*sigh* More issues...

I already started a thread grumbling about the heat and the floppy hinges on my MBP. I took it back to the store for that, got told there's nothing that can be done about it. Fine. Neither one is that big of a deal... the hinges have actually tightened up a bit over the past two weeks or so of use, to the point where it is no longer a problem for me, and I have Applecare so the CPU temp-as absurd as it is-is an irritation more than it is a problem.

However. In the past three days two new issues have shown up that are actual, fairly serious problems. One, the line in port no longer functions at all. I've tested the microphone on another machine, it works fine. Does not work period on the MBP. Yes, I've checked the settings. It's an issue with the port itself.

Issue two-which just showed up about half an hour ago-is that a diagonal line of pixels that's the better part of an inch long just failed in my screen. It looks an awful lot like a scratch, but it's not. I've scratched LCDs before; I just checked the scratched LCD on my Dell and compared it to the MBP; there is no physical mark on the MBP screen at all, and the visibility of the mark changes as I vary the brightness of the display. It also becomes quite clear if you stare at it head on; it is absolutely not a scratch, it's a fault inside the display itself.

I'm in shock. Two separate, completely unrelated failures within two weeks of ownership is something that I have never experienced on any computer I have ever owned, either laptop or desktop (including all of the desktops I've built myself).

From my experience with this machine, a friend's MBP (failed logic board, failed hard drive, power button is now being pushed in-which could be user error, I don't know), my grandmother's MBP (no problems at all that I know of), and what I've read here (all over the map as far as problems or lack thereof goes), it seems like these machines can either be very good, or very, very bad. And I have a sinking feeling that mine is leaning more towards the problematic end of the spectrum.

Now, the question is... do I call Apple directly or drag it back to the store? Opinions?

Bring it back!!

Well.. I know EXACTLY what you mean by they can be either good or bad.
My iBook is stuffed.
My friends iBook's work beautifully.
But uh, I'd probably take it to the store one more time.
If it returns with more problems like my iBook always seems to..
Call Apple.
I've never actually called Apple so I think I'll be doing that soon enough.
Cheers.

Yeah... I'm gonna back it up this afternoon and reinstall the OS, give one of the stores around here a call and see about taking it back in. The longer I have this thing the happier I am that I got Applecare... and it isn't even 3 weeks old yet.

On a side note, does anyone know who OEMs the MBPs? I know ASUS does either the MacBook or the MacBook Pro, but I don't know which one.

The Line-In port is for powered equipment only from what I've read on the internet, not for little microphones on headsets and such (annoyed me a little as I don't like using the internal mic for skype-ing so I've just gone back to using the PC for skype with a long leaded headset =p).

kao: I suppose that could be possible, but it worked fine for some time, and now it doesn't work. If it was only for powered equipment it shouldn't work period, I'd think...

Well mine doesn't work with my headset period and what I found after a while of searching Google suggested that it was for powered devices only . Are you sure it was using the mic and not the internal one? I stupidly argued until I was blue in the face that I was using a headset when a buddy complained of feedback from my TV over skype, it was actually just using the internal mic =p

Edit: The manual also only says "Audio Line in/optical digital line in", doesn't mention microphone.

Well, I made an appointment with the apple store, we'll see how it goes.

Good luck! Go in a with a positive attitude and hopefully you will come out with a positive experience.

I went in with a positive attitude until I had to wait for a solid half hour after my appointment time came and went to speak with anyone. I realize they're busy, but this store was massively understaffed and that half hour caused me more than a little inconvenience; I was under the impression that the purpose of appointments was to reduce or eliminate wait times.

Anyhow, they exchanged it, so I can't complain about that.

The new one is better in some ways, but it has an issue of its own that I'm not sure what I want to do about yet.

The hinges are actually fairly stiff (good), the cpu temps are a bit lower (good), the screen has no dead pixels at this time that I can see (good), but the screen's backlighting is not even at all (bad).

I'm gonna use it for a few days and see how much it bothers me. I'll probably stop at the store this weekend and see how it compares to the display models.

Oh, and kao: you were right; I dunno if I was mistaken or if I got lucky or what (probably the former) but the 'genius' at the apple store said that the line in port does require a preamp to function.