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Goodbye Macs. Sigh.......

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Old 12th Nov 2007, 22:31
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Binos, sorry to learn of your problems. I followed with interest your posts on changing to a Mac. Our experience has been the opposite. After 8 years with one of the first Power Macs, a 6100/66, we made the disastrous mistake of changing to a Windoze laptop. I posted the item below last year to warn others of our experience. The only update is that we have now returned to the first world and have a working printer, a new Canon iP3300. Our next purchase as soon as funds accumulate will be a new Mac. In the meantime we will have to struggle on with the limited performance of our Toshiba, which as far below what we paid for and were supposed to have received. We have been defrauded by unscrupulous companies. This is not defamation; it is the unpleasant truth! Others should boycott these scoundrels.

After three years of struggling with a Toshiba Satellite 5200 PS520C-31POEP laptop and HP Deskjet 450 printer Mrs C and I have had enough of Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Future Shop (Circuit City), Microsoft, Windows Xtreme Pain, and everything connected with them. We have been having continual problems with these products ever since they were purchased from Future Shop in Canada.
As one example, our laptop has a DVD burner but we have never been able to record on a DVD. We are unable to refer to the instructions. The specification and instructions both on the computer and in the printed manual make no reference at all to DVD recording or even to a DVD burner being on the computer. They refer only to CDs and CD functions. Toshiba ignored our requests for a manual for the DVD version of the computer. When the Better Business Bureau became involved Toshiba finally sent another manual for the CD only version.
The HP Deskjet 450 has not worked properly since we received it. After we initially got it working while still in Canada with the help of HP technicians it still often took fifty or more attempts over several days to get it to print a one page Word document. It would not print photos. Early last year it ceased to function. The initial HP CD-ROM froze the new computer when inserted. Two replacement HP CD-ROMs with supposedly updated software improved the situation somewhat but still did not solve the problems.
We are sure most readers will agree that when we opened the boxes we should have received a computer and printer with properly developed software that is stable and will work reliably. Full and correct instructions for these products should have been in the boxes. We have repeatedly asked Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard to supply these but have been ignored.
Despite help from two Better Business Bureaux in Canada and the US and Ontario’s Ministry of Consumer & Business Services we have still not received the correct manual and operating software from Toshiba for this computer and correct software from Hewlett-Packard for the printer to make them work reliably and with all features functioning properly. We are particularly upset because at the time of purchase we made it clear to Future Shop that we would be moving to a fly-in safari lodge in a remote location in Africa and therefore needed reliable equipment. This computer and printer were recommended as being suitable but they have proved to be anything but reliable. The brand new computer even came with outdated Windows XP operating system software! These products are clearly not suitable for the purpose for which they were sold.
This Toshiba computer and HP printer are so bad that we have considered buying a used PowerBook or iBook and Canon printer by mail from somewhere like CPUsed in Toronto just so that we can have a reasonably reliable computer and printer. However, why should we have to do this? We paid a substantial sum for these products. It is up to Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard to support their products and solve the problems. Indeed, the problems should have been solved before the products were put on the market. Why don’t these companies have competent product development procedures and effective quality control systems in place? The same comments apply to the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. This has had a continuous stream of updates in a ludicrous number of attempts to get it to perform as intended. It is impertinent of Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft to prematurely release products and use the public as unpaid and involuntary product testers! It is even worse that they then refuse to correct the defects.
Honest and competent companies stand by their products. They want to solve any problems and have their products perform as intended for their customers. The obvious conclusion one has to arrive at from our treatment is that the companies mentioned above do not fall into the category of honest and competent companies! As per the McLibel case in the UK and EU courts we do not have the resources to force these dishonest companies to perform. In any case it would be impossible to take any action from this distance. I have no doubt they are taking advantage of this. We have to accept that these unscrupulous Enron-style corporations and their employees of similar ethical standards have swindled us. We have to accept that this Toshiba computer and HP printer from Future Shop will never work properly. We intend to return to a Macintosh for our next computer, as soon as we are able to return to the First World.
We had a Power Mac 6100/66 and StyleWriter 2 (Canon) for more than eight years in Canada. These worked well and did what it said on the box. We sold them and bought the Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard products on Microsoft Windows XP three years ago. How we regret this! We should have bought a Mac PowerBook and Canon printer.
Anyone considering buying a new computer, printer or related product, particularly if they intend to move to a remote location, should consider our experience before making a decision on what to buy and from which companies.
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Old 13th Nov 2007, 00:28
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Angel Mac experiences

Sorry about your problems. I have had 4 Triumph motorcycles and three were the best bikes I have ever owned. I still have two of them. The fourth was a problem from the beginning and it took two importers and shops in different countries, working with Triumph to finally correct the problem...26 months and many headaches later.

Point.....sometimes it just was a bad day at the shop. Should I have thereafter decided to never have a Triumph again?

