Joy to sadness - MacBook

[mrshyt]

So, I finally went for the plunge. After yaers and years of hearing how much easier life was with a Mac, I went and bought one. Shiny new white MacBook, the middle one. So, i open it up, steady my index finger and sink the power button into the case. Screen lights up, nice little 'bring' startup sound, and then, nothing. Nada, rien, nic, niente, nichts... doesn't load anything, screen just stays white. what a let down. After all these adverts, 'Macs just work' and I have never even experienced this with a Windows PC!

Ok, so I know there are many many happy Mac users out there, but the sorrow I feel, especially as I have just converted from PC to Mac.

So, I booted up with the installation DVD, and tried reinstalling OS X. It went through the 'Checking Installation DVD' bit for ages, then said due to an error, this can not be performed! Wow, looks like my new MacBook is not as problem free as I had earlier imagined.

So, as I can't reintsall the OS X this way, does anyone else have any ideas? I can take it back to the shop, but I would like to give it a try myself first, so that I can learn to troubleshoot Macs a bit already, in case something happens in the future.

Help much appreciated people, thanks!

 

[Much Ado]

If it was Dead On Arrival, then send it back and get a new one, free.

Make your Mac experience perfect from the start, no Linux-esque fiddling

EDIT: I feel the pain, by the way. Macs are usually great from start to finish, and I hope you get this sorted so you can enjoy OS X. Sorry i can't offer technical assistance, i'd send it back.

 

[hidehide]

Lol, you are unlucky.

My experience from start till now is perfect.
Its so easy to setup the macbook in the beginning.
Just return and get another one, you will feel what I said.

 

[D1G1T4L]

It would be best to return it. Doesn't matter what brand Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc electronics fail.

Return it for one that works.

 

[iW00t]

That is the way Macs are, they just work, because if they don't... guess what? They give you no tools no diagnostics no error messages no nothing to resolve it!

It is almost as if in their quest to UI perfection they kind of assumed that everything works all the time!

 

[bartelby]

That is the way Macs are, they just work, because if they don't... guess what? They give you no tools no diagnostics no error messages no nothing to resolve it!

Except for the hardware test stuff of course.

 

[iW00t]

Except for the hardware test stuff of course.

The hardware test is not very good.

At least the last time I tried to figure out which memory stick I had was faulty it offered no help at all and passed both sticks as perfectly good.

 

[mojohanna]

I understand that it is disappointing to find that something you have purchased, spent lots of money on, and are anticipating receiving, but what I don't understand is why people think things like this are a pandemic within Apple.
Everyone needs to relax, these things happen from time to time, in fact based on what I have been told from people within the electronics manufacturing industry, the "defect" rate is nearly 3%. This is considered an industry standard. These would be major defects that make it off the line, but fail shortly thereafter.
Who knows what happens to these things once they are turned over to FedEx, UPS or DHL. Anything that might have been borderline as is came off the line could certainly be shaken loose durning the abuse during shipping.

This is why there is a 90 day warranty and the availability of Apple Care. Chill, take it/send it back, get it replaced and move on with your life. You will get much more enjoyment out of it. (both life and the computer)

Before anyone flames out on me, I am speaking from experience. Two weeks after the computer in my sig was purchased, the logic board needed to be replaced. No big deal. It has worked PERFECTLY ever since......

 

[26139]

Yeah, but...

That is the way Macs are, they just work, because if they don't... guess what? They give you no tools no diagnostics no error messages no nothing to resolve it!

It is almost as if in their quest to UI perfection they kind of assumed that everything works all the time!

They do that so they don't get frantic calls from people who tried to "fix" something and only spent hours making it worse. Much easier to just exchange it for a new one...

 

[yetanotherdave]

That is the way Macs are, they just work, because if they don't... guess what? They give you no tools no diagnostics no error messages no nothing to resolve it!

It is almost as if in their quest to UI perfection they kind of assumed that everything works all the time!

Aside from all the UNIX tools, and stuff in /applications/utilities?

 

[mrshyt]

ok, I did not buy direct from Apple. Should I contact the store I got it from or contact Apple?

 

[kolax]

ok, I did not buy direct from Apple. Should I contact the store I got it from or contact Apple?

Contact the store - it'll be a lot quicker than dealing with Apple directly.

Just take it back to the store you got it from, and say it hasn't worked at all, won't turn on etc. You are entitled to a replacement if it is within a certain period (usually 2 weeks for most places).