old model "brand new" imac warranty

[mnx]

I'm about to purchase (actually, i've paid for it) a "brand new" but old model imac g5 1.6 from Ynzal. They tell me that the unit will come with Apple Care for 3 years warranty and the optional Airport Express card. This is my 1st non-book mac that I'm actually purchasing for myself.

My questions are:
1. Considering this is a previous model, will the warranty countdown begin from my date of purchase? As in I will be eligible for the full 3 years warranty support?
2. This thing only has local warranty. Is this just a country limit or am I locked to Ynzal as my only source for warranty service?
3. I have 2 sticks of 1GB Geil DDR400 RAM with the blue heatsinks in my gaming pc. Will they fit into the imac?
4. As this is a desktop rig, i figure i'll be needing a UPS. I'm currently using a 1kva "Giant"-branded UPS with control/monitoring software for the pc. Aside from APC, is there a UPS out there that provides software for the mac? affordable with the ability to give me 25-30 mins of power would be nice.
5. What kind of performance gain will i have over my current pbook (stock 667 Ti w/ 768 MB RAM )? I'm a heavy Illustrator CS2/Photoshop CS2 user running Tiger working mostly with 28MB up images and other artwork for commercial print output.

[penmanila]

1. yes, doesn't matter whether it's a new model or not, as long as it's bought new, the warranty starts from the day you leave the store with it.

2. it's a country warranty (as applies to all desktops, afaik; only portables have global warranty). you can go outside ynzal to get it serviced.

3. not sure, but the apple site says this about the g5 imac's RAM specs: "The main logic board of the iMac G5 computer has two DDR SDRAM expansion slots for unbuffered DDR400 (PC3200) dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) for a maximum memory of 2 GB. Each memory slot can contain 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB of double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM). The iMac G5 contains 512 MB of factory installed DIMM. The iMac G5 supports CAS latencies of 2, 2.5, 3, 4, and 5." check if your dell RAM qualifies. (paging henjie, our RAM expert.)

4.-5. i'll leave this to those who know better.

[Maccess]

Ynzal is an Authorized Apple Reseller, and since they are selling you a unit described as brand new, it should include standard Apple Warranty, honored by all local Apple Service Centers. Only Portables carry international waranties.

Make sure that your receipt says that it is brand new.

If it is pre-owned and sold as refurbished, it has whatever warranty Ynzal offers to you, and most likely will be honored only by Ynzal, unless it has the Apple Care warranty. Apple Care will be valid for three years from the time it was initiated, not your date of purchase.

AFAIK, the iMac G5 has DIMM RAM slots. Your RAM may work with it if it is the same specs. (DDRAM 400?) Some RAM brands may not work even if they have the same specs because of cache timing/paging/ issues, but this is true even of PCs, where some RAM simply won't work with some brands of boards.

There are numerous patches and hacks for controlling UPSs if GIANT doesn't have a Mac utility. The port may be more of a problem. If your UPS doesn't have a USB port, you'll need a USB to serial adaptor.

The performance gain for photoshop can be significant. The iMac G5 uses a desktop hard drive, which means faster scratch disk operation and file access. Depending on whether or not Photoshop takes advantage of at least some 64-bit features, your performance gain can be up to 100% over the TiBook.

[Dave_D]

Using a iMac G5 20"...

3. I have 2 sticks of 1GB Geil DDR400 RAM with the blue heatsinks in my gaming pc. Will they fit into the imac?

It is a tight squeeze in there if your RAM has heatsinks. Just test it, if the RAM sticks touch each other, BACK-OFF. Don't worry, I'm sure you can easily trade in those if they don't fit to ones without heatsinks since 1GB RAM are not commonly sold here so you can keep the price to a premium with little or no depreciation needed to dispose of them.

4. As this is a desktop rig, i figure i'll be needing a UPS. I'm currently using a 1kva "Giant"-branded UPS with control/monitoring software for the pc. Aside from APC, is there a UPS out there that provides software for the mac? affordable with the ability to give me 25-30 mins of power would be nice.

You're in luck, there's a program called TimeLeft that does this. If it doesn't support your UPS, there is a whole slew of UNIX applications that do this, but you will need some skills to compile them for OS X and run. If you're familiar with Linux, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to do.

5. What kind of performance gain will i have over my current pbook (stock 667 Ti w/ 768 MB RAM )? I'm a heavy Illustrator CS2/Photoshop CS2 user running Tiger working mostly with 28MB up images and other artwork for commercial print output.

