Bad switch: The year and a half emac

My $1,000 emac died after a year and a half and Apple won't fix it. The analog power supply board died. I'm peeved. I switched to Apple for what I was told would be superior quality workmanship, but I think I was misinformed. I've heard other reports of quality going down lately. My compnay bought 14 ibooks. The keyboards went bad on all but three of them in six months. Just cheaply made our tech guy said. Like everyone else, he explained, Apple outsources all their stuff to China and we're paying the price with inferior equipment. I was told my emac also suffered from the dying capacitor problem that some other manufacturers had -- because they bought components using a stolen capacitor formula from Japan -- only the Japanese had been cagey enough to leave out the stabilzation chemical from the stolen formula. If Apple is now buying this kind of third rate component, I'm sorry I switched. If Honda made cars that lasted a year and half, I doubt they'd still be in business. Now can't recommend Apple as others have recommended it to me. Sorry, don't mean to badmouth Apple, but that's my story. A year and a half for $1,000.... :batman:

All companies have bad runs of products, it's when those bad runs are widespread and become more the norm than the exception that they turn into Sony and suck. I'm sure you can get your machine fixed for a sum far greater than replacing it. Are you going to be upset if you have to replace a cylinder head on an out of warranty Accord? Sure, but that doesn't mean all Accords are junk. You just got unlucky.

Would you feel this way if it had been let's say....Dell, Gateway, IBM? I have seen plenty of this with those companies as well. It really grinds my gears when people say this because this happens with all manufacturers. Your tech guy probably said cheaply made because the first thing he sees is plastic...to us plastic is inferior I guess. It is human nature to think that.

Sorry for your bad experience though. Hopefully you will have a better experience with whatever you choose in the future.

Ultimately consumers are to blame for product quality going down. If people were happy to pay another $200 for a machine made in California rather than in China, then I am sure Apple would be more than happy to accomodate. Int he PC market, it's getting even worse, with brands like Acer building stuff ever cheaper (and nastier) and yet people buy it. Sony and the other "quality" brands cannot compete and so do the same.

I am hoping (and praying) that the new Macbooks are sturdy. The keyboard looks simple, so hopefully it either won't break or if it does, it'll be inexpensive to replace.

Oh man. If I had a penny for everytime I heard someone like you ....

Stolen designs? Bad circuit boards? Oh man sounds like a novel in the making! Either that or your tech is making crap up because he knows you won't be satisfied with
"Dude, happens, I'll go ahead and order the part and get it fixed."

Look. Bad runs happen. And it happens to everyone. DELL, Gateway, Compaq, HP, Sony, Alienware, Voodoo, E Machines, EVERYONE. I suspect that if this had happened on a Dell, you wouldn't be on Dell's forum whining. Want to know a secret? Theres a group of about 15 or so factories in Asia (China, Tiwian, Japan, Korea, etc...) that make ALL the parts that eventually wind up over here. Some winds up in the Sony factory or the Dell factory, and some winds up at Apple. Just look at the batteries. Thats why Apple offers the Applecare program. Didn't buy it? Why? Lets be honest. You guys wanted to save a buck.. and here you are. And honestly, FIRE your tech guy.

If he was TRULY a tech, he'd call up the Apple service line, get the part and replace it. It's not hard. Why isn't he getting a part to fix it and...::::gasp::: fix it?!?!?!?!?!

In the time it took you to come here register, and type this out and post it, I could have swapped the boards. No problem.

And for those that are thinking.. Apple won't sell you the part, you're dead wrong. And if for some god forsaken reason they won't, call someone like Small Dog or some Mac store in your area and get them to get it for you.

Come on think outside of the box. And let me ask you this, how many virus' did you get in your 18 months? How many system crashes did you have? How many times did you have to call IT and have them backup all your data and wipe the drive?

Yeah. It's the software. Sand is circuits and switches and boards, but Mac's are the Software. My advice? Get a new tech who knows how to keep his end users happy.

Asus, MSI, Abit and all the other major Motherboard manufactures had the Capacitor issues at one point.

I would suggest a Dell next time. We all know Dells never die. Never, not once. Problem is why did my Dell Laptop die? I pampered it yet it's mainboard died in 6 months of CAREFUL use. I should go to Dells forums and say ALL DELLS die and use cheap parts, but I won't because like was said above, nothing is perfect and problems happen.

Here's a thread that's going nowhere....

baggss said:

Here's a thread that's going nowhere....

Click to expand...

It's not that its not going anywhere, but that he feels the need to vent. I've been a lurker for quite some time and notice that there does seem to be some surpression of people just venting here. I'm not sure why, but if we're here to talk about the WHOLE of the Mac expierience then the good and the bad should be allowed.

What would you suggest? Locking the thread? Nice way to let people express themselves. Thus far there's been nothing wholy negative on this thread except your opinion that everyone whos contributed to this thread has contributed ... nothing ... according to you.

I dont want to argue, you seem to like proving you're right. Only, the thing that comes to mind is... freedom of speech.

I'm sorry about your eMac dying. I'd be upset too.

However I'm also tired of people who only post when they have a bad experience.

Oh baby...


I'm definately subscribing to this one.

spaceage tech said:

It's not that its not going anywhere, but that he feels the need to vent. I've been a lurker for quite some time and notice that there does seem to be some surpression of people just venting here. I'm not sure why, but if we're here to talk about the WHOLE of the Mac expierience then the good and the bad should be allowed.

