Scobleizer: Apple rebooting problem hits us…
John C. Welch
· 2 years ago
what is going on when it happens? The "rebooting" problem kind of got used as this catch-all for anything. Is it just rebooting, or is he getting a panic screen first?
Dave Winer
· 2 years ago
If you want some help give me a call. I've been all the way through this, and got it fixed on my MacBook.
Also be sure you have all the latest updates installed. There's an update specifically for this problem. It seems to have worked for people. I can't say for sure because I got mine fixed before this update came out. For all I know all they did to my machine was install the update. :-)
I've not heard the problem happens on MacBook Pros.
And John Welch is right, the more information the easier it is to help.
anona
· 2 years ago
"My son is learning that blind allegience to a company..."
Well, Roberto, you should be in a perfect position to teach about that subject, no?
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
We're at the Apple store in Palo Alto right now. Will let you know more.
It just shuts down without any warning. It'll make a "doop" sound.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Just got walked to the genius bar.
He's updated all the updates.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
They want him to leave the computer for seven to 10 business days. Ridiculous for a brand new computer.
anona
· 2 years ago
"Ridiculous for a brand new computer."
As you know, Apple routinely bribes half a dozen organizations that rate it as having #1 or #2 customer satisfaction in the entire computer industry.
BTW, recently the hard disk inside my PowerBook died. Apple said it'd take 7-10 biz days. I got called back in less than 1.5 days.
PXLated
· 2 years ago
Haven't heard of this on the Pros and haven't had any problems myself on the ones I manage. Quick couple of questions... 1) Does Patrick leave his on overnight? There are several maintenance routines that run automatically. There are utilities (shareware/freeware) for running these either manually or on a new schedule. Check MacUpdate or VersionTracker. 2) Has he repaired permissions at all? Some say it does nothing, others swear by it. Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities. 3) Has he zapped pRam? I didn't think this applied to OSX but it one of the first things a Genius did when I had my MacBook-Pro in for a different matter (constantly running fan/hot, turned out to be a bad battery). Restart machine and immediately hold dow the Option, Command, P & R keys (four keys) and let the box restart (chime) 2-3 additional times.
Good luck...keep us posted on what the Apple shop says.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Well, I certainly am unimpressed. When I had problems with my Dell they shipped me a new one overnight and gave me a way to send back my old one. Apple should have replaced the unit immediately. They sold us a defective product and taking it in to service it is NOT good customer service.
Dell wins this one -- by a long shot. No wonder most companies don't use Apple products.
And their lack of a corporate blog to point at makes it worse. At least with Google we can all complain to Matt Cutts and with Microsoft there are thousands of people who we can directly complain to.
But instead we'll probably have to complain to a faceless jerk who'll just put our complaint on a long pile in the trash.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
1) Nope. 2) Not sure, will ask. He's very knowledgeable about Apple products, though, and searched Google for potential fixes. 3) Nope. I don't see what that would fix, though. Damn, is that still the universal fix for Mac problems? I remember doing that back in 1988.
PXLated
· 2 years ago
Since it's not a problem normally associated with the MacBook-Pro, I personally would have just taken it home and tried a few things, hit the Mac tech boards and then, if it continued taken it back. At that point, if it was within the 15-30 days, returned it if they were uncooperative, they do have leaway, depends on the Genius and the Manager. Every time I've managed to get the Genius to consult the Manager, I've come away happy. But, even though they always say 7-10 days, I've actually never seen one taking that long.
Philip Hodgetts
· 2 years ago
It's possible it's bad RAM which often causes random restarts. No real way to test other than swapping out RAM and waiting to see if it changes the results.
Philip
Aaron
· 2 years ago
You complained about SWA having a "fake" blog the other day. How does Apple having a "fake" blog help Patrick's problem? They're just corporate PR machines. Now you know how the real world lives. Most people aren't getting their PC back in 1.5 days, give it up to Dell that they knew who you were and sucked up to you. Perhaps you should have dropped the Scoble bomb a little harder to get special service for his laptop. But in the real world this is how the real people live, sorry.
David Dalka
· 2 years ago
Don't praise Dell too much Robert, they don't deserve it. My new desptop keyboard is less than 6 months old and is dying (space bar is sticking) stopped at a Dell mini-store the other day and got instructed to call some phone tree that still has not seen a new keyboard sent to me.
