[BurlyShirley]

Ok, Im not necessarily a Mac-o-phile or particularly computer savvy, but thought I should post this.

You may remember before I had an issue with my macbook overheating and shutting off. Well apple took care of it, free of charge in 3 days and I was back up and running.

Fast forward 6 months or so, the top case, basically the plastic surface around the keyboard and touchpad where you hands rest began cracking around the edges. First it was no big deal, but the cracks kept growing and I didnt want to spill some beer on it or something and ruin the macbook innards to I decided to take it in and have it fixed.

Turns out they covered this under warranty as well, even though my MB is 9 months or so old now and is pretty dinged up and stained because Im always dirty and greasy from work. They replaced it all free of charge in 3 days and had me up and running without a hitch.

I commend apple for their great CS and will continue to buy apple products in the future. I went to a local mac dealer instead of a mac store so I didnt have to deal with the "geniuses" and it was alot better.

Just thought Id share.

 

[binary visions]

Ahh, the smell of a hassle-free, freshly-warrantied piece of electronics. It's a beautiful thing

 

[Transcend]

You made a good move not going to an apple store, the "geniuses" are anything but. Warranty at these stores can be a huge hassle.

 

[BurlyShirley]

You made a good move not going to an apple store, the "geniuses" are anything but. Warranty at these stores can be a huge hassle.

I went to the "geniuses" on my first go around and it was just stupid. Instead of taking my info and tacking my macbook and working on it, they sent me to a computer elsewhere in the store where I had to go to a website and schedule a meeting with the "genius" who was just standing right in front of me. Why he couldnt do this or just take the thing? I have no idea. Anyway, I had to leave and come back later because the next "appointment" was in 3.5 hours even though nobody in the place was doing much and I had a very simple issue.
Anyway, must be convenient for them because its sure not for the customer.

 

[Transcend]

I went to the "geniuses" on my first go around and it was just stupid. Instead of taking my info and tacking my macbook and working on it, they sent me to a computer elsewhere in the store where I had to go to a website and schedule a meeting with the "genius" who was just standing right in front of me. Why he couldnt do this or just take the thing? I have no idea. Anyway, I had to leave and come back later because the next "appointment" was in 3.5 hours even though nobody in the place was doing much and I had a very simple issue.
Anyway, must be convenient for them because its sure not for the customer.

Oh ya, the concierge system they call it. It's ridiculous, I have had much the same experience as you. 4 geniuses at the bar, only one other client in store looking at ipods. Make an appointment. WTF?

The best is that now you can pay $100 a year to be allowed to make reservations online, at home 7 days in advance. Otherwise it has to be same business day. Ya, that's useful.

 

[BurlyShirley]

We actually have a store in town called "Mac Authority" who runs their business just like anyone else would. Pretty simple. Take it in to them, they take your info and computer and do the work. I dont really know why "the Mac store" felt the need to "improve" on this, what seems like universal process, but what they have now just sucks. I cant imagine anyone would be complimenting it anywhere.

Pretty funny that you can pay to do it online though. Real nice of them.

 

[Kornphlake]

The more I learn about macs the less I like them, so if you buy a Mac from the Mac Store, or take your Mac in for service you'll get the runaround, unless you pay an additional amount for some premium service (I thought Macs are supposed to be bomb proof, why would I pay for service I don't plan on needing) but if you buy it from a dealer they'll treat you real good. I knew Mac's business model was unconventional but this is a little absurd. What is considered a Mac dealer? Is that some place like Best Buy or CompUSA? I hate those places as much as I hated the one Mac Store I went into.

You Mac fanboys amuse me as much as the PC fanboys who hate on Dell, HP or Compaq.

 

[Toshi]

You made a good move not going to an apple store, the "geniuses" are anything but. Warranty at these stores can be a huge hassle.

actually, if you know how to play them the "mac geniuses" can be useful. i got three ipod photos replaced in a row, simply by bringing them into the apple store when they were frozen solid, beyond the grasp of the center button-menu reset. (if i had waited until the battery had discharged then i'd be out of luck, as it would reboot and work fine.)

after the third one went dead they gave me an ipod video instead, which has been without a problem.

