(C*)apBook Pro!

[FlyingOfficerKite]

SO DISAPPOINTED!!!

Over the course of the past two years my partner and I have purchased two 17" MacBook Pro computers. (Three if you count the one that packed up).

These computers, with software, have set us back over £7k.

The problems started two days after my partner bought her computer from the store who are 'not knowingly undersold'. I put a CD in the drive and was amazed to hear the crunching of gears and the CD drive was no more.

Returned to store and the assistant couldn't believe this top-of-the-range computer had failed. Sent back to manufacturer, but no chance of repair so refund received.

They were out of stock, so off to the local Apple Store to purchase a new one - luckily the upgraded version, so a bonus at the same price.

My birthday present arrived some months later and I was pleased to receive my 17" MacBook Pro. (Thanks darling!). So far no problems with mine!

Last night, with the computer less than two years old, the keyboard and mouse on my partner's computer failed to work properly. Now they work only with extreme pressure on the mouse and somewhat more random use of the keyboard.

This evening, less than an hour ago, 'bang' from computer and the battery has exploded!

Desperate attempts to save all the music she has purchased and saved on iTunes using the mains adaptor! (Window open - as, if it catches fire, it may be leaving!)

Attempts still continuing...

I've used Apple Macs for over 15 years, but nothing so disappointing as the performance of this piece of (sh)kit.

Back to the Apple Store at the weekend... more expensive, waste of time...

FOK :ugh:

PS: We're not amused this evening! - I'm writing this on my MacBook Pro and hoping this one will be fine?!

Undaunted we will no doubt purchase another Apple Mac - maybe a MacBook Air. An feedback on that machine?

Every once in a while you get a lemon. Hopefully this is the first and last time a Mac will fail.

[AppleMacster]

FOK,

Sorry to hear of your woes. Sounds like you might have had a "Friday afternoon" machine the first time around.

With regard to your exploding battery, you might have some comeback if it was one of the units covered by the following programme:

MacBook Pro Battery Update (http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/)

The MacBook Air is "kewl", but lacks the punch (by a long shot) of your 17" MacBook Pro. There is supposed to be an event in the middle of October, possibly releasing new MacBooks. Remember, if you buy from an AppleStore, you have two weeks to take the machine back and get a refund –*handy if the line is updated "just after" you invested in a new machine.

AppleMacster

[FlyingOfficerKite]

AppleMacster

Thanks for that.

Apple Mac computers are, and always will be, the computer of choice for me.

I work with both Windows and Mac formats and have always purchased Apple Macs for my own use.

It is because I have never had ANY problems over the past 15 years that this current situation is so disappointing - particularly as we had invested so heavily in top-of-the-range models.

I read about problems with certain batteries, but not the failures we have suffered during the course of the past few days.

Hopefully the Apple Store will be obliging - they have always been helpful in the past?!

FOK :)

[Senior Pilot]

My 17" MBP has also had a problem, back to the chappie at Hemel Hempsted for repair, £500 of parts, all fixed. Er, no, actually: the new part has also failed, back off for another visit to the doc :hmm:

But it is a good reminder to pay for AppleCare :cool:

Re the MB Air, I use mine all the time these days, it's just the best bit of kit for travelling. But it doesn't have the grunt of the Pro, although at less than half the weight that's to be expected :ok:

[mixture]

Apple Mac computers are, and always will be, the computer of choice for me.



Same here.

Sounds like you, most regrettably, had a bad apple ! :cool:

Generally their QA is top notch.

They are built like tanks too.... not that I'd recommend it, but mine rolled straight off the end of an Xray conveyor belt at a certain major European airport where they didn't (and probably still don't) have barriers at the end of the rollers .....slight dent to the outer casing but still works nicely.

Someone tripped over the power cord on my old PowerBook G4, it met a concrete office floor starting from desk height.... again survived to tell the tale with just a bit of battle scarring (case denting). Again, not really recommended to "try this at home" !


