6/1/98: a reader, Mr. Mizuguchi.

I took my PB2400 to the NCR quick-garage (one of the most famous repair service provider in Japan) in Akihabara to fix an overheating problem on May 24th. Although I had put off going to NCR, at the time I could wait no longer because the screen went blank because of the display light failure.

I told the staff about the situation, "The display is too dark even when the brightness setting is adjusted to maximum. It is very difficult to use it in the daytime." Then the display-unit was exchanged immediately. The serial no. of the unit that was 97-15 is now 97-44 on my PB2400 that have serial No. I572216M9VS. The staff told me, "Sometimes PB2400s are brought in because the display color turns brick-red. This is caused by a malfunction of the cable and it is repaired without exchanging the display unit."

When he started to assemble the machine, I asked him to apply some agent to keep the screws tight permanently. The guy told me, "I cannot do that because there is no such direction from Apple. I hope that they release a sort of improved kit like the one for the PB5300." And he showed me the screw for the PB5300 kit.

Apple seems to have directed service providers to meet the problems of loose screws and heat-pipe adjustments. But there is no corresponding item to claim on Apple's maintenance list. It looks like NCR is perplexed as to how to handle the situation. In fact, the description of a receipt that I got it in October was "freeze -> reinstall of the system software," but at the time, it was "exchanging of the display unit" only.

Although the cost to exchange the display was about JPY 12,000 according to the bill for Apple from NCR, I did not need to pay the cost because my PB2400 was under warranty. The NCR staff told me that the price can vary according to warranty status, such as "under warranty," "no warranty with collecting the part" or "no warranty without collecting the part."

Although there was a sound indicating the presence of a loose screw when I was there in October, this time I did not realize its presence at all. We should check the presence from time to time by shaking PB2400 to hear the sound, or ask a repair service provider to check the screws with a nominal reason of adjustment of the heat-pipe position every half a year. I believe that it was good idea to join AppleCare during the promotion (theprice was JPY 9,800 and it is now JPY 22,500).