 

[stinkyboy]

The more I learn about macs the less I like them

You've obviously never used a Mac, and by the way, this thread was created to praise Apple.

so if you buy a Mac from the Mac Store, or take your Mac in for service you'll get the runaround,

Scheduling an appointment with someone who has been trained is runaround? Would you rather deal with the greasy teenagers at Frys or Circuit City?

 

[BurlyShirley]

The more I learn about macs the less I like them, so if you buy a Mac from the Mac Store, or take your Mac in for service you'll get the runaround, unless you pay an additional amount for some premium service (I thought Macs are supposed to be bomb proof, why would I pay for service I don't plan on needing) but if you buy it from a dealer they'll treat you real good. I knew Mac's business model was unconventional but this is a little absurd. What is considered a Mac dealer? Is that some place like Best Buy or CompUSA? I hate those places as much as I hated the one Mac Store I went into.

You Mac fanboys amuse me as much as the PC fanboys who hate on Dell, HP or Compaq.

Well, I dont consider myself a fanboy. I dont consider myself much of a computer dork at all to be perfectly honest, but here's what I can say about mac.
The security, or rather, the lack of need for it is worth the transition alone. Imagine never having to worry about spyware,adware,viruses, pop up ads......any of that stuff. My Dell want straight to the trash because I looked at too much porn I guess. Out of the box, the mac has done it all well and hasnt had so much as a hiccup in terms of software.
Now, as far as the issues I did have, I can tell you that both problems were fixed, no questions asked, within a matter of days. I didnt have to talk to some foreigner who doesnt speak engish, I didnt have to buy an extra warranty. Sure the "mac store" leaves soemthing to be desired, IMO, but I cant say anything bad about apple itself in terms of its warranty work and policies. I spent about $1200 which is alot of money for me to spend on a computer, and it seems that apple recognizes that. Even though I only have the low end macbook, Im treated quite well w/ regard to what Ive needed repairs on. I havent paid a dime yet.
Also, the OS is much, much more user friendly once you get the hang of it, the picture is beautiful even on my cheap model and hey, its always a good conversation piece too.
Some people dont like them, that's fine. I do thus far.

 

[Toshi]

BS, let me know if you need any software tips. i've posted about these before but these are pieces o' software that i like (google for their name + os x to find them):

synergy
icalviewer
adiumx
gpg
gpgmail
itunesshut
mail.appetizer
OSXII + the Oregon Trail
quicksilver
flip4mac wmv player

 

[Transcend]

Currently i am using growl for mail and all other advisories. I used mail.appetizer for awhile on toshi's recommendation actually, and loved it. I just prefer how growl is a bit less intrusive (small popups vs big ass one over my working space).

Quicksilver is a godsend for launching apps, it does tons more stuff, but i can't get into it for some reason. I have a friend who is the quicksilver master and composes email, writes text files etc from it.

My list of must have's includes freeware:
Quicksilver
AdiumX
Growl
Textwrangler
VLC video player
Handbrake
Chicken of the VNC
3ivx codec pack

And not freeware:
Transmit FTP
Chronosync for backups

 

[BurlyShirley]

I dont know.....what any of those things are. Haha. Except oregon trail anyway.

 

[binary visions]

Oregon trail was awesome.

"You have killed 21,000 lbs. of meat. You have room for 65 lbs."

 

[N8 v2.0]

so sydandnanci doesnt like macs then?

 

[Kornphlake]

You've obviously never used a Mac, and by the way, this thread was created to praise Apple.

you got me there, I haven't used a mac since about '91 except to sit in front of an IBook like a deer in the headlights and wonder to myself how does the stupid thing work, it doesn't have the necessary buttons on the desktop, I'm not even sure it has a desktop.

Scheduling an appointment with someone who has been trained is runaround? Would you rather deal with the greasy teenagers at Frys or Circuit City?

I'd rather not have to worry about service at all. The last 2 computers I've owned over the last 5 years have given me zero problems with either hardware or software.

