Rethinking my Allegiance to Apple…

ToddApril 23, 2008

Uh, yeah, right. No chance I am rethinking my allegiance to Apple despite the long, long list of recent problems my MacBookPro has had (read about them here). Not only did I have all those problems recently, but some of them were repeated. Just this week I was without my computer again for two days. Seems the logic board failed again and needed to be replaced. So, now i am on my third logic board since I bought this computer. If you are unfamiliar with computer parts, the logic board is pretty much the heart of the computer. So, in a sense, I am on my third machine. Apple told me that if the machine has any problems in the next two months they will just give me an entirely new machine.

So, even with all these problems, why do I stay loyal? I’ve been thinking about this and I realized that the reason I will always be a Mac user is because of the software / user interface experience. Now, I love the look of Apple computers. The design is downright beautiful. I love the minimalist design of their products. In fact, I remember the moment I was hypnotized by the glow of a friend’s apple logo on the back of his G3 iBook. I wanted one at that moment. But, despite what Andre Aggasi said, image is not everything. Also, hardware is not everything. As I have a seen, no matter how high of quality, hardware will fail. In some ways, that unavoidable. It happens to Macs and it happens to PCs. So, that’s not what keeps me loyal.

What keeps me loyal is their software. Mac Os X is so just so smooth, elegant and beautiful. Everything makes sense. Everything works (unless, in my case, the hardware breaks). Every little detail on this operating system has been thought through so carefully and is so darn intuitive. Sometimes I have to go back and use Windows to test a website and I am reminded about why I love the Mac operating system so much. Windows is clunky and unintuitive.

So, yeah go ahead and make fun of me for having my computer out to repair three times in the last 2 months. That’s fine. Honestly, I’d rather have my lemon MacBook Pro than have to use Windows on a daily basis. At least it was only my hardware that was broken. Hardware can be fixed. Operating systems are a different story. And when it comes to OSX, there is no comparison.

Posted in Apple, General, Life |
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My MacBook Pro was a Lemon

ToddApril 7, 2008

Almost everyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of Apple computers, specifically my MacBook Pro. I have had this machine for a little under a year and have loved it. At least, that is, until about three weeks ago.

Over the last three weeks I have had the machine almost fully replaced.

Here’s a rundown of what has been replaced (so far)…

• The “G” Key. This needed to be replaced and is really what started it all. This key was slightly broken when i bought the machine but ignored it until it finally fell off three weeks ago
• The entire keyboard and top casing. This needed replacement because of the “G” key. This is because the little rubber thing underneath the key was broken as well. So, I ended up getting more than a G key. This was actaully kind of nice because I ended up with a new keyboard and mouse that had normal wear (meaning, the key board had lots of hair in it!)
• The power button. This was fixed when they replaced the top casing. The power button was not flush with the rest of the casing and sat on a bit of an angle. this wasn’t a functional issue but it was kind of an eyesore and was annoying to such a normally beautiful machine.
• The HD. When I was about to send in the machine because of the keybaord, it started freezing on me and having restart issues. Apparently one of the symptoms was the HD. This was the most annoying as I had to replace all my data. But, at least Time Machine made that an easy task.
• The Fans. For some reason, they replaced the fans. When it would restart, they would just turn on and never turn off.
• The Logic Board. This was replaced due to the startup issues I think. All I know is that the logic board is a major component of the computer.
• The DVD Drive. This went into repair to be replaced but they decided that it was working fine enough. We’ll see how long that lasts.
• The display. I am not sure if they replaced the whole display or just the center backlight tube but the brightness of the backlight had been significant enough for me to wonder if something was wrong. I guess I was right.

I think maybe the machine I got was a lemon eh? Well, at least now I have an almost completely new computer. The only parts that are original are the graphics card, the battery, the display casing and the bottom casing.

Of course all you mac nay-sayers are going to mock me and mock Apple. I won’t blame you this time. I’ve been going nuts the last few weeks and have never been so disappointed in their product. However, I will say that the customer service has been excellent.

The first repair went down like this:

• Monday: was sent in via DHL
• Tuesday: they received it in Texas
• Wednesday: Fixed and shipped back to me via DHL
• Thursday: Arrived at my door at 10:30 am

That’s pretty quick turn around.

The second repair was today and they did it in the Apple Store in King of Prussia and had it fixed and back to me in about 3 hours.

All this didn’t cost me a penny due to the warranty. This is a good lesson in why you should buy AppleCare. And, now that I have the machine back, its running better than ever.

Even after all these problems I have no regrets in buying this thing.

Posted in Apple, General |
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