Ok, I bought a G3 500 pismo april 2001. In october 2001, I bought 512mb ram upgrade.
the computer has never really worked very well and has overall been a huge disappointment. I've sent it into apple twice and apple-certified technicians more times then I can remember. the specific problems that I'm having now are this: dvd-rom drive won't load cds or dvds. this has been a problem since about the time I bought the ram. I sent the whole comp back to apple, and they replaced the drive. it still didn't work. I called them and they said that all they could do was the same again and recommended me to a local apple repair tech. they replaced the drive and the problem remained. I've tried all of the factory resets and apple recommended fixes with absolutely no luck. Tried the comp w/o the ram and nothing changed. I'm really frusterated about this. just before my 3 yr apple care plan ran out in april (I bought the laptop used from a friend who had never had any problems with it), I had the drive looked at one last time. I'd resigned myself to the non-functioning drive, but thought that I mine as well try one last time before the warrenty expired. The apple technician I brought the laptop into returned the unit with the same drive, reporting that the drive was fine (no big surprise, except it still doesn't work). I'm at my wits end and sooo frusterated. the other main problem is that the computer is incredibly unstable, freezing several times a day during routine operations. This has been a problem for about as long as the drive. I've tried everything possible. Apple's response has been a general "things like that can't happen on your model". I would love to believe that, except these problems are an everyday reality. As a die-hard apple fan, I find myself with a shaken faith in the quality of what I had considered a rock solid company. Until ? January 2002, I was running 9.0.4, then I switched to 9.1. I've tried OSX with the hopes that it would solve the problems, but it just runs like a snail (can't do more than listen to MP3s OR surf the net... quicktime won't play movies at speed) and keeps the same old problems. I really really hope somebody can give me some help. I really want to love my computer, but I find myself angry, resentful, and endlessly frusterated. On top of that, I haven't been able to find anyone else online with my problem (only seem to find people talking about how rock solid their pismo is and how satisfied they are).
please help!
PS: thinking about the logitec G3 900 upgrade... will it help? also, is there any way to improve the 8 meg graphics card? I find it limiting.

G3 500mhz Powerbook (Pismo/2000/Firewire), 640 mb ram, 12 gig hd

We'd normally chalk ths up as a DVD Drive failure, but considering the history, it could be logic board related. It could also somehow be processor related. The frequent freezes you report are typcial of bad processor. If you purchased the G3 900 upgrade it should fix most of your problems though your circumstances are unique considering your problems with the DVD drive. I would strongly reccomend sending the unit to us. We'd get you fixed up guaranteed. You can email us at [url]support@powerbookmedic.com[/url]

-Bradley
Powerbookmedic.com

say it is the logic board... I have two questions. If I were to send it in to powerbookmedic:
1. how would you test whether it was the logic board (or, for that matter, the processor)?
2. about how much would that set me back?

At powerbookmedic.com, we test every component individually to determine what is the point of failure. The repair costs parts + $65.00. If your logic board is the culprit, then the cost would be $189.95 + $65.00 labor. If it was the processor it would be $219.95 for a 500mhz processor + $65 labor. Email [url]support@powerbookmedic.com[/url] for more info.

-Bradley
Powerbookmedic.com