Macbook reliability??

knightstyle · 28 November 2009 at 10:13AM

How reliable are Macbooks? Mine has just refused to come on at three months old. Got it going now but should I be worried. Three previous Emacs all failed just out of warranty, but my original blue iMac lasted 10 years.

The_Hallowed_Way · 28 November 2009 at 10:20AM

My experience is that Apple computers are not reliable at all and do not last very long. This view will be contradicted by numerous people.

asininity · 28 November 2009 at 10:22AM

That will depend who you ask, but the consensus here among the mac users is that they would be the soul survivors, along with ants and cockroaches, of a nuclear holocaust. Possibly surviving a direct hit such is the build quality, I believe the US army are re-enforcing military vehicles with them to protect soldiers in Afghanistan, so far they've only managed to outfit half of one humer due to cost.

Millionaire · 28 November 2009 at 11:33AM

Like any manufacturer you are bound to get some % rate of failures. Although you seem to be quite unlucky by the looks of it.

Between my Friends and Family I tend to be the IT guy, and people tend to ask me what to get for their needs and most the time I tend to order the items for them depending on what they require.

In the last 2- 3 or so years I've purchased for family and friends roughly the following New items and have listed any faults that have appeared, Age of item is given.

Apple

iMac - No faults - 2 1/2 years
iMac - faulty out the box - replaced by Apple straight away. Replacement - No faults 2 years
Macbook - No faults - 2 years
Macbook - No faults - 1 year
Macbook - No faults - 6 months

Dell

Desktop - No faults - 3 1/2 years
Desktop - No faults - 3 years
Desktop - LCD screen is playing up - 2 Years
Laptop - Faulty media buttons after 6 months - sorted under warranty - 3 Years
Laptop - No faults - 2 years
Laptop - No faults - 1 1/2 years

Hp

Laptop - No faults - 3 years
Laptop - No faults - 1 Year

Sony

Laptop - No faults - 2 years

Toshiba

Laptop - No faults - 3 years
Laptop - No faults - 2 years
Laptop - Dead pixels out the box - replaced - Replacement - No faults 1 1/2 years
Laptop - faulty out the box - refunded
Laptop - Faulty DVD RW drive out the box- refunded

The last few Toshiba's have been disappointing as I seem to get a fault every time or is it just bad luck.

i8change · 28 November 2009 at 12:48PM

Surveys vary, but Macbooks are usually in the top four and there isn't that much difference between them at that end of the reliability scale.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/apple-laptops-fourth-in-reliability-study-20091118-im8t.html

http://blog.squaretrade.com/2009/11/a-rebuttal-to-some-comments-about-our-laptop-failure-study.html

And from Which? magazine:-

Our annual survey of thousands of computer users reveals which computers are most – and least – reliable.
There is no stand-out brand when it comes to laptop reliability. All brands received an average reliability score in our survey.

Laptop Which? reliability index

BrandScore Toshiba87% Acer86% Apple86% Fujitsu-Siemens86% Hewlett-Packard86% Sony86% Dell84% Overall reliability 86%Table notes

The Which? reliability index is based on the proportion of machines that have needed a repair. Scores for each brand are adjusted to account for sample size and product age – so a brand won’t be unfairly penalised if a lot of owners have older models. There must be at least 50 owners of a brand for it to receive a reliability score.
Sample sizes Toshiba (285), Acer (176), Apple (169), Fujitsu-Siemens (51), Hewlett-Packard (183), Sony (170), Dell (423). Total sample size is 1,691.

Laptops are always going to get quite hot, suffer knocks and be more difficult to remove dust from than PC towers. I don't see them as a guaranteed long term purchase, although some past models have seen a good few years service.

asininity · 28 November 2009 at 12:53PM

Acer 86%
Apple 86%

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

Love it Acer as reliable as Apple, in your face Marty and Leopard!

davester · 28 November 2009 at 1:00PM

lol,:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

My acer is 5 yrs old, HDD sound, boots up in 5 mins, A drive yes A is on but computer says NO, and the plastic around the hinge is cracking oh and the DVD wont read anything. other than that its fine, It connects to the net and does the business.

I have a 6 month old Dell thats working a treat after some teething issues with ZA messing up the system.

cyberbob · 28 November 2009 at 1:10PM

As others have said you will get failures in all computer equipment. My Macs I have never had serious issues with. I use a 10 year old Powerbook Pismo daily and never had a problem.My wife's ibook and our other imacs/emacs have been very reliable. As for other manufacturers Never had much problems with HP or IBM. Every Dell I have ever owned though has been terrible (and I wouldn't have one again) but other people love them. So overall I think luck has a lot to do with it

If you are getting multiple problems I would be going back to apple.

i8change · 28 November 2009 at 1:31PM

If you are getting multiple problems I would be going back to apple.

With premium products the profits margins are usually such that you can/should expect good after sales service.
There is room for them to be more accommodating than those who are supplying price competitive items.

knightstyle · 28 November 2009 at 4:18PM

Thanks for replies, Just wondering if I should report the failure to Apple or wait and see if it happens again, Haven't bought Apple care extended warranty yet either???

Marty_J · 28 November 2009 at 5:40PM

asininity wrote: »

Acer 86%
Apple 86%

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

Love it Acer as reliable as Apple, in your face Marty and Leopard!

Pity you didn't read the other links.

Acer had a 23.3% failure rate over 3 years; Apple had a 17.4% failure rate.

Furthermore, the survey showed that expensive computers (the kind you think are a waste of money) are more reliable than cheap computers.

Take that, everything Asininity stands for!

Macbook reliability??

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