Comparing G4 vs G5 doesn't necessarily mean you get 2x the performance compared to your old workhorse, but there WILL be noticable gains (even more if you can stuff 2GB in it). A more scientific comparison can be found in the Macintouch website.

Have Fun with your new iMac.

[mnx]

thanks for the replies

re: RAM

at it's widest point, my ram is 6mm thick. that's the top portion where the heat spreaders meet. they're DDR400 (PC3200) with CL= 3-8-4-4 but on my gaming pc, they're stable (runs more than 1 month straight) at 200 MHz bus 2-7-3-3 (set up by a friend. i'm personally a non-techie).

re: other question
says in the apple website that the HDD on the iMac is a DIY item. does this mean i can get a 300gb sata drive and install it but won't void the warranty on the rest of the unit?

[Dave_D]

re: RAM

Hmm 6mm seems like it won't fit. I'm sorry I can't be more certain because I don't want to open up this unit I'm using now (coz it's frickin' heavy) :qmark:

Just bring your RAM over to Ynzal when you pick up the unit and have them install it. Will save you some guesswork.

re: other question

Uh-huh, theoretically you can swap out the drive since it is 'user-servicable'. What escapes me at the moment is if you do this, if there is a possibility that the serial number of your unit will be lost. I remember reading somewhere that when Apple replaced a HD (warranty claim), that the serial number information (Apple > About this Mac) was lost with the drive swap.

Although you do have the paperwork, it still just plain sux being unable to check online for your unit's warranty coverage because the unit's serial number is not easily available.

[penmanila]

hi, alex (maccess)--just to clarify that point about applecare, this is what it says on the apple.com applecare page, which is how i've always understood APP:

"Three years of security
Every Mac comes with 90 days of telephone support and one year of service coverage at an Apple-authorized repair center. By purchasing the AppleCare Protection Plan with your Mac, you can extend your coverage to three years from the computer’s purchase date."

Originally posted by Maccess
Apple Care will be valid for three years from the time it was initiated, not your date of purchase.

[Dave_D]

I am not certain if force-bundling APP (Applecare) is in effect, but what I am certain is your iMac is subject to a mandatory warranty extention of 1 year OVER and above the initial 1 year, EVEN without APP included. This means if you're unit does NOT come with Applecare, Ynzal is obligated to fix it for 2 years from date of purchase. If you still purchase Applecare, you're total coverage is 3 years (NOT 4 including the repair extention program).

Check out Apple's repair extention program for Rev. A. iMac G5s for details.

Good Luck. I wouldn't pay too much heed in the horror stories about Rev A. iMac G5s. I personally believe it's a problem isolated to units sold in North America and Japan due to lousy non autovolt power supplies (110V only) unlike others which have auto switching power supplies.

[mnx]

From what I've been told, Applecare will be included with the iMac I'm purchasing.So that would mean the warranty would be up to August 31, 2008, right?

Next warranty question: The Airport Extreme card that's in the iMac is an addon (not originally part of the specs listed in the box). Is this covered in the bundled Applecare?

Non warranty question: I have a retail version of Tiger installed in a Maxtor One-Touch with all the apps I'm currently using. Can I still boot off that drive on the iMac or will I have to reinstall? If not, can I legally transfer the OS into the iMac or do I have to buy a new license?

[elbert]

Originally posted by penmanila
hi, alex (maccess)--just to clarify that point about applecare, this is what it says on the apple.com applecare page, which is how i've always understood APP:

"Three years of security
Every Mac comes with 90 days of telephone support and one year of service coverage at an Apple-authorized repair center. By purchasing the AppleCare Protection Plan with your Mac, you can extend your coverage to three years from the computer’s purchase date."

Originally posted by Maccess
Apple Care will be valid for three years from the time it was initiated, not your date of purchase.

Butch is absolutely right. I just want to reiterate that Apple warranties are always based on date of original purchase. Even if you purchase and enroll AppleCare separately (not with a brand new unit), it takes effect on the day your original warranty expires.

Here is a sample scenario that is valid
Apr 01 2005 - purchased Apple computer
Nov. 21 2005 - purchased AppleCare Protection Plan
Jan. 11 2006 - enrolled unit under APP
Mar 31 2006 - Original warranty expires
Apr 01 2006 - APP coverage commences
Mar 31 2008 - APP expires, unit can no longer be covered by warranty

Hope this clarifies