4 MBP's in 2 weeks!

Here's a little saga for you all. After months of research and comparing I decided to get a new penryn MBP. I went to the store, picked one up and when I got it home all seemed well, until I went to close it. The lid was so warped on one side that the latch couldn't grasp it and it wouldn't close. The next day it went straight back. The store gladly gave me a new one. I got it home, put in a disk to install software to which a loud grinding noise then a 'snap' came from the machine. Again I took it back to the store and managed to get the disk out (although with a nice crack in it). I then got given a third to try out. Got it home, prayed, then turned it on. I immediatley noticed 2 grey horizontal lines near the bottom of the screen, about an inch long each, that wouldn't go away. I rang apple support and spent about 40 minutes going through refreshes and reboots but with no luck. They said to once again take it back and replace it. I went back to the store again where as soon as they saw me laughed and instantly went for a new machine. They asked if I wanted to try another brand but being a sucker for punishment and hell bent on getting a MBP that worked I asked for a 4th. So far this one is going fine. The only thing I can notice is that the right arrow key is on a angle and doesn't sit flush like the rest but it works and I can't be bothered going for a 5th.

Anyway, after having 4 machines here's a few things I've noticed...

1) The disk drive and hard drive loudness varied between all 4 machines.
2) The eveness of the back light on all 4 screens has been totally different.
3) The flushness of the keyboard has been different on all of them.
4) The lid has been slightly warped on all 4 and on the 1st very warped.

Apple and Apple loyal always go on about the excellent build quality of their products. It was one of the reasons I went for one and the fact that you pay more for a mac than most other brands you should get your money's worth. I do like my MBP and am glad I stuck with it but I'm just warning people who are soon to buy one to be carefull and not just settle for defects because it's a mac. They have the same build quality issues as everyone else.

 

That sucks. Still if you're paying $2000-$3000 for a notebook you shouldn't keep one that has a badly-built keyboard. I'd open one up in the store so if there's a problem you can return it there.

 

Believe me, the arrow key does bug me but compared to the previuos 3 at least everything else works.

 

Yeah, but when you're paying so much money you just should get one that's perfect, not just settle on one. Opening MBPs in the store will let you keep exchanging them until you get one where everything's fine. I've never heard of these kind of problems happening on Apple's online store, only in the Apple Store, which is a little weird.

 

Wow. That's intense.

 

It almost sounds like you got returned machines with luck like that.

I don't know what to tell you though, I've had 18 Macs in 20 years (when I was a tech I got a little carried away and always had at least 8 on my desk), and I've replaced the power supply in my 8500, a fan in my G4 Tower, and a hard drive in the same G4 (however it was not OEM). My first G5 blew up from natural causes (power surge). But nothing had any defects out of the box.

So I'd do what Michael said. Go in, get a new one, and open it up in the store.

 

Is one crooked arrow key really worth taking it back though? I'm scared that the 5th will have something wrong with it. Can the keys be taken off and replaced individually? If so I could just take it into an apple store and get them to do it perhaps?

 

Try another brand? So you did not purchase one from an Apple store?

But yeah, the build quality of Apple notebooks aren't as good quality as Thinkpads or Dell Latitudes. Aluminium is a relatively soft metal, so it's not as robust as Titanium or Carbon Fibre. The plastics on the Macbooks aren't that great either.

 

But they look oh so stylish. Unfortunately, they also look all the same. :twitcy:

 

No, I bought it from a store called JB Hi Fi here in Australia. They were really good about it and just kept swapping them no questions asked.

 

Perhaps the store you purchased from was just unlucky and received a batch of lemons from Apple.

 

Oh, the Apple store itself rarely hands out a dud like that...That could be why you got four in a row.

 

Wow, you are lucky . I remember cashmonee had quality issues too, I think he's on his fifth MBP. At least Apple has good customer support though!

 

Yeah, I rang apple everytime on the machine faults and after me saying I only just got the machine they told me to swap it. Other companies I've dealt with ('cough' sony 'cough') either tell you there's nothing wrong or expect you to send in a brand new product for repair which can take weeks. I've lost a little love for apple because of it but the 4th is fine so far. Can anyone tell me how easy/costly it is to replace a single key on the keyboard of a Macbook Pro? If I can get the arrow key sorted out it will be perfect.

 

You'd need to replace the whole keyboard if you wanted to try to do that, but I'm pretty sure it voids your warrenty.

 

i recently bought a (October) 17" MBP straight from apple (over the phone)... i got mine replaced 3 times... this third one seems fine.

and yes, i do noticed all three of them has different baclight leakage and eveness. one of them has a warp casing... one of them has lid that did not latch on properly. the first 2 has power supply problem..

i bought a CD macbook about 2 years ago (now stolen) it also has various problems... the fan is replaced twice in a row, the top case is also replaced twice because of crooked keys and touchpad. the keyboard is now fine... though the buzzing noise and the vibration still persist. i lived with the problem.

 

Not sure whether I should feel scared by this story or not... because I am about to buy a new MBP. I can already imagine the hazzle with it, coming back to the store, explaining to them that when I pay so much money, I don't want any kind of defects or cosmetic issues with it. What are the odds that you get a perfect MBP? After reading forums for some months, I basically know what all the potential defects/annoyances are, and they are quite a few.

 

i vote for a pic of this key!

let us decide for ourselves

 

dont be, i just got one via online applestore, and its 100% cake

 

Yeah, don't be scared of buying a new macbook. I didn't tell that story to scare people off getting one but just to make sure you don't settle for any defects with such an expensive purchase. Apple pride themselves on quality products but it seems they suffer quite a few small, stupid defects that quality control must not care about. Most other brands seem to have flush keyboards but for some reason apple ones just don't seem that sturdy, which is bizarre considering a Pro is their top of the line laptop. After 4 MBP's I'm annoyed by the keys being crooked but I doubt that they would replace the machine again on the grounds of 2 crooked keys. At least they work and to me, that's the main thing at the moment.

 

I was lucky enough to only go through one MBP before I found a perfect one.

 

If there's an Apple Store near your house you can take it there and they'll replace the keyboard in the store. Just make sure to make an appointment at their support center, the Genius Bar.

 

lol @ 4..... I'm on my 19th Macbook Pro ...

 

19th????!!!! I would've given up on it a long time before that. Basically, if anything goes wrong with number 4 then I'm off MBP's for good, or at least this current generation.

 

They wouldn't give me a refund.... my only option was to keep opening them till I got one that worked as it should.

 

its sad to see that there is a lapse of proper quality checks by apple.

The best way out of it is open it at the store and satisfy that all is fine.

I did the same when I bought my MacBook this march.

 

Thats entirely accurate.

I had people look at me with this mammoth stack of $3,000 17" MBPs like I was some kind of freak. It's sad though the way it's set up. They make you feel like your doing something wrong by wanting a working computer. You have to stand up for yourself & your consumer rights by not accepting anything sub-par for what you pay. If more people did this then we probably wouldn't be facing these issues.

 

That's disappointing.