browngeek

My MacBook Pro started to act funky a few weeks ago. First, it shutdown a couple of times with no warnings. The battery would then drain out from 100% to 5% in an hour.
My first thoughts were that the Lithium-Ion battery was losing its life. Then, a few days later, the trackpad started to get “sticky” and I was unable to click. This pretty much rendered the laptop unusable. Then I noticed that the laptop was not sitting properly on the desk. I flipped it over, and yikes, the battery was swollen out of its sockets. It looked like a giant popcorn. Needless to say, I was concerned about it exploding and promptly removed it - which made the laptop immobile, like a desktop.

The 1-year warranty on the MBP had expired a few months ago and I did not have the AppleCare protection plan. So my first thoughts were “Great, I have to plunk down $140 for a new battery”. Then I realized that I had purchased the computer with my AmEx card that comes with a Buyer’s Assurance Program which extends manufacturer’s warranties by an additional year. A phone call to AmEx and they said “Sure. Just send us the invoice for the repair and we will reimburse it”. Armed with this backup plan of getting the battery (and any other repairs) for free, I went to the Palo Alto Apple Store to get the MBP fixed.

The two guys that say “Welcome to the Apple Store, How can I help you?” were flabbergasted to see the swollen battery and immediately took me to the Genius Bar. The guy behind the counter (named - Will), added me to the list of waiting customers. After a 10-min wait, Will beckoned me. When he took a look at my battery, he had no “OMG!” reaction. Instead, it was a subtle “Oh yeah, I’ve seen this before” reaction. After verifying that the MBP was registered to me, he informed me that Apple has a special “extended” warranty for batteries and will replace it for free!

I was very surprised. Perhaps the swollen batteries are a common problem and Apple wants no sour customers, or perhaps they did have a “special warranty” on batteries. Either way, Apple technically need not replace the battery for free past the 1-year warranty. Try getting your Canon camcorder fixed after the warranty expired. Right - I tried and it didn’t work. I left the store with a new battery and the thought - “Apple *does* care about its customers.”

There are 300 reasons to upgrade to Leopard (Vista 2.0) - including the venerable Time Machine. Most of them are big and well publicized. But here a list of 7 little-known gems that is going to make me super-love Leopard.

1. Automator - UI Recording and Playback
   “Use a new action called Watch Me Do that lets you record a user action…and replay as an action in a workflow.”
2. Finder - Path Bar
   “Just choose Show Path Bar from the View menu and the path is visible at the bottom of the Finder window. You can also drag files to any location in the Path Bar.”
3. iChat - Tabbed Chat
   “Consolidate your chat windows into a single tabbed window.”
4. Imaging - Enhanced Wireless Capture
   “Wirelessly import images from many 802.11-enabled digital cameras and Bluetooth devices.” aka the iPhone.
5. Photo Booth - Video Recording
   “Use Photo Booth to make movie clips.”
6. Spotlight - Dictionary Definitions in Spotlight
   “Quickly find the definition of any word by entering it in the Spotlight search field.”
7. Terminal - Tabbed Windows
   “Keep multiple Terminal sessions going in a single, tabbed window.”