Why I Hate The Macbook Pro-GIVEAWAY

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Extensis Suitcase. ($99.95)
   The Apple Store seemed to think suitcase was Satan incarnate.
   
4. 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.
5. 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?

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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 as well ($199.95). As of this writing my life has been hectic, so full research into this issue is not complete. What appears to be happening is a heavy video card conflict with Photoshop’s new OpenGL interaction. Basically, I can be working and suddenly I have video card errors. More on this when I am up to speed myself.

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?

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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 (5″x8 1/4″) with heavy duty acid-free paper, as well as my favorite drafting pencil. The pencil is an Alvin Draft/Matic (0.5 mm), heavy duty construction with machined grip and sliding lead hardness guide. It is a magic mechanism to say the least.

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.

       

Should I Incinerate My Macbook Pro?

To give you a little background, my computer knowledge isn’t exactly limited. Having completed MCSE training, I have a very intimate knowledge of hardware, and the windows operating system, enough to push an entire network if deemed necessary. Once you are trained in this manner it makes it extremely easy to understand market trends, new technologies in software and hardware, and how a new system works in the environment it is intended for. You don’t have to work as an IT to understand concepts and functionality. Another day we will get into severe details as to why I never decided to pursue a career in IT,  but for now, the applicable fact is that i am more artist than anything and couldn’t picture myself crawling around on the floor in a tie. Being more of an artist, and somewhat tech minded, naturally i decided to pursue graphic design. That was over a decade ago and I, James H. Pickett have been neck deep in Mac’s ever since.

Am I a Mac supporting imaging professional? YES! Have I loved every Mac i have owned, used, fixed, wired, upgraded and broken in the last 12 years? YES! Do I hate my current Macbook Pro? YES! Has Apple put profit before customer service? Sure seems that way at this point. This current pile of Macbook pro (Apple MacBook Pro 2.16 GHz Core Duo) has more problems (intermittently I might add) than any machine I have ever owned, and has been in the Mac store, and at the genius bar more times than bars in New York have been closed for allowing teenage drinking.

At every visit there is some other excuse like I am an average user that fell for an ipod and decided to buy a mac. (not that I am insulting anyone, were all consumers somewhere.) They continually take a condescending tone and basically tell me I am crazy, and of coarse my machine never has these problems when its in there, or the little mac genius that got thrown in a locker in high school and now has power over people just doesn’t do a damn thing and laughs at me when I leave.

Sidebar; we are talking about the Apple store in Albany, NY… The Apple store that factually outsells the Manhattan Apple store. The very same apple store that REPLACED an associate of mines laptop on a “3 strikes” rule. This particular Powerbook has been in this particular store more than five times, on one of the visits, they claimed to have replaced my topcase under warranty, and glued it instead. Did they think they could just talk down to me and i would go away? Did you forget i am a member of the national news media? This company, the one that has led me through almost all of my professional career, and been the core of my work, is failing me. My machine is a pile of trash, and their customer service is… pathetic. After 2 years of visits (no kidding), I am just ready to say Apple, can kiss my ass. Thanks for poor policy Mr. Jobs, thanks for being the soul of an industry, and setting up a structure that screws little ol’ me.

If you have had a similar experience at the at this Apple store, or any Apple store, E-mail the General Manager of the Crossgates Mall store, here.