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My MacBook and how I dislike it :-S

J

Jo-Kun

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 20, 2003
677
0
Antwerp-Belgium
Hey all.

today I went to leave my MacBook for a new repair session... this will be the 3d time it has been in.

since the warranty ends this month it was time to go for it...

since I have it it has been in for:

1 topcase replacement (yellowing)
2 topcase replacement (yellowing again) + screen bezel + shutdown fix

and now 3...

topcase replacement (yes AGAIN)
inverterboard replacement (screen flickering)
battery replacement (randomly shuts down on 30% left or 10% left depending on it's "mood" some days it works as it should)

the salesguy told me: why not buy a new one... why not? money isn't growing on trees... and they won't buy it back for a fee when I would get a new one...

really I like apple (this is my 9th mac) but since the intel move... my MacBook's HD is named "CrapBook" the guy couldn't see the irony...

I guess I'm not the only one who had this much problems... why wouldn't apple admit their fault and replace them??

I really hope it will be fine now...
or I really should consider selling it on eBay and get me a new one pff...
 
sounds like a lemon to me,

flog it and buy a new one,

I'v had mine a Rev A macbook 1.82 for 1 and a bit years now and it hasn't missed a beat
 
Is it still under warranty? I would go straight to Apple's customer support service for your country. Tell them politely (i.e. drop the "crapbook" nonsense... use language that a dignified person would consider appropriate), but firmly, what your experiences have been like and how you have been patient through a substantial number of repairs, frequently for the same issues. Ask them for a resolution which has increased likelihood of long-term success. Remind them that you are a long-term Mac user and you just want to get back to using your Mac. Try to pull for a replacement based on the low confidence that continued repairs to this Mac will be any better than the last three, but be open to suggestions.

That's what I'd suggest....
 
The battery should hold up now if you have the latest driver.
Can you not clean the MacBook to get rid of the yellow-ness?
I would sell it on ebay if I were you...
 
I think the yellowing is caused by where people use there macs. Complaints are sporadic but I have noticed that many people that seem to have the problem get it fixed only for it to happen to the new/fixed machine.

My advice is keep it out of the sun and stop cleaning it with Fanta. :D

Seriously though my keyboard on my PMG5 sits on a part of my desk that receives direct sunlight for part of the day and my keyboard is slighty yellow. However my MB that sits next to the keyboard but out of the direct sunlight is fine.
 
yes I had the latest batteryupdate installed, and it was worse afterwards...

normally I'll get it back this week and then I will contact apple and tell them (indeed politely) how and what... if they can't help me I will consider selling it since now it will look as new again ;-) but the idea of selling someone my lemon is not really nice... because then he/she can come back and complain :s

the yellowing (this time its actually more grey... wut still the same places) is not somthing I can clean (yes I tried, fanta didn't work out, cola neither lol) the salesguy said its related to the heat... and since I use it every day for programs that make your mac rev up... it's getting its heat all the time (there is no day my fans don't rev up to maximum, its at least 10 times a day...)
maybe they can say its not a 'pro' laptop, and that's why, but what the hell 15"+ is to big for my needs, and I wanted something affordable, since my G5 takes on the heavy work, I take it with me for locationwork so my clients can see my pictures on a normal size

MacboobsPro said:
I think the yellowing is caused by where people use there macs. Complaints are sporadic but I have noticed that many people that seem to have the problem get it fixed only for it to happen to the new/fixed machine.

My advice is keep it out of the sun and stop cleaning it with Fanta. :D

Seriously though my keyboard on my PMG5 sits on a part of my desk that receives direct sunlight for part of the day and my keyboard is slighty yellow. However my MB that sits next to the keyboard but out of the direct sunlight is fine.
Click to expand...

this kind of discoloring is not due to sunlight... its far to extreme for that to be the cause... and yes I do wash myself & my hands ;)
 
taking in a machine three times for the same issues qualifies it as a lemon, doesn't it? talk to a Customer Service rep and get a replacement.
 
PlaceofDis said:
taking in a machine three times for the same issues qualifies it as a lemon, doesn't it? talk to a Customer Service rep and get a replacement.
Click to expand...