They've also never acknowledged my post about last of USB ports on the new models - the mouse and the keyboard are now USB, they removed the old ports, did not add more USB ports to compensate. This equals not enough USB ports upon arrival (for a power user) and I had to add an expansion card. Old keyboard doesn't work as it's not USB port compatible. :( http://daviddalka.com/createvalue/2006/07/20/de...
However, I wrote "Dell Hell" in one post and that got me an automated looking response regarding Jeff Jarvis. Argh. Not exactly customer listening!
David Dalka
· 2 years ago
That should say "lack of USB ports" :)
HG
· 2 years ago
Did this in 1988. Blind allegiance. Dell wins.
Man, talking about the pot calling the kettle black. I know plenty of horror stories with Dell support. The most recent coming from a fellow collegue of yours, Paul Thurrott.
This is the problem with blogs: a statistical sampling by one person then makes broad generalizations and uses cyberspace to leverage his innacuracate statements to millions. And you wonder what's the problem with Microsoft giving free laptops to bloggers?
I'm not sure how your son's blind allegiance aggrevates the situation. Given the lack of viruses in Mac OS X, he's avoiding the frustrating experiences of the majority of computer users.
JoeM
· 2 years ago
HG, he is also advoiding 80%+ of the software that works in Windows with no problem (most programs are Windows based not macs). Most of my customers have learned this, and returned their macs, For a PC that was 1/2 the price with alot less aggavation
Patrick Scoble
· 2 years ago
PXLated: Yes I did that (although for the MacBook Pro the process is a bit different) and nothing changed. The guy just took it and didn't do anything else to it.
Steve
· 2 years ago
Wild - when I had a problem with my new macbook pro back in April (it was 7 days old, and it wouldnt charge), they just gave me a brand new one. No questions asked.
Guy Pelletier
· 2 years ago
I used a Dell Latitude D600 at a previous job a couple of years ago and never had a problem with t. Before that I used a C600 and the mouse would move on its own, Dell sent a tech an fixed it within a day. My company gave me the D600 as a parting gift and I am using it now, still have not had any problem other than the battery developing a memory.
Guy
HG
· 2 years ago
@JoeM
Well, I don't how much software you need to make you happy, but by several accounts there are tens of thousands of applications for Mac OS X. Also, not all Windows software is good quality...
"Has he repaired permissions at all? Some say it does nothing, others swear by it. Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities."
In my experience, "Repairing Permissions" is a waste of time. One time my system became corrupt (or something) such that it wouldn't recognize my admin username/password accept for logging in (I could log on, but after that, couldn't do anything that required my username/password). I search for answers on the web and kept seeing "Repair Permissions!! It's a cure-all!!". But it did nothing. I had to reinstall the system to fix the problem.
I would think that OSX is too robust to get into a state where "Repairing Permissions" would be required in the first place, so I don't think it does much. Then again, Apple did provide the "Repair Permissions" command, so they must know that the system can get into a funky state that requires it, but I've never seen it. I still don't know how my problem developed, but it wasn't related to the "permissions".
hen
· 2 years ago
I have an early MacBook pro 15" 2 GHz and I've had no problems with it. My AC adapter died, but I was able to get it replaced.
One of he recent firmware updates was supposed to fix that problem on MacBooks. I've never heard of it in MacBook Pros.
Mike Marusin
· 2 years ago
I got a new MacBook Pro right in November after they updated the processor to the Core 2 Duo and was plagued with the same exact problem (although I was having some Kernel Panics in there as well). Upon doing some research and testing with the disc utilities that ship with the machine, it turned out I had some bad RAM. My memory was replaced and I haven't had a problem since.
I'd put money on it being the same exact problem. Unfortunately it's a bit disheartening when you have a new machine acting up, so I know how he's feeling. I think Apple got a bad batch of RAM. Talking to Apple support (phone), they sounded like they've been dealing with alot of MBP's with the same problem lately. Good luck!
LayZ
· 2 years ago
Just curious, were you employed by a major tech company when you had your problem with your Dell. Cuz I gotta tell you, I don't think your experience is normal for Dell customers. But, this is typical of you.. using anecdotal examples as facts on which to draw a conclusion.
