Why I Hate The Macbook Pro-GIVEAWAY
March 11, 2009 by James Pickett
Filed under Gear
This is a followup to one of my first articles here on America The Lost, “Should I incinerate my Macbook Pro”. None of the actual problems were in the first post, so this article has been created to share them with you (by request). It seems I am not the only one that is having issues, see what Scott Kelby has to say about his new Macbook pro in the article “Review: Apple’s New Macbook Pro (Somebody Get My Gun!)”.
There have also been a few new issues that have popped up since I did “what the genius told me to do” like a good little ignorant Apple customer. Upon my last visit the geniuses blamed all of my problems on “legacy software” (Software that was designed for every Mac before the release of the Intel chips) and at their suggestion, I did a complete re-install of the OS (OSX 10.4.11) not installing any legacy software. By not using this software, my wallet has taken a tremendous hit.
- Microsoft Office for Mac.
($399.95)
According to the genius, iwork is what I should be using, and even the Office upgrade is terrible. Hmm… Sounds a little fishy to me. Currently I am writing everything in TextEdit. - Adobe Illustrator.
($599.95)
My loss here may not be completely fair, as I could upgrade this to CS4, however my own stupidity has lead me to lose the disc in my last move. - Extensis Suitcase.
($99.95)
The Apple Store seemed to think suitcase was Satan incarnate.
- All Canon Software. ($A LOT of time which is money)
So… what do i do for remote capture now? Are you serious? I’m a photographer. - All of my little apps. ($500.00 appx.)
Panic Transmit, Art Directors Toolkit, Palm Desktop, Color Management Apps, and pretty much everything else i use every day.
The inconvenience factor alone is staggering, not to mention lost man hours (especially while my machine is in the shop, and I can’t work) and the fuel for every time I have been to and from the Apple Store. Of all the times this machine has been to the Apple Store, and of all the hours I have lost from work there has only been one issue sort of resolved. That issue was an issue created by Apple to start with, and they never fixed it properly.
The very first time my Macbook Pro was in the shop (the power button had sunk into the laptop) it came back with a bulging keyboard and topcase (it looked like someone left a tiny tool in it). The Macbook Pro was returned to the Apple Store and was not easily repairable, “We need to order a top case and replace it.” OK, order it, call me when its in, and I will drop the machine off to you for repair. Apple didn’t like this idea, and wanted my primary business machine for a week. Are you kidding me? This is an issue they created, and I had to be out of my machine for a week? AGAIN?
They decided to try and accommodate me and call me when the part was in with a promise of a 24 hour turn around (that actually took 3 days). The funniest part of this scenario is that they never replaced my topcase. The topcase lifted again… They had glued it. Come to find out, they had also lied about the power button, and glued that as well. (The geniuses tried to rationalize it by saying it is “glued from the factory” which I cannot confirm or deny. Even if it is glued from the factory, it is done with a special adhesive under controlled conditions, not with superglue and left for the fumes to adhere to the chips in the rest of the machine.)
For those of you that don’t know, the topcase on a Macbook Pro is the entire top of the laptop, included in the topcase are the power button, keyboard, touchpad, and speakers all of which are replaced as one unit. The above recount happened over a span of about three months, and started within the first four months of owning my Macbook Pro.
To recount the problems since the start of this fiasco…
SPEED!
My Powerbook G4 Ti was faster when running Photoshop and my single core G5 tower makes this laptop look like a toy (it is half the speed, CS3 runs slower than frozen honey). Very often I am working on only one job, retouching beauty on ONE image, and the cursor will move about 4-5 seconds behind me, not something conducive to an efficient work environment.
Crashes.
Constantly, if three or more images are open, if I am running batch processes, if bridge is running in the background, if I run more than three windows in Safari. I used to be able to batch save and work on a 2.5GB file while surfing the web on my G4 Ti and I’m lucky if a 40MB file will process in my duo core with 2gb of RAM.
Locking up. Simple tasks…
Typing an e-mail in entourage, all I have to do is try to type one, and I can get through 3 sentences before I realize the cursor hasn’t moved, it will sit for two or three minutes with a frozen cursor before the type magically shows up. This is not simple an e-mail issue, the same phenomenon happens in word, and when typing in browsers. I have eliminated the option of it being an application issue. In Photoshop, I have waited for up to 15 minutes to keep from losing my work, and other times I lose it anyway.
USB ports.
