Problems with 8800GS fitted in iMac 24" circa 2008

Machine Specs

• 24" iMac
• 3.06GHz
• 4GB RAM
• 500GB HDD
• SuperDrive
• Lion

This machine has been a LEMON since day one. My machine has suffered multiple failures date. Many of these issue seem to be caused by excessive heat!

My Mac sits in a dedicated office which is well ventilated. My hardware is plugged into an APC UPS. I have followed all the manufacturers recommendations with regards to use yet the product has failed several times.

I have had the following major components replaced:

• Internal Power Supply (overheating)
• LCD (twice) (black marks on screen)
• Superdrive (twice) (stopped reading/writing)
• Internal Hard Disk Drive (overheating)

However, apple care has now run out on my machine and it has suffered another failure of a major component - the nVidia 8800GS graphics card - and I am not alone.

When the machine is warm I see the following;

Machine boots to grey screen and the bong chime can be heard several times and it reboots. This repeats until you pull the plug./hold in the power button.

or:

Machine boots to black screen and the bong chime can be heard several times and it reboots.

When the machine is cold;

Machine will boot up and appear to work as normal. Approximately 2 minutes into the boot the machine turns unresponsive and the screen goes blank.

The Apple Support agent who initially took my call today was very polite, empathised with my situation and felt it warrented escollation to a senior agent to see if there was anything that could be done for me. After a few short minutes holding I spoke with a senior Apple Support Agent. Following a short description of my issue the agent denied that there was any known issue with the nvidia graphics card fitted to these machines despite there are 100's of threads scattered throughout several well known Apple forums including this one where customers are experiencing almost identical problems, but said that he would take time to determine what could be done for me and call me back.

I received a call back in less than 5 minutes but the news was bad. All apologies, but nothing could be done for me. I was also informed that this is an acceptable lifespan for my iMac. My iMac is less than 4 years old! These things are marketed as premium desktop computers to store your life on.

I've spent €1000's on apple products but now I am looking to close my account and move away. I've owned 3 iMacs, an iBook, 2 MacBooks, 1 MacBook Pro, 1 MacBook Air, 2 iPhones, several iPods, 2 iPads and more that I've no doubt forgotten to mention.

The cost of repair is several hundred euros and I do not have the money to spend on this.... and in any case it would not be prudent to throw more money at a machine which history alone tells me will fail again and again.

They work great and they are easy on the eye but if the lifespan of these products caused by electronic failures is so short then they have no business storing my work, family photos, movies, music and personal data.... my iLife.

I'm going to check with Irish Consumer affairs to see if I have a leg to stand on. As far as I am concerned the product sold must be fit for the purpose for which is is sold. Mine has a history of not working as described.