Mac threads resemble DU.

Blue Highway ^ | 7/01/09 | Blue Highway

[Blue Highway]

It seems like every time I venture into an Apple thread here on FR, it's similar to venturing over into Democratic Underground territory.

Personal attacks abound especially if you start criticizing Apple products or other Apple users for being naive into thinking Apple is everything their clever marketing department represents it to be.

It seems like the Mac ping list alerts the faithful flock to defend Apple to the death and that is when the claws come out and it starts to get ugly.

[vox_freedom]

It was a “feel good story” and it didn’t take a day, but a few minutes. Good luck on getting customer service like that for a Dell or any other PC...

[Blue Highway]

Can you explain how this states that the battery is replaceable under warranty if it fails under normal useage?

Replacement of a battery which has been consumed via normal use is not covered under warranty.

I didn't take anything out of context, that was a quote from Apples website.

[Richard Kimball]

I've been running a photography business for about five years, and currently use the iMac 24". I've got a couple of 1 Terabyte drives attached and use a third to run time machine. It works well, as I can store a LOT of photos, and the time machine provides an automatic backup.

Here are a few of my shots:

You can attach a second monitor if you wish, but I've never found it necessary. I had a tablet, but prefer working with a mouse. My brother does a lot of painting on his computer, and prefers a tablet, so YMMV.

[Blue Highway]

I have a Dell and while I have been lucky I will fix it myself. Something about good old American ingenuity. Self sufficient and fixing things yourself is a rewarding experience I encourage all Mac users to take part in.

[Terpfen]

The facts I am stating are not even a question of IF but a question of WHEN the batteries fail, that the user will have to take their Macbook to an Apple Store.

This is not a mortal tragedy. In fact, it's quicker than mailing the notebook off to a processing plant and not having access to it for a month.

If that weren’t bad enough, you have to leave it there unattended with some Apple lackey in a black turtleneck doing God knows what sifting through your data unbeknownst to anyone.

Given that the computer will be turned off due to the battery no longer holding a charge, and the fact that accessing data on the hard drive has absolutely nothing to do with replacing a battery, what exactly are you talking about?

By the way, standard attire for an Apple Store employee is a light blue t-shirt.

[Swordmaker]

I just built a PC with a quad 2.66 GHz processor, 8 gigs of ram, a DVDR drive, 2 1 TB hard drives and an ATI 4850 HD video card plus sundry necessary hardware for.....$1000 (all parts bought retail from Newegg).

I assume your homebrew PC has workstation grade Xeon® processors (currently $1019 each from Newegg) with 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM and a 1000 Watt power supply in an aircraft grade, custom engineered aluminum case, like the Mac Pro?

If so, how did you do it for $1000?

[Swordmaker]

1TB SATA-II Western Digital (superior to the Hitachi's-IMHO-that Mac's use)hard drive - $100; Apple wants $300/drive for the same size.

I won't argue your price... but my new 24" iMac has a Western Digital drive...

[Blue Highway]

I mentioned in an earlier thread I sent in my Presario when the Wifi was recalled I mailed it in (prepaid by Compaq) and it was delivered back to be me within 7 days including weekends. They called me to ask if I wanted to buy a new battery but I laughed when they said it was $130 before tax. I was paranoid they had my computer so I swapped my old HD back in the laptop, did a low level format to remove any trace of my data and then did a system restore to bring back a black drive back to factory new condition. I trust no one with my data in their hands.

You make it sound like it is impossible for an Apple tech to plug in an AC adapter on a Macbook Pro with a drained battery. You don't think those guys are snooping on peoples computers? Don't be so naive... I've heard horror stories from Geek Squad and ex Circuit City Foxdog employees.

[Swordmaker]

It’s my observation that it is Mac users who almost always start trashing Microsoft first. If you got a Mac good for you. Just don’t start trashing PCs because you don’t like them. There are plenty of FReepers who are perfectly happy with their PCs.

If you count the comment "Get a Mac" as trashing, then you might have an argument. Several years ago I did a statistical analysis of Mac and PC thread comments. The negative attacks from PC users outnumbered the reverse from Mac users about 9 to 1, and the level of nastiness and virulence was far higher from the PC users. Why not count the number of ad hominem attacks just in this thread from PC users like Blue Highway, crazieman, etc., and then count the number of ad hominems from Mac users. Look at the level of nastiness and virulence. I think you will not find the Mac users anywhere NEAR what is coming from the PC side.

[TXnMA]

"These are the people I would like to steer towards the best bang for the buck instead of spending $2000 on a system they could get for half that price or less to do what they want instead of listening to the hype."

Why do you care enough to poke your nose into someone else's business and "steer" them?

Time for full disclosure here:

Do you work for Microsoft marketing?

[Blue Highway]

No, I have no vested interest as far as working for or invested in financially in either company. I am just saying if these were people even acquaintances of mine, I’d want to help them as I am just that way. It’s not like I am sticking my nose into their business, if I can help someone I can.

[Cyber Liberty]

Several years ago I did a statistical analysis of Mac and PC thread comments. The negative attacks from PC users outnumbered the reverse from Mac users about 9 to 1, and the level of nastiness and virulence was far higher from the PC users.

That's pretty sick, making that kind of an effort. Don't you have a day job? Or is this your day job?

[Sir_Ed]

That’s why I use Macs.

I do graphic design for a living and Macs handle color space/color mode, fonts and CMYK printing much better than do PC’s.