So to macs....my first mac was a Classic in 1986. 1 MB of RAM! PCs didnīt have that. I had a mouse, crystal black letters on a white background (like a book) and 3.5 inch hard "floppies" instead of those easily damaged floppie floppies. "Windows" while PCs were DOS and commands. I have never gone to a PC and never will, although I have "had" to use them in various jobs or for a specific program. Now, I run PC stuff on Mac FASTER than they run on PCs! Interesting! We now have a Mini, a MacBook Pro and an iMac and 3 iPods. The imac had a fancontrol unit die after 18 months and thousands of hours. No problems with anything else. We had a Cube harddisc die after 6 years...

MP3 players....no iPods are transportable HARDDISCS folks. One of ours has NEVER had a song on it. It travels back and forth carrying work around in its sleek little body and has been for ages. It is of the second generation, 20GB and a Firewire, which most PCs STILL donīt have!

Price? Do a real comparison and get back to me.

Repairs....havenīt had to pay for any other than the fan problem and it was €110. Not cheap, but compared to my brother-in-law, who has "upgraded" his PC 3 times in the same time period for failures, hardware that was not working with software etc....much cheaper!

I bought 3 laptops for our company. Vista.....ha ha . Got them back, they donīt work with a server.....Oh, these are "meant" to be home laptops....so this version of Vista doesnīt work with a server(!) There are 13 versions of Vista!!!!!!!!!! What a joke. They ended up "downgrading" to XP AND had to buy a license for each machine at a couple hundred quid a pop.

At my 604 course, all the other guys would watch movies on my 17 inch Pro, rather than their laptops...much better clarity and sound they said...

So I rest my case. I will be riding Triumph and using my macs until they pry them from my dead hands! Not at the same time of course!

cheers from BIRK!
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Old 13th Nov 2007, 06:47
  #23 (permalink)  
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Carrier: Ok, part of the nice thing about not having a Mac is choice, but you have to use that choice carefully. Tosh laptop? Not good, I agree. I feel for you.

FerryPilotDK: 13.634 versions of Vista - yes, and everyone of them runs the latest Java Virtual Machine (unlike Leopard) and guess what - I can CHOOSE which JVM I want on my computer :-) so even if Mr Jobs has not got around to doing Java 6 for Leopard, never mind at least it would be nice if I could choose another JVM from another supplier - and it wuold be nice if they all work first time, just like non Microsoft JVMs do on Windows.

I admit that sometimes you just want something to work and have no decisions to take - that formula (although it only sometomes applies to a Mac) is in my opinion not so good in the world of IT where so much changes so rapidly.
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Old 13th Nov 2007, 07:25
  #24 (permalink)  
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Why the rants about Windoze? It's got nothing to do with the repairability of a m/c, you don't have to use it there's plenty of xxxnix systems that work perfectly well for business usage.
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Old 13th Nov 2007, 09:24
  #25 (permalink)  
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FerryPilotDK - thanks for reminding me about Firewire, and why most PCs don't have it. Apple wanted an extortionate licensing fee for every port... so everyone else went for USB 2.0.

Don't get me started on HP printers... if it wasn't for the Enterprise products and Service infrastructure they got when they bought Compaq, HP would be just a printer company by now. Why does a printer driver require a download of hundreds of megabytes?
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 13:22
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An update for general info, again to be taken on board as required.

About six weeks ago, on top of the inability of the iMac to play music, it developed a dead pixel line almost exactly down the centre of the screen. If ever there had been any doubts about its unsaleability (?) they were removed.

Then, almost as though by spiritual intervention, the sound problem fixed itself and has remained fine ever since. Though the slightly irritating line down the centre of the monitor remains, it is rather like a mild ache in that you learn to live with it and eventually don't even notice it's there. So I continue to use the iMac as my desktop machine and appreciate it for the good things about it.

What bugs me though is the competence of the service agent. You have a car that you paid well above average money for, let's say a Honda. You bought it because so many people tell you how well it is put together. It does everything you need and more, because in truth your needs are simple and could basically be met by a baby Ford.

Out of the blue develops an engine noise which manifests itself in a narrow band just around the speed limit. It's not deafening, but it's irritating. The car still performs its normal duties admirably and without a hint of a problem. You take it to the only dealer in town and ask them to investigate. It's out of warranty but you figure it can't be a major problem. After they've had it for a week, they present you with a basic service charge and the advice that you will have to replace the engine. You tell them to shove it.

Six weeks later the noise disappears and doesn't come back. How do you feel about the competence of your dealer? Should I make a complaint to Apple Australia or would I, as I suspect, be wasting my time completely? What could it achieve?
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 14:44
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Complaining to Apple maybe won't achieve much, Binos, but "going public" about the *cough* "service" will hurt them more.

I'm sure that there are nice newspaper people in Skippyland who will happily whine publically on your behalf, and that will hurt them more than you will be able to do yourself. You paid the equivalent of a leg, arm and vital part of your anatomy for something so you should expect it to work with no issues, just like all them poor sods who were buying Mercs a couple of years ago.

