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Do you regret getting your PB?

generik

generik

macrumors 601
Original poster
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
Just a feeler for fellow sentiments, especially in view that smoking faster iBooks are coming in weeks (supposedly), and of course the various teething issues (stuttering sound, flickering screen) and last but not least the lines.

Anyone else having post purchase regrets?
 
At first when i bought my powerbook just in auguest, that did cross my mind a couple times. That was when i was still new to OS X coming from windows. Whole compatability was getting to me. Now i couldnt be happier. With macintels coming out i wont want to touch a windows machine.:D
 
Mine's a few days over a year old, but I can honestly say it's one of the very best purchases I've ever made. I've never gotten as much consistent use out of something I've owned. I'm literally on the thing 6-12 hours per day and it goes almost everywhere with me. The next laptop I buy will most certainly be another PowerBook (likely a Rev. B Intel PB).
 
My Titanium...

was an amazing machine (of course it was a final rev) but my new one, as much as i love the powerbook, has really let me down, but unfortunately, i can't do without right now. I'm really dissapointed in apple currently.

This lines issue is one thing, yes it's annoying, but I thought "hey, i can live with it for now". THEN, I start having issues when i run over one gigabyte of RAM. seems apple can't fix it in any of the machines it's happening in, and from what i gather, thats alot of the new 15s.

Don't get me started on my 30" cinema.

Apple has a VERY loyal user base. we have been there through thick and thin, sour and sweet, but only now am i as a devout user beginning to think they are not being as loyal to us, the people who made them and kept them going as they should be.

don't get me wrong. I love apple, and i want them to expand and do well, but not at the loss of one of the major things that i have always boasted about. their quality.

The last 4 major products I have purchased from apple have had defects that apple refuses to acknowledge in a proper and timely way. (these all being computer related purchases, since strangely, all my iPod purchases have been fine). prior to that I have NEVER returned, nor had service performed on ANY prior piece of hardware from apple.

This is disconcerting to say the least. I'm battling to stay in there, but it is tough when you, as a user, feel left out in the cold when it comes to buying an apple product and truly being enthused and satisfied with that purchase.

Yes, I will continue to use my mac, but everytime it slows to a crawl because of a blatant problem, or i glance at the stuck pixels in the middle of my 30" workspace, or I see the lines in my powerbook display, it makes me flinch just a little, and i feel a bit more humbled than i used to as i arrogantly bragged to windows and dell users about the quality and support i had received from apple. Sure, perfect LCDs would drive the cost of the diplays SKY HIGH... Dell can afford to do it steve, are you saying apple isn't as good or devoted to it's customers as dell? Oh and samsung can do it, oh and doesn't samsungs factories MAKE many of the panels that are used in our Macs and Cinema displays?

If being a larger percentage of the market means suffering the same quality and customer service problems the rest of them are now, then I say I prefer to remain in the niche.

Sorry for the rant, just a little irritated right now.

technocoy
 
i bought mine 15" 1.5GHz in July and i was unsure if i should wait until the intels seeing that i didnt absolutly need a computer this year. i got greedy though and went ahead and got it. i have to say that its the best thing i have ever bought. i take it with me to school, and being a biomedical science major i practically live in the science hall. I am able to bring my lab reports with me and do them while im at school...i really believe it has helped me gradewise. while i will want an intel powerbook when they come out i will wait until i get to grad school because that will be a good time to get one for me. but i have not regretted buying mine, the only thing i regret is maybe not getting the 1.67 model with 128mb video ram....thats not a big deal though...for what i do i prob. wouldnt notice a difference
 
technocoy said:
was an amazing machine (of course it was a final rev) but my new one, as much as i love the powerbook, has really let me down, but unfortunately, i can't do without right now. I'm really dissapointed in apple currently.

This lines issue is one thing, yes it's annoying, but I thought "hey, i can live with it for now". THEN, I start having issues when i run over one gigabyte of RAM. seems apple can't fix it in any of the machines it's happening in, and from what i gather, thats alot of the new 15s.

Don't get me started on my 30" cinema.

Apple has a VERY loyal user base. we have been there through thick and thin, sour and sweet, but only now am i as a devout user beginning to think they are not being as loyal to us, the people who made them and kept them going as they should be.

don't get me wrong. I love apple, and i want them to expand and do well, but not at the loss of one of the major things that i have always boasted about. their quality.

The last 4 major products I have purchased from apple have had defects that apple refuses to acknowledge in a proper and timely way. (these all being computer related purchases, since strangely, all my iPod purchases have been fine). prior to that I have NEVER returned, nor had service performed on ANY prior piece of hardware from apple.

