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StartTday

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 17, 2006
19
0
The mystique of owning my first Apple product has worn off. In a bad way. Never again am I going to listen to my gut instinct that Apple computers really are crash-resistant machines. I should have listened to my friends and steered clear. But once I saw the new MacBook back in May. I had to get one.

I took my MacBook in to the Genius Bar twice yesterday. Bringing to my total service problems up to four within one month. I had the random shutdown problem, that was fixed somehow to twice having the vertical lines problem, RAM replaced, and then my computer wouldn't boot up at all.

Considering this is my first Apple computer and all this has happened, I'm never buying another one. I'll never forget the memories of how great a computer my MacBook was for those short three months it worked perfectly.
 

georgi0

macrumors regular
Aug 21, 2006
148
3
Cyberspace
boy oh boy, don't say this I ma about to get my own MB...:eek:

what did they tell you now ? are they going to replace it? it still is under warranty,:confused: right?
 

Oblivious

macrumors 6502
Jan 19, 2006
262
0
MA
The same thing can happen with any other computer, it's just the luck of the draw.

Don't get too discouraged.:)
 

suneohair

macrumors 68020
Aug 27, 2006
2,136
0
Apple desktops have less problems. Dont write them off.

With that said, I owned many PPC notebooks and never had any issues. Rev A myth? Who knows.
 

generik

macrumors 601
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
Oblivious said:
The same thing can happen with any other computer, it's just the luck of the draw.

Don't get too discouraged.:)

Apple basically ships these things out the door regardless of condition, so with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer". Quite frankly apart from refurbs I never had good experiences with any of my Macs either.
 

spicyapple

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,724
1
StartTday said:
I'll never forget the memories of how great a computer my MacBook was for those short three months it worked perfectly.
It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all! :)
 

mufflon

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2006
264
2
generik said:
Apple basically ships these things out the door regardless of condition, so with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer". Quite frankly apart from refurbs I never had good experiences with any of my Macs either.


Prolly cheaper for apple that way :p

With all this negativity I might just invest in appleCare for my upcoming purchase (well I should anyhow), but my student budget is really stretched thin :(
Ah well, I hope it'll turn out better for you in the end, I have a hard time believing apple quality has detoriated that much since I brougth my last comp.
 

Oblivious

macrumors 6502
Jan 19, 2006
262
0
MA
generik said:
Apple basically ships these things out the door regardless of condition, so with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer". Quite frankly apart from refurbs I never had good experiences with any of my Macs either.
That's funny, I've never had a bad experience with an Apple product. Not one of the 10 or so Apple products, including four desktops and two laptops, that my family has bought within the last 5 years has had *any* issues whatsoever (knock on wood).
 

alec

macrumors regular
Oct 19, 2005
233
0
Washington DC
A lot of people are having issues with their MacBooks. I'm one of them. Consider a MacBook Pro or a Rev. B Macbook. That's what I'm thinking (and praying) will fix my long term needs.
 

smartalic34

macrumors 6502a
May 16, 2006
977
61
USA
to further the comment on not all macs having problems... my family has purchased over the years a Performa, eMac, 2 ipod minis, 2 ipod nanos, 1 ipod shuffle, and 2 macbook pros... and the only problem we had was kernel panics on the eMac related to a bad 10.2.8 update (knock on wood)... panther fixed it... so those with problems, please reconsider and try another apple product, it should be better the second time around (although should have been great the first time for you)
 

Mackilroy

macrumors 601
Jun 29, 2006
4,053
898
On the other hand, a lot of people aren't having any problems with their MacBooks (like myself). I've had mine for over two months and there isn't a single problem with it. Not to say your experience isn't valid, but is overreacting really the best response?
 

MovieCutter

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2005
3,342
2
Washington, DC
Let's hope you don't normally quit after trying new things once. That's a sad way to live life. I'd call Apple Customer Relations, tell them what's up, and that you want a NEW machine. See ya...:rolleyes:
 

miles01110

macrumors Core
Jul 24, 2006
19,260
37
The Ivory Tower (I'm not coming down)
I'm fairly sure that Apple takes note of who constantly complains about their products on these forums and ensures that they get other faulty units just to spite them. Hey, I'd do the same thing.

And people that claim to have 4 or more replacements go bad....I just don't believe you at all, sorry.
 

StartTday

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 17, 2006
19
0
Ok let me explain as to why I am never buying another Mac.

I had always held off on buying one. I am an artist in the entertainment industry and none of the programs I use, except for Photoshop are mac compatible.

