How sturdy is the MBP?

I'm thinking of getting a 15" Macbook Pro. I will be carrying this notebook around quite a bit so wanted to know how sturdy it is? Should I get a well-padded backpack or will a normal/slightly padded one do? Any backpacks recommended?

 

Well, with any notebook more protection is better. The MacBook Pro is built very well and it really depends if you want more protection or not, but I wouldn't worry too much.

 

but is it worth paying the extra $300 for the extra protection plan (aka apple care plan)?

 

I carry my MBP without a case or sleeve in a messenger back that is moderately padded.

 

I think it is worth it. Considering three years is a long time for consumer electronics, and there's a lot of chances for RAM failures, hard drive failures and more, and with AppleCare that will be replaced for free (note: wear and tear isn't covered by AppleCare). Plus, if you have any issues you can call AppleCare anytime, for unlimited times and all I hear are great reviews of AppleCare's call service.

 

Apple Care is definately worth it if you plan to keep your laptop for more than a year. Hardware failures happen ALL the time, and having something to cover those failures is essential. We have people come in who have to have their logic replaced more than once or twice, and without Apple care, if its out of warranty it could cost up to $800 for parts and labor each time. That would be a new computer already. So $300 to use your thing for 2 more years guaranteed is pretty good. Any little thing too, like a keyboard replacement, sometimes batteries, ram, any little hardware issue can be covered. Just don't make it sound like an accident and your fine ~_^.

 

I would recommend getting a backpack or messenger bag for the MBP. Its a big investment, and you can never be too safe. Be sure to get something that is for 15.4" widescreen notebooks. The Accessories forum on here has some good threads on notebook bags. Tom Bihn and Brenthaven are two brands that I've seen heavily recommended on here.

 

The MBP is by no means fragile but I got a $30 neoprene sleeve for it to protect from bumps and bruises. Carry it in my backpack every day. Frankly I think it would do just fine without the neoprene but I don't want to even get a scratch on it.

 

I generally agree, but
- It's $350 for the MBP :b
- Can't imagine that the battery would be covered by AppleCare.
- You can buy AppleCare any time within the first year of ownership. Doesn't make a difference in the length of coverage - 3 years from the day you bought it - but makes it less painful to spend the $300 later..

 

You're right, it is a little expensive compared to the other brand's warranty (but I think its worth it) .

It depends. If the battery health drops at a normal rate, then its considered "wear-and-tear" and not covered. But if the battery health dropped too quickly (I've heard of some 60% battery health in just 7 months) then Apple will replace it.

Yes, but if you bought AppleCare right away you can call AppleCare any time from the moment you bought and as many times as you wish. If you didn't buy AppleCare the standard one-year warranty only covers a one-incident call in the first 30 days.

 

Sam:

About the battery - yes if the battery develops noticeable problems in the first year, Apple will replace it. But that's my point - you don't need AppleCare for that, that's already covered under the normal warranty. I had quite a few batteries replaced for this reason over the years - I seem to really abuse them so they tend to die before the 1 year warranty expires

I don't think AppleCare will replace batteries that drop their charge in the 2nd or 3rd year.

You are right about support calls, it's just I don't think I have ever made a support call...

I do think AppleCare is a good investment overall. Repair prices tend to be very high so even if you have just one repair in year 2 or 3, you have made your money back. Repairs in the first year are covered by the normal warranty - which is very good, never had any problems. Apple service in general is excellent and always has been.

 

from personal experience (2 mac powerbooks, and friends who had macbooks) the mac powerbook/mbp is NOT sturdy. Keyboard is flimsy and if you pick up the laptop by the front (while open) near touchpad, it visible indents-- not good . As a matter of fact, the macbook (less powerful) is much sturdier physically. I'm currently on a gateway laptop, (of which I'll never go near again -- 2 keys have fallen off -- and it's hideously cheaply designed) so anything compared to what I'm using now seems sturdy. from personal experience. IBM thinkpads and macbooks (non-pro) are VERY sturdy.

 

Hmm I kind of find it hard to believe that picking up your laptop caused it to dent. Do you have any pictures by chance?

Edit: Oh.. I see that you said INdents... do you mean it flexes inward?

 

What do you mean by that?

 

Yes the fabled invincibility of powerbooks/macbooks is not completely true. As someone said, lots of logic boards/hard drive failures. Almost garanteed you'll get one of those two. As a professional, I switched back to industrially built XPS/Toughbook brands after 3 month assignment yielded 2 broken g4s. But thats cause I am a outdoor photographer... not realistic for other people.

Remember... you need to also pay another $99 for ProCare on top of your 350 plan to get decent service... that comes to $449 (just for the first year, its another 99 for each year after that!). Brands like XPS dell will make sure all repairs are next day because they know they are going with working professionals. Apple for some reason makes you wait... then takes your computer away. Plus you have to go to a store. I think more people should think about this. Most other companies send a tech to where you are, anywhere in the world, next day to fix your computer. For apple you need to either mail in, or find a retailer and wait in line, get it taken away, then returned to you much later, unless you get procare.


