Extended computer whine

[resonant]

Aagh! Laptop power crisis! My old power cable came to pieces in a very low-tech way (bits of rubber sheath falling to the floor, eventually followed by vinyl coating coming loose and wires showing and an electrical smell). So I called Apple for a new one (thank heaven for AppleCare; those things are damned expensive), and they sent me one.

Well, they sent me the wrong one.

So now the right one is on the way, but I won't get it till Monday. I haven't been able to recharge a battery since last Tuesday. I have two batteries; one is drained completely, the other has just under an hour's worth of juice in it.

I don't know what to do with myself if I can't spend a huge chunk of every day on the computer!

Hm. This is a pointless whine. To make it into a valuable tip instead, I'll say this to owners of Mac laptops: Apple makes two different laptop power cables, a 65-watt one and a 45-watt one. If you have a PowerBook G4, you need the 45-watt one. If you get the wrong wattage, it will look OK, fit into the slot, light up nicely and everything; it just won't do anything. So if you buy or order a power cable for your laptop, ask the people to double-check that it's the correct wattage.

Comments

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

In the 4 years that my ibook was functional, it went through three power adaptors. They finally fixed the flaw-- added a tiny rubber ring to reinforce the place where the previous two had snapped. There are few things I hate more than seeing a complex and expensive item break for want of two cents worth of plastic.

[schuyler.livejournal.com]

For some reason, Apple cannot get it's power cords together. I went through three on the G3 laptop I had for three and a half years (including the one that was recalled) and I had to call AppleCare for a new one for my seven-month old iBook a couple of weeks back. The man told me I couldn't plug in the 65-watt, though, as I might destroy everything I loved.

[darkkitten1.livejournal.com]

Dunno what it is with Apple and power cords/jacks. In my case, it was the socket for the power cord that loosened somehow, so 2 months after I bought my iBook, no power. Had to mail the thing to California to get it fixed. No computer for a week. Withdrawal is painful! Hope your cord shows up as scheduled.

You're kidding...

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

there's something that works better on PCs than on Macs? Wow. As someone living in a mixed household (PC desktop, PC laptop, iMac) I'm used to hearing nothing but good about Apple...

Hope that the new cord arrives on time tomorrow and you can stave off the cravings successfully till it does!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's very strange to be criticizing an Apple product for being poorly designed, isn't it? And then to be criticizing Apple customer service for making a silly, easily avoided mistake? I felt like I was through the looking glass!