Post #386

Old before its time

19th April 2004, late evening | Comments (38)

6th April
You buy a nice, new, 17in Apple Powerbook. It is delivered to a friend’s house, ready for you to collect on your way through to San Francisco. It’s sitting in a box, 3184.92 miles away from you, unseen and untouched. You’re very excited.
19th April
You bastards!

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Comments (38)

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  1. Michael Simmons:

    That sucks.

    Hey, it's still newer than my Ti. Just pretend it's "newer" and you won't know the difference..

    Posted 14 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  2. Ben Poole:

    Oh dear :o( But did you pay for it in US dollars? If so, console yourself that it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than the UK equivalent.

    And of course, you still have a very nice machine - hell, I still only have a 233 MHz G3 iMac!

    Posted 29 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  3. Jon Hicks:

    That's exactly how it happens to me when I buy new kit. Without fail, within a week an upgraded model is released for the same price. My powerbook, my G5 and my iPod, and my Canon digital camera.

    You're still getting a good machine though...

    Posted 30 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  4. Ak:

    i can tell you that your 17inch is nothing to complain about!
    i have the higher end 15inch, and it's so awesome that i could care less if a new pb just came out

    Posted 36 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Drew McLellan, ↓ Dunstan, ↓ Sarah
  5. Dunstan:

    Yes, luckily I not only paid US dollars, but also got a sneaky discount, so until this evening I was amazingly happy with the whole deal. It's still great, but it's just a little frustrating :o/

    Posted 1 hour, 18 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Ben Poole
  6. Drew McLellan:

    I feel exactly the same, Ak. I got my TOTR 15" in January and couldn't give a stuff about the only-slightly-faster replacement. My PB does me proud and that's all I care about.

    Posted 1 hour, 20 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Ak
  7. Dunstan:

    Yeah, I know, I know... I was just a little miffed, that's all. Checking the web now it seems everyone in the world knew about these updates, except me! :op

    Never mind, I shall ignore it and concentrate on my lovely new machine... thanks for the comments, people.

    p.s. Jon: Oh yes, I remember you saying about that - terrible!

    Posted 1 hour, 24 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Michael Simmons, ↑ Jon Hicks, ↑ Ak
    Inspired: ↓ David Barrett, ↓ Tom
  8. David Barrett:

    Yes Dunstan. Everyone did know.

    You know that 17" Powerbook is going to break your lap, right?

    Posted 1 hour, 46 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
    Inspired: ↓ Stefan, ↓ Dunstan
  9. Hans:

    Poor you. Even though I'm a Mac hater, I still feel your pain.
    Didn't a similar incident happen to Dan of SimpleBits?

    Posted 3 hours, 20 minutes after the fact
  10. Eric:

    It's not that bad...at least they didn't upgrade the front side bus too, it's still painfully slow. I was going to buy a week ago but saw the rumors floating around...

    Posted 3 hours, 46 minutes after the fact
  11. Sergio:

    Here ( http://overcaffeinated.net/comic/date/20030112 ) is what I think of the 17" pb...

    The 15" one is sweet, though.

    Posted 3 hours, 52 minutes after the fact
  12. John:

    It's been less than 30 days since you bought the machine. I bet they'll refund some money to you, or you could ship it back to them, charge back the amount on your credit card and buy a new one... most retailers honor a 30 days price drop guarantee... no idea why Apple wouldn't do the same...

    Posted 4 hours, 49 minutes after the fact
  13. Tom:

    i did about the same thing, but I notice that the 17" models aren't available for a couple of months...

    Posted 5 hours, 25 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
  14. Alistair:

    Have you called Apple to see if you can return it for an upgrade before you open the packaging Dunstan? Given it is a considerable investment and you could return it to a local-ish Apple store (surely?), do you think they'd have much of a problem with that?

    I know my closest Apple dealer (Brisbane, Australia) are just superb with this sort of thing. Take in my Ti, they give me one back while it is serviced and/or repaired. Everytime I have taken anything in to be fixed and/or upgraded, they replace it with something as good or better in the interim ;)

    Al.

