iMac i7 -- Pain and woe

[ThkAsBrk]

Friends,
My Father succumbed to my wife's Apple zealotry about four months back and purchased an iMac i7. He is an avid Photographer with a need for crunching power because of the movie making aspect of it.
The upshot of it is, he's on his fourth iMac now after five months of servicing. Problems have ranged from bad motherboards, to bad bluetooth. Apple has been supportive but there have been long spans in-and-out of the shop and time is money. He's still waiting for the latest machine to be sent to him.
IMHO Apple is having some severe growing pains and, reading other threads, this problem may be endemic.

[alent1234]

did he complain to your wife?

[archipellago]

Friends,
My Father succumbed to my wife's Apple zealotry about four months back and purchased an iMac i7. He is an avid Photographer with a need for crunching power because of the movie making aspect of it.
The upshot of it is, he's on his fourth iMac now after five months of servicing. Problems have ranged from bad motherboards, to bad bluetooth. Apple has been supportive but there have been long spans in-and-out of the shop and time is money. He's still waiting for the latest machine to be sent to him.
IMHO Apple is having some severe growing pains and, reading other threads, this problem may be endemic.

thats just normal for Apple in my experience...

bad news for him though...not good.

[ThkAsBrk]

did he complain to your wife?

You don't know the half of it -- it's devolved into a sectarian battle.

Again the purpose here was to issue a bit of a public complaint...I can see others jazzed about acquiring a refurbished i7 -- OK then my Dad's kicked in four thus far.

[SaSaSushi]

thats just normal for Apple in my experience....

For what it's worth, from what I've seen, Archipellago's experience amounts to feverishly posting anti-Apple rhetoric to user forums.

I think your father's just had some horribly bad luck. I hope he gets it all settled on this next replacement.

My i7 is my third Mac. I switched to Apple when they adopted Intel processors in 2006. I've had to send in my machines to Apple a few times over the years for AppleCare service (crashed HD and bad display gradient on my mid-2007 24" iMac) but so far so good with the i7 (week 47) which has been flawless.

Every time I've had to deal with AppleCare here in Japan they've been super quick and courteous. They send a courier to my door with the packing materials and I just hand them the Mac. They overnight it to Tokyo, fix it that day and overnight it back.

[DoFoT9]

You don't know the half of it -- it's devolved into a sectarian battle.

Again the purpose here was to issue a bit of a public complaint...I can see others jazzed about acquiring a refurbished i7 -- OK then my Dad's kicked in four thus far.

i think apples service is pretty grand. im not complaining at all :D

[IndustrialSpace]

Friends,
My Father succumbed to my wife's Apple zealotry about four months back and purchased an iMac i7. He is an avid Photographer with a need for crunching power because of the movie making aspect of it.
The upshot of it is, he's on his fourth iMac now after five months of servicing. Problems have ranged from bad motherboards, to bad bluetooth. Apple has been supportive but there have been long spans in-and-out of the shop and time is money. He's still waiting for the latest machine to be sent to him.
IMHO Apple is having some severe growing pains and, reading other threads, this problem may be endemic.


It seems a large majority of the new iMacs are plagued with various problems. Your Dad's not alone. There are many stories (I can personally attest to a few) where users have returned their iMac up to 5 timesforv replacement. Granted, Apple CS is fairly good, but to spend a few thousand on a new computer only to ship it back and forth for repair is unacceptable. Too many issues with this current model. I believe Apple has tweaked their profit/cost/volume marketing model and have lowered their quality.

The Sushi guy will invariably tell you otherwise. He'd take a bullet for Apple in a heartbeat. Too optimistic and forgiving, if you ask me. Others are more critical of Apple's quality, as you should be when spending this kind of money.

[SaSaSushi]

The Sushi guy will invariably tell you otherwise. He'd take a bullet for Apple in a heartbeat. Too optimistic and forgiving, if you ask me. Others are more critical of Apple's quality, as you should be when spending this kind of money.

It's SaSaSushi, thank you.

I considered having your ridiculous "bullet" comment removed, Industrial, but it does serve to illustrate your intolerance with anyone not on your anti-Apple agenda. I'm not taking any bullets for anyone, thanks, least of all a computer company. :p

I openly admitted that I've had some problems with Macs in the past although I've had zero issues with my new i7.

Was I happy when the hard disk on my 24" iMac crashed?? No, obviously not but these things happen. I was even less happy when I had screen issues on the same machine that led to Apple replacing the LCD panel.

