My Mac G5 Is Dead
Video Editing Computers | Apple Computers

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By Faith Fuller

Well, my buddy, my pal, my video editing partner of nearly five years.. my Mac G5 is dead. I knew something was wrong when the G5 tower locked up and started revving like it was going to take off like a jet.

I took my beloved computer to the Mac repair shop and first they said it was the hard drive. “We can fix it.. your information can be recovered for just $300” (note to self, back-up your hard drive!!!). Well, with my brand new hard drive installed, my Mac G5 still sounded like a jet. So I took the computer back to the repair shop, and this time they say it's my RAM. “Oh, in addition to harddrive, your RAM has totally gone bad.” So more money comes out of the wallet.. I am determined to save my friend.

So I return home thinking I can finally get back to work, and there goes the jet again. ARGH!!! It might not be so bad, but the nearest Mac repair shop is in Macon, GA – nearly one and a half hours away! These guys are killing me. So for a THIRD time, I load up the Mac G5 tower and go back to the store. By the way, this particular Mac repair shop is in the back of a beautiful Mac retail store with all the brand new beautiful Macs out on display, totally tempting me every time I walk to the back of the store. I'm starting to think they are pitching me fake stories about my computer being bad just so I'll keep coming back and buy one of their brand new beautiful iMacs!

So to make a long story short.. this time the repair guys admit defeat and say that not only was my hard drive and RAM bad, but my “mother board” is also bad. They seem genuinely baffled. They said it may be fixable but not worth the time to figure it out. They imply that I might as well buy a new computer. Aha! So it IS all a scam!! Well, I really don't know that for sure. Either these guys are super honest or super incompetent or super actors. Really not sure which it is.

Either way, I'm left with $300 less in my pocket (not including all the gas money I spent going back and forth to the repair shop) and a G5 that sounds like a 747 taking off. I will not be editing documentaries any time soon!

So where am I with this situation today -- May 5, 2010? The Mac repair guys said I could post the G5 on eBay and maybe get $200 bucks for parts. But I've found a much better solution. Turns out my 7th grade nephew gets much pleasure taking apart and putting computers back together again. He says he's never worked on a Mac before, so he seems especially excited. Who knows, maybe he can fix this thing! So for now, my Mac is being donated to science.

I'll miss you G5. :( 

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