Apple makes me sad

[electric]

I heard a rumor saying apple computers quality had greatly diminished
I found out the rumor was true when 3 out of the last 3 people I know buying a mac have had serious problems with their brand new computers.

my sisters new 2 week old ibook was sent back for cdrw repair twice, came back with large scratches , is being returned for cash.... currently has no computer

friends 2 month old power book sent in for the second time, first for bad memory, second for bad memory. three for a bad mother board.....currently using his old orange ibook, waiting for powerbook

other sisters 1 day old emac sent in and replaced 3 times for similar crt flicker problems
... currently using computer

luckily 2 out of the three are mac faithful but I worry about those who are not. What is going on at Apple? hello.... people cant enjoy your great OS and Apps while their computers are at your repair facilities.
I have had no problems with my mac purchases including my Newton, but i'm giving myself an apple present at the end of the year but i don't want to be stuck with a lemon
Apple please send me an email telling me this is just a passing phase or at least send me an email telling me I have a direct pipeline to "the quality built macs"

TT

 

[bennetsaysargh]

sorry to tell you, but apple won't email you.

the only things that apple has done to make me sad is not come out with new iPods, and re-released newtons.

 

[macphoria]

I don't think I agree with your sentiment that quality of Apple products are going down. I myself have had few problems with my Macs. But Apple produces large quantity of products and some of them are bound to have problems. I just think you and your friends have had bad luck, as all the Mac users I know have had only pleasant experiences with Apple products.

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm one of the mac faithful, and won't be switching anytime soon. But I must admit that I'm more hesitant to suggest macs to people than I have been in the past. My brother's brand new imac G4 had to be returned (would not turn on) after being restarted once. My ibook is currently under repair at apple for a bad lcd. It also has a bad battery that apple won't do anything about. These are the past two computers my family has bought from them, and the only two ever to have problems. Our old CRT imac, two beige G3s, and LC III all ran flawlessly (and 2 of those are still in use).

Luckily, I purchase applecare on my computers, and know a little about fixing them myself. But can I recommend the hardware to others with the same confidence as I once had that they will have no problems? No, sadly I can't. I love macs; I'm a total junkie. But if I were currently a PC user and heard my own stories, I'd be kinda wary about switching.

 

[Les Kern]

It has to do with statistics. Overall tech glitches is a certain percent across the whole. Of course there may be pockets of problems and may seem to present a picture of a problem that doesn't exist.
I run a school with over 700 Macs. Recently we purchased 200 12" iBooks and 110 14" iBooks and 25 G4 Towers. Out of that many I was expecting a 5% return or DOA. Know how many out of those went back in the first month? Two. The first year? The same two. That makes a rate of about, well, near enough to zero. I was ecstatic... it was WAY under their 4-5% industry rate. A while back I got 30 Dells. I had 3 DOA, and another 7 went back in the first month. I knew it was an anomaly, and knew that Dell's record is comparable to Apple's; excellent overall.
I'm sorry you've had the problems, but I'm afraid you're in one of those pockets.

 

[iJon]

well from reviewing many of the main computer corps, apple has if not the best. best support in my opinion. compaq being the worse. alienware being down there with compaq and hp. heard terribe things about dell too. like the other guy, apple produces tons of computers, some of them are bound to be flawed. the great thing is that apple is very quick with their turn around, usually overnight. s*** happens, i have had great service with apple and havent had any complaints, sorry to hear about your friends though, why dont you go back and ask them why they are mac loyalists.

iJon

 

[bousozoku]

I've seen my share of refurbished CRT iMacs and eMacs, but that's about it.

But, on the PC side, the numbers are much worse. For example, we were receiving new Dell machines at one place where I worked. For every 10, 7 were being returned because of defects. With the HPs and Compaqs I saw at my last job, 2 of 10 were defective. These were the professional models, not those you find in Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA.

Apple has component trouble from time-to-time, but it's much less than other manufacturers.

 

[madamimadam]

As a point to prove the words already said, Apple has become VERY strict about who can become service authorised and in Aust. they have actually been reducing the number of service centres because there is too much competition due to the fact that there are not enough macs breaking down.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

Originally posted by madamimadam
As a point to prove the words already said, Apple has become VERY strict about who can become service authorised and in Aust. they have actually been reducing the number of service centres because there is too much competition due to the fact that there are not enough macs breaking down.

not enough macs breaking down is good for the user, and bad for business.
i guess you can't please everyone

 

[yzedf]

my ex bought a G4 iMac and a iBook and they both were fine. a friend of hers bought the same iBook and had to return it twice for faulty combo drive. another friend of hers bought G4 iMac and it is fine. her brother (source of the mac-ness) has G3 PB that is more or less ok (airport card just died). it's hit or miss. same as dell or any other. i think part of dell's problems is shipping. the packing materials aren't as nice. optical drives and hard drives and crt's are all sensitive to bumps and jolts during shipping. it's not like UPS or whomever cares...

 

[Foucault]

Whenever you purchase complex technology like computers, with lots of intricate electical systems involved, there is a chance that your CPU can be damaged or defective. There is no 100% full proof that your CPU will be pristine and perfect even when you first open it. I think for the most part Apple has done a tremendous job in building an outstanding product, for mass production, while keeping defective and damaged inventory low. So we have to keep things in perspective here...

 

[scem0]

Originally posted by Foucault
Whenever you purchase complex technology like computers, with lots of intricate electical systems involved, there is a chance that your CPU can be damaged or defective. There is no 100% full proof that your CPU will be pristine and perfect even when you first open it. I think for the most part Apple has done a tremendous job in building an outstanding product, for mass production, while keeping defective and damaged inventory low. So we have to keep things in perspective here...

The fact that 3 out of 3 of the people with macs he knew had
problems contradicts what you just said. Yes, macs have great
quality, but they aren't flawless. I wouldn't call their working
products to broken products ratio outstanding though. Apple
isn't all ****s and giggles... Some things about apple just plain
suck. Same goes for PCs.

 

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by scem0
The fact that 3 out of 3 of the people with macs he knew had
problems contradicts what you just said. Yes, macs have great
quality, but they aren't flawless. I wouldn't call their working
products to broken products ratio outstanding though. Apple
isn't all ****s and giggles... Some things about apple just plain
suck. Same goes for PCs.

What, now 1 in 20 isn't good... what do they need to do to impress you?

 

[LethalWolfe]

My G4 tower, my parents iMac and my friends Powerbook all have been flawless. I guess our 3 homeruns negate your 3 strike outs.


Lethal

EDIT: No company creates perfect products 100% of the time but I think Apple does better than average.

 

[Les Kern]

Originally posted by scem0
The fact that 3 out of 3 of the people with macs he knew had
problems contradicts what you just said.

I haven't seen any facts from Gartner and such. Until then it's just whining. I buy in bulk, and see few if any problems. Certainly that counts for something more than 3 people. The latest numbers I can find is from fall 2002, where Apple's return (inoperable within a month) was just less than 5%, best in the industry.
Probability got you, not Apple. Of course there's always room to improve, and Apple should strive to lower it. An really, do you think they don't care? Is some guy at Apple looking over the numbers and saying "Screw em!"? Get real.