What amuses me is that you computer geeks get on here spouting praise about your Macs or Dells or Linux or Coleco or whatever it is that is so cool that everyone has to have. It's been a long time but I used to surf some of the PC forums and it always amused me how people would argue the Intel vs AMD thing or Nvdia VS ATI it was all the same arguments with different brand names and in the end the fanboys never bought anything different no matter how good the argument was from the opposition. It's like the Chevy vs Ford debate, Democrat Vs Republican, Christian Vs Athiest etc, you aren't going to change the world by posting on a mountain bike forum about your broken computer then claiming that it's the best thing in the world.

 

[stinkyboy]

you got me there, I haven't used a mac since about '91 except to sit in front of an IBook like a deer in the headlights and wonder to myself how does the stupid thing work

The iBook was introduced in 1999.

 

[binary visions]

Oppressed!

 

[Kornphlake]

The iBook was introduced in 1999.

I haven't used a mac since '91 except to sit in front of an Ibook like a deer in the headlights...

The reference to an Ibook was about 3 years ago in an electronics superstore, I didn't do much more than wiggle my finger on the touch pad and poke the buttons on the keyboard hoping I'd get a pair of Birkenstocks to pop out of the DVD drive.

 

[Ridemonkey]

How do you still have tears left to cry? :huh:

In related Macbook support news

 

[binary visions]

Oppressed!

Your news is neither relevant to this thread nor particularly interesting.

 

[binary visions]

Third time's the charm. I'm not fooling around.

 

[DRB]

Look at big bad BV editing the Head Monkey's post.

 

[binary visions]

Look at big bad BV editing the Head Monkey's post.

Only to prevent syadasti from having the satisfaction of his post still appearing in this thread. I don't think Head Monkey would disagree with my motives

 

[Transcend]

BV drops the hammer. Syadasti goes on vacation.

In other news, mac megathread about to start.

 

[DRB]

BV drops the hammer. Syadasti goes on vacation.

In other news, mac megathread about to start.

So sysdasti has been demoted to ridefoto?

 

[Westy]

Look at big bad BV editing the Head Monkey's post.

A coupe d'etat of sorts. I love Fridays.

 

[Transcend]

So sysdasti has been demoted to ridefoto?

Sounds like. He can argue canon vs nikon vs some brand no one has ever heard of over there. I am sure the brand no one has ever heard of is vastly superior according to his "sample group". He will then post some anecdotal "evidence" as to why and claim cognitive dissonance is the answer that no one has ever heard of brand X.

 

[binary visions]

Hey, did anyone hear that batteries on the Macbooks are exploding?

Crazy!

 

[stinkyboy]

I got Macintosh all over me!

 

[binary visions]

I got Macintosh all over me!

Is that what you say when Steve Jobs is finished with you?

 

[stinkyboy]

Nah, I usually say "Thank you Master!"

 

[Transcend]

Hey, did anyone hear that batteries on the Macbooks are exploding?

Crazy!

It's just happy to see you dude. Stop fondling it and that won't happen.

 

[binary visions]

F**k that. I pay this much for a laptop, I'm gonna do whatever I damn well please to it.

 

[splat]

Well I'm a linux guy so I don't have really anything to add to this thread , except the Macs got soooo Much better when they converted over to a BSD Backend, I just wish they had left some of the native X-Windows in for reverdisplaybility.

Chicken of the VNC

What the Hell is that ?? I use VNC all the time but Chicken ?

 

[Toshi]

X11 is still built in to OS X, and X apps can live side by side with native aqua os x apps.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/x11/

chicken of the vnc is a vnc client.

 

[valve bouncer]

My list of must have's includes freeware:

VLC video player

That's the 3rd recommendation for this that I've seen today. Is it really "all that"?

 

[Toshi]

it plays all of teh internet pornz that you may or may not come across

 

[valve bouncer]

it plays all of teh internet pornz that you may or may not come across

Yeah? I watch some pretty sick sh*t and I know YOU know what I'm talking about.
We need an octopus smilie.

 

[binary visions]

That's the 3rd recommendation for this that I've seen today. Is it really "all that"?

VLC is pretty cool. It plays virtually every media format in existence, but not only that, it does it as a "stand alone" program - that is, you don't have to have the codecs installed in your system.