My Powerbook - still broken

In May this year my laptop, a 12″ Apple Powerbook, started going a bit funny. The screen had uneven backlighting so that when you were reading a web page left to right the screen would go from being dark to being light.

I booked it in for repair but with various things happening I didn’t have time to take it in. I finally managed to get it to an Apple Authorized Repair Centre, in Cheltenham, five weeks ago. I had also noticed problems with the sleep light and the lid latch.
They took a look at the screen and decided that it needed repair. I left the laptop with them and went home to Bristol. A week later I rang to check on the status of the repair. They told me that they had replaced the screen but the lid latch and sleep light needed a new base unit which was on order.

A further two weeks went past before I could pick up the laptop. When I went to collect it I noticed a large scratch on the new screen. I wasn’t best pleased and told them I would see them the following weekend, leaving the laptop in their “care”.

Two more weeks went past before I had the opportunity to drive up to Cheltenham. On getting to the repair centre I found that the second new screen had two dead pixels. Aparently this is not enough for Apple to repair it again - it needs to have at least five dead pixels. Again I wasn’t pleased but I signed the collection paperwork and went away, telling them that I would have a proper look at it when I got home.

On getting the laptop home I didn’t see any more dead pixels (which was a shame as I can’t stand dead pixels so the possibility of another repair would actually be quite good). However I did notice that my laptop no longer thought it had any bluetooth hardware. Reboots, looking in log files, prodding with hammers. Nothing, no bluetooth hardware found.

So now I will have to take it back to the repair centre to get them to fix the bluetooth. I am guessing that they forgot to plug the module back into the ‘logic board’.

In total I have been without my laptop for five weeks so far. I wonder how long it will be before it is properly fixed, if it ever reaches that stage.