Apple's Poor Quality Control?

[witness]

I've been having problems with Apple's quality control. I bought a 17" PowerBook which had a faulty keyboard, it was replaced with a new PowerBook, but this one has a very noisy hard drive and the DVD drive sounds like the DVD's are scraping the enclosure as they spin, so I guess that I will have to get this one replace too.

The keyboard on the first PowerBook was obviously faulty, you could tell just by the feel of the keys, and any DVD inserted into the drive on the second PowerBook would flag a fault, so it makes me wonder if Apple are even bothering to test their products before they leave the factory.

Am I just having bad luck or does Apple have quality control issues?

 

[ITASOR]

They definitley have an issues with iBook keyboards and trackpads. Half the trackpads buttons feel loose, the other half feel really secure. Some keyboards have really loose keys that make funny noise when you barley touch them and other keyboards feel rock solid.

 

[russed]

they do have some quality control issues but generally seem to be pretty fair when it comes to repairing things etc

 

[witness]

they do have some quality control issues but generally seem to be pretty fair when it comes to repairing things etc

Yes they replaced my first PowerBook with no fuss at all, it's just a pain that I have to take 1.5 hour trip into London to get it replaced, and each time I have to backup/rebuild. AppleCare offered to come and collect it, but then I would have to go without it for a week or so, not a very attractive option.

 

[calyxman]

Apple has some issues with quality with some of their products, not all, but some. The iBooks don't need explanation. As far as Powerbooks are concerned, it wasn't too long ago when people where complaining of chipped paint, warping issues, and broken screen hinges. The iMac G4s had some issues with vibrating optical drives. I'm not to sure of any problems with the Powermacs.

I don't doubt Apple's service, although it's annoying when they question you to see if any problems were cause by the end user (refer to this thread). For the money you pay, you do expect to see better quality control. There was a PC World survey on the quality of notebook makers, Apple was in third. However, I question the survey because eMachines was number one and they've been notorious on broken screen hinges. IBM is no surprise as their former Thinkpad line is well built.

 

[samkurdy]

I agree, I have a iBook and a Mac mini, so far the Mac mini is fine, but by iBook (which is only 8months old has developed 2 cracks in the screen bezel! When I rang apple they said it was plastic damaged and not covered by warrenty. I think its sad that they can make such good computers, and make then look so attractive, but then ruin it with poor QC!