Still looking to switch, but with some trepidation...

[ctodd111]

I've had numerous students with MBs and MBPs tell me how much they love their machines. As a Windows user for more than 20 years, I would smile and nod. I purchased a Toshiba tablet with Vista preinstalled last March, and soon after decided I wanted a Mac (my last Apple computer was an Apple IIgs). I have been lurking in these forums pretty regularly over the past several weeks, and to be honest I'm a little scared. I will be spending more than $2500 (even with an education discount) and I want to know that I'm not going to get an ulcer. I realize that sometimes machines have problems, and that people are more likely to complain than praise in these forums, but this yellow screen issue among others (such as overheating, bulging batteries, lids that don't close, and keyboard problems) has given me serious pause. I will be waiting until January to see what happens at MW, at which time I will purchase either a new MBP (15" 2.6+ 200Gb+) or a refurbished unit if the (possibly) new MBP offerings don't appeal.

I have several questions I hope some of the more experienced forum members can answer:
1) Is it likely that a refurb will have the yellow screen issue? If so, can it be returned to an Apple store for return or repair?
2) If I order a new machine online, can I take it back to an Apple store for replacement in the event of a problem?
3) At the Apple store, are they going to try to treat me with respect or like a rube?

Thanks in advance.

 

[heatmiser]

I said it in a different thread, but it bears repeating: you are less likely to receive a bad model if you buy refurbished from Apple than if you buy new, simply because a refurbished model has presumably been double-checked (and repaired) for bugs.

 

[anotherarunan]

I said it in a different thread, but it bears repeating: you are less likely to receive a bad model if you buy refurbished from Apple than if you buy new, simply because a refurbished model has presumably been double-checked (and repaired) for bugs.

agreed....and just in case he didnt make it clear..the chances of getting a yellow screen on a refurb are very slim! so RELAX and it depends what store you go to but the quality of service from apple (IMO) is very good.

 

[Techguy172]

Odd's are you won't get a bad machine there's no reason to worry. If the problem was that bad apple would have a recall. So stop Worrying and Buy one.

 

[emptyCup]

Of course, you can take it back. I'm always polite and Apple has always treated me well, even a few times when the problem was my fault. It's not like PCs are 100% problem free. That's why they all come with warranties. Best wishes.

 

[TraustiB]

I've never had a bad experience at an Apple store, not here in Iceland nor in the States. Always had good dealings with Apple and in 99% of the cases the employees were able to help me.

The likelyhood of you getting a "bad Apple" is very slim. Since you only see posts from people with problems, not people with a perfect Apple computer

I've convinced *cough* forced *cough* almost 15 of my friends to buy a Mac laptop, MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Out of those 15 I've had 0 severe problems where I had to return them to Apple for repair. The worst case sofar was frequent Kernel Panics due to a improperly inserted RAM module.

Don't base your decision on solely what you see on these forums

 

[Hmac]

I've bought many Apples over the years. The only problem I've ever had was a premature (IMHO) hard drive death in my daughter's iBook a few years ago...and that was addressed promptly, courteously, and effectively at the Apple Store where she was going to school.

More recently, I've bought a MacBook Pro and a Mac Pro. Both are working just fine. No issues.

 

[sellitman]

I made my switch in Feb of this year and I am very happy with my decision. I bought the faster 17' iMac with the Intel Chip thinking I would partition the hard drive for XP. I even went as far as buying an XP disc. After a few weeks I desided not to partition. I didn't want anything else to do with Windows again and it certainly wasn't going to infect my new imac if I could help it.

 

[TraustiB]

I didn't want anything else to do with Windows again and it certainly wasn't going to infect my new imac if I could help it.

QFT

 

[killerwhack]

Trepidation

If this is a real posting by the OP, I find it fascinating. What is the basis of this fear? Do they think apple is going to disappear after they buy it ? Are they afraid they won't figure out how to work the mac ?

I have walked into the Apple store and witnessed Apple genius folk installing MS office 2004 on customer laptops while the customer watched. I saw a guy walk in with one of those round base pedistal macs and they fixed it for him in the store. In my experience, Apple genius personnel have been universally polite and knowledgable.

Contrast my experience with the treatment you get a the Microsoft store.
Oh... wait... M$ does not have stores... Oh well. I guess Apple is making more effort at providing service. They don't point to the hardware vendor and say they problem is in the hardware and the hardware vendor does not point to the software and say it is a bug in the OS.

So back to my question... I really want to understand the trepidation.

 

[saltyzoo]

So back to my question... I really want to understand the trepidation.

Switching to a new system is stressful. In this case, as in most cases of stress caused by change, it's mostly founded in the unknown. He doesn't know what he doesn't know, so he's stressed.

Not to mention $2500 is a fairly sizable investment.

A certain amount of trepidation is not only warranted, you'd be a little foolish if you didn't have some, IMO.

PS> I just switched 3 months ago and have 0 regrets.

PPS> Don't let the negative posts fool you. They are excellent machines.

 

[killerwhack]

Switching to a new system is stressful. In this case, as in most cases of stress caused by change, it's mostly founded in the unknown. He doesn't know what he doesn't know, so he's stressed.

My question was intended to find/understand the issues. I am not doubting the trepidation or their nervousness. For example, If one has a lot of experience with windows, then I can understand one's reluctance to change. They already invested time and effort into windows and they are up to speed with windows. On the other hand, windows is changing. Vista introduces a fair bit of uncertainty.

I imagine that the fear is different for different people too. Some are worried about compatibility and some may be worried about reliability. Some may be fearful in general.

My question was intened to bubble up a sample of concerns about switching to see if there is a trend or general consensus of a sort.

