Apple

Geminiwave

Ahh this one seems a bit crazy to throw in here but how many of you have had a GOOD experience with apple?

I bought a macbook in June and was quite happy with it for about a week. Then it toasted so I went into the store and explained the situation. The people at the genius bar said "Are you SURE you aren't just bumping the off button?" (note: its NOT EASY to bump the off button on a macbook). I insisted that this was not the case and even showed them crash logs within OSX. They finally took the computer but they were not happy about it and told me that I would likely have to pay return shipping for wasting their time.

I get the computer back a week later with a new logic board. Everything seems fine for awhile and then it crashes again. Then it gets worse and worse so I take it into the genius bar again. The person working there was actually a classmate of mine my second sophomore year of college. The kid knows NOTHING about computers. anyway he tells me that he doesnt believe me and unless I can show him PROOF that it shuts off, he wont send it in. I tell him that I DO have proof but he says crash logs can be fabricated. so I sit there for over an hour trying to make it crash with no luck. finally I went home discusted and called applecare. The gentleman on the phone seemed shocked that I was treated so badly and he said he would take care of it immediately. I shipped the macbook to them free of charge and they said they'd have it back in 5 business days.

3 weeks later I keep calling them finding out whats going on. EVery time I get a hold of someone they say "your macbooks parts are on order. thanks, bye" and hung up on me. I was not able to say ONE THING. Finally i was just put on hold for hours until either I gave up or 6pm rolled around and their phone system shut off.

I finally did get my macbook yesterday and it has dark stains on the inside, the plastic is damaged or seperated in several spots, and the casing is covered in scratches (it was pristine under my care)

My problem here is I keep thinking its a fluke. I hear so much good about apples, but then when I think about it every single one of my neighbors with apples has needed to get their laptops serviced. I've NEVER had a PC serviced in my life.

whats going on here? Any similar experiences?

TheBlackCat

My dad has a powermac G4. We have had no end of problems. At one point my dad wanted to use the new version of iTunes, which he had been using to organize his music. So he tried upgrading, and the program just crashed. So he called applecare and they told him to upgrade to the latest version of OS X (this was before they started forcing you to pay for new versions every other month). That was great, iTunes worked. The problem was now his scanner wouldn't work. He was forced to downgrade iTunes and OS X in order to get things working.

There is also the problem of the apple update not working. There are two updates that simply refuse to install.

We have numerous other hardware and software issues. I have had to beg my father not to rip the computer out of the cabinet and throw it away on a number of occasions he has gotten so mad at the thing. The real issue is pretty much all of his hardware and software he either bought from apple with the computer or is apple-branded products, but it still doesn't work very well. And Applecare seems helpless to fix it, even though it is their own stuff. I know far more about what is going on then they do. This seems to be the case with most tech support, but I use windows all the time and have spent a huge amount of time researching things and doing trial-and-error to get learn everything. I practically never use a Mac unless I am at home, and know practically nothing about them relatively speaking (not that there is really all that much to Mac OS).

I have gotten 4 windows XP computers working perfectly with twice the hardware and five times the software each in far less time it has taken me to get his Mac working. Just a month ago I set up my parent's new desktop PC. The initial set-up for the mac took over a week, and even then it wasn't working perfectly. I got the PC working perfectly in about a day and a half, including many times more software and hardware and about 6 hours worth of formatting and reformatting portable hard drives so I could transfer my Dad's music and pictures to the new computer and then doing the transfers themslves. He calles me routinely to get help with the problems on the Mac. I have had two calls from him on Windows XP, both of which were simply because he forgot some of the handy shortcut and tricks I had taught him (for the latest computer he had a notebook he was keeping notes in so he wouldn't have to do that again).

The transfer probably would have been easier if it wasn't for the screwed-up way Mac handles FAT32 (i.e. it doesn't unless the partition is fairly small) and the insane way iTunes handles ripped music (two files for every song, both in the same folder and both of which have the same extension but only one of which actually contains music) and the insane way iPhoto handles photos (pretty much the same, except with some other random files stuck in there).

