Macbook reliability??

RobertoMoir

I've had good experience with Macs overall, both personally and with the networked ones where I work. I think its quite possible to get a few lemons and a few stars in each batch of machines regardless of who you go to and their normal quality levels, so I wouldn't draw the conclusion that a particular brand is especially unreliable (or amazingly reliable either) based on a sample of one. It's also well known that some models of laptop are inherently more reliable than others - e.g. the well documented problems with nvidia mobile graphics that affected a lot of laptops from Apple, Dell, HP a while ago vs the revised models each manufacturer released that fixed those issues.

What was the problem you had? I wouldn't normally expect a computer from any manufacturer to fail after 3 months - usually they fail more or less out of the box (dead on arrival) and from that point on I don't normally see that many problems with anything until about 2 years or so (and even then its rare).

I'd definitely buy Applecare - most laptops (and all-in-one computers like imacs come to mention it) are not exactly easily user serviceable.

i8change

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???

As it is only 3 months old, I would pop into a local Apple store and get them to look it over.

If that isn't possible due to location, you could try one of the Mac forums to see what a large number of Mac users think, before deciding whether it's appropriate to contact Apple.

Swipe

They may be Apple products but they are still made in a factory in China just like all the rest. FYI I'm on my third logic board on my late 2007 mac mini.

jaydeeuk1

Marty_J wrote: »

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!

17.4%!!! Sorry, but that is shocking, would expect far lower. And for Sony..

Perhaps apple/sony use the same PR company as Volkswagen. People believe the 'german build quality' but its pretty crap really.

RobertoMoir

Why is that shocking? What are you basing that on? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see all computers be more reliable, but you're talking about a complex assemblage of parts that don't always play nicely together; it's always going to go wrong sooner or later.

I'd be interested to hear if those figures for faults on all machines included things like laptop batteries. I'm sure it includes hard disks which are also (relatively) prone to failure.

Marty_J

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

17.4%!!! Sorry, but that is shocking, would expect far lower. And for Sony..

Perhaps apple/sony use the same PR company as Volkswagen. People believe the 'german build quality' but its pretty crap really.

Unfortunately, as the study used different sample sizes for each manufacturer, it doesn't really tell you an awful lot.

asininity

Marty_J wrote: »

Take that, everything Asininity stands for!

Take That are not all I stand for I have never even listened to one of their albums, how dare you.

Anyway I'd rather take a 23% chance at a 300 squid laptop than a 17% chance at a 1000 squid laptop any day.

Marty_J

asininity wrote: »

Take That are not all I stand for I have never even listened to one of their albums, how dare you.

Their comeback album, Beautiful World, wasn't bad actually.

Don't tell anyone I told you though.

Anyway I'd rather take a 23% chance at a 300 squid laptop than a 17% chance at a 1000 squid laptop any day.

And I'd rather have a broken Mac than a working Acer.

At least it would be worth something on eBay.

busenbust

Acers are bloody awful; even their netbooks are shoddy; oh, and what a come-back from Take That - great songwriting! "Rule the World". Bad luck Robbie.

asininity

Marty_J wrote: »

And I'd rather have a broken Mac than a working Acer.

At least it would be worth something on eBay.

Personally I'd always go with the working computer, but thats just me;).

@ busenbust

Not according to the study, on par and slightly behind apple!

Take That are pap!