The fact that the USB ports shut down with power draw may be acceptable to Apple, but it is not acceptable to me… What is the point of being mobile and having bus powered devices if the device forces a reboot to make the USB ports work again? Using a Lenovo one could hook up more than one bus powered device, and not have to worry that when on location and in need, a brand that doesn’t shut down the USB ports is available.
Sleep.
My machine doesn’t sleep… EVER, it simply shuts down… In the middle of working (under battery power) at any time it feels necessary, sometimes at 10% battery, sometimes at 90% battery and everywhere in between. I can be typing a letter or working on an image, this behavior is not linked to any type of heavy use or light use, and is completely random. This machine can run Photoshop to 10% battery or word to 90% battery and vice versa, shutting down and losing my work every time. Shut down occurs with simple web browsing. I can’t work under battery power, at all. (Note: This issues happens intermittently when using the adapter as well, maybe 30% of the time it sleeps.)
Random system setting changes.
I wish I could tell you my machine was reliable and consistent, but I cant. When plugged into the power cord, the machine will change system settings on its own, like deciding to sleep instead of activating the screen saver, flicker occasionally and change display resolution.
Touchpad.
Random cursor placement without touching the touchpad. It would be easy to say I am hitting the touchpad with my palm or something of the like, however, I have become aware of that possibility. I can type with my arms elevated over the machine and the cursor still goes where it wants to, at random times. Trying to work and having to constantly look at the screen to make sure the machine is typing where it is supposed to, and having to copy and paste, or delete and retype while working is a complete pain in the ass. Could this be something associated with the original topcase problem?
All of the above issues continue, daily. Unfortunately I am stuck for now, as Apple claims there are no issues, and I have to keep working. A machine that works poorly is better than no machine at all. (At least that is what I have forced myself to believe.) There is one very specific new issue that has developed since I conceded to being a “good little Mac customer” and wiped my drive.
CS4 Display Driver problems.
A mistake was made when I assumed that the Adobe CS3 applications were optimized for the CoreDuo machines. Boy, was I wrong. As part of my “legacy software rehabilitation” I was forced into a Photoshop CS4 Upgrade
Is this Macbook Pro the “bubble in the system” that doesn’t work with ANYTHING? Or am I just stuck with a lemon? Who knows, Apple won’t stand behind this particular product, and hasn’t since day one. Where the hell is this company that has been so good to the graphics industry for decades? Furthermore, why have they turned their back on an especially loyal customer?
The Giveaway
The giveaway has ended and comments are now closed. The winner was chosen using random.org… And will be notified by e-mail shortly.
Your Mission:
Who is with me? I want to hear all about your own computing problems. Please leave a comment that highlights what machine you use, what industry you are in, what the problems you have are, and what has been done (if anything) by the manufacturer to fix it.
UPDATE: People aren’t really following directions, so I’m going to clarify… You have to answer the following questions. All of them. Or you’re not eligible for the giveaway.
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
E.g. (myself) Apple Macbook Pro, Professional photographer/Imaging Pro, all of the above problems, and they have done nothing but tell me I’m an idiot.
The Prize:
To celebrate the simplicity and reliability of the written word, we will be giving away A Moleskine 100 page sketchbook
The Rules and Other Details:
On Sunday March, 22 2009 at 12:00 AM I will close comments and select one winner at random to receive the above mentioned prize. Sorry, but only residents in the US and Canada are allowed to enter at this time. I’ll contact the winner via e-mail (so please use a valid email address) and he or she will need to respond to me with their shipping address. See the privacy policy for details.
Feel free to tweet this post, @jamespickett if you like, though it is not required for entry into the giveaway.
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I have problems with Vista and I contact Microsoft on a daily basis to fix it.
Two words, Microsoft Vista. Try that for problems. Shame on Apple for minimum product testing in machine’s beta.
1. COMPAQ PC
2. Creative writing – trying to get into blogging, and reviews-type industry.
3. Locks up, freezes, error msgs.
4. Haven’t contacted the manufacturer yet. Thinking maybe it’s just me?
I have a Gateway, I’m an adjunct professor at a private university, and I’m not really a computer person, but this darn thing is sooo SLOW sometimes. It’s probably just old. The only real problem I had, that I had to call tech support about, was when I had to reinstall Windows XP. They gave me such a HUGE run-around. I don’t EVER want to have to call again. I do love Moleskine notebooks, though! Never had a tech problem with one of those!
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
HP dv4t, fully set up. It runs an Ubuntu/Vista dual-boot, with Ubuntu as the primary OS.
