Apple Notebook Quality/Reliability vs. Other Brands

[TheCakeIsALie]

I ordered a new unibody MacBook Pro 2.53Ghz on October 14 and I am new to Macs. Over the past week I've been on this forum a lot and I'm noticing many threads about problems with the new MacBook Pros (dead/stuck pixels, crooked keyboard, battery cover not fitting etc...). So I was wondering do Apple laptops really have an edge in terms of quality and reliability over other major laptop manufacturers (eg. HP, Toshiba, Acer, Sony etc...)? I mean I've not really heard this many problems occurring to other major brands of laptops.

Maybe other major brands of laptops have just as many issues/defects or even more, and because I never hang out at a HP or Toshiba forum, I never get to hear them. But these "new MBP problem" threads are really starting to make me doubt the QA department of Apple and the "premium-ness" of Apple laptops. So I need some answers from veteran Mac and PC laptop users: how do Apple's laptops compare to other major brands of similarly spec-ed laptops in terms of overall quality and reliability?

Oh, and I'm only talking about the hardware aspect, exclude the OS/software part.

Thanks to all in advance!

 

[nope7308]

I think this is an excellent question. Like yourself, I'm new to Apple and growing ever more hesitant with each new 'problem' that has been posted. That said, websites such as this one are notorious for people complaining about every imperfection (which is perfectly fine). My point being, this is where people flock for advice/technical help. As a result, it's perfectly natural to see a plethora of complaints over pleasant comments.

However, that doesn't ease my worries (as I'm sure it doesn't ease yours either). In truth, I don't think you or I will have a sufficient answer to this question until we receive the notebook ourselves. After all, statistics mean nothing when you're the one with the lemon. Until then, I'm hoping, praying, and ideally avoiding this forum altogether.

Concerning other PC brands:
IBM has a great reputation when it comes to build quality... too bad the MOBO on my A31 notebook crashed six consecutive times in the span of 2.5 years. From my experience, it seems that every company has their own distinct problems. There will always be a few 'hiccups' with technology - I just can't help but feel that we're always at the mercy of chance.