I've asked you this before in other threads and you ignored it there as well but what does the amount you spend on a product have to do with it? I expect complete quality no matter what amount I pay.

My experience with Apple has been that in the few times I've had issues they have been both prompt and courteous and have fully addressed the problems. What more should I expect?

[JimKirk]

By continuing to ship faulty screens?

There are week 10 machines with yellow screens.

They all also have that dark grey bar running along the bottom.

So is this how Apple has address it?

Executive relations told me to live with it or refund money because I got the best machine apple knew how to make. BS.

[unixfool]

It seems like every 3rd thread in these forums is negative. What's up with these forums where its always so negative lately? Other Mac forums aren't like this. I can understand the OP's complaints and don't read them as bad, but then the usual people post to it and infect the thread. I don't understand how people can hate a product so much but still use it...what's up with that? And then, anyone who disagrees (even gracefully) is the fanboy Antichrist. Some of this rage is downright childish. Why rage and rage about it? Why not just get a refund and move on with your life? I'm not trying to berate, but really trying to understand why there's so much hate.

[DoFoT9]

IThe Sushi guy will invariably tell you otherwise. He'd take a bullet for Apple in a heartbeat. Too optimistic and forgiving, if you ask me. Others are more critical of Apple's quality, as you should be when spending this kind of money.

well shoot me then too. id take a bullet for apple too, its got great morals and their staff actually fix the issues you have!

have you ever had problems with dell computer? or HP computers? i have, and its down right terrible.

e.g. had a HP laptop and the thing just stopped working. check HPs website and found out that there was some sort of BIOS model error. HP had a free service for it, the model number of the laptop was covered in their page, but when i rang up the refused to accept it because the laptop was out of their specific period. how does that even make sense!? they have clearly stated that they will support it. if it were apple it would have been replaced ;)

maybe

[Badger^2]

For whatever reason, the 27" iMac has had its share of problems, and it seems that its more than any mac ever made.

Or it might just be the fact that the net makes it easier for everyone to complain and for everyone else to see those complaints =)

having bought over 30 macs since about 1986, I have never had to "return" one or send one into apple to be repaired.

Towers, powerbooks, iMacs, refurbished and even some older Power Computing clones.

I dont think I has anything to do with "growing pains". IF the new screens would have been fine, these "negative" posts would be down 99%.

Do we have a post from someone that has a newly minted 27" version?

[DoFoT9]

For whatever reason, the 27" iMac has had its share of problems, and it seems that its more than any mac ever made.

Or it might just be the fact that the net makes it easier for everyone to complain and for everyone else to see those complaints =)

having bought over 30 macs since about 1986, I have never had to "return" one or send one into apple to be repaired.


if youve been using macs since 1986, im SURE that you could think of another mac that had even worse problems!!! ;) :rolleyes:

[Badger^2]

if youve been using macs since 1986, im SURE that you could think of another mac that had even worse problems!!! ;) :rolleyes:

I wish I could.

Even my Mac Plus, bought in 1986, ran like a top.

Used a 2 floppy drive system, one had the entire system on it, the other has MS works and all of my college papers.

Really trying to think of one that was a pain... bought a Centris 610 that was kind of a dog I guess. Even enjoyed my Cube.

[SaSaSushi]

if youve been using macs since 1986, im SURE that you could think of another mac that had even worse problems!!! ;) :rolleyes:

Absolutely. :p

Also, as I mentioned, in my case it was my prior 24" iMac that had some problems. So far I've had no issues whatsoever with my i7 (knock on wood).

[DoFoT9]

I wish I could.

Even my Mac Plus, bought in 1986, ran like a top.

Used a 2 floppy drive system, one had the entire system on it, the other has MS works and all of my college papers.

Really trying to think of one that was a pain... bought a Centris 610 that was kind of a dog I guess. Even enjoyed my Cube.
lol thats funny. im sorry. i was born in 89 and talking about floppies is just funny. i grew up with CDs :D

but from what i hear, some of the macs from the 80's were pretty terrible!

Absolutely. :p

Also, as I mentioned, in my case it was my prior 24" iMac that had some problems. So far I've had no issues whatsoever with my i7 (knock on wood).

ditto here, i have had zero problems with my i7 imac. its like a week 49 or something. its amazing! (apart from no RAM lol)

[Kevin Rohrer]

The upshot of it is, he's on his fourth iMac now after five months of servicing. Problems have ranged from bad motherboards, to bad bluetooth. Apple has been supportive but there have been long spans in-and-out of the shop and time is money. He's still waiting for the latest machine to be sent to him.