For example, if you are afraid that Apple will not support you if you get a faulty product then look at the stories. There are a few people who have tales of woe but they tend to be tweakers or hackers who did something on their own and hope to have Apple cover their mistake/poor judgement. Apple understands the value of a satisfied customer and at less than 10% of marketshare, needs to keep everyone they can. Unlike M$ who just says, if you don't like something then jump!

 

[cptpower]

saltyzoo - I think you hit the nail on the head there.

About a month and a half ago, I was in the same boat. I had been lurking on these forums for a while, and read virtually nothing but the complaints of Mac hardware. The "yellowing screen", lids not completely closing, etc.

I was hesitant to invest over $2K of my hard-earned money into a piece of hardware that, in addition to potentially having those above-mentioned problems, I had absolutely zero experience in. I was a complete Mac newb.

The one thing I kept coming back to in my mind though was that Apple is a strong company, and there is no way they got that strong by selling laptops with a 80% failure rate (which is what it seems like sometimes reading these forums).

I bit the bullet and ordered my MBP once Leopard was released. Got it on Hallowe'en, and I can honestly say that I will never go back to PCs. Hardware - perfect; not a single problem. Software - pretty darn good for a .0 release.

So, in the end, to the OP (and all others in their position), keep in mind that if you get a computer from Apple and it isn't perfect, there's always their 14-day moneyback guarantee to fall back on if they won't fix it. But the chances of finding yourself in that position are not the 80% stated above; probably closer to 8%, or even lower (just guessing of course). Keep in mind that horror stories are the exception, not the rule.

 

[GSMiller]

I bought my first Mac last year and couldn't be more satisfied. I don't think anyone has ever been was worried about switching as I was because I had never laid my hands on an Apple computer, so it was a pretty big leap for me. I would say the odds of you getting a refurb with the yellow screen are pretty slim. And yes you can take your Mac that you ordered online to an Apple Store to have it repaired, but I'm not sure of the service you'll receive as I myself have never been to an Store.

 

[sash]

Hi,

I've switched in 1999, and my first (upgrated) G4 still works... Never had any problem with this machine. Same story with my PowerMac G5: hardware-wise it's still absolutely top-notch. I do have some troubles with Leopard's bugs though, but the system is quite fresh and Apple will work it out, no doubt. I've also got the MacBook Pro 17", and -- except for a bad battery -- it's just a marvellous piece of hardware and I haven't regretted any eurocent I've paid for it... By the way, as we all know, this issue with Sony's battery has affected not only Apple, but all the major laptop manufacturers. Apple is not exactly responsible for the issue, as the battery is not Apple's product.

In my opinion, Apple's support is utmost helpful and respectful, although I don't have really extensive experience in that field...

And I'm going to buy the new Mac Pro -- as soon as the new model arrives (in the 2008 I presume).

Good luck,
sash

 

[ctodd111]

Saw your post on here and the Apple forums Steve77uk!


Same problem here - I've been on the phone with apple for 2 hours and so far no has ever heard of a yellowing/discoloration of the screen on the 15.4inch Macbook pro's.

I've messed with the color settings, PRAM, everything.

The dreaded Sansung yellow screens are still out there people!


So disappointed - I finally get my first mac and the screen is crap. You know, if you pay about $3000 for a laptop, it had better damn well have a kick-ass screen.


UPDATE: After talking to 4 different people through Apple Care, i was able to secure a repair, given the choice of either a repair, or a replacement. Considering i don't want to play my chances again at getting a bad screen, i just had them repair it. Box should be here monday and back by Friday of that week. I must say, Apple really does have great service, after you get through talking to people in India.

Experiences like this give me pause. I was following this thread about the 2.6 GHz machines. Everyone was so excited to get them, and then several people got the ones with the yellow screen problem. I could feel their pain!! Before lurking in these forums, all I heard was praise about Apple computers. As I said originally, I know there are bound to be a few bad units, I just want confirmation that the person I quoted above is the exception rather than the rule. I have no personal experience with Apple over the past 20 years.

I am switching from Windows to avoid situations like this. Last March, I bought a tablet PC with Vista. Within an hour I was getting the dreaded BSOD continuously. I really had to plead and beg to get the unit replaced. It was a large investment (although slightly less than MBP) and it was a month of stress. Even though I have built my own computers and networked the computers in my classroom, I still sometimes get treated like an moron when I call for customer support. I just want confirmation that the problems posted about the recent MBP are not typical and that Apple customer service is generally good. There is not substitute for experience, so I post these questions/concerns to the experts...

After reading many of your replies, I feel much more confident about the purchase. Thank you!!

 

[heatmiser]

I totally understand what you mean about the stress. When you drop this kind of dough on a machine -- and *know* you could receive an equivalent machine, spec-wise, for half of the price if you ran Windows -- then there's a lot riding on that slogan, of how it should "just work". It doesn't help to see so many posts, month after month, describing problems no one would expect in an allegedly high quality machine. But yeah, I took the plunge too, and I'll see how it goes when my MB arrives this week. I'm currently typing this from an iBook I bought secondhand a few weeks ago that hasn't given me any problems besides a random shutdown once. Overall, the machines are quality, as with any manufacturer. No one could get away with selling machines with a 50% failure rate in 1 year...at least, not for long.

 

[aquajet]

My MacBook Pro has given me a number of problems since I purchased it a year ago. I've never had so many problems with an Apple product. However, Apple service has been very helpful and supportive and after several repairs, my machine appears to be solid and reliable. My opinion of Apple is still good, despite my experience.

Don't take my word for it, or any other anonymous internet poster. Take a look at any number of satisfaction surveys. They all show Apple among the highest.

Also, proceed with caution if you're looking for expert opinion around here.