What you got me from the Apple store (SoHo).

39% of the purchase of a MacBook 13.3/2.4/2x1GB/160/SD-DL - White, (the beefier version).

My 2005 iBook is currently dead. I took it apart to replace the HD and after putting it back together (four times) it won't power up. I surrender, I am going to take it to my local after-market Mac Shop and ask them to repair my take-apart (nothing was wrong with it when I first put a torq-driver to it,I wanted to replace the HD, so in theory the "repair" should just be a matter of taking it apart and putting it back together correctly, let's hope), unless the estimate is more than it is worth, or I inadvertently shorted something out. I have a buyer for it when it is working, so that may cover a large chunk of the other 61% once I pay for the fix.

I couldn't live without a mac. It's official. I hated coding on Windows, I couldn't sync the iPod, etc.

I do not recommend you attempt to take apart an iBook. I know heart surgery, I've scrubbed in on heart surgery. Heart surgery is simpler and has fewer parts. A friend provided me with the "take-apart" manual for this model (late 2004 iBook G4) from Apple. I should note at this point what I really needed was a "put together" manual.

I bought an apple black stick.

I got the ice cube trays to keep the screws.

I plugged everything back in.

I have successfully taken apart as reassembled numerous Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, and Fujitsu laptops without the benefit of any kind of a manual. I can take apart and reassemble standard PC's in my sleep. I am not without skills in this regard, or so I thought.

Fortunately, I did a Time Machine backup right before I started. I will never attempt this again. Apple repair techs have my awestruck admiration now.

Setup Assistant applied everything to my new machine seamlessly (even though the old machine was PowerPC), I am back in my old environment, except I have a 16:9 screen instead of a 4:3 now. RIght now I am applying the Software Updates, next I'll be grabbing my 253 downloads waiting at iTMS.

Anyway, thanks again for the Gift Card (the 39% calculation includes the "late" contributions I have yet to actually have in hand, by the way, thanks for that). When the insurance claim is paid off I will be replacing my burgled iPod boom-box, the burgled LaCie drive, the burgled extra AC power supply, and purchasing AppleCare for the new machine. That list is what I really intended to use the GIft Card for, I just needed to get back to coding and I was tired of battling encoding-fu with Windows, so I jumped ahead a bit and got the MacBook to replace the ThinkPad T22 I lost in the burglary early. I'll get the rest of the stuff when the insurance money arrives, I promise.

Thank you all so much. It is good to be loved by so many. I can't express the depth of the meaning this has for me.