Apple / Mac ... are things as good as the 'old days'?

Hello fellow Mac Users.

If I may be brief and to the point with this post. For the last 2 decades, I have been a passionate user, buyer and promoter of Apple as a brand and Mac as a platform.

However, over the last couple of years I have suffered more problems with hardware, software and customer support than in the whole of my 20+ years with Apple/Mac.

Are there any other 'long term' users out there who feel the same?

RushfirthLeeds said:

Are there any other 'long term' users out there who feel the same?

Click to expand...

I'm a 25 year user of Macintosh computers...and Apple is as good as ever (IMHO) when it comes to hardware & customer support.

Basically (if you're a 20 year Mac user)...think back to 1990...what were your options to get any help regarding Macintosh computers from Apple???...you had ONE option...give them a phone call (unless you lived near Cupertino, Ca....then you could go in person)...but of course 99% of us do not live within a commutable distance of Cupertino.

Now in 2010...with all of the local Apple Stores...any sort of hardware, software, or customer support issues are MUCH more easily resolved!

- Nick

I once owned a Performa 6200 (I got it from work so didn't buy it)

It was an absolute pig of a machine, so IMO Apple have improved exponentially since those dark days

Road Apples: Power Mac x200 Series

Twenty year user also back to the original LC and experience no problems, but then again I am a desktop only user as I believe laptops with all their minaturiused optical drives, graphics etc are much more prone to failure.

The laptop was originally designed as a stop gap portable computer for students, teachers, salesmen etc. Now they are used as desktop replacements and the failure rate ensues.

And I agree with louishen as I owned a 5200 Performa. GRRRR!

I'm only a 5 year owner myself, but I do recall using an Apple back in junior high school when I was younger. The teacher in the "technology lab" was no expert either so if one of the machines went down it was pretty much never seen again (assuming it was sent to Apple for repairs). I've only had 2 instances where I had to have my Macbook repaired. Their awesome customer support during the first time is what made me a lifer. My hard drive failed...it started making clicking noises one night, and the next day it wouldn't boot up at all. So I drove 45 minutes to the Apple store---the Genius that helped told me right away that the hard drive died on me.

So I was obviously frustrated when I asked how long it would take to have it replaced. He replied "Well, are you hungry? You can go to the food court, eat, and cruise the mall or something. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to replace it, and we'll call you when it's ready."

I can't recall this ever happening with any of my Dell, HP, or Compaq computers when I had to have something fixed/replaced.

Its really not a fair comparison as every component in a modern computer is faster ,smaller and tends to run warmer plus the older models do not have what it takes to support the current OS and Apps.

Like Harry I've veen around Macs since the LC class. Bought an LCII Just before the LC III. Before that I had used the Mac Plus and SE a bit owned an Apple IIGS well.

In all that time we've owned seven or eight Macs and I have had them in the shop a total of four times in all thous years. Two of the trips turned out to be software issues rather than hardware. The total time all machines have spent in the shop is about one week.

Neither my Mac Pro or Mac Book Pro have been in the shop. I did have to replace the hard drive in the Mac Pro but that did not require a trip to the shop. Quick call to Apple and they cross shipped a replacement drive. I'll take those odds any day.

Like Sly have had an outstanding run. Replaced the hard drive on the original LC, a huge 128MB, yes MB not GB, and purchased an IBM Deathstar for a Gigabit Ethernet 500MHz DP and like all of them, clickety click and failure.

That's it for trips to the shop.

Funny…never one problem with any of my Mac computers (so far, I've only just began), but I've owned far worse (*cough* Acer/Gateway/eMachine *cough*).

I say any hardware failure in a computer is simply pure bad luck. Some people get problems, others do not. Some people get a bad Apple, others do not.

In my experience with Windows-based PCs, Acer and Lenovo notebooks tend to have issues with the motherboard…plug in a USB mouse, an external hard drive and a webcam, and the whole computer bogs down or crashes from power loss. As far as desktop PCs go, Gateway and eMachine are the worst- I went to school with Gateway computers that often had a meltdown. I owned an eMachine and the motherboard fried itself one day. Thankfully they're cheap ;P

I've owned Compaq/HP computers…it's hit or miss.

