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Macbook buyer's nightmare with a (so far) happy ending

T

TheBrazilianGuy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 26, 2006
149
0
Here is what happened :

A colleague from work and I bought two Macbooks, both being plain 1.83GHz C2D Combo Drive. We just needed something portable as our lab already has all CPU power we need.

My Macbook did not show a single problem (noise, heat, screen flickering, etc.) that plagued other users. The other Macbook, though, had an issue after
my colleague decided to test his OSX media disks. He did a full reinstall with the option "Archive and Install" and right off the first disk he got a message "Media disk is defective. Please replace it and restart your computer". After rebooting, there were no OSX (of course) and he was stuck with a dead Mac. He went back to the Store and they replaced for another one, which I though was a nice way to solve this problem (they argued that it is easier
to replace the whole unit than trying to figure it out what is going on).

He then decided to test the media again because he is still under the 14-day grace period and it is better be sure everything is fine during this time (the Genius warned him that there were no way to check the media without doing a plain installation) Guess what...the second disk (which contains many Apps) got stuck when installing Garage Band. He tried to reinstall again without Garage Band but it did not went much far. Another trip to Apple Store and he went for another Macbook but now he got a 2GHz C2D model (which has a Superdrive).

Ok, now he is wary of trying the media again. I think this Store has been quite reasonable so far but everything has a limit, right ? He did not do anything wrong and he also has all rights to receive a 100% working package.

Should he try again ? Cast your vote, please.

Be the way, how many of you tried to reinstall OSX ?
 
Do it with the genius. Could be user error. Don't do it again by yourselves and expect anything if something goes wrong. If you came back to me a third time I would give you a refund and ask you politly to take your money elsewere.
 
Something isn't right here. I am going to say your colleague is doing something wrong.

On ALL my Macs, including Intel and a Macbook C2D in fact, I have reinstalled OS X. I did not do an archive if it was brand new. Which could be part of the problem, I don't know.

I find it hard to believe you have tried two different Macs and it still won't reinstall.

I pose this question. Did you get a brand new Macbook with new accessories, namely the install DVDs? If you didn't and just got the Macbook itself, it would clear that the DVDs are to blame for whatever reason.

Boot from the CD by holding C on startup. Wipe the drive with Disk utility from the setup and install. See what happens.

I do want to ask though, what is the point of this?
 
I don't get why he's even doing this. Just leave it alone, or buy ProCare and do it with a Genius. For $99 ProCare is a steal, whether you're a n00b or an old pro wanting to learn new things and get express treatment.
 
Thank you for all replies.

I was actually surprised when he told me the very first time.
According to his story, he followed step-by-step Apple's User Guide.
He did not try to install new OSs, mess with partitions, EFI, third
party software, anything. It was an strict on-the-book Archive and Install
procedure without changing default options.

IMHO, the chances are indeed slim to see this happen twice but that
was his story. The idea of taking his DVDs to the Genius Bar is pretty good.
I will tell him tomorrow.

Among his reasonings, there is a good argument : he will be
traveling to South America later this year with this laptop.
There is no Store down there and if something bad happen there
it is cumbersome to ship to US, to say the least. Having a good set
of DVDs might help him in this situation.
 
iW00t said:
Is ProCare available outside the US?
Click to expand...

Yes. According to Apple Store:

"Works Worldwide
Each ProCare card works the same in every one of our retail Apple Store locations. So if you find yourself with a software hiccup in London, or just want to take an iMovie class in Tokyo, come by the nearest retail Apple Store and we’ll help you out."
 
andysc said:
Yes. According to Apple Store:

"Works Worldwide
Each ProCare card works the same in every one of our retail Apple Store locations. So if you find yourself with a software hiccup in London, or just want to take an iMovie class in Tokyo, come by the nearest retail Apple Store and we’ll help you out."
Click to expand...

Ouch, trouble is in South Australia Apple does not have a real corporate presence :(
 
Why not just bring the DVD along with the Mac Book to the nearest Apple store, and install it at the bench bar while the genius is there. That way, they can know right away if it the DVD at fault or the Mac Book itself.
 
Haha, I had no idea that this was dealing with something outside of Apple Store country, because you visited the genius about it... but yeah, I guess that renders half of my advice useless. I wish you (and your friend) the best!
 
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