The tower model G5s didn't have the same issues with the exploding capacitors, did it? If new RAM doesn't fix it, you might want to take a look at the caps, particularly those in the power supply regions of the logic board, and the power supply itself.

And like anything done on a shoestring budget, there are... compromises.
Basically, they're the poster children for why Apple had to switch to Intel. Take that for what you will.

Click to expand...

Apple must do most of their engineering on a shoestring budget anymore, since there are also reports of problems across their post-PPC lineup, but mostly from the portables and the iPod/iPhone camps. I seem to remember the "mooing" MacBooks (among other issues with the 1st gen models), iPod nanos recalled due to exploding batteries, overheating iPhones, strings of iPhone updates that broke more than they fixed, display artifacts on the dual-GPU MacBook Pros, and stories of casing issues (cracks, warpage, discoloration, etc) across their product line. I guess swiching platforms can't fix half-assed engineering or cut-rate manufacturing and component sourcing.

Is it just me, or was Apple's best quality from about 1997-2001? This time period produced some amazing machines (2400, 3400, 9600, G3 desktops and notebooks, G4 towers), whereas after that, many problematic models (iceBooks, TiBooks) were introduced. Sure, there were some issues with the Rev. A B&W G3s or iMacs with bad flyback transformers, but nothing on the scale that filled forums like the dead-GPU iceBooks or leaking caps in the iMac G5s. I did like the AlBooks, though, because, aside from the whole failing lower RAM slot thing, they were solid, fast machines, very unlike the seemingly self-destructive TiBooks.