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Bad imac and Apple experience (long)

czachorski said:
Well I am as big of an Apple fan as they come, and I am going to agree with you. But I am going to expand the statement a little bit to the entire tech industry. I have had tremendous problems with quality control with all tech products that seem to be getting worse in recent years.

I hold my breath whenever I plug anything new in whether it will work, and then have defects after it turns on. I just bought an LCD HDTV and went through 3 of them before I got one without issue. HD enclosures show up DOA. My first Mac (PowerMac G4 from 2002) showed up with a bad IDE controller making the Superdrive not burn right. The PC I bought prior to that went on the fritz right out of the box. Even simple things like toasters, cordless phones and DVD players are prone to all sorts of hit or miss issues out of the box.

Personally, I blame a combination of consumers demanding ever-decreasing costs for tech products and the resulting export of manufacturing to China. Essentially, we are getting what we demand: cheaper products that are built cheaply. It is not just Apple, but a larger pandemic in the tech world right now. The problem for Apple is that they are branded and marketed as something better, but they suffer from the same hardware quality issues as anyone, and that creates a disconnect between their customers expectations and reality that will hit them particularly harder and with more backlash than most companies.
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Good post, and a very fair point.. I definitely can understand that- it's a shame that things have gone this way, and Apple may very well be "the tallest midget in the circus"-for lack of a better description- but I think we all can agree there's room for improvement..

You can be loyal and still be honest though.. It seems to offend people when someone says something that Apples doing may not be perfect (not you specifically, but other people at times) and I don't get that.. Then they say "people only get on here and complain"- but so many of those complaints are of the "me too" kind.. And you see the same issues being discussed everywhere, then you experience the same issues you read about, and then you go to the Apple store and sit at the Genius Bar with people who are there for the same reasons as you.. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but to me, that indicates there's some issues at the present time- hey, maybe only minor issues, but issues none the less..

Hey, I'm not switching back- no way!! But I don't think it's too much to ask that we don't have to say a prayer before we plug in our new, expensive, products.. Remember the good old days when we were shocked if something didn't work right out of the box? lol.. I miss those days..
 
I feel so left out at times....

I have nothing to complain about that was not user related.

Even my 20" G5 iMac that slid off a desk and landed screen down on a hardwood floor continues to operate fine. I sold it to my brother and I am sure if there had been a problem, I would have heard about it.

However I am realistic, there may come a time when I do have a problem and when I do I know I will smile knowing there is an :apple: on the computer.

My son had an iBook and currently a Mac Book that he has abused ... and with the exception of a 'liquid spill ' incident Apple has taken care of him 100%. I remember he sent the iBook in for one issue ... when it came back they had replaced one or two other parts as well and the only problem with them was cosmetic.

We won't buy Apple products from anyone but Apple Stores, I guess here again we are lucky having 2 stores less than an hour away.
 
Come to think of it the only computer that I've ever had a hardware problem with was the 20" iMac I bought in March 2005. After I upgraded to 1.4 it sometimes did not start and when it did start the GFX were all ffed up. I had to replace the mainboard for £200. Ran fine after that :)

Still the other 4 apple computers that I bought seem to work fine though.
 
DesignerOnMac said:
a sensor in the power button to reset all the hardwear? If you kept shutting down might mean that you need to reset the SMU (?) I think Apple calls it. To do this, unplug the power cord from the iMac. Wait 15 or 20 seconds. Now hit the power button and hold it in for about 10-15 seconds. Then release the power button. Plug the power supply back in. BAM all should work okay!
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This was one of the first procedures Applecare walked me through. I did it 1 time in Nov. and once in Dec.

I think the iMac I had was just a lemon. Whats funny is that two of the first questions Applecare service asked was "where did you purchase the iMac and how much did you pay for it."

Next purchase will be through Apple directly. At this point, I'm not as concerned about Apple computers as I am about their service. It sounds like people have better experiences purchasing through them unless it's something they have been having known problems with like the battery in the laptop.
 
I have a 12" iBook that has been dropped numerous (countless) times and it still keeps working. I have had a great experience with my Apple machines. Our aluminum iMac works great, as does our iPod Touch.

