I’ve had an Apple iBook G4 for almost 3 years now and most of the time, I like it. At 1GHz, it’s slow, especially when I try to use Photoshop CS2 and Camera Raw. I don’t have many major complaints though.
Well… technically I only have 1 major complaint. The build quality is less than optimal. And by less than optimal I mean that over the past three years, it has gone back to Apple for:
That’s not to mention the batteries I had to have replaced (Sony’s fault) and the 2 power adapters I had to replace. I honestly don’t understand it, I practically treat this thing with kid gloves. I’ve got a messenger bag it travels in and a padded neoprene sleeve for putting it in my backpack.
Honestly, I’m getting sick of it. Apple’s design choices don’t help the issue either. The construction isn’t modular or user serviceable at all. The hard drive dies, it gets shipped to Apple. The slot-loader dies with a CD that won’t eject, it gets shipped to Apple. How can this be economical when they pay overnight shipping each way?
Whatever, my next laptop probably won’t be a Mac. I want something I can use without having to mail it off twice a year to get something fixed.
T H I N K P A D
what else would you buy??
Gowtham, I’m thinking it will either be a Thinkpad or a Fujitsu Lifebook.
I vote Lifebook.
Maybe, in some alternate universe, Apple would absorb the company and start making Tough-iBooks.
Oh God… that would be awesome Eric. I would love that.
Kyle-
I’ve got a toshiba and I haven’t had a single problem with it, especially since I drop it frequently and it hardly notices. I got it reasonably priced too.
Odd. I have had an iBook G4 for over two years and I have had zero hardware problems with it besides having some third party RAM that I had installed a year ago. In fact, I am typing from my two-year old iBook right now.
I have had my 1Ghz G4 iBook now for a little over 2 and a half years. I have dropped it, scratched it up (nothing too bad), put a big Autobot decal on it, lugged it around everywhere and I didn’t have a problem with it until about a week ago when, inexplicably, it started to freeze up. Not just “spinning-beach-ball-of-freeziness” freeze up. Nope. I’m talking complete seizure. I’m thinking the CPU is over-heating and dying.
Now, I don’t have a problem with THAT per se because it’s the first thing that’s gone wrong in over 2 and a half years. My issue is that, after being a loyal Apple customer for that time (computer, iPods, programs, etc) do you think I can get in to see someone at these “Genius Bars”?? Hell no! I have to get up at some ungodly hour to try and book myself in online (which has so far been unsuccessful) and beat everyone else to it. Since when has getting much-needed (and necessary) support been a competitive sport?? Should I try and be the highest bidder? “I’ll pay you £600 for you to look at my computer!!”
I mean, seriously, WTF is up with that?? I just want some bloody service.
Damien, that’s one of the reasons I always just ship mine in for service. (The other being that the nearest Apple store is 6 hours away.) I get a box a day after I make the call, it goes out and 2 or 3 days later, my laptop comes back to me.
The downside is (as I’ve learned) it may or may not be fixed.