Apples are fragile?

[Victor ch]

Just because they look nicer doesn't mean they're more fragile.

Sooo true. Ask my 12" PB 😀 She slipped out of a case into the border of the sidewalk😱 the screen worked fine for a while then it died, it was replaced. After what? perhaps a year of really severe usage and the original fall the hdd died, she is now upgrading to Leopard next to me with a 40gb hard drive taken from an old iBook. So yeah they are pretty tough. My MacBook is a bit babied but still it has fell twice inside the case and nothing happen (I've seen PeeCees died with this) Also my sister treats my moms MB like if it was a 20$ piece of equipment and besides some scratches is perfect.


-Victor

 

[gollum]

I dropped my 12" PowerBook about 15'. I was at the top of a ladder getting in the airplane I flew at the time, it slipped off my shoulder, tumbled down the steps and landed on the tarmac. It was packed in a Timbukto slipcase in a cheap backpack. It was in sleep mode and didn't even wake up.
I tried tapping the bend in the 1st picture lightly with a hammer, it wasn't gonna do anything without really pounding on it so I gave up.
Are Apples tough? I'm convinced!

 

[Sesshi]

...in terms of build quality

In STM bag. Swung impact (~1 foot) onto corner of kerb when getting out of car.

In STM bag. Swung impact (~1 ft) onto corner of concrete anti-vehicle block when getting out of car.

I'll leave you to make up your own mind.

 

[Nodnarb]

Macs sport high end design, therefore are usually treated more like a fragile piece of equipment. PCs are just now beginning to implement more aesthetics in their designs, so they're more likely to become neglected quicker. I know from experience that I neglected cleaning and careful use of my 1 year old HP Pavilion notebook. However, I treat my 3 year old Powerbook G4 to frequent micro-fiber cloth wipe-downs and retain a gentle touch when handling.

How many of you out there put cases or cloths on your iPhone? Did you treat your previous cell phone the same way?

I don't do lab studies to compare durability, but from my experience my Mac has lasted longer in look and functionality than any PC made of plastic that has been in my household.

 

[Victor ch]

(...)How many of you out there put cases or cloths on your iPhone? Did you treat your previous cell phone the same way?

It depends, if the jeans or pants Im wearing have this little button like metal things in the useless mini pocket then I will use an iPod sock to prevent nasty scratches in the chrome or in the back when I take the phone out; if they are missing this metal thingy or have it elsewhere out of the path then I'll run the phone naked. As for the previous cellphone question: No, that (and the loud speaker) is the only thing I miss of my SLVR L7, I treated it like cr*p, it had the same non-scratch screen like the iPhone though. I didn't care if it fell, I would constantly put him with keys and coins 😱 in my pocket, heck I once even took a shower while talking to someone on the phone (dont ask why 😱) and it worked perfectly, until I got my iPhone lend it to my cousin and someone stole it from him 😡

-Victor

 

[mr.light]

Where?

😉

I think that most general computers are surprisingly tough. Granted you shouldn't expect your computer to survive repeated abuse, but they won't fall apart from the slightest fall.

Macs are no different than other computers in that sense; they're meant to be handled carefully.

I don't know about that. My iBook has made a heart stopping fall to the concrete floor (average drop height 3 feet) on four separate occasions. One of those times was even my own fault. 😱
It wasn't until the last time that any damage was done. I had to replace the clutch hinge. The computer kept working fine though.

 

[CalBoy]

I don't know about that. My iBook has made a heart stopping fall to the concrete floor (average drop height 3 feet) on four separate occasions. One of those times was even my own fault. 😱
It wasn't until the last time that any damage was done. I had to replace the clutch hinge. The computer kept working fine though.

That's a very positive story for iBook owners, but it still isn't what a notebook is designed to do. Most computers aren't meant to be dropped (even ToughBooks, they simply can handle the shock much, much better).

 

[Mindflux]

In STM bag. Swung impact (~1 foot) onto corner of kerb when getting out of car.

In STM bag. Swung impact (~1 ft) onto corner of concrete anti-vehicle block when getting out of car.

I'll leave you to make up your own mind.

I'd say the Mac faired better. When you hit the bottom one it turned into a Dell. Boo.

 

[skye12]

My Ibook G4 went through a bicycle wreck with no damage. I was
hit by a car at 20mph and slammed into the asphalt.

It was in my backpack and expected it to be in pieces when I took
it out of the case. Somehow it didn't have a scratch. That was 2 years ago.

Yeah, there really tough imo.

 

[Consultant]

Never any dings in powerbook or MBPs I own, and I am not that careful but I do use a laptop bag (but sometimes MBP sits in the car for map / gps - not recommended if you don't know what you are doing).

If you are fairly careful, you can keep it looking in BRAND NEW condition for years.

I've even seen a Powerbook got stepped on (not mine, not recommended, may not be same result for everyone) and it didn't suffer any damage.

 

[notjustjay]

Years ago my dad had an Acer laptop (a Pentium 90 or something of that era) whose rear port cover panel never lasted very long before the hinge broke and it fell off. I say "never" because it was fixed several times, often in combination with some other hardware issues (that is pretty telling in itself). One of my Dell laptops suffered the same fate.

I've had a varied experience with Dell laptops. The Latitude CSx (the thin-and-light of its day) was made with a magnesium body and, being thin-and-light, had everything crammed in tightly so it definitely felt well built. I also had an Inspiron 8000 which definitely felt like cheap plastics and it would creak if you pressed it in certain spots. Then I had a Latitude D800 which felt more solid, but still a bit flexible in spots.

But I tell you, nothing, nothing compared to those first few moments when I unpacked my first Apple laptop, an all-aluminum Apple PowerBook. I took the day off from school that day, and I still clearly remember that afternoon.

 

[DMC-12]

So, I'm sitting in class today next to a guy with the exact same SR MacBook that I am impatiently waiting on to arrive from the refurb store. Then I notice the MB's top case in the top left corner, which is raised and separated badly. Of course this is very disconcerting, as I have spent the past week or so trying to convince myself once and for all that the MacBook hardware flaws were more or less resolved.

So I asked him about it after class, and somehow he completely didn't get that I was pointing out that his case was separating and says, "No, but a friend of mine has a MacBook that's separating... I've only had mine for two weeks."

This is especially frustrating as this case separation defect is one that was downplayed and dismissed perhaps the most by sources such as AppleDefects.com. Why can't I just get an affordable Mac that is built to reasonable quality, as least in terms of having a stable construction?