    Posted 7 hours, 1 minute after the fact
  15. Kitta:

    I feel your pain and frustration Dunstan, I've had it happen to me before. It's quite annoying and you feel like you want to kick something.

    Find and apple sign (or employee), and kick it.

    Posted 7 hours, 23 minutes after the fact
  16. Alex:

    You are not the first, nor the last person to experience this.

    Chances are the new PowerBooks wont be shipping for a couple of weeks, dollar is about 1.19 now compared to a few weeks ago when you ordered this one and may be you would not get a sweet a deal as you did on this one ... that said your friend can try to exchange it for a newer model provided you purchased it less then 30 days ago.

    And yes, everyone has been expecting the new models next tuesday for a couple of weeks now ... ;)

    Posted 7 hours, 30 minutes after the fact
  17. Veerle Pieters:

    Actually Apple has a 10 calendar day return policy on computers. So you're not that far off. I would definitely try to call them about this. Check out the sales policies on: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html

    Posted 11 hours, 26 minutes after the fact
  18. Stefan:

    17 inch. Rules.

    Posted 13 hours, 34 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ David Barrett
    Inspired: ↓ David Barrett
  19. Tony:

    Solid choice, and at least you can console yourself on the discount. I'm guessing you went with the developer program or student discount there. I've used that one myself :) UK duty could be a bit of a party-pooper though?

    Posted 16 hours, 1 minute after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  20. David Barrett:

    It rules at snapping the femur alright.

    Posted 16 hours, 6 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Stefan
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  21. Dunstan:

    Is everyone else out there made of paper and glass? My current Dell laptop weighs slightly more than the 17in PB, and I can carry that around and have it on my knee without any trouble at all.

    I admit I've not actually held a 17in PB, but weight is weight, and 6.9lbs is the same whatever badge is on the front of it.

    If anything I think the PB will be nicer to handle than my Dell as the Dell isn't really wide enough to sit on my knees comfortably. The extra width of the PB should suit me better.

    David, you need to beef up a bit ;o)

    Posted 16 hours, 14 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ David Barrett, ↑ David Barrett
    Inspired: ↓ David Barrett, ↓ Stefan
  22. Dunstan:

    I got the educational discount, Tony :o)

    And as for the import duty - yes, that's always a pain in the backside, but I've had that in mind the whole time, so it's a little easier to swallow.

    Damn taxes!

    Posted 16 hours, 16 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Tony
  23. David Barrett:

    To be honest I've never held one, and I have seen people balance one on one hand. But the things are WAY too big to be used as a laptop... they make pretty good portable desktops, but I'd like to see you try set it up on the plane back.

    And, for trying to goad me: here's hoping that, on the plane, you're surrounded by stereotypical Americans who think both you and they are Irish.

    And the same on the way back, only this time they won't stop asking you what the point in having a laptop is because Ireland doesn't have electricity.

    Posted 16 hours, 26 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
  24. Dunstan:

    Well well, I am much cheered - it seems I could return the laptop and get the new model, but I'm not going to. Ethan pointed out the hardware problems that often dog new hardware releases from Apple, plus the changes are faily small when you look at them (0.17 of a GB on the processor, though I'd like the faster DVD drive). But the killer one was that I'd have to wait about a month before I got my hands on the new model, and that, my friends, just won't do.

    So, I shall love my new laptop and never again wish I had the newer model :o)

    Posted 18 hours, 54 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Ben Poole
  25. Ben Poole:

    Good for you! And don't worry about being the only person "in the world" not to know about the forthcoming updates: I knew well in advance, but I'm not the one with the 17" PB waiting for him :o)

    Posted 23 hours, 34 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
  26. Neil:

    I feel lucky in this case - My iBook 12" order was delayed due to a "loss" at the TNT office in southampton.

    Apple assure me the replacement model will be the new version!

    Posted 1 day, 9 hours after the fact
  27. Stefan:

    I do not know the weight of my laptop in Ye Old Scaleth, but it's about 3kg. A bit heavy looking at other lappies, but it doesn't bother me. I can balance the thing on one leg, freeing up the much needed space for my fan.

