Now, I love my almost three-year-old Powerbook dearly, and I'm a bigger Apple apologist than most, but my love for the boys in Cupertino faded a lot* the day that both hinges on my Powerbook snapped. It'd cost me almost as much money to have the hinges fixed as it would to just buy an brand-new iBook, so even if I had the money to spend I wouldn't do it; now my screen has to be propped open against something at all times.
Crappy as the situation is, snapped Powerbook hinges turn out to not be uncommon: they recently happened to my friend Manlio (see photos) as well as Dens's brother Jonathan, who had this to say about the whole deal:
I purchased my first car when I was 17-years-old for $2000. It was seven years old at the time. I used it for two years. I purchased my Powerbook for $2500, and used it for the same amount of time - two years.
Never once did my doors snap off my car when I tried entering the vehicle. And if they did, you'd probably say that's totally absurd. I'm not saying that my laptop is a car by any means, let's face it, I'm way too tall for it. But when you lay down $2500 for a piece of hardware, things like this should not break after normal use.
Plain and simple, I think Apple should stand behind its products. It's one thing when you break something out of neglect or misuse. But when something is such an obvious manufacturer's defect, you've got to make things right.
Word.
* Already faded from the two times my Powerbook's (very expensive) power adapter's plug fell apart in the exact same way and had to be replaced, also something that happens to a lot of people.
I was also a victim of the crappy hinges. Amazingly, Tekserve was able to fix it by replacing the entire screen for only $400. Apparently the Apple Depot, which is where 3rd party apple repair shops sometimes send sad macs, was willing to fix it despite being out of warranty. I didn't ask questions. Bring it in and tell'em Matty sent ya. When they don't know what you're talking about, tell them you know a guy who got it fixed for $400. Mine seems to still be going strong 3.5 years after getting it.
you can replace them yourself. Check the above auction, the guy also provides instructions
Good luck
You could always be ghetto and hotglue gun the hinges together? :D
As of this date, 6-28-2006, I visited the Apple Store, Chicago. I showed the tech "Genius" my dual snapped hinges and he said "I never heard of this problem". Also, stated it would cost $600 to fix.
I contend that this is a design problem that Apple should be fixing, since I did not drop nor other wise neglect my machine but simply opened the cover a little to quickly.
Not only are the hinges too weak but apparently the lubricant is drying out and creating more friction than the hinge can handle.
Fix one or the other issue and the problem could be prevented.
ie. A Stronger hinge or a better lubricant.
I have no problem maintaining my equipment, either myself or through a service. But this really needs to addressed by the manufacturer.