I know what you are talking about. I got my stock i7 shortly after the New Year, it being my first Mac. Due to what I have experienced with it and Apple, it may be my last.

It went bad on Monday, February 22nd, refusing to boot. I immediately drove it up to the Apple store at Legacy Village near Cleveland. They couldn't get it to boot using an external boot drive, so it was obviously the logic board. I was told they would look at it the next day and give me a call as they had more logic boards in-stock. Tuesday passed with no call, so I telephoned them Wednesday the 24th.. The girl on the phone got snotty with me, telling me that I was quoted 5-7 days repair time and they would call when it was ready. I bit my tongue and waited, and waited, and waited.

On Wednesday, March 3rd (nine days) I called them again. I was told that they had tried replacing the power supply but it didn't fix the problem. Duh. They didn't have a logic board but had ordered one. Unfortunately, it didn't come in but he was hoping to get one in tomorrow and the computer would be ready in two days.

On March 5th I called them again and was told that I was getting a new machine, but the procedure was out of their hands and they couldn't give me an ETA for the new machine. I asked whose hands the problem was now in and wanted to know to whom I could complain. The girl didn't provide me with any information except to repeat what she had just said.

Today (March 8th), it is now day-15 without a Mac.I just got off the phone with the store and they STILL have no ETA on when my new machine will arrive. I am having problems paying my online bills and getting work done due to having transferred all those duties to the AWOL iMac.

Apple makes great software and nice computer designs. Unfortunately, their hardware quality sucks and their customer service is even worse. I am stuck in limbo waiting for someone somewhere in the world to decide to give me a computer that works that I paid for a month and a half ago.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to whom I can complain to? I will be calling Apple Care at the corporate office tomorrow, but probably won't get anywhere.

It is ridiculous that I switched from a virus prone machine that always worked to one that is virus free but didn't last more than 3-weeks before it died due to its inherent low quality hardware. :mad:

[SaSaSushi]

Today (March 8th), it is now day-15 without a Mac.I just got off the phone with the store and they STILL have no ETA on when my new machine will arrive. I am having problems paying my online bills and getting work done due to having transferred all those duties to the AWOL iMac.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

Apple makes great software and nice computer designs. Unfortunately, their hardware quality sucks and their customer service is even worse.

If I were in your situation I'd feel frustrated as well but I can assure you Apple's hardware quality doesn't suck. All makers deal with hardware issues on occasion, and you unfortunately got one with problems.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to whom I can complain to? I will be calling Apple Care at the corporate office tomorrow, but probably won't get anywhere.

You should definitely call Apple at the corporate level to report it if you think you are getting an unacceptable runaround from your Apple Store. Condemning the entire company for the experiences you've had at that one store, while understandable considering your frustration, may be seen as an overreaction in retrospect when you finally get the service you're seeking.

I hope your situation is resolved soon, Kevin.

[Badger^2]

You were too nice Kevin =)

As soon as the girl on the phone got snotty with me, I would have said -- let me talk to your manager. Done.

Call Applecare ASAP and get it kicked up a notch.

Did you buy it at that same Apple store?

[frankandsteph]

For whatever reason, the 27" iMac has had its share of problems, and it seems that its more than any mac ever made.

Or it might just be the fact that the net makes it easier for everyone to complain and for everyone else to see those complaints =)

having bought over 30 macs since about 1986, I have never had to "return" one or send one into apple to be repaired.

Towers, powerbooks, iMacs, refurbished and even some older Power Computing clones.

I dont think I has anything to do with "growing pains". IF the new screens would have been fine, these "negative" posts would be down 99%.

Do we have a post from someone that has a newly minted 27" version?


So I got my i7 27" on Friday. It is my first Mac and (knock on wood) all is super....no screen issues, good HDD, super fast, etc.....

[MacHamster68]

By continuing to ship faulty screens?

There are week 10 machines with yellow screens.

They all also have that dark grey bar running along the bottom.

So is this how Apple has address it?

