Exit PowerBook

That's it. I officially hate Mac now. My PowerBook that I have been using for only 12 days is dead. Well, it's not totally dead since I can turn it on and off, but I can't see anything on the screen.

Last night, I was using it as usual, and I closed the lid which would make it go to sleep automatically. When the PB goes to sleep, the button that opens up the lid pulsates in white light, but my PB didn't do that. Panicking, I opened the lid again, but it was already too late. The screen was completely black even though the machine was still running.

I tried troubleshooting it for several hours, but I gave up and went to the Apple Store in Woodfield this morning. The guy at the Genius Bar took a look at it and tried similar troubleshooting methods I had done and declared that there's something wrong with the hardware, which I had guessed already. So, my new PB is off to repairs, and hopefully it will be back next week.

The repair is covered in the warranty for one year, but I'm afraid of what will happen after the warranty is over. I'm thinking about enrolling in the AppleCare Protection Plan which extends the warranty to up to 3 years anywhere in the world. The cost? $349. If I can get the Education Discount, it's $239. The repair would have cost me $310 if I didn't have the warranty, so I think I should play it safe and enroll in the Protection Plan.

While I was troubleshooting last night, I found out that there are a lot of people who have had various problems with their iBooks and PowerBooks. I'm sure all laptops are susceptible to failures, but having it die on you after only 12 days isn't what I call reliable.

I will never buy another Mac. Ever.