My iMac was "DOA"

Question

I wanted to share my experience in buying this, my fourth Mac in the last four years (can you say "addicted"?):
I purchased my 17" iMac G5 w/iSight a little over a week ago, and it worked like a champ for the first three days. I LOVED Tiger and its new added capabilities (I think the dashboard is a great idea, personally). Slowly, little problems started to creep up after that third day, though. Primarily, the machine wouldn't sleep properly when told to do so, and then the display began to appear distorted. Finally, the distortion got awful, and the machine shut froze up altogether. I had two sessions with Product Specialists via the online tech support that Apple provides. We did two reinstalls of the OS from the disc, then a THIRD reinstall from scratch (completely erasing my previously stored files). Still, the problem was not solved. I took the machine a nearby Genius Bar, where the Genius there told me, after some time, that my machine had been sold to me "DOA". That's right...Dead On Arrival. I dragged my corpse of an iMac back to the store I'd purchased it from, and to their credit, they replaced it right away. My "perfectly healthy" iMac is a great machine. I'll let you know in another couple of days if that changes. If I were more crass, I'd make a joke about Sudden iMac Death Syndrome, but I'm just not that crass. I learned a couple of things through all this that I'd like to share, though...
1. Keep your packaging and original receipt for 14 days. 14 days is the window for unconditional returns/exchanges, and having the packaging and receipt will smooth the process.
2. There really isn't a 2. I'd promised more than one thing, though, and this makes it look as though I've delivered on my promise. Enjoy.

Answer 1

Welcome to Apple Discussion
Living on the Big Island of Hawaii, I can appreciate the frustration of not having an Apple Store nearby. Sorry to hear your iMac was DOA. I have derived great satisfaction from my machine - purchased this past November. Glad you have enlisted the help of service people who from your description seem thorough.
What follow-up have you done with the Apple Store? The Core-duo is still in the Rev. A. class, which usually sees a higher incidence of problems than subsequent models. Since the machine was DOA, you had the option of returning it to Apple at their expense, as the 14 day return period from date of purchase seemed to still be in effect.
Have you purchased additional RAM with the machine? "More the better" I say.
When I visited the Apple Store in the Chicago area early in March, I had a chance to try out the new iMac Intel. I was quite impressed by its speed when running native (Universal) apps. In another year, the Intel line is going to be quite the rave in computer circles.
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