Apple are not the only people to have problems with Batteries.... after all , they don't make them themselves ! Just remember sony etc !

Don't give up on Apple's that easily FlyingOfficerKite , please ! Give em a chance !

[Shunter]

The same can happen with any manufacturer. Just bad luck.

Look on the bright side.... you're the one with the grin at airport security as your nice MacBook goes through xray whilst all the suits are dragging their horrible Dell/HP/Toshiba/Sony bricks out of their bags.

Plus it's worth it for the simple luxury of not having to put up with the big-ridden trash that is Windoze.

Cheers,
Shunter
Ashamed Microsoft Certified Trainer
Macbook Pro for work, MacBook Air for play & flightbag

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Just been to Apple Store.

I booked in with the Genius Bar on line.

Battery replaced free of charge, without question. Thanks.

Computer checked and no obvious faults - so I'm just cleaning said computer and re-loading the system as suggested by the Mac Man.

Hopefully by the time SWMBO returns all will be working!

It is good service and a friendly environment at the Apple Store - everyone seems genuinely interested and the punters all seem knowledgeable and keen on the products.

Smiling again.

FOK :)

[FlyingOfficerKite]

... MacBook working again.

A friend of my partner has just bought her a MacBook Air, so she's happy now with a Mac for all occasions!!!

FOK :)

[Jinkster]

I dont have a reason to choose either Mac or PC. But after having PC laptops for a while and having lots of error problems. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Macbook which I purchased this March....

And so far it has been brilliant, FOK - I hope your all sorted now!

MacBook all the way.......!!!

[timmyneedham]

Me too - got a MacBook in Feb and can't believe I wasted so much time trying to fix Windows computers previously. MB has worked perfectly since arrival. I love it.
TN

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Hi Guys

Yes, MacBooks are in operation and working in their usual inimitable fashion!

It's because you don't expect problems with Macs that it's such a surprise when they occur - hence the Thread!

You're right - when I think of the hours I've spent trying to sort PCs: mouse driver problems, printer problems, bluetooth problems, VIRUSES - it is such a joy to own a Mac.

Thanks for all your comments and support!

FOK :)

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Unfortunately the CD drive is still not working when burning off DVD-R.

It was tested by the Genius Bar and found to work okay with CDs.

However using Toast (8 or 9) it does not work with DVDs.

Any ideas?

Toast appears to be less than perfect, although I've had no problems on my MacBook.

DVDs are okay as they too work on my machine.

Could it be a hardware problem?

We've cleaned the drive using a proprietary cleaner disc.

Any info gratefully received.

FOK :)

[Bushfiva]

It was tested by the Genius Bar and found to work okay with CDs. However using Toast (8 or 9) it does not work with DVDs.

Go back and tell them to do it right this time.

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Yep. We're off back to the 'Genius' Bar within the next day or two.

You're right, of course.

Just wondered if there were any other PPruNers who had experienced similar problems?

FOK :)

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Once again I spoke too soon.

My 17" MacBook has failed just over two years since purchasing it.

The battery failed in July, just under two years since purchase. Replaced FOC by the Apple Store at the Genius Bar.

Now the screen has failed completely - a situation described on the internet as the 'black screen of death'! Apparently either a failure of the NVIDIA card or motherboard. Cost to repair the latter in the order of £1000.00 (including labour).

The 'innards' work and I have transferred my infomation to another Mac via firewire and using my MacBook Pro as an external hard drive.

So the story is:

MacBook Pro 17" bought for my wife. Failed completely and was replaced within a week of purchase.

Replacement MacBook Pro 17" battery failed within two years. Replaced FOC.

Replacement MacBook Pro 17" failed completely and sold for scrap.

My MacBook Pro 17" purchased and battery failed in just under two years.

My Macbook Pro 17" has now had a screen failure in just over two years.

MacBook 13" purchased for our daughter. CD-ROM drive failed in under two years and TWO batteries replaced.

