iMac Needs Love (Where's My Screwdrivers?)

"Ask not what your iMac can do for you,
ask what you can do for your iMac."
- President John F. Kennedy

iMac aluminum shutting down unexpectedly
iMac aluminum randomly shuts down
iMac aluminum power supply

Those sentences are for the benefit of someone who could be experiencing the same iMac issues as me, and is looking for answers via a Google search.

Simply put, my 20” iMac Aluminum has been randomly shutting down as of late. These shut-downs first were noticed in the summer of ’08 and occurred very infrequently, maybe one ever other week. However, lately, the frequency has ramped up to daily, twice a day in some cases. I performed every maintenance task known to mankind for the iMac, in addition to monitoring my system through the iStat Nano dashboard widget.

This led me to a regimen of Google searches. After considerable reading of similar stories, and there were many, the common theme that stands out is the power supply. This is the same issue that plagued the iMac G5 to the point of Apple pursuing a product recall. There is no such recall for the iMac aluminum.

Having identified the most likely cause of pain, now the problem is how to get it fixed? This comes down to a choice between two options:

(1) Take it to your local Apple service centre. There are a couple of issues with this option. First is the cost of labour, $95 / hour in the case of the closest place to my locale. Secondly, the cost of the part is not likely to be competitive.
(2) Fix it yourself. This approach would be cheaper both with labour cost (free) and part cost (internet). However, you’d have to be comfortable with dismantling a tightly engineered piece of technology.

Back in ’06, I took apart my PowerBook G4 to upgrade the hard drive. I’ve also spent many an hour tinkering with PC desktop components. Based on this, I’ve decided on option #2: fix it myself.

The next thing is to narrow down the part number. In my case, I referred back to the email confirmation when I first purchased my iMac to get my model number. With model number in hand, I googled “iMac parts” to see what I’d get. PRESTO! Plenty of places. I chose “Sunset Mac” based purely on cost.

No now I await my order and prepare for D-Day (the “d” standing for “disassembly"). So far, great service from Sunset Mac!

Stand by, more updates as they unfold.....

Burned By My Mac

After years of happy Mac ownership, I used to think that nothing could sour our blissful relationship. However, some recent Mac behaviour has left me scratching my chin thinking, "Hmm. Maybe that Windows 7 on a new PC ain't a bad idea."

Lately we've been using our 20" Aluminum iMac only to have it rudely shut down unexpectedly. One of us would be surfing the web, checking email, or thumbing through photos, then alluvasudden… BLACK. And we're talking a shut down here, not a sleep.

Naturally, this has me scouring the Net with questions. I'm not liking the answers. My google searches have taken me to many sites, but there appears to be one sickening theme that has emerged: a problem with the logic board and/or power supply. Now, for PC users, this is not a big deal. Off to Memory Express, grab a $100 motherboard, a $25 300W power supply, open up your case, do the ol' switcheroo, done. For Mac users, well, not so simple.

First off, a logic board will start at around $800, the power supply is around $150. Next, the whole Mac line is not exactly famous for allowing tech enthusiasts to crack open their Macs to replace this or upgrade that.

What all this has done is have me come full circle and ask myself, "why did I come to the Mac in the first place?" If I recall, the reasons were (in no particular order):
- looked damn nice.
- low Operating System maintenance, install OS once, no need for the spring OS reinstall.
- good selection of music, video, photo software to play with.
- no screwing around with anti-virus software.
- just a reliable machine.

With Windows 7 just around the corner, and with the snappy looks of inexpensive 20" LCD monitors, I'm starting to wonder if a switchback is in order. Are those previous points relevant anymore? The iMac could be relegated to another room somewhere, but our main family PC would be Windows 7 PC.

I still love my Mac, but I don't think it loves me back.