Just an angry switcher....

[generik]

i can't agree more. that's why i'm leaning towards the macbook.

1) it still looks great
2) it can take a beating and even if it gets scratched it's a much cheaper machine that's scratched. and who cares about scratched plastic
3) if you aren't too sensitve about the "moo" i haven't heard about a major problem like frequent logic board failures or so.

The beauty about scratched plastic is.... a $5 can of "Brasso" will polish up all the Macs you will ever own in your lifetime.

About the four MacBook Pros, that is just bad luck. Holy crap .

I see some attitudes that PCs are all non-working crap boxes. Though out of the millions and millions sold, only a small minority have issues. The same should be expected out of Apple. Just Apple is on a smaller scale. Secondly Apple is branding Intel chips that have been used in PCs for years? So isn't it natural that PC issues may start to plague Apple since they are both using the Same Processors?

Erm, can you please elaborate more on "PC" issues? It is not like machines on x86 has some intrinsic property that'd make them more susceptible to "issues", they'd probably be more vulnerable to buffer overrun exploits than machines on PPC, but it is not like these can't be mitigated (well, let at FreeBSD).

As for stuff like virus and spyware, all the star developers in the world won't be able to help you if you are constantly running your computer in a state where any application you run is in a God state!

That's precisely how it is like on Windows systems by default, since by default all users in Windows XP are administrators, and even if the people who did the programming for your OS were very careful to not have any exploits in their product (which the boys in Microsoft didn't do btw), it is not like any software that you choose to download and install for yourself would adhere to such good practices either.

 

[iPoster]

Just repeat after me...

I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...

 

[yellow]

Minor issues. First gen of a box. I don't expect it to be perfect.

 

[generik]

Just repeat after me...

I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...
I will NOT buy a Rev. A Apple product...

Technically speaking current MBPs had a speedbump, so they are Rev B

 

[smartalic34]

forgive me for any stupid questions, but it isn't all of the MBPs that have had whining issues, correct? my sister and I both recently purchased MBPs, and I'm curious as to whether my hearing is going... in other words, I'm wondering if my MBP has the whining and I'm somehow not noticing... are all MBPs affected by whining?

 

[generik]

forgive me for any stupid questions, but it isn't all of the MBPs that have had whining issues, correct? my sister and I both recently purchased MBPs, and I'm curious as to whether my hearing is going... in other words, I'm wondering if my MBP has the whining and I'm somehow not noticing... are all MBPs affected by whining?

Nope, the newer ones most definitely aren't. That should be the case because recently Apple has apparently started replacing whole logic boards for users who brought their MBPs in for servicing over the whine issue.

 

[Hornblower]

Minor issues. First gen of a box. I don't expect it to be perfect.

For $2k it should be pretty perfect!

 

[yellow]

For $2k it should be pretty perfect!

Where is that written?

For all intents and purposes my MBP IS perfect. It's a lot faster than my PB or my desktop Macs. If I had major issues that impacted it's performance, that would be a legit issue. But cosmetic stuff..

 

[technicolor]

Well just to help the skewed sample.. I have a MBP no whine issues, and it really doesnt get all that hot. Im very satisified its been problem free, and I got one of the earlier ones. I know this doesnt help the OP, but there are people out there that got problem free machines.

 

[brikeh]

Minor issues. First gen of a box. I don't expect it to be perfect.

To me that is total ********...why the hell wouldnt you expect it to be perfect???

 

[brikeh]

Well just to help the skewed sample.. I have a MBP no whine issues, and it really doesnt get all that hot. Im very satisified its been problem free, and I got one of the earlier ones. I know this doesnt help the OP, but there are people out there that got problem free machines.

Thats great! My friend has a 17" MBP thats flawless. Off course not all MBPS are plagued by these issues.

 

[yellow]

To me that is total ********...why the hell wouldnt you expect it to be perfect???

Because it's the first gen of a totally new technology.
All the designs have been through Q&A, but Q&A rarely can make up for hundreds of thousands of real-world situations.
So redesigns happen in later revisions. If I want to be bold and buy into the rev. A of a design, I better be prepared to deal with the consequences, just as Apple needs to be prepared to fix the non-cosmetic, performance impacting issues.

I don't expect anything in life to be perfect. Life simply isn't like that.

 

[celebrian23]

I never expected my mbp to be perfect. But as a switcher also, I see his point. There's a difference between imperfections/minor issues and major ones like the ones I'm having. Problems where the computer has to be sent in for repairs.

 

[Sesshi]

It's rather difficult to be balanced when there's excessive degrees of zealotry displayed on both sides of the 'give Apple a break' and 'Apple sucks' camps. It does not however change the fact that Apple's SUPPORT in terms of the conditions of service lags very significantly behind some of it's competitors - although it has to be said not all*.

I'm not referring to standard warranty support or the reliability of gear in general but actual, paid-for aftercare. QC may or may not be an issue. I've either been victim of an unfortunate fluke or bad QC - either way, unless I have further experiences I can't comment.

However the simple case is that I have paid out more than Dell aftercare on all my Macs to see a significantly lower grade of service despite the potential additonal options open to me due to Apple's retail presence, which were in the end unable to render effective assistance to me.

Apple Store in Regent St. was apparently out of the power bricks for example and they couldn't accomodate me for testing during that day anyway. Applecare gave me a bunch of Apple Reseller and Apple Authorised Service Provider numbers - all of whom said to me that they would check the function of the equipment, then return it to Apple and get a replacement but not replace on the spot, i.e. no better than me sending the item to Apple. Why does Applecare give me the numbers of these people then?

It's also a simple case that had I been using Dells instead of Macs, I would have been operational a day after without additional outlay, instead of waiting for a week for the laptop to be turned around and waiting 3~7 days for a new power brick to arrive - or do as I did, purchase replacements. How many people (especially students) would have gone out the following day and purchased replacement equipment to cover them while their stuff is being turned around?

Understand we're not talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the platforms, but rather the so-far-woeful-in-my-experience Applecare. If, and I say this speculatively, their stuff is going to go wrong on a regular basis, I as someone who relies on computers for everyday working can't rely on the platform. As great as the platform is, if the hardware is unreliable and support is dismal the disadvantages may outweigh the benefits.

4ish months into my Mac Experience, I have to admit I have began to wonder if there is not some truth in the Mac user stereotype of the arty-farty type or students - since they would be the only ones with time to spare to deal with (and conceivably be happy with) Apple support as I have recently seen.



*e.g. Sony still seems to be unaware of the generally accepted meaning of the word "support". In the Sony dictionary it probably means "keep item for 2 weeks, switch it on for two seconds, if it switches on then stick 'no fault' label on product then put on a belt sander for a minute before returning to customer". The saving grace seems to be that their stuff goes wrong a lot less than Apple, in my experience as well as others.

 

[yellow]

Steve Jobs came to my house and **** on my pillow!
I'm hoppin' mad and I'm going to spread my dissension to the world!

ALL Macs and Apple products don't suck and haven't always sucked despite you having crappy luck.

Caveat emptor

 

[generik]

Minor issues. First gen of a box. I don't expect it to be perfect.

You are very understanding. I am a customer, I walk into an Applecentre and go "Oh shiny!".

"Huh? What is first gen?"

 

[Doctor Q]

Name-calling and personal insults are not our idea of a useful discussion. Thread closed.