Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I'm 2 hours from ordering a Macbook SR...bad idea?
- Thread starter babond
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Ok - I haven't been exposed to Apple Laptops enough to give you a real idea.
Apple is producing more now than ever - and the more you produce in volume, the harder it can be to keep QC in check.
EVERY Rev A machine has quirks - be it car, computer, phone or even water heater. I'd at least wait out until Rev. B (if they're not there already) And if you're truly worried, purchase with a good credit card (with warranty extension and defective product protection services) You'd be suprised at how many credit cards offer that, but don't openly tell you.
Also consider Apple care, 2 or 3 years down the road - that 200 or 300 something can pay for itself easily. I wish I got it on my iMac - and laptops are so much more prone to damage than desktops. (smaller, and face it, moving around always has risks)
If you have a home or renters insurance policy - might even be worth the 30 or so beans it'd cost to insure it for a year. That is one thing I did do. Because Apple care won't cover theft, not sure credit cards will down the road either.
Apple is producing more now than ever - and the more you produce in volume, the harder it can be to keep QC in check.
EVERY Rev A machine has quirks - be it car, computer, phone or even water heater. I'd at least wait out until Rev. B (if they're not there already) And if you're truly worried, purchase with a good credit card (with warranty extension and defective product protection services) You'd be suprised at how many credit cards offer that, but don't openly tell you.
Also consider Apple care, 2 or 3 years down the road - that 200 or 300 something can pay for itself easily. I wish I got it on my iMac - and laptops are so much more prone to damage than desktops. (smaller, and face it, moving around always has risks)
If you have a home or renters insurance policy - might even be worth the 30 or so beans it'd cost to insure it for a year. That is one thing I did do. Because Apple care won't cover theft, not sure credit cards will down the road either.
I think we're seeing more operating system glitches than anything else... I just replaced my last macbook (core2duo) with a new one and it's pretty much the same as far as quality so far... just faster
Yes but apple car doesn't pay for any damage, they only pay for product defect. With a lap top the odds a very good after a year any problems that you have are going to be accidental and be void from the warrenty.
To answer your original question, I bought one of the new mac books last winter to replace my 14" G4 ibook and I have to say over all I have not been been as impressed with it as my previous ibooks. My major issues so far have been the key board (horrible), the palm rest( sharp as hell), the heat (this thing gets warm), the lcd broke (while being treated fairly gently and the part is rediculously pricey), and the fact that it scratches very easily. It's not a bad product however compared to others in the past it's definitely a step down (although most people here won't even admit that).
Billy I partially disagree with you on one point though. (if that makes any sense)
Yes, I'm pretty-much with you on the "if it's worked for a year, hardware defects become eclipsed in likelihood by accidental damage." (theory) But my sticking point is this: Laptops, due to the need to make things smaller, efficient, and lightweight - aren't as heavily built as desktops. Especially with hard drives. I've noticed a somewhat disturbing trend of laptop hard drives dying within 2 years - while most desktop drives tend to last in excess of 5 (or until they're space-obsolete) So with thinner switches, fragile components and wear items like hinges, batteries and backlights - I'd sleep a little better with an extended warranty.
As for the broken LCD - that is not unique to Apple. EVERY vendor completely hoses you on LCDs. My friends Smell LCD backlight blew, and it was bonded to the diffuser - which was glued to the screen. (therefore not very replaceable) They wanted MORE $$$ for the LCD alone, than for a brand new COMPLETE laptop.
I understand price breaks for production helping lower the cost - but to charge you 1100 bones for an LCD?
Yes, I'm pretty-much with you on the "if it's worked for a year, hardware defects become eclipsed in likelihood by accidental damage." (theory) But my sticking point is this: Laptops, due to the need to make things smaller, efficient, and lightweight - aren't as heavily built as desktops. Especially with hard drives. I've noticed a somewhat disturbing trend of laptop hard drives dying within 2 years - while most desktop drives tend to last in excess of 5 (or until they're space-obsolete) So with thinner switches, fragile components and wear items like hinges, batteries and backlights - I'd sleep a little better with an extended warranty.
As for the broken LCD - that is not unique to Apple. EVERY vendor completely hoses you on LCDs. My friends Smell LCD backlight blew, and it was bonded to the diffuser - which was glued to the screen. (therefore not very replaceable) They wanted MORE $$$ for the LCD alone, than for a brand new COMPLETE laptop.