I agree with Mike.. this sounds like a RAM issue. Did you ask the Genius to swap out the RAM? The store likely had some RAM laying around they could have used.
Christopher Coulter
· 2 years ago
"They say The User lives outside the Net and inputs games for pleasure. No one knows for sure, but I intend to find out."
I had a problem when I worked at a small company (Fawcette) before anyone knew who I was and Dell took care of me promptly. Same at Microsoft when I had a problem two years ago. I admit that Dell has had lots of problems of its own (Shel Israel had tons of problems with them). But, then, Dell hasn't been overhyped as being "the company of the year" either.
Moose A Moose
· 2 years ago
Apple's hardware quality has taken a nose dive since they've been pumping computers out in large numbers. The old Macs that I used to own back in the "real" Mac days of old (8-9.2) were damn near bulletproof. Since they made so few of them compared to now, the quality was higher IMO. I NEVER had a problem with the several Macs I did own. I loved the old beige Macs. They were beautiful machines. I miss the old days.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Moose: my brother-in-law who works on the Mac team agrees with you. They've ramped up the quantity and he said that has brought quality down.
Moose A Moose
· 2 years ago
Robert,
Indeed. Always happens that way, unfortunately. I left the Mac world when OS X came out and went back to the PC. My computer needs were easily met with the old Mac OS. It was simple, it worked fine for what I did and do -- surf, read email, and work on book writing. I loved OS 8/9. I tried OS X twice: once when it came out, and again this year on a new MacBook -- and I left it for the PC again both times. I think computers in general have become too complicated.
I also firmly believe that Macs and PCs are grossly overpriced. If you look at the constituent parts of a computer and add them up in terms of value, paying $2000+ for a computer is nuts.
Joe
· 2 years ago
This is whay I ahven't purchased a Mac, while I've been tmepted to buy a Mac Book pro and simply duel boot it,Iv'e had a few Mac friend tell me that their experience with the quaility of the their purchases has been somewhat disappointing. Another thing that seems troubling is Apples lack of responce on the subject.
Mac world is only a few days away and I would like to see a major redo of the Macbook pro line, I would like to see IBM/Lenovo thinkpad quality and durability in the next revision.
Donal
· 2 years ago
Another possibility is that the power supply unit itself is overheating and shuts down as a result. I had a new PC at work last year that would do that.
Whatever the cause, you should insist on a replacement - a repair lets them off the hook too easily. Even if the cause is rectified, who knows what other internal components have had their lives shortened as a result?
Justin Broderick
· 2 years ago
Hey Robert,
I had the same problem first with a MacBookPro and then my partners MacBook. After going thru all the software updates and taking them to the Apple Store and having to get a little irate and making a scene.. they were finally replaced by Apple.
I do think that since they shifted over to Intel they are having some growing pains. But what makes it worse is the attitude of the Apple Store employees that always treat you like either an a-hole or an idiot :(
Apple's got us wrapped around their little fingers and it's all because of planned failure. I'm absolutely convinced of it.
Chris Hearn
· 2 years ago
Apple's not doing so bad. Imagine if it had been the other way around: Windows switching to a different architecture for whatever reason. How many problems do you think they would have? Windows had been Intel based since day 1, and it took them long enough to get that dreaded BSOD under control.
All I'm saying is, give Apple some credit. They've done a pretty good job with a major OS overhaul, as well as an entirely new product line. Yeah, they'll have a few bugs to work out, but who doesn't?
-Chris. Typed from a 15" MacBook Pro, with 0 problems to date (knock on wood). :)
DAG
· 2 years ago
"Upon doing some research and testing with the disc utilities that ship with the machine, it turned out I had some bad RAM"
Macs have long been known to be picky about their memory modules. Memory sticks that work just fine in other units will behave badly in just about any Mac. Many a strange and seemingly insoluble Mac problem shows immediate improvement when after-market RAM is taken out. Don't ask me why- but it seems a constant with Apple HW.
RetiredMidn
· 2 years ago
Robert, do the spontaneous reboots occur when it's running on battery?
I experienced similar symptoms with my MacBook Pro that turned out to be resolved by battery replacement. Before any of the Sony battery recalls (my machine was probably in the second or third week of shipments), my battery was exhibiting the "swelling" symptoms that seem to be occurring in some more recent models. I now suspect that the battary voltage was periodically dropping to zero and resettting the laptop.
