Don't buy a refurb from Apple!!

Question

Not long after we got our dual G4 1.25Ghz, it started locking up and failing with kernel panics, although at the time, only once or twice within the 90 day warranty period (no reason to call tech support can be told to rebuild the desktop, or run limited analysis software). Over the past two years it has gotten progressively worse - now at 4-5 times a day at least. It recently crashed the system drive and corrupted it beyond repair. I replaced it and rebuilt the system from scratch. However, the lockups and kernel panics are back. I am positive now it is a bad logic board (since everything else has been replaced), and it was bad from the very start since the problem has always been the same, but increasing in frequency (probably the reason it went to refurb to begin with, but was not thoroughly tested and assumed to not be a problem, and resold even with faulty hardware). The problem I am convinced is USB specifically - we always had problems with USB Zip drives (slow read/write); and often locks up just typing email; recently ejecting a SanDisk USB flash drive locked up Finder.
There is no tie to any specific application - it has locked up sitting idle with no applications running. This occured with OS 10.x all the way up to 10.2.8 (current). We've tried new memory, swapping memory slots, now a new system drive with a completely rebuilt system - same problem.
Why didn't we call for support before now? Because we thought it was software, OS, or memory related, and a call to hear just that would be expensive, and useless. Time is the proof however, and the fact that it is a hardware error that alludes hardware system checks (which aren't very thorough to begin with), and has occured since we got it, leads us to place the blame with Apple's quality control and refub program. As a former development engineer, I have the knowledge and skills to determine this.
Don't buy a refurb from Apple - they aren't thoroughly tested and will leave you with an expensive boat anchor, or repair (e.g. replacement) bill. I know of other users with similar problems with refurbs, and the cost to repair is 1/3 the cost of new computer ($700 for the logic board for this machine, even at 2 years old) - probably a PC for us this time unless Apple is willing to admit their poor quality control and give us a serious deal on a Mac - i.e. replace this one. A comparable PC would be 3 times faster, and a new motherboard would cost me $150 or less to replace if necessary - we have four in our office suite and have never had the problems we've had with this Mac.
I know this will be an unpopular post, and probably deleted for censorship, but given that reaching Apple by phone is costly (i.e. I have to buy a service plan just to get them to fix their error), this is our only recourse - public awareness - here and on other professional product forums where the PC vs. Mac question arises daily. Sorry Apple, you've lost our company's business, but feel free to try and win it back with a very, very generous offer.
We've tried to make the system work since fixing it would be at our cost, even though it was Apple's fault for selling it as a "working" system. However, lockups are too frequent, and data loss is a significant risk. We have installed a data drive for all important data - only apps go on the system drive, just in case - we also backup to CD, but unfortunately the combo drive is also gone - won't write DVDs, and CDs are unreliable).
If this post gets deleted, we will know where Apple stands and will pursue other options to resolve Apple's poor service. It just goes to show that the larger the company, the less they care about customers, and the more poor products and service become measured in terms of acceptible loss, rather than quality performance.

