Apple's Build Quality

[EdRyan]

I've gotta say. I'm getting sick and tired of my mac going wrong on a persistent basis.

Mine is 18 months old, and in that time I've had more then my fair share of problems with it.

I'm onto my 3rd case & keyboard set.
2nd Motherboard, Screen Inverter & cable. Incidentally, this fault is now back again. Noticed it last night, but it's not that bad at the moment. It'll have to get worse again for them to notice and bother doing it. Same part of the screen again.. so I'm beginning to suspect the screen more then anything else

And tonight. In an 11th hour of need. Trying to burn off some work I need to hand in desperately.....

Either the CD drive sensor is knackered, or something else like the laser power regulator. I've tried 10 different brand new unopened discs...none of them will burn. Even if they were cheaper discs, the chances of all 10 of them in a row being bad is absurb. They are mid range discs, and I've used them before (same batch) with my mac with no problems.

Ok, so its not gonna cost me anything to have it repaired, thanks to me already paying £150 for Applecare. My point is that my PC is 6 years old, and in all that time it's never cost me that much to put right, or gone wrong so many times. I built it myself as a newb to pcs as well...

Another trip to the mac store tomorrow afternoon, after pleading with my tutor to give me an extension or let me burn the project on his mac/waveburner to hand him. Thank god this isn't a real world scenario with a paying client and non-negotiable deadline. But I'm very tempted to jack Apple off completely. Hardware is a joke, Logic and their audio apps are well behind the times etc...

[sphelan]

It sounds like you're having a rough time of it at the moment Ed. I hope it gets sorted out.

I am too new in the mac world to experience any problems...I hope! All is going well on my machine but that's what I expect after what I've paid for it.

The only thing that is bugging me a bit is the CD/DVD drive. It's noisy at times.

Is this normal?

[TrevCircleStudios]

I gotta say, I have exactly the opposite experience.. Never had a problem since I changed to mac.

Have you been trying to fiddle with it yourself Ed? I reckon there's a bit of a fiddler in you.

[modz1]

You've certainly been hounded by a more than fair share of bad luck with the machine you have there Ed.. I've had Macs since since '96 and the most I've had to suffer is a premature failure of a superdrive..

[terminal3]

I've had problems with about half the Macs I've ever owned.

Two bad hard drives, one bad superdrive and one bad RAM chip (three seperate machines - a Powerbook G4, an iBook G4 and a 1st gen black Macbook.) One of the hard drives was out of warranty, sadly, so it was annoying but it was the Macbook and thus was thankfully easy & cheap to change out myself. That same machine had the optical drive replaced once as well while under warranty. The iBook had the hard disk failure (under warranty) and the old G4 developed the bad RAM.

Only my old G4 933mhz tower, G5 dual 2.3 tower and my current Macbook Pro have been squeaky clean... and with the Macbook Pro of course as it's my main current machine it's still a case of "so far."

[Tifstorey]

I've owned 4 macs in 7 years and not had one single problem. Apart from my first mac, where i tried to fit a PCI card (delta1010) and ended up ripping the whole graphics card to bits when i got it stuck! Had to shell out £280 for a new graphics card and deal with the patronising salesman in the mac store saying 'It's a simple task.. i don't know how you've done that..'

Sorry to hear about your problems Ed, sounds just like a coincidence as on my side of things i don't know hardly anyone who've had problems with Macs.

[slave2soul]

Ive had problems with my MBP ... but only the battery. Either it dies or it just refuses to work.

As i type im booking up an appointment at the genius bar as my battery is refusing to charge!! Great fun!

Also like you ive built loads of PC's and never had any problems with it. Must just be an apple thing

[EdRyan]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

I gotta say, I have exactly the opposite experience.. Never had a problem since I changed to mac.

Have you been trying to fiddle with it yourself Ed? I reckon there's a bit of a fiddler in you.

Im happy to fiddle with things that are non important and out of warranty. But I wouldn't pull my mac apart. I rely on it a lot, and I paid for the monkeys in the back of their shop to pull it apart for me.

