Dear
Apple Repair Folk,
I realize this is almost certainly the first time you specifically have seen my laptop, but it has been unusable for about seven weeks. While it originally went in for video issues, it took two trips to fix that and upon its second return it had somehow developed a nasty habit of kernel panicking. I suspect DHL “sorted” it with a boot, but I really have no idea. After numerous hardware scans and tests found nothing, it was suggested I reinstall the OS. (Supposedly, merely downloading any file not produced by apple can cause massive system instability.) They’ve also shipped me new RAM which I’m fairly confident I installed correctly or I don’t think it would ever turn on. According to the applecare representative, they’ve replaced the logic board, LCD (twice?), RAM, and keyboard. The hard drive successfully executed a 7 pass zeroing. Applecare says this means it’s not the hard drive, but doesn’t rule out hard drive cables.
I’m returning to school on August 12’th and I really need this laptop. I’m a CS student and while it was working it was an absolute joy. The reason I’m bothering to write this letter is not to berate you or tell you how to do your job, but simply to ask that you don’t send it back the second it successfully boots. The kernel panic is fairly intermittent. 95% of them appear while logging in or waking the computer up from sleep. Still, I’ve had the computer boot, wake and then crash while I was typing an instant message. It even crashed once while shutting down in safe boot. Sometimes it fails to go to sleep or wake up after waiting for five minutes. It’s only conjecture, but I’d guess it’s crashing then too.
Please test it thoroughly before you decide it’s fixed. If you need ideas on getting it to die call me up at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Every time we’ve wiped it or swapped a part it works fine for some amount of time and then fails, but it always fails. I love my powerbook and desperately want it to work again. I swear, if you get it working and stick a piece of paper with an address in the anti-static bag I’ll mail you a batch of chocolate chip cookies. They could even have walnuts.
-Josh