My Apple Computer Hardware has a 100% Failure Rate...

[hob]

My remaining immediate family have made the switch with me over the past year. I switched a few years ago with my first iBook G3 900MHz. So the following list applies to myself and my younger brother. Over the last couple of years we have bought the following Apple computers:

1. iBook G3 900MHz
2. PowerBook G4 1GHz
3. Power Mac G5 Dual-2GHz
4. iBook G4 1.2GHz

All of these machines have broken down. The first machine had the G3 logic-board problem. It became so bad I (and my mum...) complained to Apple for so long that they sent me machine number 2, without asking for number 1 back. Since I gave machine 1 to my younger brother, the logic board was replaced once more (after being replaced 3 times under my control) and never needed replacing again.

Inexplicably the PowerBook started showing some weird problems, and I took it to the Square Group in London, tottenham court road I think. They were a little... well, under-par with the customer service, but that's another story. They didn't really explain what had gone wrong, just presented me with a bill for nothing (still under warranty) and sent me on my way. I think the RAM and the HDD were both replaced. And no, I don't have an EM generator in my bedroom, although there is something humming in the basement...

I bought the Power Mac in Spring this year, just after the refresh. I left it on for a month. Then I went away for a weekend, and turned it off for the first time ever. I came home on the sunday evening and turned it on - it made a horrible HORRIBLE whirring sound. Took it to the Apple Store in Bluewater, and they had to replace the entire case.

Then, about 2 hours ago my brother called me and told me his iBook won't turn on. I checked it out, and nothing works. He says he didn't drop it or anything (infact, he put his hand through the screen of iBook 1, so he's been extra-careful with the one he's had to buy himself!), he was loading SimCity 4, missed the icon and accidently clicked on GarageBand, left it loading and clicked on SimCity again, and the screen went blank. Infact it seems the whole system just switched itself off! We took out the RAM he installed when he got it about a month ago, but still nothing worked, so we're taking it to bluewater tomorrow!

Annnyway, so basically what I'm saying is - what's the deal? Am I just extremely unlucky or what? I know two other people with PowerBooks and one of them had to get fixed, I don't remember what for...

 

[hayduke]

Sorry...

I have had ~20 macs of all types over many years and I have only had one that needed repair. This was a problem that resulted from early TiBook keyboards leaving marks on the screen and a bunch of dead pixels. Aside from that nothing to complain about. Sorry, but I think you've just had a wrotten string of bad luck.

 

[WeeShoo]

Looks like maybe your just unlucky.

 

[jdechko]

Bummer for you. I can understand the feelings you have, dropping so much money on something and having the hardware fail on you. I know it seems like a hassle, but it seems like the Apple store has been pretty helpful through all of your various ordeals. I hope that when I get a PowerBook, nothing is wrong with it.

 

[gco212]

I too have never had an Apple machine that doesn't need repairing, but I only have bought an iPod. I had to send that in about a month ago for a harddrive failure. It wasn't too big of a deal as I got it back within a week, except when I got the bill. Despite having bought AppleCare, Apple decided to charge me $30 shipping and handling to have it repaired. I called them up, and after about 2 hours of passing me around, they said that I was right because they had the date that I bought the AppleCare being before the date I sent in my iPod. But then the lady said that only customer relations can refund me my money, and told me she'd make a not of it in my repair file, and asked me to call up when Customer Relations is in (weekdays only), so I had to call up today. On the initial menu, they didn't have a listing for Customer Relations, so I chose check status of a repair. After I sat on hold for about a half hour, the lady picked up and said that I didn't have to go through Customer Relations to get a refund, and said she'd put in the claim. I didn't know whether to be absolutely furious because two of the Apple Reps told me i needed Customer Relations, and I had wasted about an hour of my time today when they could have refunded me my money last week, or to be very happy that I got my money back at all. I decided that I would just take that that is what happens when you call customer support and to not be too frustrated with the whole situation.

 

[iEdd]

Unlucky??

 

[Henri Gaudier]

Me Too!

I've found Hob's experience to be the norm as I've had-

G3 600 iMac - 3 repairs
G3 800 iBook - 4 repairs
G4 800 iBook - 1 repair
G4 1.33 iBook - 1 repair
G4 Dual 867 Powermac - 2 repairs
G5 1.8 iMac - 1 repair

All of these are machines, bar the last which is less than 2 months old, haven't been kept longer than a year as I have no faith in their longevity. And with every repair Apples attitude has been crap.

When I was a kid - made in PRC always meant poor quality and it still does.

 

[Music_Producer]

Well, you just got stuck with the wrong hardware, at the wrong time! With my work in the music field, I've owned probably about 10-12 macs ..and the studios I have worked in (long time work) and their owners..none of us have ever had a problem with our macs. The only problem I've had with an apple product is the ipod.. and yep, I think I have bad luck with that one. It keeps crashing everytime, and apple keeps replacing it (4th time now) I must say their customer service is excellent and I have had no complaints.

