Disappointed with MacBook.

Here is some help:

If your story is true, you have taken your macbook to the worst, most ill-informed Apple representatives ever. Although you should, of course, have taken your battery in when it first gave you trouble, before your warranty expired, the battery warranty was extended to TWO years, and if your battery is doing what you say, Apple will replace it. Your battery warranty has definitely not expired, so you'd better call Customer Service.

As noted, Apple has extended the Macbook battery warranty to cover a bad batch of batteries in the early production. Don't be shy about calling Applecare or taking it in to an Apple retail store. It may take a couple calls to Applecare to get your problem escalated - however the battery is a pretty well known issue.

I'll agree the display on the Macbook is uninspiring (though mine is sharp and no stuck pixels). The constrast at the default settings is very washed out, and doing a calibrate in the System Preferences Display control Panel doesn't help much. The display in my Macbook is an LG-Philips model LP133WX1-TLA1. If you look that up on LG's web site, the stats are really disappointing - especially the viewing angle and fact it is only 6 bits of resolution per color per pixel triad. Millions of colors? How about more like approximately 262,000 colors.

Some things that might help the display:
1. Set the brightness high.
2. Run the OSX 10.4.10 combo update - it is supposed to contain fixes that improve the flicker problem. Beware, the 10.4.10 combo update may make your WiFi connection unstable.
3. Try resetting the power management chip by: shutting down, removing the battery and AC cord, the holding the power button down for at least five seconds. Release the button, re-install the battery and reboot.

If the display really bad, I'd try taking the machine to an Apple retail store (even if it is out of warranty). Take some print-outs from the discussion threads about Macbook display problems to support that macbook display may have known issues.

The Macbook WiFi problems appear to be software issues and will hopefully to be fixed in a forthcoming update. Note that Vista running on my Macbook has no WiFi drop-out issues, and it was OK up through OSX 10.4.9 too

I'm not sure about the DVD, as I only have the CD-R/DVD, not the Superdrive. I do know the drive in my Macbook immediately spits out DVD-R-DL discs that work OK on my PC and set-top DVD machine. Pre-recorded DVDs are no problem, and I've burned CD-Rs with no issues.

For the fit and finish - case not lining up correctly - the manufacturer that assembles Macbooks was over-tightening some of the screws early in the production run. Again, take the machine into a retail store and have them take a look at it. Also note: Apple will replace discolored palm rests on some white Macbooks.


Bill

I couldn't help but comment on something..."However, on the other side, I've had a mac genius tell me that my Macbook is "cheap" and because it is "cheaper than the Macbook Pros, it will inevitably creak". Can you imagine how insulting it is to have a two month old computer and be told it is "cheap" by an employee."
Cheap??? I don't consider the macbook cheap. Let's take the middle price in Canada is $1449. The price is similar average in the U.S. Yes the Macbook Pro is over $2000 but the macbook at close to $1500 with warr and any extras is far from cheap. I was not aware that Apple made cheap products. Hopefully you just got a bad one and they will make things right for you.
Tig

It sounds like you've had a horrible experience that no consumer should face. However, you should keep in mind that our perception of how well a company resolves consumer complaints is overweighted by an experience we have with just a few employees, often a bad experience with a single employee can ruin what we think of a company as a whole.

Apple does have an established history of trying to brush design flaws under the rug until a sufficient outcry makes them deal with it. It's a tremendously self-destructive policy that has to be addressed by Apple. Secondly, there's a dichotomy between service support between products bought from Apple's online store and their retail stores. I bought my Macbook a couple of weeks ago from Apple's online store and soon developed a problem in which OS X couldn't boot. I took it to the Apple Store on 5th Ave. and was told I may or may not be able to get a straight exchange (even with a non-custom build Macbook) because I bought it from the online store. I find this policy difficult to understand coming from a company that wants to integrate online commerce and retail experience. In the end it turned out that OS X wasn't properly installed at the factory so I had to wipe and reinstall.

I think the moral of these stories of difficulties with Apple are:
1) If you have a problem, document it with Apple and get in contact with them asps.
2) Express any displeasures you may have about Apple policies in writing to them and if serious with the Consumer Affairs Agency of your state.
3) I put all my purchases on Amex because they expend the warranty an extra year at no additional cost. Purchases on Amex also come with their own damage and theft protection for the first 90 days after purchase, as well as not paying for things if you can't return it - look on Amex's website for details and restrictions.

Lastly, I've had no problems to date with airport connectivity (10.4.10), screen flicker (fingers-crossed), wheezes, moans, clicking or beeps - I do have CPU whine that's slightly audible in very quite environments but it doesn't bother me, and I've had no battery or power issues thus far. We hear a lot of problems on these forums because people that post are a self-selective group but remember that not all macbooks have all the afflictions described in these discussion boards.

You mentioned you purchased your MacBook "online". Did you purchase it from the Apple store or another retailer? Was it new, used, refurbished?

Here is the link to the battery replacement program:

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

I have had many Apple products over the years and have not had any problems apart from a faulty battery which Apple immediately replaced.

If you got your MacBook a year ago, then it's the original release. Not that this should be an excuse, but this was a total rework of anything Apple had previously produced. Unfortunately, the risk of having some unexpected problems tends to be higher when such a radical redesign is made.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Regardless of how good of a reputation a company has... they can't control what all of their employees say or do.

I have no idea why someone (especially someone from Apple) would call the MacBook cheap. I find the design of the MacBook to be solid. The components in it are all "off-the-shelf" components. They're the same parts that every other major PC maker uses.

You should not have had to deal with waiting two months for a replacement. If something like that should come up in the future, you should contact Apple Customer Relations ((800) 767-2775) if you have made a reasonable attempt to resolve an issue and you have not gotten the support you feel you should have.

The reality of computers is under the hood computers are computers. No matter if it's a Dell,HP, Apple,Gateway or whatever. Apple makes better looking and more sleek computers. They have a operating system that has better security and is to some is more stable. But, it is different. If your used to Windows it takes some manual reading to understand the Apple way. I found it a bit hard when I bought my first Apple a few years ago. I really do not think Apple brings anything better to the table in terms of hardware than anyone else. The MacBook is a low end Laptop. It is by no means a bad computer. I like mine very well. But my first MacBook had some problem with the shutdown issue.
But it was quickly fixed by Apple. I have found with Apple that you must let them know right away about any issues. Get it in the Apple system. This can be said about any company. I am not sold on Apple computers. I guess I will use this MacBook for a couple of years or so. Then I will see were the Windows systems are and possible others like Linux. I think it's more important to like the Operating system and understand it. Rather than buying a certain computer.