Loren: I did some reading, seems that model is, well, problematic.
The rush to meet the "need" for very light, very fast, large screen laptops is probably most of the problem -- all the models that run forever are pretty solid.
The battery problem could be the charge card, or a bad battery (li ion batteries don't last all that long, particularly if you let the battery run down to the point the computer shuts off). Failure to boot, though, is often a problem with a dead PRAM battery, exacerbated by a bad main battery -- my wallstreet would reset the power manager all the time until I re-celled the battery -- now it always boots up without loosing the date, etc. I've got a new PRAM battery, but it's a pain to replace.
The hard drives could be flaky, too -- Toshiba and IBM both made the drives in those days that Apple used, and I've seen more than one of each dead before it's time.
As for past performance, I have a Mac II fx I got used (no way I'd pay $10,000 for a computer, even if it WAS the fastest desktop available!) -- still runs great after 15 years.
Peter