This is disconcerting to say the least. I'm battling to stay in there, but it is tough when you, as a user, feel left out in the cold when it comes to buying an apple product and truly being enthused and satisfied with that purchase.

Yes, I will continue to use my mac, but everytime it slows to a crawl because of a blatant problem, or i glance at the stuck pixels in the middle of my 30" workspace, or I see the lines in my powerbook display, it makes me flinch just a little, and i feel a bit more humbled than i used to as i arrogantly bragged to windows and dell users about the quality and support i had received from apple. Sure, perfect LCDs would drive the cost of the diplays SKY HIGH... Dell can afford to do it steve, are you saying apple isn't as good or devoted to it's customers as dell? Oh and samsung can do it, oh and doesn't samsungs factories MAKE many of the panels that are used in our Macs and Cinema displays?

If being a larger percentage of the market means suffering the same quality and customer service problems the rest of them are now, then I say I prefer to remain in the niche.

Sorry for the rant, just a little irritated right now.

technocoy
Click to expand...

I havn't had any problems with my Powerbook (Rev D.)
Respect to technocoy for the post above... well said for sure..
 
I have never regretted getting my 12" Powerbook earlier this year, it has been one of the most productive computers I have owned.

As for a Mactel laptop next year, I would be very surprised if Apple were to release a Mactel iBook before a Powerbook. Unless of course the Mactel version of this iBook is very low specification otherwise the gap between the two would be too small. If they do release a Mactel iBook before the Powerbook then I would be cautious to buy it as it will most likely be upgraded again by the end of the year in any case.
 
When i bought my powerbook about 2 years ago their was rumor about intel. I love my powerbook. I love the size/weight the speed. THe only thing i wish it had was a larger HD, other then that i'm in love. I will have to see about getting a new intel powerbook in a few years. I might need to get a powermac for my future hopeful job.
 
Love my 15" PB I got last year. Can't live without it. Very, very mobile!

technocoy[B/], sorry to hear about your PB and 30" monitor. My 23" monitor has one stuck pixel on the upper left corner. Sometimes, it's annoying, but nice to have it connect to my PB.

So, I do not regret getting a PB!
 
PB15 HD: No regrets (but ofcourse, I wish it was flawless)

Yes it's got lines. No it probably wasn't worth the 8 month wait for this new rev, but: Hell! - even after participating extensively in the infamous "horizontal Lines" thread, I still love this machine to bits - it is a huge upgrade for me from my iMacG4, and from a G3 Powerbook that I was borrowing.

I'm on it all day making figures, listening to tunes, surfing, archiving photos, MAMEing, and writing. Even with the display problems, which I do still think are unacceptable for where the machine is targeted (wasn't it released during a PHOTO Expo for example?), it is still, by far, my most enjoyable Mac experience to date. Even surpassing my first immersion into the MacOS on a lowly blueberry iMac...
 
I believe your main interest is to know the opinions of owners of the latest PB.
This is my 3rd PB. I started 4years ago with a Ti, than passed to a 1.5Ghz 15" aluminum 14 months ago, and now the DL with the famous screen :rolleyes:
I never had to call Applecare with any of them. They always worked flawlessly. My old Ti had some Kernel freezes but it was due to a mouse that went bad
I was happy with my former aluminum but I got some unexpected $$$ and decided to get the new one. I sold my older alum. in $1500 and bought this one for $2100 (with some extra RAM)
I paid roughly:
$100 for the new screen (I like it)
$100 for the 1 year Apple warranty
$100 for the 128MB vram
$100 for the faster and DL superdrive
$ 50 for the scrolling track pad
$ 50 for the longer battery life
$100 for the bling-bling factor:D ( alway nice to open a new box...)
And, I think it has a couple more minor improvements.
So I'm a happy camper. I'm fortunate that the lines don't make me suffer!

I also think that all the folks that are pi$$ed off about the screen, and are calling, and returning, and re-returning and so on; are doing a very big and good serviceal to the rest of us Mac users! Letting Apple know that it isn't easy to screw around with the hard core mac'ers. If apple comes with a fix for the screen issue I will of course take advantage of it, but I will also post in this and other forums my thank you for you guys that are all over Apple about this.
I don't do it because I don't see it as such a bad thing ... so you know... If I'm not convinced myself, it's really hard to convince others (apple) to recognize a problem that I don't really see...
As the quality of all the Mac screens... hummm... I was at a a sony style shop and those sony vaio screens are awesome. I think they are better than all the mac displays (if I'm wrong please someone let me know it.

