Well, I've been keeping abreast of my repair status.
Confusing, to say the least.
The return was for two issue:
1) the infamous wobbly case. It's irritating to have to prop up the case
of a new laptop with cardboard.
2) I noticed that external video display (via the VGA adapter, or the TV
adapter) was off--the picture was off center.

I had called with problem #1, and also mentioned #2. The rep asked me to
check it against other displays--at the time, I had only noticed the
problem with my 19" Viewsonic monitor, a monitor that works fine with my
8600, but that the Powerbook couldn't quite work with regardless of the
display settings (there were large black bands on the left/top, and the
right side of the Desktop was cut off). So, I hung up, tried the TV
adapter, and there was also a problem displaying it on a TV. So I called
back up.

Oddly, I was told that due to a little glitch in their system, they
couldn't add the 2nd problem to the repair order, and to instead call
back after they'd received the Powerbook.
Alright. I shipped the PB back, and called on Tuesday, the day after.

Today, Wednesday, I called for a repair status: the web site said that
the case had been closed, but offered no other information.

The rep said that a loose connector in the video circuitry had been
fixed.
"Er, what about the case?"
"The what?"
"The case. The prime reason I returned the Powerbook. The wobbly case."

Pause. "The case was within specifications, so wasn't replaced."
"Say what? The thing rocks back and forth. That's 'within
specifications'?"
So, she put me on hold for a "product specialist." I was fuming. Geez,
if they're not going to do anything about the prime reason for repair,
they could AT LEAST call and tell me, rather than immediately shipping
it back. So, I waited on hold, and waited, and waited.
Finally, I hung up; I figured I should call back and ask them to hold
onto the Powerbook until the situation was resolved.
The new rep said that it had shipped the night before. I mentioned to
her the problem with the case, and she said that the technician notes
said that the case had been realigned.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
I had a sudden hunch that someone--probably that first rep--had mixed
something up. So I called again. Now, what I was told was that the
bottom case had been realigned, but that NO WORK had been done on the
video circuitry. There was simply a note that it had passed testing.
ARGHH! So, I asked the rep: if I return a product with a problem, and
they claim that it can't be found, doesn't it make a LITTLE sense to
call me first before overnighting it back???

He suggested that I bring the external display and the Powerbook to an
Apple authorized service center to be tested. I patiently explained that
the monitor was 100% fine with a different Mac, and that the Powerbook
also had problems when hooked up to a TV. Now, I was going to have to
take a couple of hours out of my day to simple get "corroboration," to
use his terminology, not to mention the week or more lost shipping the
unit back and forth AGAIN.

Oh, well. And the tracking number isn't present in Airborne's system, so
the unit is in shipping limbo at this time.

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