Once they switched to Intel processors I took this as the perfect opportunity to give this a try. I haven't even installed boot camp yet.

But when I have deadlines to meet and the computer shut offs randomly causing me to lose work, or I cant even turn it on to at least back up the files, then there is a problem.

Ah yes, claims... too funny.

Like I said, before, it was a great computer while it worked.
 

spicyapple

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,724
1
Thanks, dsnort. Going back to Windows/PCs is not even an option for me, despite having one Apple product go bad.
 

dsnort

macrumors 68000
Jan 28, 2006
1,904
68
In persona non grata
spicyapple said:
Thanks, dsnort. Going back to Windows/PCs is not even an option for me, despite having one Apple product go bad.

No prob. Sometimes we get all caught up in the worst case anecdotes posted here, it's a good idea to look at any objective data you can get ahold of. Here's another one.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2006499,00.asp

"Once again, Apple is at the top. Its overall score, 9.1, is significantly better than the average for Windows notebooks—and a full seven-tenths of a point better than Lenovo's overall score, 8.4. Its scores for reliability (9.2), tech support (8.5), and likelihood of recommending (9.4) are also significantly better than average. Yes, its score on percentage needing repair is merely average, but at 16 percent, it's the lowest of the survey (alongside Sony's 16 percent).


Is this a function of that unique passion Apple users have for the company's products? Perhaps. But, again, it's hard to question the number of units needing repair. Among first-year systems, only 7 percent needed repair—2 points better than Sony.

Lenovo's notebook scores nearly match Apple's. Manufacturer of the popular IBM ThinkPad computers as well as a new line under its own brand name, Lenovo garners an overall score of 8.4—significantly better than average, as are its scores for reliability (8.6), tech support (7.8), repair (7.6), and likelihood of recommending (8.3).

Of course, a higher percentage of Lenovo notebooks needed repair—19 percent, and that's right around the industry average—but among first-year notebooks, 14 percent needed repair. That's the second-worst rating among leading vendors (behind Gateway's 15 percent). Though still within the average range, 14 percent of new systems needing repair is hardly cause for pride."
 

Jo-Kun

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2003
677
0
Antwerp-Belgium
Mackilroy said:
On the other hand, a lot of people aren't having any problems with their MacBooks (like myself). I've had mine for over two months and there isn't a single problem with it. Not to say your experience isn't valid, but is overreacting really the best response?


don't want to burst your bubble... but my MacBook started haveing problems a few weeks ago (bought it in may) with the sudden shutdown issue... I had it allready in repair for the discoloration in august (wich is allready coming back I have to say... 1month since repair...) so no this is not my greatest mac I ever had...

I've had so far: B&W G3 300 revA, PowerBook G4 400 revA, PowerMac G4 2x500 revB?, PowerMac G5 2x1.8 revA, Macmini G4 1.5 revB... all PPC and no problems... allso not with the revA's so far... now I have the intel mac... and s*** has hit the fan...

really rosetta is killing me... I can't print properly to the Laserprinter wich is connected to my G5 in Photoshop & Office (they just crash...) and ok Photoshop CS2 is rubbish in rosetta... at least 3x slower than the G5...

hold on to you PPC mac's until everything is UB & intel mac's are trouble free... if you can...
 

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,700
2,792
generik said:
Apple basically ships these things out the door regardless of condition, so with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer". Quite frankly apart from refurbs I never had good experiences with any of my Macs either.


"with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer"" .....well, you're known for being anti-Mac hardware of course but can you back up your claim with any independent documentation? your personal experience is the complete opposite of mine so there's no point in claiming that as documentation

complain about your unfortunate experience all you want, but back up your claim about apple's general quality......if can that is
 

erikistired

macrumors 6502
Apr 21, 2006
399
0
(770)
generik said:
Apple basically ships these things out the door regardless of condition, so with Macs you get worse odds than "any other computer". Quite frankly apart from refurbs I never had good experiences with any of my Macs either.

dell works the same way actually. they sell on their warranty, not their quality control. these days it's just easier to operate that way i guess.
 

drake

macrumors 6502a
Jul 5, 2005
532
0
mufflon said:
Prolly cheaper for apple that way :p

With all this negativity I might just invest in appleCare for my upcoming purchase (well I should anyhow), but my student budget is really stretched thin :(
Ah well, I hope it'll turn out better for you in the end, I have a hard time believing apple quality has detoriated that much since I brougth my last comp.

I can't understand why people use the words "invest" and "apple care" in the same sentence? If the product was made properly in the first place, you shouldn't have to "invest" in it continuing to work three years down the road.
 
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