[AMGoff]

FWIW - Dell's service isn't worth diddly these days, UNLESS you pay extra at the time of purchase for one of their premium service contracts.

Anyway... all stereotypes aside... crap happens, regardless of any manufacturer. If it is indeed the logic board than it's a fluke... it was just crappy timing.

I don't want to sound like an annoying "I told you so" person... but you should never install something just because it pops up in the Software Update. There have been several different security updates or even an OS revision that I've skipped entirely simply because I've read reports of them causing people problems. Honestly, sincerely... it's always good to check them out before installing, no matter which platform you're on. I'm just overly cautious... and fall into the "If it's not broken, don't fix it" type mentality.

Just out of curiosity... before you took it to the Apple store, did you disconnect the battery and a/c for 10-20 minutes or so and then do a "hard" reset? Did you try booting with the extensions disabled by holding the shift key down? Did you try booting from your hardware test or installer disk? I have little experience with EFI... and there was never as many OF updates on the PPC Macs as their are on the Intel ones. If nothing else... the Intel Macs are still maturing as a platform... I remember dealing with many problems with some early PPC machines after their switch from the 68K architecture.

I just hope this doesn't sour your view of the platform... because from what I could tell, you were really enjoying it over the alternative. It's still under warranty and if it is indeed the motherboard, then knowing Apple, they'll probably just send you a new machine... with whatever new bells and whistles come with it.

I suppose just to make a CF-related analogy... If some mechanical fluke happened to your new Cadillac five months after you bought it and it had to go in for some warranty work... would it taint the entire brand for you, despite the fact you were enjoying it a lot more than the old Chevy you traded it in for?

I do feel bad for you though Sal... I know how sucky it feels to have you main computer crap out... whether it be a logicboard, harddrive, power supply... etc. Hopefully you'll get it back soon... and if I had to guess - they'll probably just ship the machine straight to your house.