FWIW, after "due diligence" to ensure that the cause wasn't more mundane, the local Apple Genius decided to replace the battery, apologized for not having one in stock, promised availability in 3-4 days, and called to tell me it was available in two. While I would rather the problem hadn't occurred at all, I can't fault the service I received.
FWIW, my co-workers who wouldn't even look at a Mac are foaming-at-the-mouth angry at Dell over the unreliability and poor service response we have been receiving for the Dell laptops and desktops we have been equipping our new employees with. For me, it hasn't been much different from the pain I've experienced with Wintel systems in previous jobs,
neouto
· 2 years ago
"I have three PCs. Two of which have never crashed in their entire lifetimes."
Never crushed? wow thats nice, but come to think of it ever since i got my new asus notebook, it hasnt crush much either. i couldnt say the same for my old notebook tho.
for some reason, i have always have a image of PC=Crush.
Stefan Constantinescu
· 2 years ago
should've got a thinkpad
drmike
· 2 years ago
*chuckle* My brand new iPod is randomly rebooting. 4 times in teh 90 minute walk to get to the coffee shop here this morning. Does that count?
Gotta admit that I don't think much of Dell myself. When I had my Dell servers, I'd hear from their sales people while waiting to hear back from their tech folks. I wasn't too happy about that.
Regards, -drmike
HG
· 2 years ago
We've been a 90% Mac shop on the desktop and in servers for the past five years--switching from Sun and Windows. We buy machines in batches between 10 to 50 at a time. We've noticed hardware problems clustering around lots of computers manufactured in the same time and place. But this has been so infrequent as to not be considered systemic. When it's happened, its affected about 1% of the purchased machines.
When a Mac does run well, it is an experience that everyone I've met typically appreciates, be they student gamer or researcher working with Windows. Recently we couldn't get a Dell fast enough for a number crunching project which had a deadline of a week. We deployed an Intel Mac Pro 3 GHz system running Windows Server 2003 instead. Needless to say, the researchers got their work done and were blown away by the revelation that Apple hardware could do this.
We have labs and servers running Mac OS X. The labs have thousands of students hitting them weekly. They don't crash.
We administer about 200 desktop and laptop systems and about 15 servers. Over the years, I noticed my colleagues in other departments would be stamping out Windows vulnerabilities while our systems would be running. Maybe that's security by obscurity, but it's been great for us (so far). Generally, I see it takes about 2.5 times the number of workers to administror Windows systems as it does Mac systems. We're basically two adminstrators, so we'd have to add three more to run Windows. For a small department such as ours that's a great savings of money.
Please don't take this confession too far. There's no science behind it, but I felt it needed saying just to balance out the critique.
rich (richmanwisco)
· 2 years ago
Gee, apples are computers,too. Who knew?
Luke
· 2 years ago
Chris Hearn, NT has been run on intel, Alpha, MIPS, and PPC, with no problems. And, according to Jobs, OSX has been running on intel for years (internally at Apple). So Apple can't use the "hardware switch" as an excuse for the lower build quality.
I have a 2002 PowerBook, and its build quality is miles ahead of the computers that Apple is shovelling out today.
rj malfalfa
· 2 years ago
your sons blind allegance will be ok-your son is smart cause Apple's come with great integrated software-unlike any PC ive tested or ben given lately- the rebooting problem will be fixed-at least there is an Apple store to go to for help-brand new PC and needs help from Microsoft store or HP store or even a close by Dell Store-not going to happen-
so wait and see before you get DOWN on apple products-I run a lab of new PC's-they always cause me major trouble-our apple lab-never a problem-
thanks for listening RJ Malfalfa
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
RJ: Microsoft's products are sold in a lot more stores than Apple ones are. Best Buy and Fry's are FAR bigger stores (and have much better return policies) than Apple stores do. Oh, so does Walmart and Costco (Costco lets you return PCs for any reason up to a year after purchase, they don't even need to be defective like my son's Apple product is).
Luke
· 2 years ago
Crazy. I hadn't heard about this popping its head up since the C2D switch. Although I'll admit I've kinda let my reading slip a bit over the past month due to project commitments.