Providing said issue is replacement-worthy. I dunno if topcases are categorised as available for replacement; I know HDs, logic boards and LCD panels are.
 
i've gone through four macbooks and i feel your pain, ironically im getting my 2.0 c2d mb replaced today with a c2d 2.16 black book. I would call Customer Service tell them your problem and they should replace your machine with a new one given the number of repairs on the machine, i am pretty sure apple has a 3 strike rule ( 3 repairs = new computer ) and good for you they will upgrade you to a c2d macbook that is in the price point of what you paid for yours.
 
joshwest said:
i've gone through four macbooks and i feel your pain, ironically im getting my 2.0 c2d mb replaced today with a c2d 2.16 black book. I would call Customer Service tell them your problem and they should replace your machine with a new one given the number of repairs on the machine, i am pretty sure apple has a 3 strike rule ( 3 repairs = new computer ) and good for you they will upgrade you to a c2d macbook that is in the price point of what you paid for yours.
Click to expand...


wait and see... today I finally got a replacement iBook to work on... needed to ask 5 times... I wasn't asking for something nice but usable while its in repair... really I hate them... never buying any mac at that store... they prefer iPods I guess???

so when I get it back I will call apple direct... ask them what their perspective is on this case...

I'm not asking for any 'upgrade' to C2duo or anything... I'm only asking for a working Macbook, that's it... really for the fast/heavy work my 3y old G5 will beat the crap out of the macbook any day... and for that fact, it beats my friends 17"Macbook pro allso... ok 3.5 GB vs 2GB ram is more important than GHZ ;)

all I want is a stable iNTEL mac... am I asking too much? I might start thinking I am...

the dark side is getting stronger in this one... (a friend is programmer for ms :p) but really I want to stay on the macside... or should I start buying old PowerPC macs to keep my universe stable????????
 
yay...

and again... a new post about my CrapBook....

it had a repair in may... as mentioned...

yesterday It wouldn't boot at all and the HD was Clicking :s yep it's dead again...

no more warranty, have no apple care... 4th repair...

so now they will chack it again... see what's wrong, and ask apple if I have right to an extended warranty for this case since it's the 4th repair... keep those fingers crossed... and hope steve will pay for my repair or finnaly just give me a new one instead ;-) they told me if apple tells them they can't help me about the warranty & have to pay I schould try to call apple myself to try to get things right since my trackrecord with repairs is something that is hard to ignore...

Tmie will tell... fingers crossed...

will steve lose his god-like-status in my eyes, or not ;-)
 
Jo-Kun said:
yesterday It wouldn't boot at all and the HD was Clicking :s yep it's dead again...
Click to expand...

I'd totally understand if you decide to go to another brand, but before you do, push them politely but keep pushing them about this. Given that it required numerous repairs up to the latter part of the warranty, particularly if any of them were related to the HD, they should at least cover parts related to the repair. But with so many issues, it sounds like your MB has a much more systemic issue (like bad power or something like that). Anyway, good luck.
 
mkrishnan said:
I'd totally understand if you decide to go to another brand, but before you do, push them politely but keep pushing them about this. Given that it required numerous repairs up to the latter part of the warranty, particularly if any of them were related to the HD, they should at least cover parts related to the repair. But with so many issues, it sounds like your MB has a much more systemic issue (like bad power or something like that). Anyway, good luck.
Click to expand...

I wasn't planning to go to another brand, I like apple, I just hate my Macbook... its my first "rotten" apple ;-)

Apple's I had upto date: Performa 5200; B&W G3 300; TiPb G4 400; iMac G3 400; iBook G3 266; Dual G4 500; Dual G5 1,8; Macmini 1,5; Macbook 1,83...

so we'll see what apple will do...
 
If it's having problems and you're expecting it to keep having these problems, sell it on eBay. If you wanted to keep it, then you'd want to pick up AppleCare to keep getting these fixes made. But if you sell the MacBook on eBay you can probably take the money + some and it will cost you about the same to buy a new MacBook as it would be to get the AppleCare.
 
Jo-Kun said:
I wasn't planning to go to another brand, I like apple, I just hate my Macbook... its my first "rotten" apple ;-)
Click to expand...

