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Have These Problems Been Fixed?

S

sd99

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 8, 2008
4
0
I've been wanting to buy a White Macbook for a long time but keep putting it off because I've read about so many defects. I've noticed now that a lot of the news articles and threads I've read online about these defects are around a year old. I've owned Windows based desktops and laptops since forever and have never used a macbook, only an iMac at college and university. Therefore I have never had any first hand experience of using a Macbook daily over a long period of time.

The problems I've read about include;

Extreme over-heating
The exterior cracking in various areas
The Macbook adapter and Mag-save cord melting/exploding
Screens displaying lines all the way across
Hard disks completely failing and having to be replaced.

All of these problems are worrying, especially the last one, since you lose everything. The others of course are also very off-putting. So, what I want to know is whether these problems and any similar problems have been acknowledged by apple and fixed for the current version of the Macbook or do some of them, or any other extreme problems still exist? I would be using it every day for a max of 7/8 hours, mainly browsing the net whilst playing music on iTunes, maybe streaming a movie from my hard drive like once a month. But I'd also be using word processing software from time to time and regularly using Photoshop, Illustrater and Dreamweaver for University projects.

Like I said I've only ever used an iMac at college and university, never a Macbook and I've only ever heard of Macbook's suffering from these defects.

If it help's the Macbook I'm thinking of getting is the middle one listed at http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjE

The spec I'm thinking of getting is;

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

So as you can see, the only customising I'm doing is increasing the hard drive. But, if I were to get 4GB ram, would it reduce the chances of any of those problems taking place? Sorry if I sound like an idiot but would more RAM mean it's capable of handling more stuff without extremely overheating? e.g. If I were to carry out my tasks using 2GB of RAM would it produce more heat than it would if I were to run the exact same tasks with 4GB of RAM? Also what advantage does the 2.4GHz have over the 2.1GHz? sorry again but I'm clueless as to what GHz do.
 
Yeah, I was researching them and found the same thing. I can say for certain my roommate has a MacBook from 06 that they never even bother to turn off and heavily abuse, and it still runs fine and the battery will even give 3 hours. My brother has bad his for about a year and loves it, and I'm considering getting one in the next few weeks to upgrade from my old PowerBook.

1.) All Mac laptops do get hot, but you can download apps to change fan speeds to keep it cooler, and if worse comes to worse, for $20 you can get a cooling pad to set it on.

2.) It seems to have been resolved in newer models and was cracking between the magnetic latch and the plastic. Even if it does happen, Apple has been known to replace it outside of warranty for free.

3/4.) Both of these happened during 06/07, and were sort of rare, but did happen to the unlucky percent. Recently, most of these have been resolved and fixed, and even if it does happen, Apple won't have much of an issue replacing it, and if you are really worried about defects, I'd recommend getting AppleCare. The peace of mind is worth the price any day and students get $70 or so off of it.

5.) Apple doesn't make their own hard drives, thus it's just as likely to happen to any other laptop as it is your Mac. Yeah, it stinks when it happens, but there is always a chance, so if you are backing up your data and covered under AppleCare, it shouldn't be an issue.
Hard disks completely failing and having to be replaced.

6.) The RAM would help out a bit when using graphic intensive stuff, I'm unsure if it would help keep it cold however

7.) GHz is basically how fast your processor is, and it isn't too much of a difference between the two stated, just that 2.4 slightly faster than the 2.1.
 
I think all problems have been solved. I had an earlier 2.16 and it got a little hot. I have a 2.2 now and it is rather cool. The fan speed goes up and down when it needs to. Get a $99 external drive for backing up.
 
Thanks for the replies,

If I do get one I'll definately be going for the 3 year extended warranty, I called apple and apprantly it's only £40 under my student discount which is awesome. That being said, if for whatever reason I did need to take it to my local Apple store to have any part of it repaired or replaced, it's more about the inconvenience of going a few days (or maybe weeks depending), without a computer.

I think I'll wait for more replies to my concerns before I make the purchase though. I just want to make sure that people aren't having these problems with the current version of the Macbook that I pasted a link to in my first post. Really my main concerns are really the over heating of the Macbook and the melting/exploding defect of the charger adapter and the magsafe cord, which from what I understand were/are quite common, not so rare. The cracking of the exterior is also a big deal for me.

Also about the cooling pad that you said I could set it on, would you be able to send me a link to a site where I could buy one or at least get a look at it, I've never seen one so don't know what they're like or how effective they are.
 
I've got one of the October '06 MacBooks and the only problem i've ever had was the case cracking, which i had to battle my socks off to get fixed for free! That was without AppleCare and i'm just about to purchase an iMac to work alongside my MacBook (still as amazing as the day i got it!) and i'm definitely going to get AppleCare this time... That way any problems and they'll have to fix!

There was a recall for the dodgy batteries and chargers.

If it does need repair, which i doubt it will, it is only a couple of days usually.

With the rumored MacBook revision soon (possible new design) it may be worth holding off for a month or so, if you can. The new model should come in at the same price range so don't worry about it being more expensive.
 
I can understand that the forum is mainly used to complain, as are most online forums since people usually find something to complain about, no matter what the subject.

I'm only posting on here to get some reassurance from existing Macbook users regarding the issues I've raised. Afterall it is the 'buying tips and advice section' so I figured it would be worth a shot. I only know a couple of people that have a Macbook and they haven't had it very long. I figured with this being one of the most popular Mac forums that it's be an appropriate place to get some reassurance from experienced Macbook owners.
 
sd99 said:
I can understand that the forum is mainly used to complain, as are most online forums since people usually find something to complain about, no matter what the subject.

I'm only posting on here to get some reassurance from existing Macbook users regarding the issues I've raised. Afterall it is the 'buying tips and advice section' so I figured it would be worth a shot. I only know a couple of people that have a Macbook and they haven't had it very long. I figured with this being one of the most popular Mac forums that it's be an appropriate place to get some reassurance from experienced Macbook owners.
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yep i appreciate what you are saying but the flip side is that you have already put yourself of buying one by reading these forums, of course their will be lemons as its a mass produced product but as in all things in life you pay your money & take a chance, I know this shouldn't be the case but unfortunately it is, but like i mentioned it's a case of putting things into perspective as there are countless mabook's sold
 
I've not been put off buying one at all, I've simply said that I've 'been putting off' buying one because I wanna know more about it. I'm sure I could go onto a Dell forum or Vaio forum and read complaints about defects also but that doesn't mean I'm going to live without a computer. I just want to be especially sure this time though since it's quite alot of money. Therefore any feedback addressing the issues I've raised would be much appreciated so anybody who has anything to say about them, please do respond cos it'd mean alot and be a massive help. Thanks.
 
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