Sorry to hear about it though. :(
But, it happens. Doesn't matter what you buy.
Part of the adaptation to the Intel world I guess. But overall it is getting better. The whole "running on Intel since" is kind of a crock, IMHO. Running it on a test bench, and on mass produced machines are entirely two separate things. Not to mention the percentage of machines that have an issue compared to those which don't is very small.
I'll take an Apple with a bite out of it any day over something that requires penicillin! :D
vondiggity
· 2 years ago
Ha! Dell Tech support! I worked in a computer lab that had some Dell machines, and one of them had its powersupply go up in smoke. No big deal, its under warranty. Well, I called the Dell tech support line, and the tech rep on the other end wanted me to run the Dell diagnostics! This was even after I explained to him that the powersupply caught on fire. For now when I need PC's I go to Gateway. Much better tech support on the business side.
Jayakumar Hariharan
· 2 years ago
Did I tell you about my visit to the Apple Store in Forum, Bangalore some months back?
Well, the store had perhaps six visitors at that time, but for some reason, me and my son Sriduth were invisible to the Apple "Professionals" in the store. After maybe half an hour, we walked out and Apple lost one iPod sale!
I wrote about this to every apple email id I could find, but is yet to get a response.
Had the same problem. I had my memory upgraded at the store, before I picked the M-Pro up. When I got it home, it started rebooting all over the place. Took it back; they swapped out the memory chip for a new one; never a problem since. Happy customer here.
Jim Hillhouse
· 2 years ago
Your son's problem sounds like one I had that ended up being bad RAM. I played around with it and in about 5 minutes found the bad board, removed it, and my MBP worked great. Got a new board from Apple and am happy little camper now.
The "rest of us" do not get new machines shipped out in lieu of one having probelms. I have done this with Apple a few times, but it was like pulling teeth and required that we threaten to dump 50 Macs to motivate the service folks into action. No, most of the time, I end up getting a new machine, then getting the old one fixed and sell it once we get it back.
joern puetz
· 2 years ago
Wild - when I had a problem with my new macbook pro back in April (it was 7 days old, and it wouldnt charge), they just gave me a brand new one. No questions asked!
All Comments
Also be sure you have all the latest updates installed. There's an update specifically for this problem. It seems to have worked for people. I can't say for sure because I got mine fixed before this update came out. For all I know all they did to my machine was install the update. :-)
I've not heard the problem happens on MacBook Pros.
And John Welch is right, the more information the easier it is to help.
Well, Roberto, you should be in a perfect position to teach about that subject, no?
It just shuts down without any warning. It'll make a "doop" sound.
He's updated all the updates.
As you know, Apple routinely bribes half a dozen organizations that rate it as having #1 or #2 customer satisfaction in the entire computer industry.
BTW, recently the hard disk inside my PowerBook died. Apple said it'd take 7-10 biz days. I got called back in less than 1.5 days.
1) Does Patrick leave his on overnight? There are several maintenance routines that run automatically. There are utilities (shareware/freeware) for running these either manually or on a new schedule. Check MacUpdate or VersionTracker.
2) Has he repaired permissions at all? Some say it does nothing, others swear by it. Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities.
3) Has he zapped pRam? I didn't think this applied to OSX but it one of the first things a Genius did when I had my MacBook-Pro in for a different matter (constantly running fan/hot, turned out to be a bad battery). Restart machine and immediately hold dow the Option, Command, P & R keys (four keys) and let the box restart (chime) 2-3 additional times.
Good luck...keep us posted on what the Apple shop says.
Dell wins this one -- by a long shot. No wonder most companies don't use Apple products.
And their lack of a corporate blog to point at makes it worse. At least with Google we can all complain to Matt Cutts and with Microsoft there are thousands of people who we can directly complain to.
But instead we'll probably have to complain to a faceless jerk who'll just put our complaint on a long pile in the trash.
2) Not sure, will ask. He's very knowledgeable about Apple products, though, and searched Google for potential fixes.
3) Nope. I don't see what that would fix, though. Damn, is that still the universal fix for Mac problems? I remember doing that back in 1988.
But, even though they always say 7-10 days, I've actually never seen one taking that long.