They also multi-task better. I’ve got 8 gigs in my Quad and I can have a 1 gig file open in PShop while simultaneously working with Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and InDesign and they work flawlessly, without a stumble.

I try that in my Sony PC and it chokes when I open up ID and PShop at the same time, never mind working with huge, muli-layer files...

Ed

[Sir_Ed]

I use a Wacom Intuos tablet to work with...I couldn’t work without it.

Ed

[GRRRRR]

How about this one...my daughter’s macbook pro.
When we bought it, I messed up and DID NOT activate the 3 yr Apple care on line..(today they do it for you IN the store)..so her hard drive goes bad...they see I bought the Apple care on the receipt but never activated it...FIXED.

Then last Christmas, the whole thing goes dead. Keep in mind she lugs this thing to ALL her classes and it has been dented and dinged.

Turns out the MoBo was bad...

So, she takes it to the Store in Denver. They give her a little bit of a hassle about NOT having the extended warranty in effect but...

After Christmas, they call her to pick it up, all fixed.

NEW monitor, bezel, upper and lower cases, new MOBO AND HD, all info properly transfered, iTunes etc AND latest full OSZ update from Tiger to Leopard...
Cost?

NOTHING...NOT A SINGLE PENNY!

Now that is CUSTOMER SERVICE...try THAT will effing DELL!

[TXnMA]

"That's pretty sick, making that kind of an effort."

"Sick"?

You mean "Sick"...as in posting a vanity thread like this one?

[Blue Highway]

You paid for a 3 year extended warranty. Why are you surprised they fixed it? You PAID for that warranty, and if you don’t mind my asking, how MUCH is that 3 year warranty?

[Cyber Liberty]

No, I think it’s rather bizarre to do a statistical analysis on threads to see who’s meaner, Mac or PC users. That’s a strange way to while away the hours.

I happen to like Macs, as I like the one I’m typing on now. I’ve used PCs and UNIX/LINUX boxes for years as well. They all have their pluses and minuses. I find it odd that folks who otherwise get along would fight over suh a silly thing, that’s all.

Maybe it’s the LINUX user in me?

[WVKayaker]

... I was hoping you were going to tell me this feel good story of you bringing your out of warranty macbook pro and they replaced the battery for free.

I own Macs. Lots of them. I spend my money on good things that last a long time. I drive a Mercedes. I sleep on a top-of-the-line Beautyrest mattress. Tonight, I cooked a couple of NY Strips on my Weber gas grill.

I am typing on a third party keyboard connected by USB to my MacBook 13". I am looking at my $219 ViewSonic 24" LCD, as well as the 13" native screen on my portable. I am using a Logitech cordless mouse, with a little USB plug and a double A for power. I am browsing with Safari. I didn't download any drivers, or input any discs. Everything works. I understand MS has finally achieved that, or have they?

I have a G4 iMac 17" set up next to it, and another G4 (tower) beside that one. They are all running the same software, OSX 10.5. The MacBook is the fastest, and most used, but the others have uses as TV watchers and DVD burners. I have a G4 17" PowerBook sitting on a shelf now. It still works, but two portables are a little much. I also have 7 previous iterations of PowerBooks laying around. My first one came around 1989 +/-.

I have no virus software running, nor have needed any. I have had few problems with my Macs, over the years. BUT, I did have a self-induced problem with my PowerBook. I dropped it.

Warranty is not for dropped computers, It is intended for factory mistakes, not mutilated ones. Mine was the latter. I broke a hinge on the top, and broke the wires connecting the screen top to the body. I almost cried.

I had bought Applecare for my computer. I usually do so, but have never used it before (in almost 25 years of owning/using Macs). Applecare states that it does not cover accidents.

It needed to be fixed, so I connected the body to the external monitor, and booted the computer. It worked fine, but the screen was dead and dangling. I had dropped it off a railing on the porch at the beach. I connected with Apple support and they sent a box to pick it up. It was gone for 6 days. It came back as good as new. Apple's charges to me? $ZERO.

Yeah, I felt real good! I bought my daughter a new MacBook to celebrate. I got her the AppleCare, too! I have used the PB for another year, until I bought my own MacBook. I still take it on trips to watch movies!

My 2¢...

Yeah, you are a troll! Your dyspepsia is noted. This thread proves it quite definitively. Go back to DU, now...

G4 iMac

[Sudetenland]

Actually if I was going to use Intel, I would have used the i7 920 Nehalem 2.66 quad (it's the same chip as the XEON but is over-clockable, which the XEON isn't, and it doesn't have the ECC turned on) currently selling for $279 so add a hundred for the chip and another hundred for the more expensive MB; you're still at $1200 and you can overclock it if you choose.

I prefer AMD chips so I'm using the AM# Phenom II. Then again I'm using 1333 DDR3 SDRAM - no ECC (it serves no real purpose any more) and the case is a Coolmaster Storm Scout a highly regarded high quality case with superior cooling, filters and a nifty carrying handle.

Unless you are running a server the use of XEON chips is massive overkill. The only real difference is that XEON chips, like their Opteron AMD opposites, are tested to a much higher standard. The general reliability of commercial chips is such that for a work station or for home computing purposes server grade chips are unnecessary and a waste of money...unless you are looking for snob appeal, which most Mac users are.

I'm happy to go on trading shots, you can't win because you have no real arguments. Apple Mac Pros are way overpriced (2-3 times) for the computing power you are getting.

I'm sure that Mac Pros are wonderful computers, I'm just not willing to pay the price for a cult status. Bragging rights is a poor reason to spend an extra grand or two.