Excuse the long post.

Have all a happy thxgiving!
 
I've had my 1.33 GHz 15.2 inch refurb since right before about the time the 1.5 GHz machines arrived and I can't say that I've had any regrets. Of course, I'd like to have the latest displays but oh well. There will always be something better. That's how companies get new and repeat customers.

Had I been asked this question about my Wallstreet, the answer would have been a definite yes. That was a POS.
 
I just bought mine last weekend despite all the concerns about newer macs on the horizon and this supposed 'line issue'. I've been doing some heavy photoshop work without problems, surfing the Internet, chatting, everything - it's great (and no eye strain headaches or other problems).

I've never been happier (both with a computer and in general because of it). The last time I was this happy/excited with a computer was when I received my first PC at Christmas when I was younger. Now I understand why people love their Macs so much. It's something you have to experience for yourself.

I don't care if a dozen new ones come out tomorrow, I love mine and am completely happy with my purchase.

No regrets on the investment (and it's been awhile since I can say that about any computer-related item).
 
Slightly.

In the year and a half I've had it I've been through 1 power brick, the second is acting up now too (they're pretty much junk imo), the Hard Drive failed last month (still haven't replaced it yet, running off an external) and the battery is pretty much shot (but I suppose that's a problem with all batteries that get a lot of use).

Otherwise I'd say I like it too much, more than I should, when I should be doing something else. I think I would have been better off with a PowerMac because I've never used a computer this much when I've only had a desktop.
 
I bought my 12" PB 1GHz over 2 years ago now and it's one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I needed it when I did and the updates happened JUST in time (rev B) with a significant update. I had to get it 1 month before the iBook went to G4 (@800MHz) and so I'm glad I went with PB. Besides, I needed a Superdrive. If I'd have gone with the iBook G3 900MHz at the time, I would have been screwed these days but, as I have it, I spent £100 more (education discount see) and now have a Core Image-compatible graphics card and many more features. In this time I have had no problems whatsoever with it and have successfully made the transition from Jaguar to Tiger (got Panther for cheap via up-to-date), which has only made it faster.

No regrets whatsoever.
 
I do slightly regret getting a powerbook, the small niggling problems i have are my own fault for not getting AppleCare.

I've got the following problems with my powerbook:

* Unbalanced backlighting
* Slight kinks in the edges of the casing
* Anodizing wearing off on wrist rests
* the classic Rev B extremely poor battery preformance (dropped 15% in the last month)

While theres nothing majorly wrong i feel stupid for not getting AppleCare to resolve the backlighting problem.
 
I bought a 500Mhz Titanium PowerBook G4 as soon as they were released back in 2001 and I have never had ANY problems with it. None. Apart from a hard disk upgrade (10GB soon ran out) and 512MB extra memory it hasn't changed in 4 years - and I STILL use it.
Apart from application loading time, Flash .swf compilation and (of course) video exporting, there is actually very little I can't do on it that I can on my dual 2.7Ghz G5 (if anything, actually).
It's still quick as hell (thanks to the brilliant OS), looks the part and beats any PC I've ever used with it's lid shut.

No quibbles or regrets AT ALL. I hope my G5 stands the test of time as well.
 
I am aware that technically you are asking about "newer" powerbooks, but I had the last revision of the Titanium book, and kept it about a year and a half. It was a great machine, but it did have it's flaws; for example, I suffered from the dreaded hinge issue (It snapped and therefore was entirely useless and apple wanted lots of dollars for a repair) the hard drive died on me (I know, not Apple's fault perhaps) the paint wore off, the battery got jammed in and couldn't be removed/etc and just little things were popping up all over the place such as dead pixels, the lid not staying down etc...

So; I think I had a bad machine, but what I would seriously advise people out there to do is get AppleCare. I know, its money for nothing, but you know, if your Powerbook does need a repair it's going to cost you the earth. If I'd have paid my £250 for AppleCare, I could have had all those things fixed...as it was, my powerbook went on eBay under the heading "SPARES OR REPAIR"
 
My 667 TiBook Rocks the Hizzy!! Just upgraded the HD to 100gig, RAM is now 768. I used Applecare once for a stuck CD-ROM, not to mention phone calls as this was my first Mac.

Question, regarding the 20,23,30 inch Displays:

I have heard Apple's criteria for replacement is something like 5 dead/stuck pixels in one square inch....Has anyone asked or tried to take the display out in the store before purchasing to check it....That way you would not get home to find only 1-4 bad pixels??
 
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