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
Habitat restoration, but I tend to work outside every day and mainly use it for personal use.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
I have issues with running Vista – general ‘I hate Windows’ issues, and it loves to randomly restart. The latter has stopped as of late.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
This laptop is six months old, so it’s going okay so far. Ubuntu gets updated weekly, which is nice.
1- compaq presario desktop
2- amateur writer
3- one month after i purchased it, it wouldn’t start up
4- called customer service, spoke with them for 20 minutes or so, was told i’d need to send it in. they sent a box, paid for shipping, etc. about a week later, i got it back, and it still works great today (about 9 months later)
I have a Compaq/HP, am a homemaker, have to deal with IE shutting down at least once a day and Microshaft hasn’t done anything useful to fix it.
Dell (Windows XP),Teacher, No Problems – I love my pc, Keyboard was replaced – my fault ..I broke a key – customer service from Dell – wonderful
(By the way .. I dont work or have any connection with Dell, the company)
I have an 6 year old Dell with windows XP and need to get sometihing new
between jobs but I do science mostly
The vertual memory seems to keep getting set to zero which slows it down more than a bit. I think the 6 years of patches have taken their toll.
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use? I used to have a Sony VAIO with XP. loved it at first but then it stated getting inexplicable operating errors and after WAY too many hours lost dealing with various customer support people (mostly in India) I opted to get a new computer -an ACER with Vista
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? I am a visual artist, mostly scan my work but also work on the computer
3. What are the problems you have with said machine? So far I am very happy with the ACER and with Vista, everything has been easy and user friendly. I really like how easy it is to navigate between my files and how they are structured
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)? The only problem I have had so far turned out to be a problem with my LINKSYS router and not with my computer and operating system. The technical support was wonderful and walked me through testing everything out until we could pinpoint the problem which of course was not their problem in the end, it was mine.
Toshiba Satellite A215-56820
I am a writer, at my computer most of the day
No problems, although Vista is a real pain!!
A wonderful laptop!! Haven’t needed to contact manufacturer yet (fingers crossed!)
ok i use a microsoft vista and my comp shuts down at the randomest moments and then restarts…. the manufactors say that it is the system recheck but it gives me no warning and it seems to make my comp even slower and im a high schooler but i own a company called KTVideos i do virtual tours for realestate… so if your in new hampshire look me up
Kaite8002@aim.com (sorry for the plug but hey a girl needs to work 
)
I’m sorry to hear about your Mac Troubles. I started out on the Mac, but every office I worked for was PC based, and eventually I switched to a PC at home because I was bringing so much work home with me. I’m HP loyal, have been for years, I’ve learned my lesson straying away from HP. I’m not going to say it’s been a perfectly smooth ride, no hardware is pure perfection, but what has always made HP stand out for me, is that I’ve always received Top Notch Customer care. I’ve always been smart enough to buy in home repair warranty/insurance for my computers, but nonetheless, I had a situation where I received a Pavilion that was a lemon from DAY ONE, the reseller where I bought it, CDW wouldn’t help even though it was BEFORE the 30 days, needless to say I will never deal with them again, but I contacted HP, and after quite a few transfers to get to the right department, they sent a call tag, took the PC back and I was refunded completely. I have an HP now, but it’s on the XP Operating System and since XP won’t be supported much longer, I’m looking to get a new computer soon. I’m leaning toward the HP Touchsmart, waiting to read a few more reviews before I commit. (Unless of course the good folks at HP read this and decide to send me one!)
i have a dell inspiron and i have had battery problems. I work for an environmental consulting firm and dell was quick to help when i emailed them about the problem. they mailed me a new battery in 3 days
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
I use a Gateway
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
I work in health Care.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
It freezes up and is noisy and slow
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
Nothing has ever been done. I called/emailed/wrote when it was first purchsed and they never responded.
I use an HP.
I am a work at home editor.
My machine is so slow and messed up. I’m afraid to do anything to it.
Well, my warranty is expired, so they basically tell me I have to take it in and pay for it myself. Too bad the problems didn’t start sooner.
Wow lovely gift
1) Macbook
2) NA
3) The volume sucks really bad. I’m running out of space, so I’m afriad the computer is gonna crash on me. I”ve wanted a Macbook Pro though for a while. It is annoying how expensive all that stuff is. Safari always cancels on me, which is irritating
4) Never had to really contact
1. Dell with Windows XP
2. Self Employeed
3. I seem to run out of resources way to fast, making me have to reboot quite often.
4. I have not contacted the manufacterer. I probably just need to upgrade some things on my system.
Thanks for the giveaway! My son would LOVE these!!