I do hope your luck changes..I',m typing this on my powerbook which is 3 years old, has been to India, France, Europe and now in the US.. I keep it running 24/7 (dont even let it go to sleep!) and it works great.

 

[caveman_uk]

Thus far.

800MHz G3 ibook - one logic board failure - repaired under warranty.
Dual 1GHz G4 Powermac - no repairs

Bought this weekend...

1.5GHz 15" Powerbook - died within 2 hours with totally dead memory slots. Refunded by John Lewis.
1.67GHz 15" Powerbook - Power adapter 'pops' and dies second time it's plugged in. New one on way from AppleCare.

The last two machines have both been bought from John Lewis because the free warranty is longer and my impression of other people's dealings with them is they are much more likely to replace dead computers than Apple (who like to repair them ad infinitum). I've got the power adapter direct from Applecare as it was just easier to get one that way rather than take the whole machine to JL.

While on the subject of AppleCare - note to Apple. I don't like talking on the phone to someone with a barely understandable accent with a two second time delay who knows more about nuclear physics than she does a powerbook (i.e f**k all). People pay a lot of money for their machines and Applecare if they extend it. They deserve better than some untrained idiot in an Indian call center who won't leave the predetermined script.

Let's see if I get the 'Dead Memory Slot's issue that being reported in my new powerbook...at least I got a two year warranty and if it is a big problem Apple should be doing free replacements (a la iBook) by the time that runs out...

 

[hob]

While on the subject of AppleCare - note to Apple. I don't like talking on the phone to someone with a barely understandable accent with a two second time delay who knows more about nuclear physics than she does a powerbook (i.e f**k all). People pay a lot of money for their machines and Applecare if they extend it. They deserve better than some untrained idiot in an Indian call center who won't leave the predetermined script.

Amen to that. It used to be the irish, I quite like the irish - so I enjoy talking to one on the phone. Now it's people muuuuuuch further away, and so I've given up ever calling up Apple UK Support. I wish Apple UK Support did what it said on the tin... Anyway, luckily for me I live in between the Regent Street store and the Bluewater store... I'd say it's a shame for MOST of the rest of the UK population who probably don't live near an Apple store.

I'd say, judging by everyones comments, that Apple hardware has been excellent in the past, but in the last few years it's just gone downhill. I know of people on the board still running the original Macintosh, or funkier ones like the 20th Anniversary mac... I wonder how many of my current machines will be running in 2 years time, let alone 10...

 

[caveman_uk]

Amen to that. It used to be the irish, I quite like the irish - so I enjoy talking to one on the phone.

Absolutely, they were much nicer to deal with and when you finished a call you left feeling fairly confident that everything was sorted and what they said would happen would happen. That is definitely something I cannot say about my calls to Apple's Indian call centers. Sadly however, well trained, friendly and competent staff are a lot more expensive....

Anyway, luckily for me I live in between the Regent Street store and the Bluewater store... I'd say it's a shame for MOST of the rest of the UK population who probably don't live near an Apple store.

So you just drag it along to the genius bar? Do they have spares there or is it always a ship off to the repairers deal?

BTW, who here has got John Lewis to repair/replace their machine. A guy here had his powerbook replaced by John Lewis at around six months old (replaced not repaired). Any other experiences?

 

[beige matchbox]

6200 - An apple shop in Oxford many moons ago
5400 - Computer Warehouse
B&W G3 (350Mhz, with the dvd drive) - Computer Warehouse
iMac G4 (800Mhz) - A local reseller, can't remember the name
iBook (300Mhz Rev.A) - Computer Warehouse
Powerbook G4 1.67Ghz - The online apple store

And apart from a dent in the bottom of the powerbook, and the ibook cracking up, their all still going strong. Never had to return any apple hardware, or get it repaired.

Having said that, i've noticed many more people with problems in recent years.Could it be that because the internet is more popular theres more people voicing their problems? Or is Apple really getting a little lax in their testing before calling a product ready?

 

[emotion]

i've had two apple machines

powermac 8200 - no probs
powerbook 12" rev c - small issues with trackpad jumping but nothing else

on the other hand the guy who sits next to me at work had one powerbook (12" rev c) fail and when ups/apple lost it (!) the replacement 15" rev c motherboard failed. when the local apple dealer fixed this (the one closest to Uni of Manchester) they returned it fixed only for the machine to fail again with the mem slot prob got it fixed again but was returned with damage around the screen.

he has just got a completely new machine and after 2 weeks it's still going.

apple need to up their game a little really.

 

[Applespider]

BTW, who here has got John Lewis to repair/replace their machine. A guy here had his powerbook replaced by John Lewis at around six months old (replaced not repaired). Any other experiences?

I had mine replaced at 6 weeks since it kept kernal panicking when it woke up and they decided it was easier to replace than send off to repair and give me a temporary one.

 

[iDM]

Will the new processor help with the quality control on a new logic board?

