Not happy with my macbook pro at all - need advise

[jkelling]

My macbook sucks. The performance is really lousy. iPhoto, itunes, and other apps constantly just basically lock up my computer for several seconds at a time with no response, not even the beach ball - the trackpad won't even respond to movement at all. Forget aperture, it's so slow on this machine, it feels like using windows on a 128mb celeron. Other times I get the beach ball for white seems like an unreasonalbe amount of time (roughly 10-15 seconds). And before you ask, it does have 1.5GB of ram.

Machine just automatically shuts down often as well. No warnings. No reboots. Just shuts down with a black screen and no power. Yes, you can turn it back on by hitting the power button, but you just lost all your work.

And to top it off, if you do anything on it at all that requires any real cpu power, the darn thing gets so hot you can't touch it (especially on the bottom).

I've already sent it in for repair once, and it looks like it has to go back again. I'm actually getting tired of this machine just because it is so flaky. Macs are supposed to be fun, but this one is not.

I have two G4 mac minis, never had problems like this, but I really hate that I paid all this money for the new powerful intel mac, and its not fun, not fast, and not usable.

Am I the only one here that has had problems like this? I bought one of the first ones off of the production line and got it March 6, 2006. Maybe an earlier batch was bad.

I'm just so frustrated I want to throw this thing out of the window.

Alright, enough ranting. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would appreciate them. I'm a long time lurker of this site and its forums, and appreciate any help anyone can offer.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Josias]

Your fan is busted big time.

Get it replaced. When the fan is busted, the MBP will not work fast, since that would completely fry it.

 

[tvguru]

I'm sorry to hear that about you MBP. Sounds like you just got a lemon, it happens. You never want it to be you, but sometimes it's just your turn. Mine works like a charm, so there are good ones out there. Hope they get it fixed up for you.

 

[Pressure]

I think you should have a chat with Customer Relations.

I had my unit in twice and they managed to ruin more in the process than actually repairing. Got my week 17 MacBook Pro 2.0Ghz replaced with an all new week 34 MacBook Pro 2.16Ghz. It's a big difference!

I pressed on that I wasn't content having to be without my notebook for another month for something they most likely would not get fixed.

 

[jkelling]

Took my Macbook Pro to the apple store today. First thing they found was a battery that had a problems holding a charge. The battery was fine from 100% down to 90% but once it got lower than that, the battery just died out, and the machine just shut down - now warning, no battery low warning message, just poof, and it shuts off and you loose all work.

So they put in a new battery and are doing more testing. They still have no explanation of why it slows down as it gets hotter. Or why the cursor just locks up for several seconds in a row.

Josias - i think you are right, it probably is a fan. Because even with heavy use, the fan has never came on.

Strange thing is that less than 3 months ago, they replaced both my motherboard, and some part they called a heat riser. Either it didn't fix the problem or something else has broken after that.

I want to close with one final note. Let me know if you think I am out of line here. I'm beginning to think I have a lemon, just a bad computer. Just at tvguru said. Here is what bothers me the most. I did not buy AppleCare for this computer because at the time, I had spent so much on the computer I didn't want to pay the extra for applecare's extended 3 year warranty. I know I have until Mar 3, 2007 to get the warranty when my 1 year warranty runs out. But frankly I think it sucks now that I have to buy applecare as lemon insurance. I didn't mind buying applecare for a GOOD computer to insure that it ran fine for 3 years. But I really resent being charged an extra $349 dollars, as an early adopter, to insure that my lemon lasts longer than 1 year. I really want them to either replace the computer and give me one with a new 1 year warranty, or at least extend the current warranty I have from 1 year as of when I get it back from the shop this time.

I just really HATE having to spend $349 to insure their *rappy defective product

 

[generik]

I just really HATE having to spend $349 to insure their *rappy defective product

Well you should have seen it coming, this is exactly what happens when you have no choice in the marketplace. Not happy? What are you gonna do? Switch back to PCs?

Hahaha, not like any Mac users have the cojones to do that, just keep sucking it up baby

 

[motoracer1486]

Josias - i think you are right, it probably is a fan. Because even with heavy use, the fan has never came on.

Wow...your compters fan never comes on and you wonder why your laptop is hot and slow...?

 

[jkelling]

Fan did come on before I did the first repair but only when playing videos or doing something really cpu heavy.

After the first repair, I haven't done as much with videos lately, and not sure whether the fan is working or not. Saturday nite I was importing close to 2000 pictures into aperture, and the fan never came on. I would assume that it would in that case, but heck, my mac has always been so hot, you couldn't even put it in your lap without putting a pillow between you and the mac.

The "genius" bar says that these Macbooks just do get hot and would never listen to me. This just adds to my frustrations. I told them that the first time, and it still came back and ran hotter than normal in my estimation....

 

[SIXY]

I got my mac book pro in August with 2.4 DualCore. It is my first Apple product and I switched because the macs were promoted and loved by my work colleagues. (Science Community) and because my Boss paid for the rather expensive equipment. Unfortunately beside the very appealing design I had not much fun with it. From day one it was slow and extremly hot. Customer service told me I am not supposed to have the book on my legs... Nice advice. However 1 month ago I had to send the Mac to get some things repaired. My battery failed and a heat exchange unit was replaced. I saw no difference when I got it back, its still super hot and I have to see that color wheel all the time, reminds me on the terrible windows sand clock...I am reading a lot in forums but could not find a solution. Luckily the resale value for MBPs is pretty high so I guess I will sell it and will switch back to windows. I have found that both systems make me angry like hell but I get more PC for the same money... But if anyone has another idea what to do pls let me know. By the way my fan is working, its very loud and noticeable but in the apple shop they told me that it is normal. I am happy for any help.

 

[landis]

first off, good job at resurecting a dead thread!

secondly, i also have a 2.4 august mbp and it runs like a champ. i opened every program on my computer at one point, including aperture, two photoshops, two words, and many other intensive programs, and i could hardly notice any slow down. this is with at least 30 programs running. so i guess i go lucky and have had no problems, although my imac g5 1 gen had a few problems. it is sometimes unfortunate that two users can have two completely different experiences!

 

[147798]

[deleted out of embarrassment]

 

[xraydoc]

...my mac has always been so hot, you couldn't even put it in your lap without putting a pillow between you and the mac.

I know this is a very old thread, but NEVER use a pillow or something soft like that. That'll fry your machine in no time. Use a lap desk instead - something with a flat, hard surface so heat can escape. A pillow will trap the heat and block the vents.