Critical Shift in Feeling

[Apple Corps]

Our business runs somewhere between 6 to 8 Macs as an average. In years gone by the prospect of purchasing a new Mac was one of excitement - joy - pride - anticipation - fun Those feelings were there despite various quality issues like having to personally replace the power supply and wiring harness on the MDD tower.

But a profound shift has happened to me. Now, my FIRST CONSIDERATION is how to purchase for EASE OF REFUND or EXCHANGE.

Hello Apple quality control - are you there - where have you gone??

 

[someguy]

They are still there, they just can't hear you over the whine of their MacBook Pros.

 

[Apple Corps]

They are still there, they just can't hear you over the whine of their MacBook Pros.

GOOD One

 

[budugu]

Or probably fainted by the heat generated by them? ... If you are business i guess you will be well served with the likes of HP, Lenovo or heck even Dell! I always hated the return/exchange policy of apple. It is a border line bait and switch approach. I guess if you allowed people to return with out a hassile ... a lot of people might return after using for couple days... when the oh it is so cute and sexy thing wears off!

 

[Apple Corps]

budugu - another good one

"Once the cute and sexy thing wears off" is exactly my feeling. Lower temps and latches that work BEFORE 1" thin. The time I am investing in trying to get a Mac that has the least number of problems and can be returned for an exchange or refund the easiest is too much. It is a sad scenario that to use OS X you have to put up with hardware like this. Many - but not all - of the problems are low tech basic manufacturing quality assurance: latches, misaligned screens, crooked keyboard keys, scratches, power supplies, flawed batteries, thermal transfer compound application, etc. FWIW - our "ancient" Clamshell 366 and TiPB 400 continue to run nicely.

Come on Apple - get with the quality program.

 

[sikkinixx]

to the tc, better watch out! you might get sued over your username

 

[Lau]

to the tc, better watch out! you might get sued over your username

And "Apple Corpse" might be more appropriate, looking at this thread.

 

[netdog]

Our business runs somewhere between 6 to 8 Macs as an average. In years gone by the prospect of purchasing a new Mac was one of excitement - joy - pride - anticipation - fun Those feelings were there despite various quality issues like having to personally replace the power supply and wiring harness on the MDD tower.

But a profound shift has happened to me. Now, my FIRST CONSIDERATION is how to purchase for EASE OF REFUND or EXCHANGE.

Hello Apple quality control - are you there - where have you gone??

Oh please. While at school, I was a SysAdmin for a small investment bank (60 workstations on a full featured network with data services). I replaced more Dell power supplies than I can count. Every systematic study I have seen contradicts what you are saying -- Apple quality control is much better than that of Dell, Toshiba or HP.

I think perhaps you have been spending too much time reading threads here. The MBP was rushed to market to get the Core Duo out there in a portable ASAP, and hence had some problems. The MacBook and iMac, however, are a different story altogether.

The London flagship store on Regent Street has sold truckloads of the MB this week, and as of Saturday, not ONE had been returned. Further, Asus builds very reliable systems, and my MB is almost silent, cool running, and built like a little tank.

My Core Duo iMac was one of the first, and has had zero issues despite heavy use with all sorts of hardware and software. I haven't really read about any significant problems with these iMacs. They are quiet, fast and reliable.

Apple is building beautiful and reliable systems. Posts like yours give people the wrong impression. Please find the hard data to make such claims about Apple. Consumer Reports says that you are dead wrong here. The MBP was a hiccough. Everyone knows it and everyone knows why, so don't buy one until we know it is sorted.

 

[Apple Corps]

netdog - WHAT studies do you have that contradicts what you think I am saying? I made no reference to Dell, Toshiba, HP or the iMac. The MacBook is just released so time will tell and I have several posts that Asustek probably has much better build quality than Quanta.

The "hard data" is my own recent purchasing experience with recent PowerBooks, Intel Mac mini and most recenly a very noisy MBP 2.0. The Intel Mac mini had major issues with Airport reception and the MBP had one of the defective power inverters for the LCDs. The last PowerBook I purchased actually had the front of the case bowed out near the front latch - hello quality control. My comments are from recent first hand experience and, from the threads, and your own admission, confirmation of issues out there.

Our older Macs were purchased, sepup, and have run and run with virtually no problems. That has NOT been my experience as of late and the MBP I purchased was just another "ouch".

I really look to my EXPERIENCE more than surveys, forums, and rumor mill. I have had QUALITY problems with the last FIVE (5) Macs purchased - not what one would want. That is not from reading these threads.

If your experience has been great - congratulations. My comments stand based on my recent purchasing EXPERIENCE.

 

[calebjohnston]

I'm not buying my next mac (probably a 15" MBP in... 3 years ) until I inspect it thoroughly in the store. This is round 2 with a defective laptop that I'll just have to live with.

 

[Apple Corps]

netdog - think about the issues: very high heat, bad lcd power inverters, lid latches not working, thermal compound application in question, 17" screen not able to stay in the open position / hinge issue, flawed keyboards, uneven 17" screen illumination, ......

The CRITICAL point is that these issues are not consistent on every 15" or 17" MBP. That VARIABILITY is indicative of POOR quality assurance. Perhaps you are up to speed as a Six Sigma Black Belt so I won't presume to lecture on Total Quality Assurance. The 15"/17" symptoms clearly point to a problem with TQA. And trust me - if you've been burned on your last FIVE purchases you start to have a CRITICAL SHIFT in FEELING - which was my title.

That feeling is based in FACT from what I have experienced.

 

[Apple Corps]

I'm not buying my next mac (probably a 15" MBP in... 3 years ) until I inspect it thoroughly in the store. This is round 2 with a defective laptop that I'll just have to live with.

I've returned two and am in need of a notebook - may have to try #3 shortly. Perhaps another few weeks will have more of the issues sorted - going to have to buy something by mid-June or so.