Replace or repair: what would you do?

[bankshot]

I just confirmed this morning that our new Macbook (1 week old tonight) has a non-working ethernet port. We use Airport the vast majority of the time, but ethernet is sometimes needed, so this must be fixed.

The question is: should I ask for a replacement (swap at the store and walk out with a new one) or should I send it in for repair (wait a week or more)?

Here are the considerations:

In favor of replace/swap:

• The up arrow key us a little mushier than all the others, requiring more force to register a keypress. Slightly annoying, and hopefully a replacement would have all keys working 100%.
• No waiting for repair to come back.

In favor of repair:

• This machine doesn't seem to have significant heat issues. It gets what I would describe as very warm but not scalding hot. What if I got a replacement with a true problem?
• No whine with this machine.
• No moo with this machine.
• No dead pixels.

Either way I'll have to backup what's important and wipe clean any personal information before going in. What would you do? Replace or repair?

 

[Abulia]

Repair, without a doubt.

 

[jesusphreak]

I don't understand why you would want to get it repaired.

If replaced, you get a brand new machine. I wouldn't want someone banging around my brand new system and getting scratches on it - which is one reason I'm hesitant to bring in my system to an Apple store. It seems ideal to me to just swap it out rather than get a repaired system.

 

[macbook123]

I strongly recommend to replace it. Apple Care doesn't repair the units in the majority of cases as you can see from a number of threads concerning the MBP, including this one:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/202261/

According to the poll, only 19% of users get a fixed MBP back. Often Apple fixes random parts but not the ones related to the defect the customer complained about. There are also stories of people getting their computers back with bent and/or scatched cases.

I would not even buy Apple Care anymore since in the light of the experiences of people on these forums, it is not worth the $200 or so investment. I would not have bought my MBP (or returned it within the first 2 weeks) would I have know that de facto there exists no reliable repair service for Apple computers.

Of course you could be lucky and everything is different with the MB. I don't see a reason why that would be though.

When you get to the store to replace it, perhaps they let you check out the new one right there.

 

[wPod]

get a new one. . . if they will actually let you do that. you are more likely to end up with a machine in good working order than you are ending up with a machine that has a different problem. i think most of the problems you hear about effect only about 10% of the new computers.

also, it seems to me that once you send a computer in for repairs, there will always be something else to go wrong with it. the more someone is tinkering around on the inside of your notebook, the more likely it is for some cheetos to fall in and clog a fan, or a piece of dust to short something on the mother board.

that said. i think they will probably only let you get a repair. unless its something like the computer will not turn on at all out of the box, then they usually wont give you a completely new one.

 

[bankshot]

Thanks for the thoughts so far, everyone. I have to say I'm leaning towards repair, just to avoid the possibility of getting one with another problem, however small that chance may be. And I realized I could just ask them to replace the arrow key while they're in there.

I strongly recommend to replace it. Apple Care doesn't repair the units in the majority of cases as you can see from a number of threads concerning the MBP, including this one:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/202261/

Interesting link, thanks. It is a pretty small sample size, and I have to wonder about that number of people who said nothing came back repaired. #1, how likely is it that some people "accidentally" voted that because they're used to voting in any poll, and it was the closest to "not applicable" (they didn't have a repair to speak of). And #2, how many of them were one of the "annoyance" problems like the whine, which could be difficult to pinpoint and "fix"? Compared to those, mine's pretty easy: either the ethernet works or it doesn't.

I have to say that my personal experience with Apple Care is not reflected there. My iBook went in twice for the logic board repair. Both times it came back working (though obviously the first "repair" eventually failed too), and the second time they also fixed an unrelated problem with the latch, free of charge (the machine was completely out of warranty). At work, a PowerBook developed a bad memory slot. I called it in on a Monday, the shipping box came on Tuesday, it went out later that same day, and came back fixed on Thursday. Pretty impressive.

that said. i think they will probably only let you get a repair. unless its something like the computer will not turn on at all out of the box, then they usually wont give you a completely new one.

You're right, that is definitely a possibility. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, and this is the only time frame when a straight exchange might be possible. I may not have any choice in the matter, but if I do, I want to carefully weigh the options.

Any more thoughts are welcome, keep 'em coming!

 

[macbook123]

I have to say that my personal experience with Apple Care is not reflected there. My iBook went in twice for the logic board repair. Both times it came back working (though obviously the first "repair" eventually failed too), and the second time they also fixed an unrelated problem with the latch, free of charge (the machine was completely out of warranty). At work, a PowerBook developed a bad memory slot. I called it in on a Monday, the shipping box came on Tuesday, it went out later that same day, and came back fixed on Thursday. Pretty impressive.

I definitely think that the quality of Apple Care has changed since around the time the Intel Macs were introduced. One of the reasons I switched to Macs was the positive experiences friends of mine reported with Apple Care reliability. However if you go over the MBP forums there is hardly anyone who had a major issue with their computer and got it back fixed. I agree this may be a biased sample (since people that don't have trouble are less likely to return to the site), however I yet have to hear from a single person who had their screen inverter buzz, their defective right speaker, their airport, their CPU whine, and their heat issues fixed. I have all these issues, but am too scared to send it in (because of scratched and bent returned computers, and because folks here reported that it sometimes takes a month for them to send it back).