Sorry. I used to not mind Macs. That was until I actually used one. And was forced to continue using it. That changed my mind. Now I really, really do not like them.

Geminiwave

well friend the deal with the two files is something about fat32 partitions...I guess it just carried over to whatever partition OSX uses. Its a weird thing. I mean, those files are present in NTFS, make no mistake...they just dont show up. Even if you say to show hidden files they dont show up because they're integrated in.

And yea...applecare often seems helpless. Its a serious problem. Apple charges an arm and a leg for support on machines that break down easily. This didn't use to be the case. Apple use to be renowned for their awesome tech support and their well built machines. What happened to that?!?!

TheBlackCat

No, that isn't what I mean. Windows and Linux can read and write FAT32 partitions up to whatever size you care to make (or at least as large as FAT32 supports). Macs, however, will only recognize the existance of FAT32 partitions below a certain size, 100 gigs or something. It is not that it won't read or write them, it won't even detect and mount them if they are larger than that. So I had a hard drive with one 250 GB FAT32 partition, and the Mac simply would not notice it was plugged in. Windows had no trouble with it, but Mac forces you to use their partition structure (which no one else uses) if you want partitions over a certain size. It is just some stupid limitation that none of the other major OS's have, only Macs. It's the same as everything else Mac does, they cripple or simply block everything but their own chosen format in order to force you to use it. Windows and Linux focus on interoperability, making things that can be used by anyone and anything. Mac focuses on exclusivity, making sure you can only use their products and only in the way they want you to. They did it with Quicktime, Firewire, their AAC DRM (so iTunes and iPod), floppy discs, keyboards and mice, iLife, CPU's, and Mac OS and Apple computers themselves. It is just a fundamental business strategy that makes them extremely hard to deal with and is why I will never, ever buy a single apple product as long as I live. I don't even use quicktime, I use quicktime alternative.

Geminiwave

oh...

thats weird.

well I mean why do you want fat32 partitions anyway?

TheBlackCat

Because Apple can't read NTFS partitions, and Windows can't read Apple partitions. I needed to transfer dozens of gigabytes of data between the two operating systems.

Geminiwave

well...apple can READ ntfs. they just cant write to them sadly.

course that'll come soon. Linux has already figured it out so OSX will fall in line soon.

dj_stick

macdrive

swimtech

...and about the macbook logic board...

Apple has gone and re-engineered the logic board and heat sink assembly - they are backed up in Memphis on replacement of these for the random shut down and power off issues though - yes, as of today it has taken some three weeks or so for the process to complete. Long story short - you have company in a large boat.

And Gemini, you know how it can go with tech support (your bud at the Genius Bar) - you already knew what to expect from him - and the Apple rep on the phone tried to make it better. I'm not backing up the treatment you got from the Genius Bar, I would call his treatment of you unacceptable, but you have to know as well as I that there are good ones, and a few bad...

Lowfat

Eek, i never saw this thread till now. I work for AppleCare tech support, and we definately aren't allowed to treat customers like that. If the customer is elligible for support, we help them until either we have figured out and repaired the problem, or until we know it was caused by third party products. Even then, we make 100% sure we do everything to make sure it is not an Apple product that caused it. We are also always told to take the customers word for everything. Which Applestore did you take it too? Try taking it to just an Authorized Service provider (besides CompUSA) and see if the treatment is any better. The issue you were having is with the heatsink not fittiing correctly, causing your computer to shutdown from overheating.
If you have an Applecare Protection Plan (or within 90 days of purchasing the computer), I highly suggest getting repairs over the phone.
If you are still having problems. Reset the memory of the computer (as sometimes that is all the issue is). Then call them up. Tell them you have reset the memory already, and they will setup the mail-in repair for it. Which takes 5-7 days to repair.