My brother owns a white MacBook, Core 2 Duo (2 GHz, 1 GB RAM, and a 160GB HDD). I used to own it before we traded machines, and at the point in which we traded machines it was actually pretty decent.
It's been a troublesome machine right from the box. The first second it was turned on, I knew there was a problem with the fan. It buzzed. It was an almost this grindy-buzzish noise that irritated me, no matter what I was doing. I took it in with a list of problems that also affected this machine. This was at a time in which there was no Apple Retail Store in my city (Calgary), so i took it to an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
I gave them this list of problems
- Whining from the machine while charger was connected
- Said fan problem
- Extreme heat from the charger
- Very very hot computing in general (temperature on the machine reached 195F)
Unfortunately, they completely dismissed my concerns as normal and charged my 60 bucks. bastards!
I put up with it for about another month and then took it to a different Mac retailer, who actually got me some results. They felt the heat, and definitely acknowledged the fan noise issues. They replaced the fan. While this definitely reduced the temperatures (It would only get to about 180F under stress) but it still operated hotter than I would like.
For a while, the machine operates just fine, and then the warranty expires. My brother still owns the machine, and things are going OK. Until, about the beginning of January this year. My brother starts noticing problems in various areas of the charging systems. Occasionally, the charger will just not charge. You could leave it plugged in the whole night, your battery could be at like 5 percent, and when you unplug it in the morning, you'd find both the transformer and the connector extremely hot, and you'd also find that the battery has not charged up at all. This is especially frustrating when your battery is so low that your machine can not start up.
When it did work, again, everything got extremely hot. Hot enough to the point it could leave a red mark on your skin.
We took the Macbook to the now existent Apple Store and had them have a look at it. They simply told us to buy a new charger. Unfortunately, this did not work, as the new charger gets just as hot, and because of these hot chargers, the connection is becoming unreliable because the connector on the machine is getting somewhat charred.
What can we do? My brother is at his wits end with dealing with Apple as he absolutely hates the Apple Store. He likes his computer, he likes OS X, but he is appalled with the build quality of Apple notebooks. As am I. As the former owner of this machine, I am amazed at how badly built it is. Apple build quality is extremely inconsistent. The PowerBook I am using now - 4 and a half years old. Not a single problem. My old white iMac. A total of 12 support tickets and 9 repairs were launched on the unit. My new alu iMac. Not a single problem in 4 and a half months with it.
I know to replace the charging port Apple's going to want a LOT of money for it as it definitely takes some time and they always charge a lot for parts and labour. He is not partial to Operating Systems at all and could easily switch back to a PC if something isnt done.
We're simply not sure what to do. We don't want to pay a lot of money to get it fixed, we don't want to deal with the Apple Store again, but would be dealing with all the hassle and expense of the Apple Store be worth it? My brother says he won't invest any more money in it.
I tell you the entire history of this machine because I want you guys to know what a history it's had. Apple products have always been craptacular for my brother, so I could completely understand him not wanting to use them anymore. if it's going to cost a lot of money to fix the machine, even if it doesn't cost that much, my brother does NOT want to be putting much money in to Apple at all any more. I think he's more a PC person anyways.
Should he just get rid of it?
It's been a troublesome machine right from the box. The first second it was turned on, I knew there was a problem with the fan. It buzzed. It was an almost this grindy-buzzish noise that irritated me, no matter what I was doing. I took it in with a list of problems that also affected this machine. This was at a time in which there was no Apple Retail Store in my city (Calgary), so i took it to an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
I gave them this list of problems
- Whining from the machine while charger was connected
- Said fan problem
- Extreme heat from the charger
- Very very hot computing in general (temperature on the machine reached 195F)
Unfortunately, they completely dismissed my concerns as normal and charged my 60 bucks. bastards!
I put up with it for about another month and then took it to a different Mac retailer, who actually got me some results. They felt the heat, and definitely acknowledged the fan noise issues. They replaced the fan. While this definitely reduced the temperatures (It would only get to about 180F under stress) but it still operated hotter than I would like.
For a while, the machine operates just fine, and then the warranty expires. My brother still owns the machine, and things are going OK. Until, about the beginning of January this year. My brother starts noticing problems in various areas of the charging systems. Occasionally, the charger will just not charge. You could leave it plugged in the whole night, your battery could be at like 5 percent, and when you unplug it in the morning, you'd find both the transformer and the connector extremely hot, and you'd also find that the battery has not charged up at all. This is especially frustrating when your battery is so low that your machine can not start up.
When it did work, again, everything got extremely hot. Hot enough to the point it could leave a red mark on your skin.
We took the Macbook to the now existent Apple Store and had them have a look at it. They simply told us to buy a new charger. Unfortunately, this did not work, as the new charger gets just as hot, and because of these hot chargers, the connection is becoming unreliable because the connector on the machine is getting somewhat charred.
What can we do? My brother is at his wits end with dealing with Apple as he absolutely hates the Apple Store. He likes his computer, he likes OS X, but he is appalled with the build quality of Apple notebooks. As am I. As the former owner of this machine, I am amazed at how badly built it is. Apple build quality is extremely inconsistent. The PowerBook I am using now - 4 and a half years old. Not a single problem. My old white iMac. A total of 12 support tickets and 9 repairs were launched on the unit. My new alu iMac. Not a single problem in 4 and a half months with it.
I know to replace the charging port Apple's going to want a LOT of money for it as it definitely takes some time and they always charge a lot for parts and labour. He is not partial to Operating Systems at all and could easily switch back to a PC if something isnt done.
We're simply not sure what to do. We don't want to pay a lot of money to get it fixed, we don't want to deal with the Apple Store again, but would be dealing with all the hassle and expense of the Apple Store be worth it? My brother says he won't invest any more money in it.
I tell you the entire history of this machine because I want you guys to know what a history it's had. Apple products have always been craptacular for my brother, so I could completely understand him not wanting to use them anymore. if it's going to cost a lot of money to fix the machine, even if it doesn't cost that much, my brother does NOT want to be putting much money in to Apple at all any more. I think he's more a PC person anyways.
Should he just get rid of it?