Seriously though, our iBook should not still be able to turn on and it still runs, still reads cds/dvds like a tank.
 
czachorski said:
Personally, I blame a combination of consumers demanding ever-decreasing costs for tech products and the resulting export of manufacturing to China. Essentially, we are getting what we demand: cheaper products that are built cheaply. It is not just Apple, but a larger pandemic in the tech world right now.
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I agree 1,000% but would add that this is not limited to just tech world, but to the entire manufacturing world. It is the cheaper is better mentality that is destroying companies left and right. The big box stores started us down this horrible road and quality is suffering. Very few companies can really stick to quality anymore due to there always being someone who will make a similar product for cheaper and people will reward that cheaper (quality) product by buying it!

I could list dozens of brand names that have been hit by this...most of them a result of either Wal-Mart, Home Depot or the like!

Everything from pickle companies to tool companies have been ruined by this mentality. People would rather spend $30 on a DVD player rather than a quality one for $90. What they usually dont' realize (or care about) is that they will probably end up buying three (or more) of those cheapo DVD players over the life of the good one. We live in a throw away society! The retailers don't care about these brand names either because when a brand goes down the tubes, they just convince another one to join their product lines. These big box stores require companies to use inferior parts (ie. plastic gears in tools) and they also require a company to lower the cost of a product if the product isn't changed in a two year period. So either the company loses money by lowering the cost, spend money to change the product look, configuration, etc., or they suffer getting their brand dropped from the retailers shelves. This is the retailers policy!!! That is how they can advertise "dropping prices!" all the time.

Sorry for the rant...now back to the main topic at hand- Apple's quality has decreased with the pressure to sell computers close to the cost of decent PC computers. I also think that apple has their eyes on too many things right now, so many product lines may be suffering as a result. I wonder if some of this happens as a result of changing to the Intel stuff...Apple seems to be using many more PC compatible hardware items...I just remember their quality being so much better when they had their own proprietary items!!!

I have never had a hardware problem with a mac other than one issues with my iMac screen in year 6 of the computer which resolved itself and ended up being a software issue instead of hardware. I also had one recall on a hardware item on a Performa back in the day...almost 16 years ago I think!
 
hdpaul said:
This was one of the first procedures Applecare walked me through. I did it 1 time in Nov. and once in Dec.

I think the iMac I had was just a lemon. Whats funny is that two of the first questions Applecare service asked was "where did you purchase the iMac and how much did you pay for it."

Next purchase will be through Apple directly. At this point, I'm not as concerned about Apple computers as I am about their service. It sounds like people have better experiences purchasing through them unless it's something they have been having known problems with like the battery in the laptop.
Click to expand...

Apple has never asked me where I have purchased my computers. I have bought them from a number of places except Apple: Small Dog, and Power Computing. Don't know the purpose in asking where you bought a computer. In the end it is Apples warranty isn't it?
 
while ive had my fair share of issues with many of my recent apple purchases, I must say that their service is just inredible. they turned the logicboard replacement on my macbook around in under 24 hours.

I don't have pro care, or any other of the services offered for a fee. I just make an appointment like everyone else and they always get me up and running better than ever in no time.

maybe its just the particular store I use (marlton, new jersey- they deserve some kudos), but every single tech I've ever had over the years has been outstanding. as long as that store is there I'll feel at ease with any issues that may arise- they really have been that good. best customer service, over a period of several years, I've ever seen. they're doing something right either at corporate training , or that particular store, but its very nice to have that kind of service avaiable.
 
DesignerOnMac said:
Apple has never asked me where I have purchased my computers. I have bought them from a number of places except Apple: Small Dog, and Power Computing. Don't know the purpose in asking where you bought a computer. In the end it is Apples warranty isn't it?
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I would think it didn't matter, but the among the first questions were "where did you buy it, and what did you pay."

Maybe it was an iMac thing at the time or they were doing a survey, I don't know, but it was all down hill from there.

Just before I sent it back, I called a authorized third party Apple service location and they were much more helpful. He would have set it up and waited for it to fail, but if they found no problems there was an hourly rate, because Apple would not pay them for diagnostics unless there was a failure. Even though he would only charge me for 1 hour, he suggested I just return it since I was so close to the deadline.

Other then the battery problems, I have not heard from anyone that had service, or especially replacement issues, with Apples bought from third party sellers. Anyone?

What I gather is that Apple will stand behind their products and repair OR replace anything bought directly through them. Otherwise, they will just do their best to repair and any replacements have to go through the place of purchase.
 
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