Executive relations told me to live with it or refund money because I got the best machine apple knew how to make. BS.

they yellow screens are sorted now , ok there is now a grey bar , so what do you prefere yellow or grey ? apple gives you the choice
sorry but for me apple has gone into a territory thats not from interest any more for me , just gadgets, ipod's iphones , ipads , iMacs , all same design , a really nice design no doubt , but style over function ,

just a example there is a possible chinese company (sold as optronics , but to my knowlege not related to optronics australia )
they offer also a 27 inch display( tft to my knowledge and matte ) all in one , its a barebone system that comes only with a motherboard for fitting lga 755 processors , but that aside you have the choice of optical drive from cdrw over dual layer dvd to blueray , and they found behind their 27 inch display enough room for you to fit in addition to the optical drive two harddrives of choice and there is even still space left over for a ssd and you got a full usable pci slot ,if you like one too ,ok the back is only black plastic and looks more like the plastics used on tv's in the 70s ,
downside these things are harder to trace on the web then finding a gram of golddust in the dessert,with luck you find "one" sometimes on ebay, ok no osx and no warranties whatsoever ...
no i dont want to offer it as alternative to a imac , i just want to point out the options you got , apple managed to leave no space at all behind the huge 27"display(a nice big display if you win a working one ) , but people who want a second harddrive are forced to buy a external or sacrifice the optical drive not to mention that there is not even a expansion slot for a pci card , i mean there could be sooooo much space beind

[ThkAsBrk]

Friends,

A reasonable outcome was achieved. Again my Pa was making the big conversion from a PC to the Mac with his purchase of the iMac I7 (his killer app being bleeding edge Photoshop). Time is money and in the end Apple recognized this. After a direct communication with one of the VPs (and a forthright letter) he's now the proud owner of a Power Mac -- and now as much a zealot as my wife.

So Apple stood behind its products 100% in the end, but there are clear issues with iMac i7 QC.

Thanks for all the replys

Cheers

[coolmacguy]

So I got my i7 27" on Friday. It is my first Mac and (knock on wood) all is super....no screen issues, good HDD, super fast, etc.....

Do you have the grey bar everyone seems to be saying affects everyone?

[HLdan]

Friends,

A reasonable outcome was achieved. Again my Pa was making the big conversion from a PC to the Mac with his purchase of the iMac I7 (his killer app being bleeding edge Photoshop). Time is money and in the end Apple recognized this. After a direct communication with one of the VPs (and a forthright letter) he's now the proud owner of a Power Mac -- and now as much a zealot as my wife.

So Apple stood behind its products 100% in the end, but there are clear issues with iMac i7 QC.

Thanks for all the replys

Cheers

A PowerMac? Or did you mean a Mac Pro?

[SaSaSushi]

After a direct communication with one of the VPs (and a forthright letter) he's now the proud owner of a Power Mac -- and now as much a zealot as my wife.

The Power Mac was discontinued in August, 2006 so I hope you meant Mac Pro.

So Apple stood behind its products 100% in the end, but there are clear issues with my father's iMac i7's QC.

I corrected it for you.

The Mac Pro is assembled at the same plants in China and around the world as the iMac and undergoes the same QC.

Anyway, I'm glad everything worked out for your dad. :)

[Mike Macintosh]

Absolutely. :p

Also, as I mentioned, in my case it was my prior 24" iMac that had some problems. So far I've had no issues whatsoever with my i7 (knock on wood).Same here, my i5 just works *knocks on wood*

[Pylot135]

I have had my 27" i5 since New Years too..My logic board just died. No boot up at all. You can hear the fans running but thats it.. The local Auth Mac repair guy had it for 3 hours and called me back to tell me the problem. They claim it will be done late today or Monday.
At least we still have the kids old Win98 machine here and iPhones....

[IndustrialSpace]

I have had my 27" i5 since New Years too..My logic board just died. No boot up at all. You can hear the fans running but thats it.. The local Auth Mac repair guy had it for 3 hours and called me back to tell me the problem. They claim it will be done late today or Monday.
At least we still have the kids old Win98 machine here and iPhones....

Certainly one of MS' better OS' to rely on, especially 98 SE.

2000, ME and Vista are/were absolutely lousy!

[hundert]

If I were in your situation I'd feel frustrated as well but I can assure you Apple's hardware quality doesn't suck.

Actually, if hardware is the technical thing (motherboard, cpu, hdd, cooling system), then Apple does suck.

If you buy a win pc with some gigabyte motherboard, i5 and a discreet card, it will live MUCH LONGER than Apple's. Those have proven themselves to be highly overclockable and stable.
Apple the same hardware, but their motherboards (foxxcon?) suck. The way graphics is glued to it sucks. I had maybe 10 macs in my life and they all had problems.

If by hardware you mean plastic and buttons, they are better than of other manufacturers. But as far as electronics goes, it always sucked, it sucks, and probably will suck.