When I was first converted to Apple Macs about 15 years ago I was told the hardware rarely failed, but in those days there were software issues.

Over the past 15 years the Macintosh OS has been developed into, in my opinion, a system far in advance of Windows in most respects.

The Apple Computers have, unfortunately, lost that build quality and are now some of the most unreliable computers around - in my experience. The use of third party components, no doubt in an effort to contain costs, has reduced the product to one inferior to the average PC (in my experience).

They have been outlasted by several years by Acer and Dell computers used in connection with my business.

It is a shame it is not possible to run the Macintosh OS on PCs as the Apple product is only a shadow of its former self.

I miss the OS system, but would happily dispatch the heap of scrap metal through the nearest window!

Looks aren't everything.

FOK :mad:

[mixture]

The Apple Computers have, unfortunately, lost that build quality and are now some of the most unreliable computers around

Sorry to hear about your experiences, but have to disagree with that statement.

It appears to be that either you are very unlucky, are potentially not telling us something about your treatment of the machines, or a mixture of both.

I own a number of macs and have never had any issues as serious as you describe, infact I've never had any issues requiring a service trip. And I push my macs very hard.... both in terms of exposing laptops to occasional accidental droppings and pushing the software/hardware of with strenuous exercises.

I also know a number of people of own macs and are very happy with them.

Fact is, bad things can happen to any manufacturer .... bad capacitors, dodgy drives ......

It's a risk of computing life that you have to put up with, and is the reason why things like backups are pushed as a necessity !

I suggest you perhaps write a letter to Mr Jobs in Cupertino if you feel so strongly. Document your experiences in a measured fashion and avoid outbursts about how you perceive Apple's QA to be :mad: ..... it might pay dividends (or if your streak of bad luck is set to continue, perhaps not !). Worth a go though, I reckon.

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Mixture

Thanks for your response.

I own a number of macs and have never had any issues as serious as you describe, infact I've never had any issues requiring a service trip. And I push my macs very hard.... both in terms of exposing laptops to occasional accidental droppings and pushing the software/hardware of with strenuous exercises.
Our laptops are handled with care, have never been dropped and remain in a domestic environment - although sometimes taken out on business in a 'skin'. No detrimental treatment at all.

With the greatest respect, spending almost £5,000.00 on computers in two years only to see them 'crash and burn' is NOT a risk of computing life I expect to have to put up with.

KR

FOK

PS: My wife also purchased a LaCie drive for backing up data. That failed too and she lost everything. No compensation for all the data, time and effort in that respect either. Reference to the Web reveals that these issues are far from uncommon - in fact they are well known and complaints abound.

[mixture]

With the greatest respect, spending almost £5,000.00 on computers in two years only to see them 'crash and burn' is NOT a risk of computing life I expect to have to put up with.

All I can say is that you must be very unlucky man.

I know of one or two (thankfully rare !) examples of companies that have spent £50,000 on a single new server only to find that the RAID controller went AWOL and trashed all their data, plus data on recent backups.

:mad: happens in IT ......the manufacturers do their hardest to avoid it, but in the end, ever more complex electronics and ever more complex software just makes IT a risky proposition.

Anyhow, as I said, you must be a rare case ..... my personal mac zoo currently amounts to 8 machines .... plus I have regular exposure to them at work and elsewhere ..... I've also owned numerous Apples over the years and know of many other happy Apple users. Never had any major issues or even other issues that get anywhere near yours.

I'm not saying Apple are perfect, no company or individual is. However I think in this instance, your single handed "it happend to me therefore the company is rubbish and all the products they have ever manufacturered are rubbish" dismissal of Apple is somewhat unjustified, if not unscientific.

[MacBoero]

Damn, you've been unlucky! I only recently upgraded to a MacBook Pro 17", which I bought second hand off eBay. No problems with it so far. The PBG4 17 it replaced is still going strong in the not so gentle hands of SWMBO.

Hey! On the bright side, maybe with all this bad luck, you're getting your lifetime's quota out of the way in one go. Time for things to get better!?