1) Dell XPS M1330 (~$2000)
2) Computer Engineer
3) Nvidia released a batch of bad graphics cards which luckily one of which was installed in my machine (8400M GS) these are GUARANTEED to die rendering the laptop useless (no display). In under 9 months of ownership I have had the mother board replaced 2 times for this issue (so 3 motherboards total) each time they have wanted me to send the laptop in for “depot repair” which takes 3 weeks.
4) Replaced my motherboard 2 times already, but continue to sell the model with the faulty cards, which are all faulty – there isn’t a “good” one. If it dies once more within the year of owning it I’m going to argue my case to have a newer unaffected model.
1. Toshiba satellite p15, winsows XP
2. Head of shipping/receiving
3. Shuts off due to grounding issue, freezes, battery life is a joke, poor wifi reception, had to replace fan multiple times etc
4. as of today Toshiba it has been in the shop multiple times but they havent managed to fix any of the problems.
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
I use an HP Compaq 8510 laptop.
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
Mostly home use and school work, but I do a lot of drawings and photos in CS3 and need something that can run it quickly while still being able to keep all my other programs open. Plus it doesn’t hurt when the computer runs games quickly.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
More than anything, I’ve had issues with the keyboard. Two buttons have fallen off in a month and one of the keys doesn’t push down. Seeing as the laptop is less than 6 months old, it doesn’t speak very highly about the quality of the build. The keyboard also has certain keys in a different configuration (the home, insert, delete, etc. keys) which can be quite annoying when I’m used to all other normal keyboards. Also, I’m running Vista 64 which is just a pain in the ass, but oh well.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
I have a 3 year warranty so I just have to call them up and they will fix up the keyboard. Unfortunately they can’t change the configuration though. I can also request a copy of XP if I want to downgrade but they don’t have any copies of XP 64, which I would need if I want to run all my gb of RAM.
1. Personal Laptop: 15″ Powerbook G4, Work Computer: Desktop Mac Pro w/ Dual-Core Intel Xeon
2. Graphic Designer.
3. Powerbook: Doesn’t have enough ram to work with big files or multiple files at once. Battery life is horrible so I have to keep it plugged in all the time, speakers are terrible. Work Computer: Freezes atleast 2 times a day, photoshop will give me the scrolling wheel of death even with small files occasionally, when I try to do a search on my computer certain words will cause all my windows to close, microsoft issues all the time (email, formats, etc).
4. My problems aren’t so bad that I need apple care or IT’s professional help. My laptop just needs more ram, my desktop just needs to be backed up and everything re-installed to start fresh. I work with 4 adobe programs at once, word, excel, entourage, and have firefox running all the time…so I have no complaints about it. If I want it to run faster/better, then I just need to quit out of certain programs if I’m not using it.
I have a Dell use XP am a homemaker My problem is with a HP printer We replaced an older HP with a new one Does not work keep getting messages that something from the old printer must be uninstalled before we install the new printer cant get it to uninstall call HP support they go round and round can’t seem to get them to understand anything They tell us we need to buy a cd to uninstall we do that it doesn’t uninstall the program printer still does not work call support around and around we go we quit no printer will wait and buy another one but not an HP
Maybe someone can help with this. I am a photographer, working on a G5 Tower. Since I got the new Canon 5D Mark II I had to update my Photoshop to CS4. Once in a while I will work in an image, save the image, close the image, come BACK to the image, and it’s a horrible RAINBOW!!! (The raw file is still intact)… UGH… This is not cool under tight deadlines!!!!
Adobe blames Apple.
Apple blames Adobe.
Canon has no blame!!!!!
Lets see here,
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
I bought a Sony Vaio laptop a couple years ago, still running on Windows XP. Nice little iffy AMD64 processor to go with it and all.
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
Photography/Video editing, heavy Photoshop use as well as Sony Vegas Video
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
After a few months of use, it’d give me the blue screen of death while I was working on a project. I said, “That’s fine, I can start over.” Rebooted it up, started again on my project and….wait for it….it froze for a nice minute, then followed by the blue screen of death. Basically taunting me, hoping I’d smash it to oblivion. Other problems arose, such as the disc drive not wanting to come out anymore. This STILL happened after reinstalling the XP OS.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
Called Sony up, they said to ship it to them since Fry’s Electronics won’t take care of it. Even with a warranty. So we proceeded to do so, sent it and played the waiting game. A month later, it came back, it worked fine. Except, now..the battery won’t survive without a power source for no longer than 5-10 minutes. If I was lucky, I’d get 15 minutes. The machine was one hell of a worker when it worked, but now it’s just a piece of junk.