[SaSaSushi]

If you buy a win pc with some gigabyte motherboard, i5 and a discreet card, it will live MUCH LONGER than Apple's. Those have proven themselves to be highly overclockable and stable.
Apple the same hardware, but their motherboards (foxxcon?) suck. The way graphics is glued to it sucks. I had maybe 10 macs in my life and they all had problems.

Wow, that is remarkable. I wonder why one would buy another Mac after, say, the 5th one had problems.

I've been building PCs for 20+ years and have owned Macs for 4 years now and have not shared this experience at all. The logic board on my original 20" Core Duo iMac failed back in 2006 but it's been smooth sailing since except for a Western Digital hard disk that crashed in my 24" mid-2007 iMac. I hardly blame Apple for that.

I've had problems with Gigabyte motherboards. My son is still using a PC I built with one in it that the USB isn't working on and likes to randomly crash. Gigabyte is another Taiwanese company just like Foxconn incidentally.

If by hardware you mean plastic and buttons, they are better than of other manufacturers. But as far as electronics goes, it always sucked, it sucks, and probably will suck.

I don't think so. :p

[Kevin Rohrer]

Well, I FINALLY got my broken iMac replaced last Saturday. The "geniuses" didn't move my HD from the old machine to the new one as it was too much trouble for them. They apparently copied them from one to the other and gave me the old HD. Unfortunately, Parallels doesn't work right as it looks for Windows 7 (1). Sheesh.

To add insult to injury, as soon as I booted my new machine, I found that the Magic Mouse had died, too. Soooo, I made yet another appointment to get it replaced. <sigh>

I can see why Apple has $40B setting around. They pay slave labor in Singapore to put together CRAP hardware and sell it for a premium.

I predict that Apple is losing ALOT of money replacing bad hardware. I fully expect to be replacing the iMac and mouse again in a few months. Thank God it will be at Apple's expense. Of course, this means that I will be forced to purchase their Applecare before my one year expiration.

If Apple's hardware was as good as their OS, this board would be a ghost town.

[unixfool]

Actually, if hardware is the technical thing (motherboard, cpu, hdd, cooling system), then Apple does suck.

If you buy a win pc with some gigabyte motherboard, i5 and a discreet card, it will live MUCH LONGER than Apple's. Those have proven themselves to be highly overclockable and stable.
Apple the same hardware, but their motherboards (foxxcon?) suck. The way graphics is glued to it sucks. I had maybe 10 macs in my life and they all had problems.

Dunno about that.

I've a Foxconn motherboard in my Windows AMD Phenom quad machine and the motherboard is rock solid. It's taken everything I've thrown at it (but I don't overclock, but overclocking is niche anyways).

I've also owned Gigabyte boards and I've never had luck with them...at some point, they've always died. I've had much better success with Apple than Gigabyte. Then again, I've had just as much success with Foxxcon as with Apple.

Now, I've heard many Windows users make the same complaints you're making about a particular brand of motherboard. Each manufacturer will have their issues. For every machine that a particular complainer has issues with, I can point to a satisfied user of that product. Complaining, by itself, doesn't make a product suck, though.

[unixfool]

Well, I FINALLY got my broken iMac replaced last Saturday. The "geniuses" didn't move my HD from the old machine to the new one as it was too much trouble for them. They apparently copied them from one to the other and gave me the old HD. Unfortunately, Parallels doesn't work right as it looks for Windows 7 (1). Sheesh.

You mean you didn't back up your data before you returned the machine? You can't blame them for that, IMO. No matter if you returned it to Gateway, Dell, or <add your favorite vendor here>, you'd have run into the same issues there. You should always back up your data, as they're not going to migrate that data to the replacement machine for you.

To add insult to injury, as soon as I booted my new machine, I found that the Magic Mouse had died, too. Soooo, I made yet another appointment to get it replaced. <sigh>

Was this a new Magic Mouse that came with the replacement, or the one that you got with the previous Mac?

I can see why Apple has $40B setting around. They pay slave labor in Singapore to put together CRAP hardware and sell it for a premium.

You make it seem like Apple's the only maker that outsources. They aren't. They aren't the only company that has build issues, either. This isn't as big of a deal as you're trying to make it.

I predict that Apple is losing ALOT of money replacing bad hardware. I fully expect to be replacing the iMac and mouse again in a few months. Thank God it will be at Apple's expense. Of course, this means that I will be forced to purchase their Applecare before my one year expiration.