Philip
They've also never acknowledged my post about last of USB ports on the new models - the mouse and the keyboard are now USB, they removed the old ports, did not add more USB ports to compensate. This equals not enough USB ports upon arrival (for a power user) and I had to add an expansion card. Old keyboard doesn't work as it's not USB port compatible. :(
http://daviddalka.com/createvalue/2006/07/20/de...
Dell also hasn't told me if my laptop battery is part of the recall:
http://daviddalka.com/createvalue/2006/08/28/de...
However, I wrote "Dell Hell" in one post and that got me an automated looking response regarding Jeff Jarvis. Argh. Not exactly customer listening!
Man, talking about the pot calling the kettle black. I know plenty of horror stories with Dell support. The most recent coming from a fellow collegue of yours, Paul Thurrott.
This is the problem with blogs: a statistical sampling by one person then makes broad generalizations and uses cyberspace to leverage his innacuracate statements to millions. And you wonder what's the problem with Microsoft giving free laptops to bloggers?
I'm not sure how your son's blind allegiance aggrevates the situation. Given the lack of viruses in Mac OS X, he's avoiding the frustrating experiences of the majority of computer users.
Guy
Well, I don't how much software you need to make you happy, but by several accounts there are tens of thousands of applications for Mac OS X. Also, not all Windows software is good quality...
http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=...
In my experience, "Repairing Permissions" is a waste of time.
One time my system became corrupt (or something) such that it wouldn't recognize my admin username/password accept for logging in (I could log on, but after that, couldn't do anything that required my username/password). I search for answers on the web and kept seeing "Repair Permissions!! It's a cure-all!!". But it did nothing. I had to reinstall the system to fix the problem.
I would think that OSX is too robust to get into a state where "Repairing Permissions" would be required in the first place, so I don't think it does much. Then again, Apple did provide the "Repair Permissions" command, so they must know that the system can get into a funky state that requires it, but I've never seen it. I still don't know how my problem developed, but it wasn't related to the "permissions".
One of he recent firmware updates was supposed to fix that problem on MacBooks. I've never heard of it in MacBook Pros.
I'd put money on it being the same exact problem. Unfortunately it's a bit disheartening when you have a new machine acting up, so I know how he's feeling. I think Apple got a bad batch of RAM. Talking to Apple support (phone), they sounded like they've been dealing with alot of MBP's with the same problem lately. Good luck!
I agree with Mike.. this sounds like a RAM issue. Did you ask the Genius to swap out the RAM? The store likely had some RAM laying around they could have used.
"ReBoot!"
http://www.inwap.com/mf/reboot/index.shtml
I had a problem when I worked at a small company (Fawcette) before anyone knew who I was and Dell took care of me promptly. Same at Microsoft when I had a problem two years ago. I admit that Dell has had lots of problems of its own (Shel Israel had tons of problems with them). But, then, Dell hasn't been overhyped as being "the company of the year" either.
Indeed. Always happens that way, unfortunately. I left the Mac world when OS X came out and went back to the PC. My computer needs were easily met with the old Mac OS. It was simple, it worked fine for what I did and do -- surf, read email, and work on book writing. I loved OS 8/9. I tried OS X twice: once when it came out, and again this year on a new MacBook -- and I left it for the PC again both times. I think computers in general have become too complicated.
I also firmly believe that Macs and PCs are grossly overpriced. If you look at the constituent parts of a computer and add them up in terms of value, paying $2000+ for a computer is nuts.
Another thing that seems troubling is Apples lack of responce on the subject.
Mac world is only a few days away and I would like to see a major redo of the Macbook pro line, I would like to see IBM/Lenovo thinkpad quality and durability in the next revision.
Whatever the cause, you should insist on a replacement - a repair lets them off the hook too easily. Even if the cause is rectified, who knows what other internal components have had their lives shortened as a result?
I had the same problem first with a MacBookPro and then my partners MacBook. After going thru all the software updates and taking them to the Apple Store and having to get a little irate and making a scene.. they were finally replaced by Apple.
I do think that since they shifted over to Intel they are having some growing pains. But what makes it worse is the attitude of the Apple Store employees that always treat you like either an a-hole or an idiot :(
All I'm saying is, give Apple some credit. They've done a pretty good job with a major OS overhaul, as well as an entirely new product line. Yeah, they'll have a few bugs to work out, but who doesn't?