Thank you for your time.
1) Dell w/Windows xp
2) Work from Home- Master Sweeper
3) Computer freezes ALL the time. Have to Re-boot 20 times a day
My comp has NO speed left! Takes forever to enter sweeps!
4) called dell, (have a warranty) dealt with troubleshoot tech’s for a week
now they want to send me a replacement. GET THAT WARRANTY PEOPLE!
Thanks for the chance!
Computer: HP Compaq 6910p Laptop
Industry: Software Engineer
Problem: In general, Windows Vista. Specifically, network connectivity. It would take 15 minutes to open Network Connection. When I get it to open there were duplicate wireless networks and generally only one worked. If I picked the wrong one, well, I’d have to wait 15 more minutes for the damn window to open. I develop server based software so this was a major problem.
What was done: Microsoft said it was HP’s fault for supplying bad drivers. HP said it was an issue with Vista. I said screw it and installed XP.
Retail industry. HP PC running Vista & Ubuntu. Vista has proven less stable than you would expect for something from MS. Ubuntu has proven superior, but Vista is retained for one or two applications that only run on Vista.
I have an HP that runs Windows XP, and I’ve been (barely) using it to start off my business in freelance illustration. The problem is that my computer just doesn’t want to do hard work. If I open up a 6000×6000 pixel image and try to work on it, it’ll take a good 5 minutes for it to load the picture. If I want to undo something, that’ll take 3 minutes. Saving a file that size is 5 minutes of crunching and grinding from the machine.
In addition, the fan will randomly start spinning furiously; it sounds like an industrial fan. It’ll do this when I’m watching streaming videos, editing illustrations…basically if I do anything for too long. Lately, it’s also been restarting itself for no good reason. I’ve scanned for viruses and the like, and everything is fine. I think this computer is just lazy, although it should have a few years left.
I haven’t bothered to contact anyone about this problem. Instead, I purchased a better computer, which works great.
It has lost the flexibility that MAC is known for. Also, although I usually like MAC, it somehow loses the fun and tangibility of the old school, by-hand drafting process.
I have an HP that I use in my job in Public Service. Every now and then my computer will just freeze up and stop working. I have to reboot and start over. I have contacted customer service but they have not been able to figure out why this happens!
Thasnk for the giveaway:
1. Toshiba Satellite A215 with …VISTA.
2. Education and home.
3. This thing wants to “power cycle down” almost all the time about 15 minutes or so after start-up. The wierd thing is that it seems to be upon initial start-up after being turned off for a period of time. You just power it back up and you’re good to go for several hours (maybe forever if on AC). It’s wierd.
4. We need to call this in and give them a shot at it. Since we haven’t, I can’t say how the experience is yet. Please standby…..
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use? Dell
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer. housewife
3. What are the problems you have with said machine? super SLOW at times, internet crashes randomly
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)? Nothing – said that I needed more memory (did that and moved all music and pix to an external drive). I’ve called so much, I hear them sigh as soon as they hear my voice.
Dell
Education
Tends to freeze up a couple of times a day
IT has said I have too many programs running at once..
I use a Dell Laptop. I use it in my online sales business. The biggest pain is that the battery has such a short time it holds a charge now. My husband and sister have the same problems with theirs. I haven’t contacted Dell about it because I know they won’t do anything about it!
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
My computer is an older Compaq.
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
I’m a freelance writer.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
It runs slowly and IE shuts down every time I try to use it. I use firefox instead.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
I didn’t bother to contact them, I just assumed they wouldn’t help.
I purchased a HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC in January of 2008 (so it’s relatively new and uses Vista). I’m a writer/artist, so I use this computer a lot! Lately it won’t let me use my (paid for till May) Spyware, saying that the Spyware is incompatible with a new Windows update (which I uninstalled, no help). No matter how often I try to go on-line with help with this, I get no answer. Secondly, every once in awhile, besides being slow like crazy, lots and lots of Internet Explorer pages will come up and keep coming up (everyone says this is a virus although my Ant-Virus software insists I’m ok) and I have to log off and log in again, which can be frustrating while in the middle of doing something else!
1. What machine? Dell Desktop, Gateway Laptop
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? TOnline Sales
3. What are the problems you have with said machine? The Gateway is getting old and sluggish
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)? The manufacturer???…nothing….it’s old.