Oh, as far as the software that comes with a Mac, you'll probably find EVERYTHING you need for a PC for nowt. Personally, I been finding Open Source stuff works perfectly so there is no need to spend megabucks on things. And do you REALLY need a GUI that "looks pretty" yet only does the same as a basic "Windoze Classic" layout?

Sorry, Mac users, I think these things are way overpriced and I ain't been that impressed with the OS or anything else about them. Mind you, I still want an OS that works as simply as the old Miggy Workbench (2.x or above). I can dream but I doubt I'll ever see that again.....
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 14:48
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Sorry, Mac users, I think these things are way overpriced and I ain't been that impressed with the OS or anything else about them. Mind you, I still want an OS that works as simply as the old Miggy Workbench (2.x or above). I can dream but I doubt I'll ever see that again.....
Your ignorance is our bliss...
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 15:03
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Nige, I can only go by my own experiences.

One of stepkids' boyfriend has a Mac laptop, and despite a few hours "playing" with it I could not see any reason for why I would want one.

Don't get me wrong, if I could see a real advantage I would recommend getting one. But I can't, I can find no reason to justify the cost of the them at all.

Sorry
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 15:16
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Binos,

That's good news about your iMac, apart from the screen issue. Have you tried zapping the PRAM & NVRAM? It might solve the problem: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238


I think a letter to Apple is worth it – Australia is a new territory for their own AppleStores. Resellers in the rest of the country will need to be singing from the same hymn sheet. Here in the UK, many resellers now have "Apple style" shops, remodelled in association with Apple and the staff having received training from them as well. They are known as "Premium Resellers". It will be more important to Apple now to see where the resellers in Oz are going wrong so that service can be improved.

AppleMacster
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 15:26
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And I can only go by mine..

The old Mac/PC game is an old one - I have PCs and Macs running here in front of me.

The Macs - we come in, switch them on, run them for 8 hours, (Adobe CS3 Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Office, Mail, Firefox) all running together all day. We switch 'em off and go home. They NEVER crash, NEVER get viruses (Yes I know they can but we take very simple precautions to make sure they don't). Maintenance etc is non existant. Installing new software or system upgrades is a non event. Being so intuitive, training new staff takes around 30% of the time compared to a PC.

The PCs - Dell machines - reliable but viruses are a constant nightmare. Still running XP as Vista is a joke - nothing will work with it - scanners, printers, CNC machines etc. To us, totally un-intuitive to use. Like many small (and large) businesses, we are quickly moving away from anything with MS written on it...

The choice for a business is a no brainer...

N
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 16:40
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Nige

My PC's don't get turned off as such, they get a restart occasionally and that's it. They generally run 24/7 (Vista box got shutdown 3 weeks ago, iirc). I don't have any issues with them (now it's one XP Pro and a Vista since the XP Home laptop kinda went BANG, and the scorch mark on the circuit board is a cracker. You don't want to know what the smell was like but that was a manufacturer problem. Can happen to anyone). Even the latest Vista updates didn't crash that one, despite one of these updates causing issues. I'm a home/small business user so having the machines working is crucial to me (2 stepkids at college, etc) so I need reliability. I was ONCE hit by a virus, and those stepkids know the rules regarding opening emails/downloading. I have no issues, you only need basic precautions and decent AV/firewall software (all of which is free as we know). I actually know how safe my PC's are, mainly since I got nailed once it made me paranoid about things like that. Of course, what is needed at your work kinda dictates what you need to use, I cannot see the need to spend THAT much on something that will do what is needed by us.

Of course, as I have said before, NEVER download a driver from Windows Update. I learned that the hard way.

Again, don't get me wrong. I am open to things. I just cannot figure out why a Mac is better (will be attacking that laptop again this weekend. After all, one has to gain experience with things before you can condemn them, and I cannot recommend a Mac. That attitude may change, and if it does I will happily bake the biggest Humble Pie you have ever seen and invite you over to share it)

Dell? Don't talk to me about them. My experiences with these things were so bad I wouldn't even widdle on them
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Old 22nd Feb 2008, 17:38
  #33 (permalink)  
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A gentle reminder to all to please not allow this to descend to another Mac / PC bashing thread.



Cheers

SD
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 01:20
  #34 (permalink)  
 
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Hi Bino's,

Quite some time ago I had an issue with my Mac. The service agent was next to useless so I started going up the line till I got the problem fixed and I was satisfied with the outcome.

If the service agent isn't doing the right thing by the brand, then the brand owner should be made aware. The service agent themselves isn't going to let the owner know that they're slipping in the customer care department, but you can.

Pounds to peanuts, you wouldn't have been the only one that's walked out their precious office door and getting yarped at for 'slamming' it.

From memory there's a 1800 or 1300 number to call for this and other sorts of issues ...
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 03:37
  #35 (permalink)  
 
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Question

Australia: 133 622

Apple worldwide phone numbers

You need to be in warranty (extended warranty is worth the cost, especially via E Bay at half price ) to get a decent response, but it's 1000% improvement on the phone service from MS. If you can ever get MS to answer the phone, that is



SD,

Wouldn't this be better merged with the Mac sticky?
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