Chris H. said:

Funny…never one problem with any of my Mac computers (so far, I've only just began), but I've owned far worse (*cough* Acer/Gateway/eMachine *cough*).

I say any hardware failure in a computer is simply pure bad luck. Some people get problems, others do not. Some people get a bad Apple, others do not.

In my experience with Windows-based PCs, Acer and Lenovo notebooks tend to have issues with the motherboard…plug in a USB mouse, an external hard drive and a webcam, and the whole computer bogs down or crashes from power loss. As far as desktop PCs go, Gateway and eMachine are the worst- I went to school with Gateway computers that often had a meltdown. I owned an eMachine and the motherboard fried itself one day. Thankfully they're cheap ;P

I've owned Compaq/HP computers…it's hit or miss.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Hardware is going to fail regardless of what OS it's running. Funny store is my best friend is a die-hard Sony advocate, and he's probably had the worst amount of hardware failures I've ever seen in 1 machine. He had to purchase a second computer because his main Vaio laptop spent more time getting repaired and being shipped back and forth than he actually got to use it. The only reason he kept it was because he fully customized it from Sony and purchased the 2 year extended warranty.

I've never owned a Mac until this year when I bought a MacBook Pro, and to be honest I am only 23 years so I never really got into Apple's older Macs, and products. But I can tell you, their customer support, the high-quality products to me are the best I've ever owned.

I ran Windows most of life, and you have so much to do to keep them maintained, such as anti-virus software, registry cleaners, and overtime your computer will run slower too. My Mac still runs the same day as I got it, and very little maintenance. And I hear they last quite a bit as well, and it seems so especially the durability, and the build quality of their machines is unmatched in the industry.

I've never owned a product and felt so assured by it's build quality, and performance than an Apple product.

Apple problems

If you guys had to put up what I have had to put up with over the last year or two....

He who is determined to be upset shall never be disappointed.

I only started using a computer back in 2004 when I had my own shop, and not knowing any better, I spent £1800 on a fairly simple HP set up which included the hard drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, virus stuff, and of course the edition of XP and Office.

Everything involved with it was hard work, and required me swearing a lot and asking people for help! Also, I had to keep paying for the anti virus software.....

3 years later, I had closed the shop and taken the PC home, a friend had started working for a Mac specialist, and he was telling me about the differences, and then he got one, which I used, and loved, and I found that I COULD use it - which is the major difference to me.

I stumbled across a facebook ad for a secondhand eMac, it cost me £80 and even after defragmenting the PC, running this that and the other, doing countless virus checks, my £80 eMac was outperforming the PC hands down. I've never really struggled to do stuff (ok so check my post recent post re an email issue to contradict that!) whereas doing simple tasks on the PC would defeat me! A couple of years ago I bought a secondhand MacBook for less than the cheapest of cheap brand new Windows laptops. My mums HP laptop lasted about 12 months before it got to the point that it was 'too uneconomical to repair' (battery knackered and running slower than Peter Griffin doing a marathon)

So anyway, I've been using Macs for 3-4 years now, I've never paid a penny for virus protection, they work, you get the most amazing customer service I could ever imagine from any company that operates today - seriously, I am very critical when it comes to customer service, and what I expect from a company that takes my money! * Apple have so far exceeded my high expectations.

Macs work, and Apple look after you. Why would I change?


* Not that Apple have MY money exactly, I've always bought secondhand.

wavinwayne said:

He who is determined to be upset shall never be disappointed.

Click to expand...

Well said!!!

- Nick

p.s. Not sure whom this quote is originally credited to.

After 24 years I would say it is only gotten better. . .

I would like to be able to expand upon my statement, however, in the past four years I have had two strokes, hence trying to remember some things is at time a little difficult. And, for some reason today is one of those days when my brain just doesn't want to cooperate. So maybe later it will.