What's the most reliable mac you've ever owned?

[clyde2801]

I can't really think of a better forum to put this in, but I was wondering what most people thought the most reliable Apple they've ever owned was.

Not the fastest machine, nor the coolest looking, had the best features, nor the best design.

Which Apple did you get the longest use out of, with the fewest problems?

One of the things that first drew me to Apple was my fiancee's 1st gen color mac (not iMac, mind you, but Mac) that was sitting in a closet for 10 years with an inch of dust on it. With all of the threads on the boards about logic boards and video chips frying, I'm impressed by how it still works to this day.

 

[bartelby]

My 1995 7500/100 still works, but was retired from duty about 2 years ago.
Never had any hardware issues.
My 2001 G4 QS. It's still going and has only suffered one dodgy HD and the PSU failed. Both were cheap to replace.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

G4 Mac mini. It's sitting in its box somewhere right now, but it never gave me any problems I didn't create myself.

My c2d mbp is pretty reliable for a laptop, but not great.

 

[rdowns]

Mac //si. I loved that little sucker.

 

[sammich]

My sister's old 15" PBG4 667 is serving music to our restaurant. Think we bought that thing as an ex-demo, and I don't think it has ever had the slightest problem with it.

12" PBG4 867 is now a netbook, battery still good for 2.5 hours.

Now that I think about it, Apple's gear does stay for the long haul.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Difficult to say.

My Apple ][e still works beautifully, as do my LC 575 and eMate 300.

But all of my Macs have been very reliable. Never have I had a hardware lemon (my MacBook Pro runs hotter than it should, but I haven't "officially" had the 8600M problem).

 

[Benguitar]

So far, my MacBook Pro is proving itself to be a lot more reliable than my previous black MacBook.

 

[PeggyD]

I'd have to say my Apple IIgs bought in 1988. I still have it.

I've only had two Macs in the last 17 years that had ongoing problems. A G4 QuickSilver 667 & an original MacBook Pro (that Apple replaced a couple of months ago).

 

[KingYaba]

Powerbook G3

 

[eji]

iBook G3. Bought it in mid-2001 and I'm still using it almost on a daily basis for light tasks (word processing, that sort of thing).

 

[flopticalcube]

Quadra 605. Lasted 7 years.

 

[Gaelic2]

I used my Apple II for about 10 years. Actually I used it for 5 yrs and my son used it through high school. I have had a whole progression of Mac products and never had to repair or return one......ever. It is easy to forget just how reliable these products are while reading this forum. This is one of the best places for information if you have a problem and people with problems are what we see. We also have some great people who give much of their time to solve these problems and I take my hat off to them. Please keep it up. You are sorely needed.

 

[Hrududu]

My Quadra 800 is easily the most reliable. Its still works and never once broke on me. 2nd most reliable would probably be my 450MHz B&W G3.

 

[speakerwizard]

all of them / which is a lot, never had any problems ever, in 10 odd years

 

[three]

My Intel Mac mini.

 

[Genghis Khan]

all of them / which is a lot, never had any problems ever, in 10 odd years

same. 'cept it's 2 years, and only a handful of computers...

 

[MarkMS]

G4 iBook. That thing went with me everywhere. Bought it late in '03 and it was still running like a champ last year when I gave it to a relative. Other than the HDD going out, it's still running flawlessly.

 

[mdeanoly]

iMac G4. had it since 2001, still works with no problems. Only use it as a kitchen computer for internet, iCal, and word processing, but still, it's lasted longer then any PC would

 

[BlueRevolution]

iBook G3. Bought it in mid-2001 and I'm still using it almost on a daily basis for light tasks (word processing, that sort of thing).

Likewise. Well, it has needed a few repairs/upgrades, but that an 8-year-old computer is still trucking along is pretty crazy to me.

(I have the same iBook model as you, Dual USB.)

 

[Makosuke]

G4 DP533 tower; ran flawlessly until the G5s came out, at which point I sold it to my dad who is still using it daily.

Though really, both my G5 tower and 17" MBP (all three machines 1st gen ordered right after announcement) have also been pretty reliable in the core parts; the G5 lost the Radeon card twice under warranty, but otherwise is perfect, and I got a bad MBP battery and 1st gen magsafe brick, but both were replaced and it's otherwise taken a good beating without complaining.

 

[instaxgirl]

Not quite as impressive but my 2005 iBook G4's still ticking along more than happily. I expect that the HD'll die sometime (I'm clumsy ) but I can't really see any other problems cropping up.

 

[0098386]

I've never had a serious problem with my Macs, they're all still working (even the 2004 PowerBook). Recently I had to replace my iMacs HDD but that was expected after the abuse it got.

 

[toolbox]

My Good old Se30 and the quadra 605. Still working perfectly. - Now all retired

Other than that i would have to say my current MBP and powerbook g4. My macbook, well that has isight failure, bluetooth problems.

 

[Moocher]

My original 128 Mac and my first II+ were the most reliable. The latter lived through lots of cards in and out and software that pushed the computer to the max. It was a great machine at the time. Also, my first Mac never had any problems. Most of my Macs since then have had some type of problem.

Mooch

 

[jtown]

Worst I've used are mirror-door G4s. Aside from sounding like shop vacs, I replaced 3 power supplies in a group with under 10 installed systems. And they weren't cheap to replace. And the replacement power supplies were even louder! I heard they also had to replace a system board on one before I came on board. They paid so much for that, I would have just bought a new computer and stripped the old one for parts.

Much better were the yikes/sawtooth era machines. The only maintenance I've ever had to do on them is add more memory and bigger hard drives. And disconnect the GPU fans when they start to moo. Still have several running 24/7.

I have an old ibook that got a new battery after 5 years and a new hard drive after 5.5 years. Aside from a few vacations, it's been running 24/7 on my desk since I bought it. Still running 24/7 as an ftp server.

Haven't had any trouble with G5 or Intel systems but the G5s are just starting to get old enough to start qualifying as "durable" and the Intels are still brand new.