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Topic: Mac Troubles-Is This Average?
| Author | Message |
| spring2007 | Posted – 8/7/2008 7:37:05 PM | show profile | email poster I have been having troubles with my laptop (a Powerbook, by the way) and I'm wondering if these things are normal. Feel free to tell me that I'm just being a big baby about things. Since February 2006, I have sent my laptop in for repairs six times. Three of those were for problems with the power adapter, which I already understand to be a problematic part of the Powerbook. The other three times were for 1) The DVD/CD drive would not accept or play CDs/DVDs 2) The laptop would no longer stay closed when I pushed the monitor down (it is a 17 inch laptop) 3) The laptop would not turn on. It would tell me to shut it down. When it started up, it would have this strange code appear on the background. After that, it would not eject the DVD that was already inside, and it would not turn on. I travel a lot for my job (different states, countries), which makes it difficult to send/take this laptop in for repair. Every time something goes wrong, I lose the use of my laptop for 2-4 weeks, which I really can't afford for my job. I was told that if a third major repair is required (my number one and three are both major repairs) my laptop would be replaced with a MacBook. Weighing the cost of my Applecare Program (about $250, I think), the otherwise cost for these other six repairs (which I estimate at $650), and upgrading from a Powerbook to a Macbook, Apple has to be losing money on this deal. I am wondering-did I buy a lemon, or is this normal? |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/9/2008 7:05:39 PM | show profile How old is your PowerBook? I bought mine ... a 15-inch titanium G4 800MHZ ... back in 2001. I've ALWAYS had a problem with the disk drive, apparently because Macs from that era were fitted with Toshiba disk drives that were temperamental. Also, eventually from heavy use of opening and closing over the course of 7 years, the little spring and pin mechanism that keeps the lid locked down wore out, as all mechanical things eventually do. As far as the not turning on problem, I realized MY problem with that was the battery was no longer holding a charge. Remove the battery altogether, plug the adapter into the wall, and see what happens. Good luck. I just bought a shiny new 22" iMac two months ago. 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB MHz RAM, with 1 TERABYTE hard drive. Wireless keyboard and mouse. Yeah, baby! Woo hoo! |
| spring2007 | Posted – 8/9/2008 11:55:42 PM | show profile I'm insanely jealous of your iMac, I have to say. I bought my Powerbook in March 2006, and the repairs started the next month. Apple tech support and I are now very close friends, so I tried the battery removal and holding down a plethora of combinations of keys. The good news is that my adapter has started working off and on. Keep you fingers crossed. Instead of an adapter malfunction, it could be that golden third major repair:) |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/10/2008 4:47:16 AM | show profile Hmm. It's highly unusual for a Mac to be so problematic. I'm crossing my fingers for your third "golden" repair! Good luck! |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 8/11/2008 12:07:03 PM | show profile I have two mac laptops and the only problem is the 5-year-old one's abttery isn't charging well now. No issues other than that! |
| WritingSoul | Posted – 8/11/2008 8:22:09 PM | show profile | email poster I'm on my first mac after being a pc user. I love it, but... I had a battery defect (Apple recalled a whole bunch of batteries, mine was one of them) - it just stopped working and they replaced it. Then my computer started getting a screen go black while it's still on. One day it just turned off and never went back on. Apple replaced the motherboard and other parts. Now, I keep running out of memory even though there is still like 10GB left. When I restart it, the memory comes back. I haven't seen Apple about it yet. |
| recovering_jersey_girl | Posted – 8/12/2008 1:42:06 PM | show profile I have a 12" Macbook purchased in October '06. I'm on my THIRD hard drive. First two were Seagates that were apparently defective...Kicker is that Apple was quoted in an Internet World article in November '07 saying they knew there were problems with the Seagate drives. Then they put a second one in my machine a month later...which crapped out after 6 months. I'm not techie at all so I like the plug-and-play convenience of Mac, but I'm seriously thinking about going back to PCs. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 8/12/2008 4:29:32 PM | show profile jersey ... ... let's not get silly. That's like vowing to go back to Chevys after two problems with the glove compartment door of the Mercedes. |
| newJournalist | Posted – 8/15/2008 3:42:24 PM | show profile I recently switched from a PC to a MacBook Pro, and I've had to get my screen replaced twice in 3 months. The first time, this thin yellow line would show up across the screen...weird. I'm kind of scared that it will all go to hell right when the warranty is up. |
| abqwriter | Posted – 8/15/2008 4:48:57 PM | show profile I've had a MacBook since March and haven't had a problem at all. Before that I was using a Dell with a celeron processor - a total piece of junk that finally convinced me to go to an Apple. We also have an iMac in the house which has been problem-free. If they'll let you upgrade, I'd go for it. The only thing I hate is that Publisher doesn't work on the MacBook. I'm going to have to partition to run Windows or install some VM-ware to get it to work. I hate the Apple-produced desktop publishing programs I've tried. |
| chucho | Posted – 8/30/2008 8:49:13 AM | show profile Seagate HDs? LOL! Another issue with Mac is their purveyors change constantly. One week they putting Western Digital drive in their computers and the next week it's Seagate -- but Apple people don't get to choose -- they get the computer they order, whether the screen is cheap Chinese or happens (because that week they had a good purveyor deal) better Japanese-made screens or whatever. The problems is you never know. There was a problem last year because they were dumping way too much heatsink in the MacBooks. In order to keep the slim, sleek 2001 Space Odyssey (ie dated, retro "futuristic look") they forego fans (or adequate ventilation) and because of improperly added heatsink on a batch of Macbooks, there were overheating and warping problems. (The heatsink thing seemed to be the final conclusion to the mystery of a whole bunch of early Macbooks practically melting at the corners.) Do yourself a favor: stop going to Mac Store to talk to some emo geek. Just find a guy who is good with computers to install a god hard drive ordered from a company like Tiger direct, save yourself a bundle. |