[Sprogget]

Buying a Mac is like buying a car with the bonnet welded shut. You would have to wonder why they want you to stay out. Not for me.

[MacBoero]

I have no qualms or problems opening up Macs and fixing them. My PBG4 was a refugee from a friend. It arrived with the screen not working. I fixed it, and it stills works today. I replaced hard drives, DC input modules, optical drives, memory and so on on many Macs. Generally I've found them easier to work on that any PC I've come across. Except for the original iMac, which is a right pig to get open!

[ORAC]

I bought a new MacBook Pro about 2 months ago. Upgraded the OS to Snow Leopard about a week later.

I am now, occasionally, getting the icon of the HDD in the middle of the screen during boot up. Not every time, and it has always booted up properly having held the power switch to reboot.

Any ideas, hardware, software issue? Just wondering if I should carry on and see if it fails. I have a Time Capsule so I shouldn't lose any data.

[MacBoero]

When installing OS upgrades, it is recommended to use the Disk Utilities app to do a "Repair Disk" and "Repair Permissions". For a clean install you only need to do this after the install, but for an upgrade the recommendation is to do it before and then after.

Boot from the installation disk, and use the Disk Utilities from there, as a Disk Repair cannot be run from the main drive.

That might clear up your problem. I have seen this on older machines before. I upgraded a PBG4 to a 300GB IDE drive. This had the Disk Utilities run on it, but it still did it. I put in down to the fact that it had a larger volume to search for bootable systems than before. I haven't heard any cries of help.

Having a TimeCapsule is good, at least your reasonably safe. I have a TimeCapsule too, great aren't they?

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Thanks very much for your comments.

I must say, having been a great ambassador of Apple Macs for the past 15 years it is with dismay that all these problems have come at once to my beloved Mac - especially as this was a present and will probably be beyond economic repair.

On the subject of repair, as it seems one or two of you are in the IT business, have you any suggestions on what could have caused this sudden screen failure - it is likely to be the NVIDIA card or motherboard as the internet Blogs suggest?

During the course of the past few weeks the computer has failed to 'wake up' having been put to sleep necessitating a re-boot. No problem there particularly.

However, the last time it was put to sleep the screen didn't wake up at all. I've tried the brightness keys (obvious!) and re-booting from the installation disks but to no avail.

The computer boots as normal, just the screen is dead. As I mentioned before, the hard drive is okay insofar as it works perfectly as an external hard drive with another Mac. I have copied all my data and transferred it to a PC (!).

The Acer I'm using at the moment is fine, but I miss the Mac.

KR

FOK :)

[MacBoero]

You don't say how old it is, but there are a couple of possibilities. If the backlight has failed, you can usually faintly make out the screen image using a strong light. In which case the wires powering the backlight may have chafed and failed in the hinge. Or the inverter has failed. These items are replaceable, usually, but it can be complex job.

Another cable carries the image data. This also passes through the hinge and may also have chafed and failed. Again usually a replaceable part.

Graphics card failures are not unheard of, there were a spate of laptops (not only Mac I might add) that were fitted with a flawed Nvidia GPU chip, that got so hot they desoldered themselves from the circuit board. This usually requires a logic board replacement. If this is the fault, some people have successfully resurrected machines by masking off everything on the logic board bar the GPU with baking foil, and heating the GPU up with a heat gun to reflow the solder.

The best check here is to attach an external monitor and see if that works. If it does, the GPU overheat problem is not likely to be the cause, and the cable or backlight options might be worth looking into.

[mixture]

it is likely to be the NVIDIA card or motherboard as the internet Blogs suggest?

Apple KB suggests faulty NVIDIA packaging*.

See here:
MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377?viewlocale=en_US)

* = (for the non technically minded, that's chipset packaging rather than the cardboard box it arrived in the factory)

[Keef]

My younger daughter uses a Mac for work (she works mostly from home). She tells me how excellent they are to use, but also how often hers breaks down. They do seem to inspire fervent loyalty despite quality issues. She has two dead "Mac Mini" boxes on the shelf, awaiting her husband's and my attention.