Well, use the power of your wallet if you're unhappy. Ask for a refund and get a non-Apple machine. No need to complain over spilled milk, IMO.

If Apple's hardware was as good as their OS, this board would be a ghost town.

These forums aren't here as a complaint medium, AFAIK. Not everyone on these boards are complaining, either. Actually, it's just a few repeat people. Not that you can't complain about issues, but if I had such issues, I'd be complaining on the Apple boards, not a 3rd party board. Then again, if I went through at least half the systems some of you are going through, I'd have moved on to another product by now.

[Kebabselector]

2000, ME and Vista are/were absolutely lousy!

2000 Lousy???

I never had an issue with it in the business world.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Unixfool: You will never be accused of not being a Fanboy.

[SaSaSushi]

I predict that Apple is losing ALOT of money replacing bad hardware.

You can't predict in the present continuous. That's cheating.

[archipellago]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience.



If I were in your situation I'd feel frustrated as well but I can assure you Apple's hardware quality doesn't suck. All makers deal with hardware issues on occasion, and you unfortunately got one with problems.



You should definitely call Apple at the corporate level to report it if you think you are getting an unacceptable runaround from your Apple Store. Condemning the entire company for the experiences you've had at that one store, while understandable considering your frustration, may be seen as an overreaction in retrospect when you finally get the service you're seeking.

I hope your situation is resolved soon, Kevin.



and I can assure YOU that in mine and a dozen other colleagues experience. the hardware does indeed 'suck'

[archipellago]

Friends,

A reasonable outcome was achieved. Again my Pa was making the big conversion from a PC to the Mac with his purchase of the iMac I7 (his killer app being bleeding edge Photoshop). Time is money and in the end Apple recognized this. After a direct communication with one of the VPs (and a forthright letter) he's now the proud owner of a Power Mac -- and now as much a zealot as my wife.

So Apple stood behind its products 100% in the end, but there are clear issues with iMac i7 QC.

Thanks for all the replys

Cheers



Apple stand behind their product by giving you a different one.?

hmm.. glad its sorted though.

[Kallel00]

Truth is law of average will always mean some individuals will have problems with their hardware, no matter what item and what company it comes from.



Look at the Dell or HP forums, and you're going to have alot of "I'll never buy Dell again ,etc"


If we had to base purchase choices from online forums there'd be nothing left to buy!

[archipellago]

Truth is law of average will always mean some individuals will have problems with their hardware, no matter what item and what company it comes from.



Look at the Dell or HP forums, and you're going to have alot of "I'll never buy Dell again ,etc"


If we had to base purchase choices from online forums there'd be nothing left to buy!

true, but in unit terms Apple sell very few computers compared to their competitors.... and even fewer desktops.

[IndustrialSpace]

Truth is law of average will always mean some individuals will have problems with their hardware, no matter what item and what company it comes from.

LMAO

I'd like to meet this unlucky sap. What a life to lead.

[Thirteenva]

I see the usual trolls have ruined this discussion. Thank goodness for that ignore function.

[SaSaSushi]

and I can assure YOU that in mine and a dozen other colleagues experience. the hardware does indeed 'suck'

The only difference between my own experiences and that of you and your esteemed colleagues being that I actually own the hardware in question. ;)

So I'll take that for what it's worth.

[rogerram]

The only difference between my own experiences and that of you and your esteemed colleagues being that I actually own the hardware in question. ;)

So I'll take that for what it's worth.

I originally switched from a 17" Sony laptop (Bluray,Sat. TV & poorly built crashing Vista nightmare-now) to a 24" iMac several years ago. Bought an early 2009 MBP that I'm using to send this-it's had 2 new motherboards & a new HD-all through Applecare & I love this machine.
My Dec i7 has just been collected for repair-random black-screen crashes, screen-saver crashes & snow-flake-screen crashes. I love my iMac's & think Applecare is great. I use my Macs for doing the amendments to my Doctorate (professional), photography & HD movies (amateur) & I think they are beautiful pieces of kit otherwise I wouldn't use them. I'm in UK & have complete faith in Amsys the authorised Apple repair place where my i7 is now. (Using the 24" iMac as backup).
I do wonder about Apple's quality control for their Far East suppliers, but think perhaps due to the huge volume of production they're bound to be some mavericks-2 of which I've had!
Despite the problems Macs are great for me & with Applecare I've got a 3 year guarantee that perhaps other UK suppliers would struggle to match.