Hello All,

I’m after some opinions on the reliability of the current generation of MacBooks as a replacement for my 4.5 year old iBook whose logic board has died for the second time. The machine has served me well and seen a LOT of work during the time. MacBook Pros are outside the budget.

Reliability is #1 for me, and I would gladly trade some performance for a machine (any computer Mac or PC) that won’t let me down just before a critical meeting, deadline etc. Unfortunately, a quick search of the various forums (including this one), and several dedicated websites report various problems with the MacBooks, all of which make me a tad nervous about parting with my hard earned. Have they been released too soon? Is the quality control poor?

Another thing that has caused me much angst is the apparently chalk and cheese service provided by Apple and or re-sellers. My dealings with Apple during the first logic board replacement were terrible and resolved through Consumer Affairs intervention. That said, I’m also aware that some people receive great service. I’d just be happy with something in the middle. After the trouble I had with the poor service and attitude of the people in the store, it makes it very hard to think it will be any different this time around. I want to believe it will. Maybe it’s part of the greater Apple marketing strategy – treat em mean, keep em keen, make sure we give super service to a few people and the rest will live in hope??

I wish it were a no-brainer, but I can’t afford to spend $2K+ on a lemon. Are Mac people just more vocal about the problems they have and this makes things look worse than they are?

Comments appreciated,

Rocket

I think so. You'll get a lot of people chiming in about broken computers. Fact is, thousands of these laptops leave the shelves. Few come back.

in saying that, wait for the next revision to the line before you buy.

To be brutally honest - yes. We whinge louder than most. I'm sure if a Dell forum like this popped up, they'd have a whinge too.

It's interesting to note, that most of these people are the ones that skimped out of the Apple Care!

The MacBook's are half decent (I'm not impressed by the graphics card mind you) - but they're pretty good price wise vs. the PC counterparts.

Remember to get AppleCare in the first 12 months

Yes. Many Mac users are devoted owners but can be quite vocal when things go wrong.

I know 4 people with the 1st gen MacBooks who haven't had a single problem with them ever...

As has been said above, we're a society that is vocal when things don't go right, but don't tend to hand out random kudos when they do...

All manufacturers are going to have problems with some of their stuff.. it's the way things are...

Go get a MacBook and enjoy it... get the Apple Care program though, it's worth every cent.

I too own a (touch wood) great macbook - but for piece of mind I also bought applecare, applecare inst cheap buts its cheaper then a dead out of warranty macbook.

I agree with Disko and Hawker we apple folk do bitch and complain a lot is that because we are just more of the artistic kind?? who knows - I also think part for the issue comes from apple's service practices, having to ship it back to apple or have it in an authorized repairer for x number of weeks is just not possible if the laptop/computer used for a business and never a loan machine. If I had a problem with a PC I would take back to the place were i bought and have it fixed or replaced.

Apples service presence in Oz or anywhere outside the USA is lacking, if I buy an ipod from JB's and its cactus I would like to take it back to JB's and replaced not wait for it to be shipped to apple then have them inspect it then ship it back to me.

But thats a different note and I dont wanna bitch and complain - I believe all the apple products I have bought and bought for people and there has been a lot have all been top quality and reliable machines

Cheers,

Thanks for the replies. What would make interesting reading are some stats on numbers of puters sold v numbers of repairs.

The iBook has died right at the worst possible so I'll need to decide in the next few days.

Thanks again,

Rocket

I could use this thread to let of some steam about Macbooks and their build quality, but I don't think I'll bother. In a calm summary here are some of the issues I've had in all the ones I've had since I purchased it a little less than a year ago.

- Faulty miniDVI > VGA out (DOA)
- Stuttering graphics (DOA)
- CPU Whine
- Screen flickering
- Raised keyboard (higher than normal)
- Dodgey case construction
- Not returning from Sleep when reopening
- Mooing & Revving fan
- Discolouration
- Power supply crackle
- Power connect light turning off

That's all I can think of for now. Remember, I don't still have ALL of those problems, just a few :P

Since Apple stopped making their own machines, their reputation for high build quality has dropped markedly. That said, the chances of you pulling a brand new MacBook out of the box and having it die on you quickly is very low ... but it does happen.

Besides, no matter what the product people will whinge & whine when things go wrong, but rarely do they hop online just to say "OMG everything is perfect"

Apple are aware that the percentage of "dead on arrival" machines (which includes machines that develop a fault soon after purchase) has risen, because they no longer do burn-in testing, so if something does go wrong soon after purchase, they will replace it.

My advice is, when you get your new machine thrash it HARD for the first week. If anything is likely to fail, it will do so in the first week or so of use. If nothing goes wrong, you have a typically robust and reliable computer that should last you the distance.


B.

But don't let all that discourage you, they are really great little machines

awesome machines
mines a work provided lappy
and if i ever have to give it back i'll be purchasing my own that same day

I'll give my thumbs up to the Macbook.

I too worry about reliability but having said that, we have seen the same type of horror stories in the past about the iBooks and Powerbooks.

Same story of the few ruin it for the many.

Its too easy to get paranoid. But I compare my Macbook to other PC laptops and despite them being more expensive, I find the build quality of them a LOT lower than my Macbook.

I have three macbooks ( 2 white, 1 black) and all are great with zero problems of any kind after six months of daily and intensive use. I never have had any seriuos problems with any of my macs going back to 1984.

my 17inch G4 Powerbook's LCD has the pixel line problem after 18 months of use. And I didn't have Apple Care, so nothing I can do.
I just got myself a Macbook a few days ago, this time I got AppleCare.
AppleCare is very worth it. And from what I read, if your computer is under warranty, and they need to replace it, they'll replace it with the latest hardware if your hardware has become obselete :-)

We got our first MacBook about 3 weeks ago, upgrade the RAM and HDD ourselves and other than an occasional, and somewhat irritating, inability to come out of sleep mode ... or is it go into sleep mode... either way it heats itself up and will run till the battery dies (or until you hard reboot if on mains).

Besides that it's been great.