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Why is my Macbook such a FAILURE?!

B

becky280

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 22, 2008
30
0
So, I had one Macbook and had to return it after 4 days because its harddrive was shot. I thought that was as unlucky as I could get so I was excited and willing to be 'wowed' by the new Macbook I got, which I thought would be a fab experience because everyone says these things are so wonderful.

Everything about this laptop is great except its ability to connect to the internet. Just as with my other Macbook I had to return, I MUST find the PERFECT spot in my house and not move an INCH in order for my internet to connect and stay connected. If I switch positions, boom, it disappears. This is waaay different from my old Toshiba and my iPod Touch, who happily connect no matter where I am in my house. Why is this? It's getting really damn annoying. And I try to use Apple's network diagnostics thing, but it has never, ever worked. It always tells me it can't continue after I enter the password for my network. So often I just sit there until the computer figures itself out, which today was about half an hour.

Any help out there?!?!
 
Hmm, sorry about the harddrive failure, can't really blame that on Apple though-- failure in harddrives can happen to any company on any product.

As for the internet reception, do you have a G or N router? If you have a B/G router make sure it is broadcasting in Mixed mode, or set it to G Only if all of your wireless equipment is G equipped.

Other than that, I would be hard pressed to think of any other reason your Macbook would have such bad reception. Mine performs just like any other.
 
This does bring up a larger question though. In these forums I see everyday someone had a problem with their laptop. Often people claim to have gone though multiple repairs and talk about how much they love apple care.

My question is: I've had many different laptops from many different companies and never had anything go wrong. It seems as if apple laptops are more prone to hardware problems?

Correct me If I'm wrong.

How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
 
Germwise said:
This does bring up a larger question though. In these forums I see everyday someone had a problem with their laptop. Often people claim to have gone though multiple repairs and talk about how much they love apple care.

My question is: I've had many different laptops from many different companies and never had anything go wrong. It seems as if apple laptops are more prone to hardware problems?

Correct me If I'm wrong.

How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
Click to expand...

Part of this is due to the fact this is a troubleshooting based forum. Nobody's going to make threads titled "My laptop worked flawlessly today!!" Reading around any support forum will give you that impression.

That being said, my G4 iBook ran wonderfully for 5 years, with a new hard-drive needed at the 4 year mark, and my Unibody MB is going great so far (bought 10/08)
 
My mum has a similar problem, with her connection cutting out on her macbook pro all the time when all our other computers and handheld devices work fine. I think that it is some type of hardware problem, don't know what though, maybe the airport card?
 
entergreenland said:
My mum has a similar problem, with her connection cutting out on her macbook pro all the time when all our other computers and handheld devices work fine. I think that it is some type of hardware problem, don't know what though, maybe the airport card?
Click to expand...

It's the downside of aluminum enclosures. They shorten the wireless range somewhat.
 
My recent laptops have experienced more serious failures than either my desktop computers or my earlier laptops.

My Powerbook 100 ran for years and years before the disk finally failed, and I have two PB 1400's that are still healthy. But my iBook G3 suffered two logic board failures within three years; on the second it was out of warranty and deemed not worth fixing. I replaced it with an iBook G4 which was fine for three years and then started kernel panicking. That turned out to be a well-known failure of the Airport card; it is now running OK but I have to use an Asus USB wifi stick.

My two Macbooks (black and unibody) are running fine, but both are less than a year old. So keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Germwise said:
How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
Click to expand...

I had my PowerBook since 2003, and only had to replace the optical drive after 3 years, and the hard drive last year. My laptop runs 16 hours a day, every day.

I have a close friend who still runs his PowerBook G3 Pismo (released in 2000), as his only computer, and only upgraded the hard drive.
 