Yeah... if it doesn't work out for you, perhaps you deserve some good karma and you should look for a nice used forum sale one next time around, so someone else has made sure it isn't a bad unit for you? :)
 
I don't want this 'lemon' to move to antoher person & then get hatemails because I sold a bad mac ;)

its too late for applecare since the warranty is expired I guess...
and I just expect apple to fix their bad product...
that's not too much to ask when you spend 1360 euro o a machine...
I need it for my work... I told the guy: apple is costing me money now (not really since I can work on the G5, but still...
I got this one for location work, so Clients can see the pictures on a bigger screen than the lcd on the D200)
they do understand my issue and don't want to lose me (and all of my friends who hear my bad experience) as clients in this shop... together we spend a lot of euro's there each year :p

so apple make an effort :D
 
Am I the only one who doesn't see the 'yellowing' problem as a problem? I mean, if you buy a white car you can't take it back & expect the salesman to wash it just because you got some mud on it. The entire top of my MacBook is greying/yellowing & I couldn't care less; it's just natural when you have your sweaty palms on a matt white surface for hours every day.
 
lost eden said:
Am I the only one who doesn't see the 'yellowing' problem as a problem? I mean, if you buy a white car you can't take it back & expect the salesman to wash it just because you got some mud on it. The entire top of my MacBook is greying/yellowing & I couldn't care less; it's just natural when you have your sweaty palms on a matt white surface for hours every day.
Click to expand...

Well, it's not black or white (ha ha). But permanent discoloration is not the same as a dirty car.

A closer example would be buy a new car, and then in 3 months the body already starts rusting even though you've taken good care of it.

You may not care about discoloration, but others do. Macs are more expensive, their industrial design is part of that, so Macs should should hopefully be made out of good materials.

I am happy with my MacBook, but the top casing has cracked at the edges just like many others. Do I really care? Not much, but it affects resale value and looks bad. I will end up getting it repaired since it is still under warranty, but it is a minor nuisance to me.
 
IIRC, Apple has a three-time-replacement policy. If you tell them that this is the third time something has broken down, they should just give you a brand new Macbook altogether.

I remember someone at CompUSA with an eMac, the logic board failed three times and after the third Apple replaced the machine; but the eMac was discontinued, so Apple gave them a brand new low-end iMac.
 
lost eden said:
Am I the only one who doesn't see the 'yellowing' problem as a problem? I mean, if you buy a white car you can't take it back & expect the salesman to wash it just because you got some mud on it. The entire top of my MacBook is greying/yellowing & I couldn't care less; it's just natural when you have your sweaty palms on a matt white surface for hours every day.
Click to expand...

You are thinking of a different yellowing problem. For the white MB's there are two DISTINCT yellowing problems, you are thinking of the yellowing problem due to palms in contact with the palm rest which is made of a very porous white plastic that absorbs sweat and natural oils. The yellowing problem the poster is talking about in this thread is on the top of the laptop, where the Apple logo is found. This is due to the treatment process Apple used for the inner top plastic, which thermo-degrades rapidly when it is in confinement with the warm back-lit LCD.

Those two problems both cause "yellowing", but are completely different in nature.
 
Maxx Power said:
You are thinking of a different yellowing problem. For the white MB's there are two DISTINCT yellowing problems, you are thinking of the yellowing problem due to palms in contact with the palm rest which is made of a very porous white plastic that absorbs sweat and natural oils. The yellowing problem the poster is talking about in this thread is on the top of the laptop, where the Apple logo is found. This is due to the treatment process Apple used for the inner top plastic, which thermo-degrades rapidly when it is in confinement with the warm back-lit LCD.

Those two problems both cause "yellowing", but are completely different in nature.
Click to expand...

Ah, right. In that case, I probably would be rather peeved (but not surprised - Apple proved their lax quality control by shipping me a MacBook with a broken screen!).
 
lost eden said:
Ah, right. In that case, I probably would be rather peeved (but not surprised - Apple proved their lax quality control by shipping me a MacBook with a broken screen!).
Click to expand...

Broken Screen ? I guess I mostly dealt with used Macs, and as such, I've often had the opportunity to inspect the equipment before purchase... I hope Apple didn't make you pay shipping to send the DOA unit back.
 
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