So, I bought a my first Mac about 2 months ago and I am looking at upgrading the hard drive to something bigger. The machine I bought is the iBook G4 from Munros for around 300 Dollars. I purchased the right hard drive and cloned it successfully and when I looked up the instructions to replace it, I found I was in over my head. Replacement means basically taking the whole thing apart and since I do not possess enough patience or time to do this job myself, I took it to Futureshop because they have Apple Techs that should be use to things like this. Upon talking to the techs there, I learned that they can do it for around 100 bucks. Not too bad since they are more insured then I am and if they break it, then they have to fix it.
During my research, I discovered that the power connector is very weakly soldered to the "Logic Board" as it's called and if it gets broken off its almost impossible to fix. Upon informing the tech about this issue, he stated that if they break the laptop in a fashion such as this or if it gets fried in another way, then they replace it for the next comparable model.
The next comparable model (cheapest replacement mac) is around 1100 dollars. Now keep in mind that my machine is from 2002 and is basically no longer available and if they break it, I get an 1100 dollar replacement. My machine is only worth about 300 bucks and thats a difference of 800 bucks. I have my suspicions that the tech is going to ruin my machine in the upgrade process and I have the sneaking suspicion that they are not going to give me an 1100 dollar replacement. I have a feeling I'm going to get Boned by them and then I will be out a computer and have no replacement for their screw up. I'm thinking of trying it myself and seeing how far I get by following the guides to replacing the hard drive.
Has anyone had anything replaced by the Fshop people in this fashion? Any advice? I will take anything at this point. It's a never ending headache it seems.