Thanks for all the interesting posts, guys.. is it really true that aluminum bodies cut off the wireless range?
So is this a simple problem to fix, do you think? Keep in mind that I am technologically handicapped and will need very simple instructions if you're planning on guiding me to solving it somehow. Haha.
 
becky280 said:
Thanks for all the interesting posts, guys.. is it really true that aluminum bodies cut off the wireless range?
So is this a simple problem to fix, do you think? Keep in mind that I am technologically handicapped and will need very simple instructions if you're planning on guiding me to solving it somehow. Haha.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you can do if your other devices catch the network no problem. My plastic MacBook has far greater wi-fi range than my iPod touch 1G, so I can't imagine having it lower than on a Touch.

Perhaps you could ask Apple if there's something wrong with it?
 
My WiFi is great!

I've owned my unibody MacBook for just 2 weeks and I get great reception throughout my house (2 story / 2,000sq ft.) I have a d-link N router and the wifi connection is so much faster than my 3yr old Toshiba laptop. I do not experience any wifi disconnects as where my toshiba disconnects frequently (once p/day, sometimes more).

I also have a slingbox on my home network and my MacBook streams the video a lot cleaner and rarely slows down, even when streaming HD. While the toshiba lags and often disconnects and video cuts out. Then I have to close out of slingbox and try to connect again by reopening the program. If that doesn't work and repairing wifi connection usually doesn't work, then I have to restart the laptop. Big pain in the butt.

Even though it's only been 2 weeks, I can honestly say that I am 100% satisfied so far with the performance of my MacBook.
 
pg g4 vs. macbook

I have had a Powerbook G4 since early 2002. I used it heavily for the past seven years, without any repairs needed. (Over the years, I upgraded the RAM and hard drive for performance and usability improvements). In my current apartment, it's wireless reception was poor, connecting to my landlords nearby router. I purchased a Unibody MacBook a month ago, and it has much better range and a stronger wireless signal from the same spots, as compared to the powerbook. (Note the powerbook had a "b" card vs. the "n" card in MacBook).

Besides these two, I have owned 3 other desktop Macs, and all have been reliable for me. I feel for those who have had major issues with their Macs.
 
joysmahal said:
I've owned my unibody MacBook for just 2 weeks and I get great reception throughout my house (2 story / 2,000sq ft.) I have a d-link N router and the wifi connection is so much faster than my 3yr old Toshiba laptop. I do not experience any wifi disconnects as where my toshiba disconnects frequently (once p/day, sometimes more).

I also have a slingbox on my home network and my MacBook streams the video a lot cleaner and rarely slows down, even when streaming HD. While the toshiba lags and often disconnects and video cuts out. Then I have to close out of slingbox and try to connect again by reopening the program. If that doesn't work and repairing wifi connection usually doesn't work, then I have to restart the laptop. Big pain in the butt.

Even though it's only been 2 weeks, I can honestly say that I am 100% satisfied so far with the performance of my MacBook.
Click to expand...

The N-Draft wireless is the reason for that. I've never had a range issue on N based networks... G/B however are a different story.
 
Germwise said:
This does bring up a larger question though. In these forums I see everyday someone had a problem with their laptop. Often people claim to have gone though multiple repairs and talk about how much they love apple care.

My question is: I've had many different laptops from many different companies and never had anything go wrong. It seems as if apple laptops are more prone to hardware problems?

Correct me If I'm wrong.

How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
Click to expand...

They're computers like any other. I've been using them since the 68030 days and I've had 2 hardware problems. One logic board replacement on a MacBook and a bad stick of RAM in my LCII.
 
floydosborne19 said:
For those of you who don't frequent of Jeff's radio show, here's a segment he did about his recent Macbook's Hard Drive failure.

Apparently, the issue isn't all that uncommon!

Main Download:
http://www.besttechie.net/live/radio/macbookhddfail.mp3

Alternate (slower):
http://www.myfreegig.com/uploads/TPGwUFfxH7jYQ.mp3
Click to expand...

A hard drive is a hard drive. The same companies make them and the hardware vendor that's using them is not to blame. I had to replace MANY PC laptop drives for family and friends. Notebook hard drives suck in general.
 
Germwise said:
This does bring up a larger question though. In these forums I see everyday someone had a problem with their laptop. Often people claim to have gone though multiple repairs and talk about how much they love apple care.