I understand price breaks for production helping lower the cost - but to charge you 1100 bones for an LCD? Billy I partially disagree with you on one point though. (if that makes any sense)
Yes, I'm pretty-much with you on the "if it's worked for a year, hardware defects become eclipsed in likelihood by accidental damage." (theory) But my sticking point is this: Laptops, due to the need to make things smaller, efficient, and lightweight - aren't as heavily built as desktops. Especially with hard drives. I've noticed a somewhat disturbing trend of laptop hard drives dying within 2 years - while most desktop drives tend to last in excess of 5 (or until they're space-obsolete) So with thinner switches, fragile components and wear items like hinges, batteries and backlights - I'd sleep a little better with an extended warranty.
As for the broken LCD - that is not unique to Apple. EVERY vendor completely hoses you on LCDs. My friends Smell LCD backlight blew, and it was bonded to the diffuser - which was glued to the screen. (therefore not very replaceable) They wanted MORE $$$ for the LCD alone, than for a brand new COMPLETE laptop.
You do have a very valid point there too. It's almost tempting to just make use of their high resale value to sell and replace your lap top every year for about the same price as you would have payed for the extended apple care warranty.
my biggest problem was to decide if i wanted the m1330 (dell) or the black macbook 2.16Ghz (my first mac)... i decided to go with blackbook...why?...friends told me vista was bad... and os10 was fast.... so i like to be productive... i have xp at home but for some reason it seems like windows pile up with crap over time....and i have been using mac os at work for a month and notices it was quite quick and responsive.... so i went for it and got blackbook because of os 10 alone (i dont really care for the iLife suite...)
I've been using my SR MacBook for about two weeks now, and I've had no problems at all. Big upgrade from my iBook G4.
See below for my MacBook specs.
Ahh - my only problem with your choice was the RAM. Apple likes to pork people over that. Should try and downgrade your ram choice, and buy it 3rd party via Crucial or a competitor. No idea what Apple gets for ram now, but last year they wanted something crazy like 750 bones for 3 Gigs in the imac. And I bought it third party for 150. So unless it's a standard offering, or you do NOT want to put in your own ram - try and put that cash towards something else.
Agreed. I bought 4GB of Samsung RAM from memoryamerica.com for $120 USD. I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and received it on Tuesday.
Props to memoryamerica....
well i dont feel like trying to put in my own ram because im fairly new to that kind of stuff. in the future if i want to get the extra 2gb should i go for the same kind apple uses or does it matter? also does installing extra 3rd party ram void warranty?
Apple has the instructions for installing RAM right under the battery. It's like they want you to do it.
You'd have to take both sticks out that you have right now and replace them with two 2 GB ones for 4 GB total. It doesn't void your warranty. I'm using 2 GB of Patriot RAM I bought last year in my MacBook.
The quality of the aftermarket Ram we're speaking of is right on par with Apples. (in spite of what Apple would have you believe)
Putting ram in is NOT hard at all - even for the non-technically inclined. Matter of a fact, most 3rd party vendors will give you bright, clear, colorful instructions to follow for installation.
And many after market ram vendors even offer lifetime warranties - so with performance identical to "OEM" and a warranty to boot - it's a fairly safe thing. Obviously there are the ULTRA discount vendors shipping product form China out of a warehouse in Miami or Souther Cali - do steer clear of those. But as for Crucial, OTC, Patriot and the other frequently talked about vendors here - it seems a solid bet. Don't chicken out now - because once you see how easy it is - you're going to kick yourself in the butt.
Eidorian - How in the hell do you keep beating me to the line with this? You got an audible alert or something? You've got some serious Ninja skills.
So it looks like I'm not the only one there who stares at this screen when I'm bored, eh?
I just leave it running in a tab.So it looks like I'm not the only one there who stares at this screen when I'm bored, eh?
Technically Centrino includes Intel 4965 wireless chipset - Apple has decided to go with Atheros - IMHO is superior according to a couple of reviews I've seen on the net over the last several years.
Wait, so In Your Honest Opinion - of Others Opinions - It's Superior?
I wasn't done with this post - I just had to one-line it so I could beat Eidorian.
So anyhow - I only linked to offer some additional explanation from a more credible and knowledgeable source than I could provide. I know - and hopefully most everyone else - should know that Wiki is easy to fudge with, and is not the end-all-be-all. That's my love hate about Wiki - it's free and easy - but it's also not reliable due to the nature of the beast.