I’ve been a huge Apple fan for almost 20 years now. I have owned, without counting, probably 20 Apple computers. Never, and I mean never, have I had a problem with any of them. They have always been reliable. I have never had a hardware failure nor have I had to return the computer for any problem. They have always worked for me…until today.

When I turned on my iMac G5 this morning it went through the start up process as usual. When it got to the “getting printer settings” it hung up and just sat there. I let it go for 5 minutes. It usually starts up in like 20 to 30 seconds. I had to hold the power button to make it turn off. I then inserted the Hardware Test disc that comes with all Macs. It started the test and after about 15 minutes returned a hardware error. I recorded the error and then called Apple. They weren’t open yet so I had to chat with a service person online. That was cool. You go to a website and a chat window starts up and you chat right with a service guy. I told him my story and after checking that my computer was still under the 90 day warranty, he told me to call Apple when they open and give them my case number. He also said that in fact the part that had failed was one I could replace myself. At 9:00 I called Apple and sure enough they had my case and quickly issued me a case number and promptly put an order in for the part to be shipped to me. I will fix it myself and return the damaged part. If I don’t return the part it will cost me $1400! That is more than half of what the computer cost! I WILL be returning that part.

So I was totally pissed off for awhile and then realized I have my 17″ PowerBook to use. Luckily, I have all my e-mail accounts set up on the laptop so I can still send and receive e-mail. However, all my financial information, photos, and other programs I use are on the iMac. Here’s the weird part. Just yesterday I was thinking that I should back up my hard drive to my external hard drive. I don’t know what made me think to do it yesterday but I did. I backed up the entire iMac less then 24 hours ago so I won’t be losing any information. Plus, the guy at Apple said the hardware problem shouldn’t effect the files because it’s not the hard drive that has died. I was happy to hear that. He also said I should get the part sometime this week. So for a few days the laptop will have to do.

I have to say I’m a little disappointed with the performance of this iMac. The fan is definitely too loud at times. I already talked to them about that and they said it was normal. The bluetooth doesn’t always come on when I start up the computer. The guy told me today how to fix that. I mean, I love this computer. It’s fast, it’s got all the bells and whistles, and has a huge crisp monitor. I’m sure my confidence will be restored when I fix the computer. One thing I can say is that Apple’s support service is great. Since I already had an error code they did not make me walk through all that crap to figure it out again. I am very pleased with their support service. And of course at the end of the call I signed up for the Apple Care Service. It wasn’t that expensive and it will cover anything that happens to the computer in the next 3 years. Let’s hope I don’t have to contact them again.