My iMac died this weekend. I put it to sleep and then went to dinner. When I came back it was off and wouldn’t do anything. I searched the web for information on diagnosing the problem and tried a few of the suggestions. Finally, I determined that it must be a hardware failure and that it was probably the power supply.

For a number of different reasons (none of them particularly good), I never got around to backing up most of the data on the computer. Since this computer is my main development computer there is information that I need on it to do my work. I decided I would try pulling the drive and then installing it in an external enclosure so I would have access to the data while the computer was in the shop. After a little more searching on the web I determined that probably wasn’t a good idea. Apparently the newer iMacs with iSight like mine have special magnetic shield films, tape, and gums that need to come off when you open the back. The wiring is also easy to dislodge, especially the wires for the iSight. A lot of people advised against opening the new iMacs even for those with years of twiddling with hardware. I quickly determined that pulling the drive probably wasn’t worth the risk.

So, on Sunday I drove into town and took my iMac to the Apple Store. I asked the guy there whether the newer iMacs were any better for servicing yourself. He said they were worse. Except for the memory slots, the internals are vaccuum sealed to prevent dust from getting in. I could see how this would be good, but then I’ve run computers for many years and they’ve run perfectly fine even when coated in dust inside.

I really don’t like the way these new computers are unservicable. I want to have control over who can fix my computers and with what components. I decided Sunday that if there were one key thing that would prevent me from buying another Mac it would be this issue.

Today I was looking on eBay for used iMacs. I’d read this weekend that some people have taken the guts of their malfunctioning iMacs and placed them in new cases, so I thought that might be an option in the future for “constructing” my own Mac. Then I noticed someone selling new “hackintosh” computers for $300. These are complete systems except for the keyboard/mouse/screen and operating system. Since I just spent $100+ for a Leopard family pack, I already have extra Leopard licenses. This is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a Mac and then having to worry about getting Apple to service it when it goes bad. It also would make a good backup if my iMac were to die again. I already bought a new harddrive to make sure the data is backed up, I don’t have a backup Mac yet, though…