Her backup is my old IBM ThinkPad R31 running XP Pro - probably 7 years old, and still working flawlessly as it has since the day I bought it new. For a while, I wanted it to go on the blink so that I could have a new one. In the end, I bought a T43 anyway and gave her the R31.

Having repaired laptops and desktops for a dozen or more friends (some rather too regularly), I would say Macs seem more reliable than many Windows machines, but still don't compete with ThinkPads - based on a sample of six ThinkPads that I've operated over about the last 20 years.

[mixture]

IBM ThinkPad

Pah, who wants StinkPads with their wandering nipples ? :cool:

[Keef]

Eh? You make my point!

There's no smell from mine, and I use a mouse with it. Compare: six of them over 20 years and never a fault; daughter's two Macs, both defunct at the moment and my old ThinkPad keeping her working.

Form follows function. If it don't work...

[mixture]

Eh? You make my point!

Sorry, I digressed a little.... but I do dislike that feature of the ThinkPads. :ok:

six of them over 20 years and never a fault; daughter's two Macs,

We could do this sort of tit for tat arguing all day....

I dread to think how many macs I've owned over the last 20 years ... only fault has been a dead hard drive on a G3 iBook, which then made a full recovery I'm pleased to report and was only stopped being used about a year and a half a go by it's then owner (not stopped due to failure I might add !)

I should point out that I'm not biased and have owned and currently own a lot of "PC" kit .... some of which, as you say has proven to be reliable .... but I've also seen my fair share of DoA and other issues ! :ok:

[Keef]

Not trying to play tit for tat. The more recent ThinkPads have both the nipple and the little pad to play on. I don't like either, and keep a mouse in the bag with it. A docking station in each house (with a proper keyboard and a full-size mouse) provides plenty of flexibility when at home.

It reminds me of a comment I heard about Jaguar cars, many years ago: "It's a wonderful driving experience, and when they break down - which they frequently do - the Customer Service is excellent. I'd never have a different brand."

[mixture]

I quite like that Jaguar comment, might remember to use it next time I get yet another bad experience at my non-Jaguar dealership !

[RJM]

Or the advice given to the frustrated Ferrari owner, who drove his new car all the way from Britain to Maranello to complain to S. Ferrari in person about the leaks, electrical faults and things that had fallen off the vehicle.

Il Commendatore himself met the owner at the factory, looked at the car and said:

'Sir, for the money, you are fortunate to get the engine!'

[Mike X]

...and this gem I heard many moons ago about Rolls Royce :

A fellow from England was making a journey through Africa (north to south) in his newly purchased RR when it broke down. He contacted the agents and the very next day a couple of techs arrived and repaired it.

Upon his return home he went to the agent and complimented him on his service and the solving of the problem.

The agent replied : "What problem ? "

[FlyingOfficerKite]

Once again, thanks for your comments.

Just to confirm, the MacBook Pro was purchased in August 2007, so is slightly over 2 years old.

It was interesting to read the comments about the possibility of chafed wires.

I had wondered if it was a progessive failure due to dirt or failure of a wire or contact - particularly as the symptom of the Mac not waking up has been present for a few weeks. It may just be coincidence that a component has failed OR it could indeed be the chafed wire. The MacBook has been turned on and off regularly and the screeen opened and shut many times - the computer being used on a daily basis as a 'laptop' rather than a 'desktop'.

I'll try and connect the machine to an external monitor before I go any further, as you suggest, and that should at least isolate one problem (Let's hope the monitor works?!).

Still on the car theme (well nearly) - a training captain whom I met a few years ago complained that he was experiencing vibration on his newly purchased motorbike. He wrote to the supplier and bitterly complained that he expected more from the bike and that this fault was unacceptable - he added that the vibration only occurred above 150mph!

KR

FOK :)