazy about this. The repair shop who won't give me a warranty for repairs that didn't work, and Apple refuses to take any responsibility for further repairs or replacement -- I spoke with one of the director techs at Apple care in Canada. This was very upsetting. However, finally had a super nice guy from another apple store explained to me that the older imacs have a weakness in engineering that includes the possibility of RSS. The problem is not from the individual parts (power supply, logic board, ram,etc.) but how they interact as a whole-- Apple refuses to acknowledge the weaknesses of its technology. Apparently newer computers haven't shown to exhibit that problem because of different engineering used. I would ditch the troublesome computer and aim for a replacement if possible. Hope this helps.