Incidentally, I wanted to fit a larger hard drive into my mac. This is a fairly simple thing to do. Buy a caddy, ghost image my current drive onto it. Swap them around and you are laughing. But because I've bought Applecare, I'm not allowed to do it. Apple won't do it either, but will allow a reseller to charge you to do it. If I do it myself, I void the Applecare.

The Superdrive started having issues when I got it back from having the case,inverter,mobo, cables, top case & keyboard replaced. I'm pretty sure the battery will be classed as bad now. My mac was within the timeframe that macbook batteries had issues. On the last test, it had faded severely, but not enough to be swapped.

Im looking at going to a PC running Sonar, Live and Reason. All of them have features that match or are on the wanted in Logic list I dream of every night

[I_Am_Bic_Pentameter]

Come to Sonar - it's what all the smart people are using

[EdRyan]

Unless Logic 9 comes out by the time I get the mac back on Thursday, it's going.

Despite making an appointment, I had to wait 45 minutes to be seen. Whilst a load of kids with Ipods turned up and got sorted. 1 even had his screen changed without an appointment.

I will be saying adios to this mac when its repaired. Im looking at asking my mom to bring a macpro back from the other side of the pond...

[Tifstorey]

Originally Posted by EdRyan

Unless Logic 9 comes out by the time I get the mac back on Thursday, it's going.

So it's going then?

And it's a shame your so pissed off with it all. The phrase '$hit happens' is especially true when it comes to technology, and it seems you've just had more of it than others.

You just need to get back on a windows machine and go through that deja vu of thinking "ARGH! "

You'll be back with us in no time

[sphelan]

I must admit Ed that you're the first person I've heard of switching THE OTHER WAY!!! Must be pretty fed up to go through with it!

[EdRyan]

I am very fed up with it.

They've now had my laptop for 10 days. I should have had it back last Wednesday. I called them on Thursday, and they'd not even ordered/recieved the part. It won't have arrived before the weekend, and was told today was being overly optimisitc.

It's a current and common part and a problem that does seem to crop up a lot. Why this part is not kept in stock is beyond me, almost as beyond me as to why it has taken them so long to find one.

This experience has really damaged my faith in Apple. When I booked an appointment to take the unit back, I was kept waiting for 40+ minutes to be seen. Meanwhile, kids with Ipods walked in with no reservation and were seen to asap. The kid sat next to me had his Ipod screen replaced instantly, but then complained his testicles off until they replaced the unit completely.
The fact my mac seems to have had such a troubled life, followed by the poor aftercare I'm receving is angering me to the point I want to walk away. Its clear Apple values Iphones and Ipod customers more then their computer business.

[JAYDMF]

Originally Posted by EdRyan

I am very fed up with it.

They've now had my laptop for 10 days. I should have had it back last Wednesday. I called them on Thursday, and they'd not even ordered/recieved the part. It won't have arrived before the weekend, and was told today was being overly optimisitc.

It's a current and common part and a problem that does seem to crop up a lot. Why this part is not kept in stock is beyond me, almost as beyond me as to why it has taken them so long to find one.

This experience has really damaged my faith in Apple. When I booked an appointment to take the unit back, I was kept waiting for 40+ minutes to be seen. Meanwhile, kids with Ipods walked in with no reservation and were seen to asap. The kid sat next to me had his Ipod screen replaced instantly, but then complained his testicles off until they replaced the unit completely.
The fact my mac seems to have had such a troubled life, followed by the poor aftercare I'm receving is angering me to the point I want to walk away. Its clear Apple values Iphones and Ipod customers more then their computer business.

Unfortunatly Ed that is the way computer retail goes. its **** but its the way things usually are.

[EdRyan]

I have just picked it up off them. After ringing yesterday and being told the parts were not being delivered due to problems with the retail centre's delivery lifts, I was told it wouldn't be ready for days.

So I went to work in Coventry, thinking I might as well earn some pennies whilst its gone. They rang me back just after I'd got there, saying it had been fixed...wtf...

THe final total with VAT was £405. It has now cost Apple more to fix the thing then it did for me to buy it.