 

[caveman_uk]

Will the new processor help with the quality control on a new logic board?

A new logic board may be better but it's not the processor that causes the problem. People here are complaining about issues in a number of different machines with different logic boards in them. It's usually the design faults/build quality problems that cause the problem. Notably notebooks tend to be the most problematic machines.

 

[hob]

So you just drag it along to the genius bar? Do they have spares there or is it always a ship off to the repairers deal?

Well, yes I just take it up there. Today we dropped of the iBook, he tried doing everything we'd already done - eliminating a coupla stupid things we might have missed - then said he'd "send it upstairs" - should be done by the end of the week. This is my experience with bluewater, when they did my G5 (that was fun to lug round a shopping mall)... Regent Street took my powerbook in and kept it for 3 weeks - but it was the week they opened... dunno what they did with it!

 

[Chrispy]

1.5GHz 15" Powerbook - died within 2 hours with totally dead memory slots. Refunded by John Lewis.
1.67GHz 15" Powerbook - Power adapter 'pops' and dies second time it's plugged in. New one on way from AppleCare.

I feel your pain! I have had four 15" powerbooks over the last year and only one of them worked. First one had a bad screen and now I had a BTO machine with a dead pixel in the middle of the screen and then the replacement had a broken key on the keyboard, a scratch on the screen casing and the left side of the screen was going out . I have also used some 12" powerbooks and almost all of them have been just fine. I don't know what Apple's problem is with the 15" powerbook but it seems I'm not alone on this one. Oh how I wanted my 15" powerbook with 128VRAM....

 

[quagmire]

Powermac 6100: No probs for 6 years then mother nature killed it.
Powermac G4 400 Mhz: 5 years still running strong with zero problems
12" Powerbook G4 1 Ghz: No problems so far.
20" iMac G5 2 Ghz: No problems so far.
4G iPod monochrome 20GB: one problem, sent it in, 3 days later got replacement under warranty
1G iPod Shuffle: No problems so far
4G iPod color screen 20 GB: No problems so far.

Sorry about your problems. Hope you get a Mac that has zero problems within a year.

 

[EGT]

This sucks big time

The more expensive stuff I've bought from apple have been faulty in some way or another apart my 3rd gen iPod, wireless keyboard and mouse.

4th gen iPod - audio issue, faulty screen.

iPod Photo - audio issue, click wheel doesn't click but it still works.

Powerbook - The hinge on the screen cracks everytime I move it. Cracks are much softer and quieter when its cold, i.e. shut down for a while.
Random kernel panics caused by bad RAM.

These are all fairly minor and curable, but you expect better when you pay for it.

Hope you get sorted out soon.

 

[csubear]

ibook g3 900mhz: 1 logic board
powerbook g4 1.33 12": 1 hard drive
imac g4 1.25: fan need cleaned after 1 year
powermac g5 dual 2.0: no problems so far

 

[Chrispy]

Machines owned

iBook G3 900 - Sold after 8 months no problems while I owned it
Powerbook G4 1.33 12" - Dead pixel in middle of screen
Powerbook G4 1.33 12" - Sold due to work changeover to IBM
Powerbook G4 1.33 BTO 12" - Dead pixel
Powerbook G4 1.5 15" - Bad screen
Powerbook G4 1.5 12" - Sold to purchase powermac G5
Powermac G5 Dual 2.0 - Bad power supply
Powermac G5 Dual 2.0 - Bad power supply (yes replacement had same issue)
Powerbook G4 1.5 15" - Sold for more powerful machine for work
Powermac G5 Single 1.8 - Bad logic board
Powermac G5 Single 1.6 refurb - Bad logic board or RAM
Powerbook G4 1.67 15" BTO - Dead pixel in middle of screen
Powerbook G4 1.67 15" - Bad keyboard, Scratched case and bad screen
iBook G4 1.42 14" - Using now but with dead pixel near top of screen by clock

9 out of 14 machines bad = 64% failure rate

 

[unfaded]

PowerMac 7500/100 - No problems, upgraded CPU
PowerMac G3 233 - No problems, overclocked to 300
iBook 500 mhz - LCD died after four years of heavy abuse
iMac G4 - No problems
Powermac G4 867 mhz - No problems
iBook 600 mhz - No problems
Pismo 400 mhz - No problems
Newest 12" powerbook - No problems

One Dell laptop used for work by stepmom - hard drive failure within three days.

 

[taeclee99]

powerbook g4 - lcd replaced once. lcd needs replacing again, battery charging mechanism had to be repaired as well

powermac g5 1.8 dual - motherboard replaced three times

ipod photo - replaced due to stuck scroll wheal

ipod shuffle - fault headphone jack

as you can see 100 percent failure.

 

[Chrispy]

This thread will either do one of two things to potential switchers. It will either scare them away OR make them realize just how sweet OS X must really be if we are all putting up with such crap hardware hahaha!