How long do you have to wait before you decide to take action? After waiting for a week for Apple to pickup his broken iMac G5, Karl Hayden from Dublin, Ireland, decided to walk to the nearest Apple repair center to prove it will be faster than the company can pickup his machine.

Sounds drastic? Not really. Hayden's 10-month-old iMac crashed in mid-July. After failing to fix the problem with replacement logic boards, a power supply unit, and a back casing, Kayden said Apple agreed to replace the computer on August 14. A few days past the deadline, the company has yet to pick up Hayden's machine and ship him a new one. Adding to his frustration, Hayden waited nine weeks for repairs on another Mac which was lost three times in Apple's service system. The machine was later recovered and repaired in the end. And yes, he was billed for the repair work.

"I think there comes a time when the only thing that works with these companies is to show them up publicly and shame them into taking you seriously," said Hayden. "[Apple is] only interested in how negative publicity affects [its] sales and share price. Apple only seems to respond to customer concerns when direct action is taken to highlight [its] failings." Hayden will start his trek to Cork on Monday morning from his home in Dublin on foot with his iMac G5. We're pretty sure Apple won't roll out the red carpet for Hayden.

Sometimes, you never really know what you'll find in a thrift store.

Adam Guha recently picked up a 25$ iMac from a thrift shop, amid bulky CPU towers and 10-year old PCs. Not knowing even the kind of Mac he picked up, he booted it up and found a six-year old iMac DV Special Edition in pretty sweet shape. After a bit of tinkering with the OS and adding a mouse and keyboard, he realized it would be the perfect upgrade to his grandparents' Performa 630, a Apple creation from the early 1990s.

The iMac itself was a big step up from the Performa. Unlike the Performa, the Mac had USB ports to use with digital cameras and printers. It was also DVD-capable, which is definitely a bonus. Since it also only needed two cords, a power cord and a cable cord, this replacement was also going to be a lot friendlier to grandma and grandpa than their previous comp. Of course, it needed a bit more functionality, so he added the latest versions of Safari and Firefox as well.

With far more features than their old computer, all Adam needed to sell the idea of the new Mac to his grandparents was to add their favorite game or two. Of course, if they weren't going to get on the internet to email their grandkids, it was still going to be a great computer for a solid game of solitaire.

With the coming of newer and more complex gadgets these days, we tend to forget how overwhelming it can be for people who are new to it. Buying some old, but not obsolete, computers and sprucing them up can sometimes help to close that gap between newcomers and average users.

Who knows? You may just end up getting the family together to mod a computer for grandma.

Apple is on a mission to make a complete transition to the happy and reliable world of Intel processors, they will try to accomplish this by the end of 2006. Among the many now-Intel based Apple babies is the Apple iMac Core Dup 17-inch (which also has a cheaper, Education version). We earlier featured a review of the iMac Education variant which got favorable ratings amidst the downgrades it went through.

Now, the verdict is in for the  Apple iMac Core Duo 17-inch. As you can see, this baby is the bomb, aesthetically speaking. But now powered with Intel processors, a lot of people are expecting great things and improvements from this Apple contraptios. So with that, how did it fare in the review?

Well, according to the said review, Apple has a definite winner with this one. Faring well than other PowerPC and Intel-based Macs in business, media and general-use scenarios, the iMac Core Duo 17-inch is definitely not lagging behind in features and functions. It also mentioned that it's a good move that Apple stuck with the usual sexy design that Apple aficionados have grown to love and appreciate. It is a smooth operator too - runs quietly - with a hardware and operating system that are the most reliable around. The very plush and pretty screen is only a bonus to all that.

It is also praised for its built-in iSight, versatile all-in-one design, easy relocation for a desktop computer, and for being excellent for small workspaces (which we usually suffer from). But, every good machine has a mean bone too, nothing's all peach and roses in this world you know. But, the cons are obviously outweighed by the pros.

The not-so-good side of the iMac is its 8X SuperDrive which would be better had it been a 16X and the fact that it lagged in the iPhoto import speed test. So if you're in the market for a dependable and elegant-looking desktop computer, maybe you oughta consider the iMac Core Duo 17-inch, which has a price tag that ranges from $999-$1,300.

A few days ago, Apple launched the $899 iMac without much fanfare. While we know that the inexpensive iMac is marketed for the education market, we can't help but think that we're looking at an affordable stripped down version of Apple's 17-inch consumer offering. But before we get too caught up with the idea of a really cheap Mac for consumers, AppleInsider has revealed some of the internal component changes that make the iMac grounded at $899.   

As a backgrounder, the education market-bound iMac replaces the now-defunct eMac line of computers that featured CRT displays. To cut down on costs, Apple had a 17-inch iMac Core duo undergo some internal transplant - substituting with lower cost components. As a result, about $400 were shaved off the $1299 consumer model. So, ATI Radeon X1600 is replaced by Intel's integrated GMA 950 graphics chip. The 160GB hard disk was forced to go on diet to reach the 80GB capacity. The ho-hum 24x Combo drive was also plugged into the system to replace the double layer SuperDrive.

Apple got rid of Bluetooth wireless technology by deciding not to install Bluetooth antennas inside the chassis. This just means that the education market would be forced to get an external USB Bluetooth module should the need arise. That's going to set back the education market a few more grand just to get the technology.

We wouldn't expect the educational iMac to have some sort of edge of the consumer model, but it appears that the former sports at least one I/O-related enhancement. It has a combination of analog/optical analog audio line, which is an added treat, as the consumer model only has analog-only line-in jack. Now, who's turning green with envy?