Answer 1

You sound almost like a PC Troll, but just in case you are, in fact/reality a bonafide Mac user with some serious issues, I will try an attempt some directions to help you with your seriously ailing Mac.
One thing I would like to know is why you didn't purchase AppleCare on a Mac you know was a Refurb. Does Apple offer AppleCare for refurb Macs? Seems to me that purchasing extra warranty protection would be a "no-brainer". Why would you not do this, if available, is beyond me. But...
You also seem new/novice to Macs despite some of the things you mentioned that you attempted to replace or upgrade.
I am going on my own assumption that you do not have a problem at all with the logic board and that many of your Mac's ills and issues are other hardware, RAM, software and data/software corruption related.
OS X and your Mac need some periodic maintenance in order to run fairly worry-free. If disk utilities and maintenace routines aren't done say once or twice a month or so or do not get done at all, your Mac may start do lots of unexpected things
First thing I would do, if still possible ,is back up all of your important data to either CD/DVD or an external drive (preferrably a Firewire drive).
OS 10.0,x & 10.1.x were on some level "Beta" software releases that still had a lot of bugs and problems in the OS.
10.2.x thru 10.4.x are, for a large part been very stable.
Easiest and least expensive to replace first is your Mac's PRAM battery. This is a half-length size AA battery that stores basic parameters of your Mac's system. When the voltage drops in this battery over time, all sorts of funky things can happen with your Mac.
Next thing to replace is RAM. I know you've done this but newer Macs and, especially, OS X is very,very picky about the RAM that is installed.
Also, OS X needs 512 MB minimum for it to function adequately. 1.0 GB of RAM or more is really desirable for best OS X performance.
Bad or wrong spec RAM can also wreak havoc and cause constant system crashes and/or startup/shutdown issues and drive issues, as well
The specs for RAM on the G4 MDD are
PC2700 DDR SDRAM, 2.5v, unbufferred, non-parity, 184 pins.
Try purchase this RAM from this site
http://www.crucial.com
This is a reliable seller of memory for Macs.
While you purchase these, you really need to invest and purchase 3rd part disk diagnostic software to use other than Apple's own built-in Disk Utility software.
Recommended Mac Disk utilties are MicroMat's TechTool Pro 4.x and Alsoft Disk Warrior. As an optional utility to purchase, search for a additional disk maintenance utility such as MacJanitor, OnyX or Cocktail.
Not sure what to tell about your Combo Drive, though.
It could be on the "out"
If you are not adept at installing computer hardware, yourself, you could have an Apple Store or Authorised Apple reseller install a new Mac/OS X compatible (bootable) internal combo drive or upgrade to a Mac/OS X compatible (bootable)SuperDrive.
If you are fine with computer hardware installation, you can purchase a new internal drive yourself from this source
http://www.macsales.com/
You can also purchase an Mac/OS X compatible (bootable) external FireWire Super Drive from the above source and use this with your Mac instead of replacing and installing new internal.
You're are going to need a reliable drive to be able to re-install the OS and to re-install apps, so this seems to me to be a next priority to purchase.
Next disconnect all peripherals other than monitor,keyboard, mouse, and usable CD/DVD drive of choice. Also, shutdown Mac and remove any added USB/Firewire PCI cards.
(I know this throwing a lot more money at the problems you've been having, but I feel this way eveyone involved here with your issues will be working with a clean slate with known hardware that is known to work specifically with Macs.)
Restart the Mac.
We are going to erase and wipe your drive clean and reinstall the OS from scratch.
You mentioned you are on OS 10.2.x Jaguar.
Since we are essentially stating your Mac over from scratch, it's your option, but you have the option of purchasing a newer versions of OS X.
OS 10.3.x Panther is faster and more stable than 10.2.x Jaguar.
OS 10.4.x Tiger is even faster and stable.
This is entirely up to you.
Once all this preliminary stuff is in place, it's time to re-install the OS.
Insert your sofware restore CD/DVD or retail OS X disc into your internal or external drive. If using internal drive you can simply startup/restart from disc holding the "C" key at restart.
If using an external drive you can try same method or before you restart the Mac, again, from OS X start up disc prefences pane pick the external drive as your startup disc then restart.
The Mac should start from disc and now proceed with following instructions for re-install of OS X Jaguar.
Before you proceed with the actual install process, you can open disk Utility on the CD and decide if you would you to partition your drive. If you do not wish to partition you can continue with disk Utility's erase disk function. Once the drive is erased, quit DU and return to the OS X installer and the OS X install process.
Once sucessfully installed restart the Mac, remove the install CD/DVD once able to open thr drive during restart (so as to let the internal drive boot up OS X).
Once at the Finder, launch Apple's Disk Uitlity from the Applications/utilities folder and do a repair permissions on the drive/volume
Once permissions have been repaired, run the OS 10.2.x combo updater to update your Mac to the last/latest version of the particular flavor of OS X you are using.
If the combo update was succesful, re-launch Disk Uitlity and repair permissions on the boot volume, again.
If you purchased TechTool Pro, you'll need to get this CD out, restart from the TechTool CD by restarting the Mac by holding down the "C" key or pick the TechTool Pro CD as the new Startup Disk.
Run its volume structure/directory repair and optimization routines as well as its disk optimization routines.
I am not going to spell out how to do this, follow the instruction supplied in TechTool Pro's printed manual or help menu.
Once the OS X boot drive/volume has been repaired and optimized, restart the Mac and have it start from the internal drives OS X boot volume.
Once booted to the OS X system on the internal drive, again, launch Disk Utility and repair permissions on the main OS X system boot volume.
Then proceed with re-installing all of your third party apps.
Any apps that required an installer program to install need to be re-installed in this fashion. After installing an app, repair permissions in Disk Utility each time.
Apps that were installed from disc by simply dragging a folder from the disc to the OS X applications folder can be done the same way. You do not have to repair permissions when installing these kind of apps only ones that use an installer program to install the app becuase the installer installs additional code/software, kernel extensions, whatever into the main OS X boot volume of OS X system folder. This does not happen with "self- contained" folder apps.
Only install between 6-8 apps at a time, using TechTool Pro's disk repair/optimization routines in-between.
Once your Mac is back in good working order, you can try reinstalling (one at a time) any PCI cards and devices previously installed.
(Optionall proceedure and additonal software needed-Once OS X has been sucessfully installed on the internal drive, if you have or purchase an external OS X bootable FireWire drive you can use a 3rd party system copying app called Carbon Copy Cloner to clone an exact duplicate of your internal OS X system to your external firewire drive. If possible do this once you have completed the last run of TechTool Pro's disk utilities.
Follow Carbon Copy Cloner's instructions to clone an exact copy of the OS X system and apps to the external FW drive.
You need to use an external Bootable FireWire drive. USB external drives are not bootable on Macs and OS X.)
You need to run TechTool Pro anywhere from once or twice a month to once a week depending on how much your Mac gets used.
Periodic Mac maintenance is key to keeping a Mac healthy and functioning normally.
If you experience any crashing or lockups where you need to restart the Mac, once the Mac has restarted into OS X you need to Launch the Apple Disk Utility and repair permissions on the OS X boot volume.
Need to do this every time you experience a freeze or crash.
Please note any USB/Firewire devices installed on a PCI card may not let your Mac deep sleep anymore. You can test devices to see which ones can stay connected and your Mac sleeps. The devices that prevent this from happening you need to disconnect before allowing your Mac to sleep or you simply disable system sleep. You can kepp your Mac from sleeping, but let the display sleep only and have the hard drives spin down when not in use.
This is a long time known issue and there is no other fix for this.
As Far as reponse time of USB devices, the G4 MDD uses USB 1.0 and is slow as molasses for data swapping. If your ZIP and flash drives are USB 2.0, the data is only going to flow in at USB 1.0 speeds.
Again, you may need to purchase and install a PCI card USB 2.0 card or a PCI USB 2.0/Firewire Combo card to have your data move to these devices at a fatser rate.
Follow the manufacturer's instruaction for installing the hardware and software.
These can be purchased from a local Mac reseller or from the site I have given above.
Hope I covered everyhing
Hope this was helpful to you.
Any one else feel free to offer your own advice, opinions or corrections on what I have expunged here.