-Chris. Typed from a 15" MacBook Pro, with 0 problems to date (knock on wood). :)
Macs have long been known to be picky about their memory modules. Memory sticks that work just fine in other units will behave badly in just about any Mac. Many a strange and seemingly insoluble Mac problem shows immediate improvement when after-market RAM is taken out. Don't ask me why- but it seems a constant with Apple HW.
I experienced similar symptoms with my MacBook Pro that turned out to be resolved by battery replacement. Before any of the Sony battery recalls (my machine was probably in the second or third week of shipments), my battery was exhibiting the "swelling" symptoms that seem to be occurring in some more recent models. I now suspect that the battary voltage was periodically dropping to zero and resettting the laptop.
FWIW, after "due diligence" to ensure that the cause wasn't more mundane, the local Apple Genius decided to replace the battery, apologized for not having one in stock, promised availability in 3-4 days, and called to tell me it was available in two. While I would rather the problem hadn't occurred at all, I can't fault the service I received.
FWIW, my co-workers who wouldn't even look at a Mac are foaming-at-the-mouth angry at Dell over the unreliability and poor service response we have been receiving for the Dell laptops and desktops we have been equipping our new employees with. For me, it hasn't been much different from the pain I've experienced with Wintel systems in previous jobs,
Never crushed? wow thats nice, but come to think of it ever since i got my new asus notebook, it hasnt crush much either. i couldnt say the same for my old notebook tho.
for some reason, i have always have a image of PC=Crush.
Gotta admit that I don't think much of Dell myself. When I had my Dell servers, I'd hear from their sales people while waiting to hear back from their tech folks. I wasn't too happy about that.
Regards,
-drmike
When a Mac does run well, it is an experience that everyone I've met typically appreciates, be they student gamer or researcher working with Windows. Recently we couldn't get a Dell fast enough for a number crunching project which had a deadline of a week. We deployed an Intel Mac Pro 3 GHz system running Windows Server 2003 instead. Needless to say, the researchers got their work done and were blown away by the revelation that Apple hardware could do this.
We have labs and servers running Mac OS X. The labs have thousands of students hitting them weekly. They don't crash.
We administer about 200 desktop and laptop systems and about 15 servers. Over the years, I noticed my colleagues in other departments would be stamping out Windows vulnerabilities while our systems would be running. Maybe that's security by obscurity, but it's been great for us (so far). Generally, I see it takes about 2.5 times the number of workers to administror Windows systems as it does Mac systems. We're basically two adminstrators, so we'd have to add three more to run Windows. For a small department such as ours that's a great savings of money.
Please don't take this confession too far. There's no science behind it, but I felt it needed saying just to balance out the critique.
I have a 2002 PowerBook, and its build quality is miles ahead of the computers that Apple is shovelling out today.
the rebooting problem will be fixed-at least there is an Apple store to go to for help-brand new PC and needs help from Microsoft store or HP store or even a close by Dell Store-not going to happen-
so wait and see before you get DOWN on apple products-I run a lab of new PC's-they always cause me major trouble-our apple lab-never a problem-
thanks for listening RJ Malfalfa
Sorry to hear about it though. :(
But, it happens. Doesn't matter what you buy.
Part of the adaptation to the Intel world I guess. But overall it is getting better. The whole "running on Intel since" is kind of a crock, IMHO. Running it on a test bench, and on mass produced machines are entirely two separate things. Not to mention the percentage of machines that have an issue compared to those which don't is very small.
I'll take an Apple with a bite out of it any day over something that requires penicillin! :D
Well, the store had perhaps six visitors at that time, but for some reason, me and my son Sriduth were invisible to the Apple "Professionals" in the store. After maybe half an hour, we walked out and Apple lost one iPod sale!
I wrote about this to every apple email id I could find, but is yet to get a response.
Jay, from Bangalore
http://ideaburger.blogspot.com
The "rest of us" do not get new machines shipped out in lieu of one having probelms. I have done this with Apple a few times, but it was like pulling teeth and required that we threaten to dump 50 Macs to motivate the service folks into action. No, most of the time, I end up getting a new machine, then getting the old one fixed and sell it once we get it back.
Joern