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22.81% of New Mac Pros have Major problems??

Does 22.81% seem like a high percentage of faulty machines

  • Nope -- perfectly acceptable for a new release.

    Votes: 7 10.1%

  • Maybe now -- but 10.5.2 will likely fix most problems and that number will drop.

    Votes: 21 30.4%

  • Yes -- It seems very high to me.

    Votes: 42 60.9%
  • Total voters
    69
kirkbross

kirkbross

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 6, 2007
666
22
Los Angeles
I know it's a relatively small sampling of 57 people but the current results of flyingscott's poll seem very discouraging -- 22% of of the early 2008 Mac Pros having problems that require Apple's help.

What do you think. Vote and / or comment.
 
It's not just small sample size, it's also a poor sample. Those with problems are more likely to be on the board looking for help, and those with problems are more likely to want to click on a poll like that. The poll tells us little about the real picture of MP reliability.
 
caeneal said:
It's not just small sample size, it's also a poor sample. Those with problems are more likely to be on the board looking for help, and those with problems are more likely to want to click on a poll like that. The poll tells us little about the real picture of MP reliability.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The numbers in that poll are meaningless.
 
The Leopard Sleep->Restart issue aside (one that will be fixed in no time), 22% of Mac Pros don't have major problems. That's just dumb.
 
What is the sampling base for this poll and its margin for error?

Of those who saw the poll and responded, what are the percentages of people whom have had problems and are angry responded compared to those who are happy and responded? Say 95% of people who had problems responded compared to 20% of those without problems who responded.

Where is this poll located for us to view and how did respondents come across the poll? Was it by a Google search like "Mac Pro troubleshooting"? In a tech support forum?

Without this information I am skeptical of its legitimacy.

Their needs to be an option in the poll choices for people to say they find it inaccurate.
 
kirkbross said:
So let's say that it's still in the 20% range after 5,000 people have voted, would it be a more reliable figure then?

Could it ever be reliable on MacRumors?
Click to expand...

No. Because Mac Rumours is not a sample of average Apple users. It is a very small subsection of total Apple users with a disproportionate amount of problems per user (normally the thing that motivates people to come to sites like this).
 
After my experience with the first Harpertown being bad and now my second machine being fine, I think 23% is much too high. It'll be interesting to see if the 8800Gt MacPro's will cause some issues. But I would at least wait until those ship to see if anyone else has the same issues I was.
 
This kind of poll/thread serves for no purpose whatsoever.

It's is neither helpful or informative, just a waste of time and I fail to see the need :rolleyes:

Just add the 'Don't give a ****' option and you will see.
 
peejack said:
This kind of poll/thread serves for no purpose whatsoever.

It's is neither helpful or informative, just a waste of time and I fail to see the need :rolleyes:

Just add the 'Don't give a ****' option and you will see.
Click to expand...
You invalidate your own argument by commenting at all.

But you're right, I should have put a "Don't care, don't care, don't care" option.
 
You already mentioned the flaw.

This is not statistically valid for anything. This just show that of the 57 people on MacRumors that replied, 22.81% of them had an issue of sorts.

Did they use the migration tool or made an all new account?

Perhaps some old settings from the other computer is the kink here.

The sample is simply too small and there are far to little questions to decipher anything meaningful from it.
 
I know very well that the results of flyingscott's original poll are skewed and mostly unreliable. But even with a 50% margin of error, 10% still seems high to me.
 
kirkbross said:
But even with a 50% margin of error, 10% still seems high to me.
Click to expand...

I know you certainly meant well, and are just concerned about the problems posted on the forum (and don't deserve this much bashing). But, with the number of factors skewing the previous poll, a 50% margin of error would be a miracle.

It's not your fault, the media (among others with no formal statistical training) have abused statistics for their own gain for so long that people now think any poll has some sort of validity.

Hopefully, apple is tracking the number of complaints/returns relative to the total number of units sold in order to assess the extent of the problems reported here.
 
kirkbross said:
...a lesser idiot than the one who wastes time responding to it.

I know very well that the results of flyingscott's original poll are skewed and mostly unreliable. But even with a 50% margin of error, 10% still seems high to me.

That said, I still may be an idiot.
Click to expand...

They aren't mostly unreliable, they are completely unreliable. People who have problems will go to forums/help sites more often than those who don't have problems. People who have problems will also be more vocal about their problems than people who are satisfied will be vocal about their satisfaction. flyingscott's poll is akin to going to a hospital, saying "If you a sick raise your hand" then drawing the conclusion that 95% of Americans are sick.

In the 70's Ann Landers asked the question to her readers, "If you had to do it all over again would you have children?" Of all the letters she got back 70% of them said, "No" they would not have children again. Of course this caused a huge ruckus so a scientific poll was taken. The scientific poll reported back that 91% of parents *would* have children again.


Lethal
 
I wouldn't exactly call the original poll nonsense (even if I was the one asking). Flawed...? yes, but not nonsense...

I akin a poll question to asking for a raise of hands in a class room... "out of you Mac Pro owners, who here has a problem? and who does not"... for it to be accurate, you would have to look at each case and evaluate its validity.

And I wouldn't say all participants of the original poll were just owners with issues (as someone pointed out above)... this is reflected by the vast majority of satisfied owners.

Its a "face value" question and answer... take it with a grain of salt, do research and formulate your own opinions on the 22.81%/...
 
i Cannot believe how many people are having problems with there new mac pro, i just got mine 5 days ago and its an extremely solid system. I reject saying that now, since my Mac pro Froze while in safari
 
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