    But it does get a wee bit hot. Like mexican peppers hot. So I'm looking for a laptop cooler, but most of them has nice ridges for optimal ergonomical comfort. Wich nicely cut in my knees.

    The only option is a cooler that works passively (wich I doubt will work good), or one with the fans sticking out the back. Unfortunately I've only seen that type of cooler once, and cannot find it again. Meh.

    Posted 1 day, 14 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
  28. Phil Baines:

    I think mr Richard Rutter would be able to understand your pain:

    http://clagnut.com/blog/335/

    Posted 1 day, 16 hours after the fact
  29. Andy:

    What is happening to the Dell Dunstan? I have a steam powered PC here.

    Posted 2 days after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  30. Dunstan:

    It's going with me to use as a test machine, Andy. Sorry about that, but I have to be able to view things on the PC when I build them.

    Posted 2 days, 9 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Andy
  31. Richard Rutter:

    So that's three 'switchers' I know of whose first experience of Apple is one of being conned. That's you screwed by Apple by a two weeks, me screwed by Apple by four days and my mate James screwed by Apple by two days.

    James bought his beautiful, superceded 17" PowerBook on Saturday 17th April - two days before all the specs were increased and the prices reduced. Unfortunately for him, James had decided to take advantage of his brother working at PC World (scumbag high street rip-off merchants) in order to get a 10% discount. James is old enough and wise enough to know better. Had he bought direct from Apple he would have got a replacement machine no problem but now he's stuck.

    Why oh why can't Apple make these announcements in advance and give consumers a chance? Sure, Apple won't sell many machines in the interim but those lost purchases will be made a few weeks later. It's got to be better than customers, especially those new to Apple, being made to feel gullible and conned.

    Posted 3 days, 10 hours after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Shawn Rice, ↓ Scott Johnson
  32. Shawn Rice:

    I think "conned" is a little too harsh of a word. I'd chalk most of it up to simply unlucky timing. Hmm.

    I converted to the mac side last summer. On a friday, I went to Apple's online store and ordered the fastes dual processor G4 they had. The following Monday they released the G5. A few good points for Apple, they did ask me if I wanted to continue with my purchase or go for a G5. Of course, by the time the machine actually showed up in September, they released a dual 1.8 GHz processor machine (which is what I really wanted).

    And my father just recently a PowerBook to hear about the new line a few days later. Maybe something fishy IS going on...

    Posted 3 days, 15 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Richard Rutter
    Inspired: ↓ Shawn Rice, ↓ Richard Rutter
  33. Shawn Rice:

    "...by the time the machine actually showed up in September, they released a dual 1.8 GHz processor machine (which is what I really wanted)."

    should read "...by the time the machine actually showed up in September, they released a dual 1.8 GHz processor machine not too long after (which is what I really wanted)."

    So much for preview. Hit that "post" button a little too quickly.

    Posted 3 days, 15 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Shawn Rice
  34. Richard Rutter:

    Yes 'conned' is a bit harsh, but that's pretty much it feels, especially for James.

    Posted 3 days, 16 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Shawn Rice
  35. Patrick:

    It's a bit late but in the future you might want to take a peek at Macrumors.com's Buyers Guide:

    http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

    And keep an eye out of events like NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) where Apple likes to announce stuff.

    It's a beautiful machine, a friend bought one a day or two before you did and it's made my old iBook seem pokey and screen-deprived.

    Posted 4 days, 3 hours after the fact
  36. Scott Johnson:

    I wouldn't exactly call it a con.

    It is widely known that Apple release new products at least a couple of times a year. One should expect a new version of a hardware product when the current model has been on the market for more than four months.

    If you don't buy new hardware right when it's announced, you're buying old hardware, regardless of the brand. This is just life in the hardware business.

    Posted 4 days, 5 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Richard Rutter
  37. Sarah:

    Ak says: "i can tell you that your 17inch is nothing to complain about!"

    *stuffs hanky into mouth as is not at all techy and can only see the smutty side*

    Sorry. so sorry.

    Hahahahahahaha

    I promise to grow up soon.

    Posted 4 days, 13 hours after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Ak
  38. MaThIbUs:

    That sucks!

    Posted 1 week, 4 days after the fact

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