The OS is willing but the case is weak
Folks often try to justify the exorbitant price of Macintosh computers by claiming that they are better-made than cheaper windows machines. After my personal experience with a MacBook (my wife’s) I beg to differ. So far:
* The SuperDrive failed within a week or two after purchase and had to be replaced.
* The motherboard failed, resulting in being unable to charge the battery. Had to send it to be repaired under the extended warranty.
* The hinges failed, causing the LCD to crack. Since LCDs are not covered under warranty, I replaced it myself.
* When I opened the screen casing to replace the LED, tiny bits of plastic showered down–the flimsy bits that hold the nuts that hold the screen assembly together. The entire case was falling apart and had to be replaced. (None of this was due to my taking it apart–it was falling apart to begin with.)
Contrast this with my fairly generic Toshiba Satellite, which has never had a significant problem until the dog jumped on it and broke off the backspace key. It has a 160 GB hard drive compared to the MacBook’s paltry 80 GB–the MacBook’s is already full. I have ridden hundreds of miles on urban pavement with my laptop in a pannier. No problem.
I’m writing this post because yet again, a part of the MacBook’s hardware has failed–the Ethernet port. In my research, I have found out that this is a relatively common issue, one for which the fix is typically to replace the network card. Some Mac enthusiasts seem to think that an Ethernet connection is not that important–on forums, they just say, “take it to a Genius” or “get a wireless router.” Excuse me, but the Ethernet cable is part of the computer for which I paid and it should work for the life of the machine. Why should I accept that part of the hardware is dead?
I’m not writing this to give Microsoft or Toshiba any particular love. The laptop was full of bloatware and Windows XP is not the world’s most elegant operating system. But I have never had a problem with the hardware or software simply failing to function. And nobody cuts Windows PCs any slack when it comes to quality issues. Why does Mac get a pass when the machines are so expensive?
bummer.
Our experience is completely opposite. my wife’s macbook (she had to have a mac) is now over 4 years old and looks almost as good as the day she bought it.
I replaced the drive with a larger and faster one, but not because the old one failed. I also upgraded the ram when ram was only like $25 for it. Installation for both took about 10 minutes, which really surprised me, I thought a mac would be a lot harder. The dang directions were right inside the battery compartment of all things, how smart is that, LOL.
Even more surprising is the dang battery. I have bought 2 for my HP in the last few years, she still has the same 4 year old battery and it still gets 3+ hours.
I was never impressed by macs, and hers cost over $1000 (ouch), but I have to say it has outlived my estimates by at least 3 years, I thought the thing would break in 1. And this is with my 5 year old and 2.5 year old banging on it.
And although the palm rest started cracking earlier this year, I Googled around and found this was a common flaw and I thought “HA!” finally. She took it to the Apple store, after I kept telling her not to bother since it was long out of warranty, and she came home with a brand freaking new top part. She said they replaced it for free. Im like WTF?
Now I have serious respect for the Mac. Not sure I would ever plunk down the $2000 they would want for a laptop I would like (15″ screen, 4 gigs ram, 500 gig drive) since I can get that same thing for half in a PC.
But maybe…