Don't Buy Apple

I agree which is why I won't buy an Apple computer but I haven't found anything that is better than an iPod. It of course won't last over two years but American Express refunds my money every time the iPod fails after the 1-year warranty.

So if anyone buys an Apple product, make sure you get an extended warranty either by using an AMEX or perhaps another card.

Huh? Warranty replacement took 3 weeks! Apple's known for 2 day turn arounds.

I think you're a troll.

"And they refused to fix my IPod because it is a month over its warranty." Apple has a secret warranty program where they fix iPods within a month or two of warranty end. You're either very unlucky or just a troll.

Hope your luck changes.

Apple customer service is 100% perfect. But it is rated higher even than Dell.

Having owned macintoshes since 1987 I can say my experiences have been positive. I had a PowerMac w/ bad graphics right out of the box and on the other end I had an iBook that never went in for repairs in 8 years. I sent in another iBook covered under applecare and it was back in about 3 days from the time fedEx picked it up!

Apple's policy has been, for a few years now, that once it shows up on your doorstep, it's sent in for repair never outright replacement. That has POed a few folks.

I've always heard that extended warranties are a bad deal, but with portable computers that's another story. I would consider applecare. But think about it.. if Applecare costs $300 and a repair would cost $300 without applecare, then your computer would have to break twice to make it worth it.

Don't buy apple computer!
If you are a windows user, and are wandering around apple store, this message is for you. I have a macbook 13 inch for two years. My experience has been aweful. I am writing this note so that you will not go through the disappointment and madness I am feeling right now.

Apple computers, imac, macbook, mac pro, and so forth, are all sold at premium price. For the money you take out of your pocket, I strongly believe that you deserve a premium product quality as well as reasonable technical support. But will you really be getting it? Not likely.

First, the quality of the product. On the first day when I received my macbook and tested it out, I found that my external speaker did not work at all. The macbook was not able to play any sound unless I pluged in an earphone. I brought this brand new defect laptop to the apple store, and it took over a week for them to fix it. I had to go to the apple store again to pick it up. Moreover, my hard drive completely died one and half years after the purchase. I had no access at all to everything on the hard drive for over two weeks. Imagine if you are a student, and you are in the middle of writing an essay which was due the next day. Luckily, a very kind technician friend helped me to restore the data, otherwise I would be totally messed up. I don't have apple care, so paid over $120 for replacing the dead hard drive. Now my power adaptor (the very infamous Magsafe) has been weird for more than half a year. When you plug it in, it is up to the mood of the Magsafe plug to decide whether it wants to work or not. It would drive you crazy sometimes regardless what you do, it won't recharge your computer. -- All you could do at that point is to watch your computer running out of battery and die. After a substantive research on the internet, I found many customers have pointed out that Magsafe is not reliable at all. Many of them were able to have a replacement. I talked with Genius Bar, and for some reason they just wouldn't give me a replacement. I explained that this quality issue isn't uncommon, and many users were able to get a replacement at the store. The Genius Bar technician just wouldn't do it. They did give me an option: The price for a new power adaptor is $99.

Next, the service. To be fair, I cannot say all of the apple store staff are like this, but most the points of contact I have encountered so far gave me a feeling that they don't care what my problem is. All they want is to have you pay for something. They over-price the computers because they are overly proud of their products. And of course, they want your money.

Maybe you are thinking about Apple care. Yes, apple care is good only if you are willing to pay $249 up to the front. I won't complain about anything if I spill water onto my laptop because if that's the case, I should be responsible for the accident that I caused. But the issues here are unsatisfying quality and unfair treatment by service staff especially when you think of how much you have paid for it.

Finally, do the calculations. A macbook is $1100+ plus tax and plus all the troubles above. It's just not worth it. I had a Dell before this macbook. It had problems, too. But Dell's price is much more reasonable to me. After all, Dell was much more cost value efficient. Think twice. Apple macbook isn't fancy at all.

:(