$350 (or $659 with 3 years procare!!!) plus already paying a bit of a premium for a laptop.... I did it twice... but after field work... I made the switch... back.

 

I thought the logic board failures was an early bug that was fixed a long time ago?

 

I don't think tsunamifury should go as far as saying you're guaranteed to get either a Logic Board failure or a hard drive failure. Logic Board failures are reduced now, but of course never 100% gone. But I wouldn't worry about a Logic Board failure if I were you.

As for a hard drive failure, it has nothing to do the Macs. Any and all notebooks have a large risk of hard drive failures. Constantly moving computers around don't do them any good. And AppleCare will replace hard drives if they fail (and they replace Logic Boards as well, of course).

 

yes, they will replace them for 3 times the price of buying it yourself! You'd have to have 4 HD failures to make up for the price of doing it yourself vs AppleCare. and 6 for AppleCare+ProCare!

I just want people to know that these choices are not a "good deal" There are very few "good deals" or "quality products for the money" when it comes to apple. You pay for style and general smugness. Also thin-ish laptops. Other than that, after years of experience, they are not magically better... but they are magically much more expensive.

 

Well, there's those that aren't great at fixing or replacing computer parts, and also, RAM failures, hard drive failures are common issues and all covered by AppleCare. If you can fix it yourself of course its cheaper. Its like building a desktop yourself vs. buying one from Dell.

Plus, its hard to compare Apple to Dell...Apple doesn't sell 5 million computers every quarter, just about 1.7 million. Apple can't offer the same services and product lineup as Dell...not enough people would use the service or buy the service to cover the costs.

I don't see why people are thinking the MacBook Pro is "invincible". I consider it good build quality but I personally think Toughbooks, the Dell rugged notebook and Thinkpads are more well-built than the MacBook Pro.

 

You know I never thought about in those terms before. Apple has yet to have the sales to justify a worldwide tech network for next day at home.

Interesting.

I have always wondered how a company could organize a network of that magnitude... it must be a co-ordination nightmare.

 

You should just have it insured....it should cost you about $80 a year depending on how much coverage you want.

 

I was recommended to have a look at www.safeware.com How does it compare to Applecare? I know safeware offers protection for accidental damage where as Applecare does not but what about other things like battery, hard drive & logic board failures? Or well, you could just back-up your data, drop the damn notebook & get them to replace the whole unit. I mean it's an option right

 

You are entitled to your opinion that Dell is super. I have heard they had some serious quality issues and terrible service over the last few years which caused them to lose a lot of market share. Used to be good 5 years ago, but only the business line (latitude).

There have been no reports of logic board failures on the MBP - probably has to do with the fact that Apple is now using Intel chipsets and chips like everyone else.

I don't know what you do, maybe you work out a lot, but I don't "indent" my MBP when lifting it at the front. I have also opened one up to install my hard disk - which I have to say was a major pain - and the insides of the MBP are very clean and well designed. Doesn't look like it's going to go anywhere.

And the keyboard is the best I have ever used on a laptop. Not flimsy. The keyboard is perfect, actually.

AppleCare makes the most sense because of the high labor costs, nothing else. A hard disk doesn't cost much but installing it takes skill and time. Especially in the MBP. Same with the logic board.

Over the years Apple quality has been OK for me and service has been excellent. The last gen Powerbooks were pretty bad though, I give you that.

But they do give a good example why Apple service is excellent. I had tiny horizontal lines on my Powerbook G4 screen. You had to look really close to see it, but it was annoying when editing photos or looking at backgrounds that I knew well - they looked wrong. It took some convincing, but Apple did replace the LCD panel for me which fixed the problem.
I tried the same with my Acer which had the same problem; no dice - they didn't see the problem, then told me it was "within spec".

 

Yes, for 659 dollars on top of a 2200-3000 dollar laptop the service better be out of this world. For 2800 to 3600, a laptop better have dinner on the table when I get home at night!

I'm not saying dell is super, it definitely has its downfalls. But when you look at the pure money of it, Apple is not always the best business decision. And thats how I make my choices. I think more people should think along these lines, but who am I to say where someone should waste money and where they shouldn't. There is a BMW 335xi parked in my driveway... changing the battery costs $900 at their dealership. Makes apple-service look like piddle-change. Then again... I do that myself too.

 

A BMW is not a waste of money - you drive a lot, might as well enjoy it. This is where the value comes in (love BMWs BTW ).

Same for the MBP - I sit in front of my computer all day, might as well enjoy it. It's a fantastic machine, beats the pants off my 1 year old Acer though this Acer cost $2500 at the time and the MBP just $2k. OS X is not without its flaws but over the year I save lots of time by not having to deal with Win XP / Vista crap. If I save just 15 hours over the course of a year, the MBP is paid in full just from the difference. If I was in marketing, I'd say the MBP is free or in fact saves me money. Sound business decision, no? And more pleasurable, too

 

What do you do that pays $130+ per hour?

 

I do a four hour shoot for 4k+ so Im sure there are plenty of jobs that pay 130+ and hour.