What would you suggest? Locking the thread? Nice way to let people express themselves. Thus far there's been nothing wholy negative on this thread except your opinion that everyone whos contributed to this thread has contributed ... nothing ... according to you.

I dont want to argue, you seem to like proving you're right. Only, the thing that comes to mind is... freedom of speech.

Click to expand...

I agree that there is nothing wrong with someone venting. I also agree that at this point, there is nothing wholy negative about this thread... yet. Again, I also agree that some have gone "on the defensive" a bit when there was no call for it.
Keeping this in mind, let's all keep our comments civil (as they all have been... so far) and remember that there is nothing personal to be offended by.

Back on topic...
It is unfortunate that you had a bad experience with your eMac. Computers are complex machines and like it or not, no matter who the manufacturer is, computers can and sometimes will fail. This is why companies offer warranty extensions and just plain warranties to begin with. :black:

Yes, excuse me for venting, but this forum was for "switchers" and I thought it fit here. Yes, I'm venting. Do you know how often I come across a lum sum of $1,000 with two kids to feed? I wiped out a half month's salary to buy my family a computer. My eight-year old waited nearly a year for old dad to be able to buy one. All those snazzy Apple ads on TV.... Of course, now we won't have a computer for who knows how long... Sorry, Kids, dad bought a lemon, "everybody makes 'em". Small comfort.

It's hard to fork out money when you have mouths to feed. Some people can't even afford that.

Possibly you should've bought a generic PC box made to your own specs, it would've been a lot cheaper and easier to repair if something went wrong.

My kid brother would love an iMac but he isn't going to get one anytime soon. For now he's on an 8 year old PC. Kids can be pretty resilient.

applemac1 said:

Sorry, Kids, dad bought a lemon, "everybody makes 'em". Small comfort.

Click to expand...

The only problem I have is you can not have a lemon 18 months later. If you had problems the entire time, then you have a lemon. In this case, you do not.

There may be many reasons why your hardware fail. The challenge is getting it fixed with out paying both arms and a leg.

spaceage tech said:

It's not that its not going anywhere, but that he feels the need to vent. I've been a lurker for quite some time and notice that there does seem to be some surpression of people just venting here. I'm not sure why, but if we're here to talk about the WHOLE of the Mac expierience then the good and the bad should be allowed.

What would you suggest? Locking the thread? Nice way to let people express themselves. Thus far there's been nothing wholy negative on this thread except your opinion that everyone whos contributed to this thread has contributed ... nothing ... according to you.

I dont want to argue, you seem to like proving you're right. Only, the thing that comes to mind is... freedom of speech.

Click to expand...

Freedom of speech? I guess that applies to all of us, right? Funny how I never said the thread should be locked or that I even disagreed with it. I simply made a comment that seemed to fit with what had been posted up to that point. Don't like? That's ok. Thanks for the negative feedback.

baggss said:

Freedom of speech? I guess that applies to all of us, right? Funny how I never said the thread should be locked or that I even disagreed with it. I simply made a comment that seemed to fit with what had been posted up to that point. Don't like? That's ok. Thanks for the negative feedback.

Click to expand...

LOL...You got negative feedback for that?

Next time my mother tells me to eat my vegetables I'm going to punch her in the face. I got negative feedback on another board because I congratulated someone and the feedback message was "**** him".


I'm not too crazy about the feedback system.

On a more positive note, I can't imagine an "Analog Power Board" could be that expensive for an eMac. Any know where to get one or what they are going for?

I agree with Baggss, search around for an Analog board for it. There might be some on Ebay at a low price.

Parts do die with every brand. That is all I was trying to point out.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...

I just read the whole thread and needed to yell out loud!

There's gotta be a light at the end of the tunnel for the OP....surely it's not to buy another computer just yet?

applemac1 said:

Yes, excuse me for venting, but this forum was for "switchers" and I thought it fit here. Yes, I'm venting. Do you know how often I come across a lum sum of $1,000 with two kids to feed? I wiped out a half month's salary to buy my family a computer. My eight-year old waited nearly a year for old dad to be able to buy one. All those snazzy Apple ads on TV.... Of course, now we won't have a computer for who knows how long... Sorry, Kids, dad bought a lemon, "everybody makes 'em". Small comfort.

Click to expand...

Well maybe you should not give up so easily.

It is not unreasonable to expect a product sold as new to last a "reasonable amount of time", which should also be supported by what is called an implied warranty on anything you buy (that a product will do what you expect it to, i.e. last more than 18 months). You should write a letter to Apple (yep a letter, not an email, not their call centre, but actually a written letter, to their customer service department. Explain exactly what happened and ask if they can offer something better than their standard "$800 to fix anything, from a loose cable to a logicboard and processor replacement". You should put in a few notes about how your kids love the computer (future customers) and that up until now you have been patient and resonable and you expectation of a machine made by Apple is that it would last longer than 18 months, with reasonable use.

The letter should be firm, but not rude and should be written in a manner than shows you know your rights. You should ALSO do the same thing to the shop that sold it, because legally, they are responsible for selling you the "defective" product... although if it was an Apple Store, things will get interesting real quick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warranty