1. iMac Intel Core 2 Duo NOW; problem was with my iMac G5
2. Graphic Designer/Web Developer/Writer
3. In first SIX MONTHS, 2 motherboards replaced, in following 1 year, ANOTHER motherboard, the hard drive and the logic board, and, in the final 6 months of my 3 year extended care warranty, the HARD DRIVE again (total of 3 motherboards, 1 logic board, 2 hard drives – I believe something ELSE is the problem and these are the ’symptoms’, y’think?).
4. At first, with only 3 weeks to go on my warranty, they played it all down, tried to set up ANOTHER home repair/replacement of the hard drive. I insisted they honor their ‘no fault’/'three strikes it’s replaced’ “lemon” policy. It took some phone calls, some repeated, and repeated, conversations until I demanded to talk to the absolute highest higher-up I could reach. When the rep I wound up with decided to get real and work WITH me on the extended care/replacement agreement (and it ain’t cheap, $199 for 3 years), he went over backwards to help me, stayed in communication with me until I had a brand new replacement computer (AND they took care of the express RETURN of the fouled up iMac BACK to them, no cost to me). It was NOT an ‘easy’ experience, but a GOOD ONE, and I am happy. No more problems.
The squeaky wheel, does indeed, get the grease…
You gotta stay ON POINT and ‘never give up, never surrender’…
shea
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use? Dell Inspiron 1501
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer. I use the computer to school my daughter.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine? It crashes alot for no reason it will just shut down.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)? They have taken control and changed some settings. It works for awhile then crashes again. It was an OK experience wasnt the worst I have had but also wasnt the best.
I have a toshiba notebook, I run a tool truck. My problems are the fricking sauldering giving out inside and I can’t charge my battery anymore
Acer Desktop
I am an educator and primarily use my computer for word processing and record keeping.
My computer is slowly self destructing. The CD drive no longer works along with one of the USB ports.
The PC is out of warranty and according to the manufacturer it would be better just to buy a new one.
I have a Gateway laptop. I do data input and freelance writing while staying home with my two young kids. So far my only problem has been an issue between Windows and Internet Explorer. My solution was to switch to FireFox and since then things have been fine.
The computer I use at work is a dinosaur IBM of some sort. I’m a registered nurse at a community hospital and ALL our documentation, paperwork and forms are on the company’s intranet. My computer will NEVER print PDF’s and although I haven’t dealt directly with IBM – our ITS department is pretty useless. The answer I always get? Have you turned it off and turned it back on? Well, no… I’m really a complete idiot, thanks.
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
I use a dell for personal use but am forced to use a macbook pro for work. :: pukes ::
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
I work for an internet company answering tons of emails.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
What ISNT wrong with it? It runs about 1000* even with a cooling rack under it. I have burnt my wrists countless times. It wont wake up from sleep mode half the time. I bet all macbook pro users are familiar with the spinning beach ball of doom. Its slow, it closes programs without warning. It freezes at least once a day (not just mine, all in office). It randomly dims for no reason. I could go on and on forever.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad e
xperience)?
Apple stinks at listening to the customer at the “genius bar”. Took 2 weeks to fix a coworker’s computer when a faulty part failed. Sadly nothing can be done about my computer since “nothing is wrong”. Tell that to my burnt wrists and forever crashing overpriced piece of…. you get the idea!
Glad to know I am not alone!
1. I have a Dell Dimension B110.
2. I’m a writer/journalist.
3. You name a problem, I’ve had it, but some of them are Windows related. Slow even with increased memory and DSL, constant hangs, constant shut-downs in the middle of a program, Windows updates that break other programs, loss of sound drivers for no explicable reason, a CD/DVD that works or doesn’t at random. On the plus side? I love my monitor and my HP printer.
4. Every time I have called, I get someone who tells me to wipe the hard drive and re-do the installation. It doesn’t matter what the problem is — that’s what they tell you. I’ve done it twice, and then spent hours rebuilding and updating my programs….and yeah, everything happens again.
I really want a Mac, but now your article scares me!
1. What machine (computer – is it a Dell, a Mac, etc) do you use?
4GB Dual Core PC that I put together running Vista Home Premium 64bit, SP1.
2. What industry (field of work) are you in? The one where you use the computer.
Manned-Space Flight, Aerospace research, sensor R&D.
3. What are the problems you have with said machine?
None, this baby kicks serious butt.
4. What has been done by the manufacturer of the machine in an attempt to fix your problems, and have they worked (was it a good experience, or a bad experience)?
I look myself in the mirror and say, “Fix it dummy!”. No problems so far.