Bad Experience with MACBOOKS!

[celebrian23]

I know how you feel. My mbp is a disaster. Three major problems all at once (this is actually our last night together...) I know I bought a rev. A computer, but I didn't expect it to be such a peice of crap. It's exhausting, and six months of research couldn't prepare me for all of its problems. Sometimes I wish I just would've bought a g4 pb or ibook. I do blame apple. I'll be much more cautious the second time around- because my laptop experience has been negative.

 

[dsnort]

My MB's keys turned orange! I'd tell you more about it, but I'm late for my Cheeto's addiction meeting.

Seriously, I am saddened to hear of your issues. My MB, black, is a jewel.

 

[mashinhead]

That's really bad luck. Hang on in there and I'm sure you will get one that works OK.

i went through 3 as well. I'm on my third. say what you will, apple's quality control blows.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

It's a lemon, it really is.

if it happens AGAIN, say you want a brand new one, no questions asked.

3 times is the usual rule.

 

[drj434343]

Not really. Lets say 1 in 25 MacBooks have some kind of problem that requires a return within a week of arrival, that means on average one customer of every 15625 will receive three faulty MacBooks in a row. Apple sold about 800 000 laptops last quarter, right? Still going with 1 in 25, that should mean there are about 50 people who have experienced the same thing as beloved84 in the last three months.

I like the math, and it makes sense, but 1 in 25? I have no idea what acceptable failure rates are in manufacturing, but 4% seems really high. If you think about LCD manufacturing, even 1 or 2 dead pixels is only a .01% or so failure rate for the total of pixels on an average screen. For a more complex laptop, I would think like 1% or 2% is more like it. Does anyone know what the failure rates really are, or at least, failure rate goals?

 

[WabeWalker]

Revision A hardware from Apple seems to be problematic. I also have had problems with my MacBook. Stains on the top cover, and then the trackpad and the keyboard ceased to funtction entirely. Just got the machine back today after one week in the shop.

Well, there it is. On the other hand, my revision A iPod from five years ago still functions!

To Apple's credit, they seem to be pretty good about fixing hardware that's broken.

Obviously breakdowns do happen - personally I have no complaints (so far) about the way I've been treated. Gotta love the MacBook when it is working properly though - a real work of art!

 

[brikeh]

the manger was like "look we replace two of your machine, what kind of company does that?". and i was thinking in my head, well normally when a machine cost that much you dont have too. (i have a gateway and a sony, its still perfectly running right now.)

What an idiot..if its faulty they have to replace it. Jesus.

 

[brikeh]

Its not that easy so detect dead pixels, and think about it. they make 1 macbook every minute or so. thats practically impossible to inspect every one for a deadpixel/faulty case(squueky)/mooing noise/etc

Its their frikkin job man, what are you trying to say?

 

[gekko513]

I like the math, and it makes sense, but 1 in 25? I have no idea what acceptable failure rates are in manufacturing, but 4% seems really high. If you think about LCD manufacturing, even 1 or 2 dead pixels is only a .01% or so failure rate for the total of pixels on an average screen. For a more complex laptop, I would think like 1% or 2% is more like it. Does anyone know what the failure rates really are, or at least, failure rate goals?

Perhaps, I made a guess significantly lower than the high numbers for people who report needing repair or had serious hardware problems with laptops during a year. In 2005 the numbers for laptops ranged between 16% (Apple) and 27% (Gateway). Link.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I do not know how long it takes to assemble a laptop, but perhaps the time has finally come for them to lower the rate of production in the interests of increasing customer satisfaction.

I'm sure line assembly can be done quite quickly, but it's possible that the real speed problem was with how fast these MacBooks were shipped to market. I keep hearing how Apple may've rushed this product so they could sell a bunch over the summer in preparation for the 2006-07 school season. Sounds as reasonable an explanation to me as any. Apple's quality control usually is good, but with this product line, somebody clearly dropped the ball, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was because the product was rushed.

There's some irony here, in that Apple's recent profits came heavily from laptop sales. Yes, a lot of that was pent-up demand from G4 laptop owners who wanted replacements. But if any significant portion of those sales were to first-time Mac buyers, lured by the TV ads or by Boot Camp, then Apple's reputation is gonna take a pretty good hit. Imagine if you switched from a PC to a Mac only to have your first experience be a product you had to return to the factory two or three times.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of repeated repairs, plus lost sales from people scared away, causes Apple's profits for the third quarter to be lower than expected.

Oh God, dont say bad experience! I'm hopefully ordering mine in the next month... fingers crossed..

Well, there again.... I'm looking to replace my G3 iMac, and I really could use a laptop. But I'm gonna hold off until I'm sure the problems are ironed out. I may be a big Mac booster, but I'm not gonna rush in blindly to buy one.

This isn't (as MacWorld magazine tried to tell us) just a few laptop problems blown out of proportion. No Apple product in recent memory has had this kind of bad buzz.

 

[SteveRichardson]

if it makes you feel any better I'm having HORRIBLE luck with external hard drives/ enclosures.

 

[JRM PowerPod]

Obviously there is something to be desired when it comes to apple quality control if there are three in a row dead. However my house has probably gone through 10 macs and the only one which had troubles was a Quad. You hear all these stories about iPods, well i have had 5, no problems at all, I even dropped one onto my treadmill at 18kph it hit the treadmill and went skidding across the concrete in my garage, after a reset it has worked fine. Most of the time it seems that Apple delivers in quality, but there are occasions when they dont. Unfortunately champ it happens, stick with apple

 

[Deepdale]

I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of repeated repairs, plus lost sales from people scared away, causes Apple's profits for the third quarter to be lower than expected.

That could very well happen and it should send a clear message.

Well, there again.... I'm looking to replace my G3 iMac, and I really could use a laptop. But I'm gonna hold off until I'm sure the problems are ironed out. I may be a big Mac booster, but I'm not gonna rush in blindly to buy one.

My G3 iMac is also oing to be around longer as I patiently wait until more of the quirks are fully addressed and greater stability returns.

if it makes you feel any better I'm having HORRIBLE luck with external hard drives/ enclosures.

Since I may now be waiting until January 2007 to purchase, I did get myself an 80 GB SmartDisk Firelite hard disk from Apple's Fifth Avenue store on Monday and backed-up all my important stuff, primarily the contents of the music library. I am pleased to state that everything worked perfectly, and I love the compact size of that product along with the magnesium enclosure.