My question is: I've had many different laptops from many different companies and never had anything go wrong. It seems as if apple laptops are more prone to hardware problems?

Correct me If I'm wrong.

How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
Click to expand...

In my job I have seen the purchase and use of many different notebook vendors and models over the past 15 years. Dell, HP, Compaq, IBM, Lenovo... All of these vendors have pretty much similar failure rates. Some models were/are worse than others. The older IBMs were probably the least defect prone in my experience.

Internal notebook parts with the highest failure rates (in my experience) are hard drives, LCD screens and fans. These failures should go against the part manufacturer and not the notebook vendor (assuming there is not a design issue with the notebook like excessive heat).

Personally, I've owned a PowerBook and my current MacBook and neither have had any issues. I suspect the frequency of Apple notebook defects is similar to that of other notebook manufacturers. All the notebook parts are pretty much the same across all the notebook vendors and I believe most notebooks are manufactured in China these days. The differentiator between notebooks is the Operating System. :)

So if you come across an Apple notebook with issues, just chalk it up to chance and return for another unit.
 
Germwise said:
This does bring up a larger question though. In these forums I see everyday someone had a problem with their laptop. Often people claim to have gone though multiple repairs and talk about how much they love apple care.

My question is: I've had many different laptops from many different companies and never had anything go wrong. It seems as if apple laptops are more prone to hardware problems?
Click to expand...

For me and my friends besides the cracking Macbooks no one's had a problem with their macs while people have pc problems all the time - most common being one day mysteriously doesn't turn on, battery/power adaptor stops working

sporadicMotion said:
It's the downside of aluminum enclosures. They shorten the wireless range somewhat.
Click to expand...

They shouldn't shorten the wireless range to the point where you can't move and can only sit in one spot.

eXan said:
Not sure what you can do if your other devices catch the network no problem. My plastic MacBook has far greater wi-fi range than my iPod touch 1G, so I can't imagine having it lower than on a Touch.

Perhaps you could ask Apple if there's something wrong with it?
Click to expand...

+1 If what people have suggested for the router don't work I'd take it to Apple. It sounds a bit extreme if you can't get online in most of your house
 
Germwise said:
How many of you have had your mac for multiple years and never had any problem?
Click to expand...

If anybody hasn't figured out from my posts:

I have been a big complainer for a long time; I'd get repairs and replacements over small stuff like crooked lids, funny sounds, and the like.

From having wasted all my time doing those things, I having come to the conclusions that computers and electronics are inherently not perfect; there may be small imperfections and that just makes it real. The best thing to do is to go get my ass out there to make more money, so I can buy replacements faster then to spend the same time complaining my ass off about nothing.
 
becky280 said:
So, I had one Macbook and had to return it after 4 days because its harddrive was shot. I thought that was as unlucky as I could get so I was excited and willing to be 'wowed' by the new Macbook I got, which I thought would be a fab experience because everyone says these things are so wonderful.

Everything about this laptop is great except its ability to connect to the internet. Just as with my other Macbook I had to return, I MUST find the PERFECT spot in my house and not move an INCH in order for my internet to connect and stay connected. If I switch positions, boom, it disappears. This is waaay different from my old Toshiba and my iPod Touch, who happily connect no matter where I am in my house. Why is this? It's getting really damn annoying. And I try to use Apple's network diagnostics thing, but it has never, ever worked. It always tells me it can't continue after I enter the password for my network. So often I just sit there until the computer figures itself out, which today was about half an hour.

Any help out there?!?!
Click to expand...


They don't build computers like they used to. No one does. My 2001 HP Desktop is probably the most stable and well built machine I have ever bought. That being said, if you're buying a laptop these days, don't expect more than 1 to 2 years of relatively faithful service.
 
Apple

:apple: Go to the Apple Store and make a appointment at the genius bar. It could just be a quick software failure. My Mac connects to the internet before it is even finished loading the dock It also could be a compatibility issue with your wireless internet or just a little error just call a apple expert
1-800-MY-APPLE. They can help you with just about anything. :apple:
 
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