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Hi, All. I want to post a brief report on the PowerBook I picked up as result of the expertise available on this thread. Take it as a mini-review of Apple's distribution, support and quality, if you will.
I ended up paying $4095 for a 3400c/240, which is otherwise available mail order at $5999. This savings of $1100 couldn't be available elsewhere, as far as I know, but there was a tradeoff. I received a model made for some areas of Europe and there is one hardware difference between it and the American units. Instead of the port being both Ethernet/Modem, the port is Ethernet. A separate PC card 33.6 Zoom modem was provided by the dealer. This means one PC slot is unnecessarily filled. Instead of the Y cable for the Ethernet/Modem port the box contained TWO heavy weight European power cables, nice for travelling. I did receive the proper US power cables and everything else I expected to find in the box.
As for quality control, there's a problem with the screen display -- blue artifacts, smears, that come and go. Apple is supporting this purchase but the PowerBooks don't have in home warranty, so I will have to send the machine to Apple for repair when I return from Boston. They have a quick turn around time but this is no fun. I would have preferred in home repair. No one at Apple had heard of a screen problem like this, so I don't know if this is a common problem. I hate seeing a top-of-the-line model with quality control problems that are quite obvious to the eye.
The machine itself is fabulous. Everything seems very high quality. The power cables and Ethernet cables are made so they bend at the end, the four speakers sound great, the speed is blazing, the feel of the keyboard is solid, the CD-ROM swaps with the floppy drive, easily, swiftly. THis machine feels GOLDEN. I've had and have a lot of Macs, but this is really something special. The display, except for the problem, has perfect resolution and is beautiful to view.
If anyone buys from this source (Compu-D), the owner will negotiate about problems, wishes, perhaps anything. (g) He's congenial and they want to have satisfied customers. Of course, you have to be sure you're getting what you expect, though, and this European model was quite a big, scary surprise to me. I could have returned it, but I felt saving $1100 was worth the trade-off of losing one PC card slot. I also could have returned the machine because of the screen problems, but that would have created a problem with bringing it to Boston. So I have kept it, and ended up feeling the savings was so exceptional that the dealer could be recommended with the qualifications noted.
Linda |