But then again there are some issues that Apple needs to work on. First off, the first batch of iMacs to roll off Apple's assembly line will "fail to sync properly with a television screen if they are booted from a Windows XP partition." This is because the iMac detects TVs as a VGA display. There's currently no workaround for this. Also, booting from (you guessed it) XP, the iMac registers itself as a portable computer. This means that it uses power settings that are usually reserved for laptops running on battery. As with the first issue, there's no solution to the problem as of yet. On another issue, Boot Camp will fail to install if the Apple Mighty Mouse is plugged into one of the USB ports at the rear of the computer. Better use another mouse to get the Boot Camp started.

And as if those weren't enough trouble, altering the iMac's brightness setting without adjusting other video settings will corrupt the PRAM. This could cause the computer to restart at a later date with a blank video screen. Users are advised to reset the iMac's PRAM, or better yet, don't mess with the brightness setting.

Although the OLPC project's $100 laptop seems so enticing at times, maybe we should just let those who really have less in life use it and we should just move on to something else.  Recently, Apple released the $899 iMac for the education market which replaces Apple's CRT computer - the eMac.

The for educational-purposes-only iMac has a 17-inch widescreen display and a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor. It is also packed with a 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, 24x Combo drive, 80GB hard drive, built-in iSight and wireless networking, microphone, and speakers.

However, the new iMac ships with the integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics chipset instead of the usual and more powerful ATI X16000 found in the consumer versions of the new iMac Core Duo. The new education-only iMac configuration is available immediately from the educational Apple store.

When you press that start key and nothing happens, it's more than an inconvenience.

If you're like a lot of Mac users, it's a betrayal. Suddenly, this faithful friend and servant that has worked with you for so long has decided to "check out" on you.

Remember, however, that Apple has traditionally taken very good care of its treasured customers. If your machine is still under warranty, they'll even send someone to your domicile to correct the problem. But even if its out of warranty, the Apple has been designed to be extremely user-friendly - and there are very few problems that the user can't often solve on his/her own.

The folks at Creative Techs in Seattle have come up with a  handy four-step process to get you back up and running, read the Full Article to start on the path towards recovery.

A plug and play internal Bluetooth upgrade is now available for PowerMac G5,  PowerMac G4 and iMac G4 systems. The chip adds Bluetooth connectivity between Macs and a wide range of Bluetooth-enabled devices such as PDAs, cellphones, cameras, headsets, printers, keyboards and mice.     

It's very easy to install as the Bluetooth module fits directly into the Mac's main logic board, attaching to the built-in Apple antenna.

It's now available for $25.95 and comes with 1-year warranty.

Compatibility:

PowerMac G4 (FW 800)
PowerMac G5
PowerMac G5 (June 2004)
PowerMac G5 (Late 2004)
iMac G4 (17-inch Flat Panel, 1 GHz)
iMac G4 (USB 2.0)

If brand new Apples are way, way, way out of your pocketbook's league, you may want to consider these refurbished MacBooks and iMac G5s that come with much lighter price tags:

• 1.83GHz MacBook Pro notebook with 512MB of memory for $1,599 (21% off )
• 2.0GHz MacBook Pro 1GB of memory for $1,999 (21% off)
• 2.16GHz MacBook Pro 1GB of memory for $2,199 (22% off)
• iMac G5 systems with SuperDrives includes 17-inch 2GHz iMac with a 128MB ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card ) for $949 (save $550)
• 17-inch 1.9GHz iMac with 128MB DDR ATI Radeon X600 Pro graphics card for $999 ($300 discount)
• 20-inch 1.8GHz iMac with a 64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics card for $1,099 (save $800)
• 20-inch 2.0GHz iMac with 512MB of memory, a 250GB SATA hard drive, and a 128MB DDR ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card for $1,249 (save $550)
• 20-inch 2.1GHz iMac with 512MB of memory, a 250GB SATA hard drive, and a 128MB DDR ATI Radeon X600 XT graphics card for $1,299 ($400 savings)

Also available:

• Intel Core Duo iMacs with SuperDrives which includes 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel iMac with 512MB of memory, a 60GB SATA hard drive, and a 128MB GDDR3 ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card for $1,099 ($200 less)
• 20-inch 2.0GHz Intel iMac with 512MB of memory, a 250GB SATA hard drive, and a 128MB GDDR3 ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card for $1,399 (save $300).

It's been revealed that Apple are continuing efforts to promote their recently released Intel-based products by obtaining larger shelf space at Best Buy stores across North America. Samir Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis commented that the stores feature large displays and units of several Apple products.

Although the retailer already stocks a range of Mac Minis and iPods, this move shows Apples confidence in their line of products using an Intel processor. In addition, this initiative signifies a dramatic push to hopefully increase their market share and availability of products.

Best Buy are now also stocking the regular MacBook and Pro alongside iMac systems.

Apple have just released an updated firmware for its SuperDrive component found in many of there computers.

SuperDrive Firmware 2.0 features solutions for many errors previously encountered when using certain burning speeds on some recordable DVD media. This update, designed for Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later is designed for use with the following Apple products:

PowerBook G4 (12 -inch 1.5GHz)
PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.33GHz, 1.5GHz, or 1.67GHz)
PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67GHz)
iMac G5 (17-inch 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz)
iMac G5 (20-inch 1.8GHz)
Mac mini G4

If your product meets the system requirements, but you are unable to update the firmware, Apple have advised customers to contact your local Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple Store retail location.

You can get this free download (avaliable in most languages) just below:

Download: [Superdrive Firmware 2.0 Update]