Problems with MacBook

[kevindosi]

I just bought a new macbook, and I'm pretty unhappy. I upgraded from an iBook, and liked it a lot better at first. But now, after just 2 days of use, the cd drive doesn't work. It spits out any cd\dvd I put into it. I tried opening iMovie for the first time yesterday, and it doesn't open. The icon bounces in the dock for 1-2 minutes, then stops, but no arrow underneath it appears to show that it's open. On top of that - and I don't know if this is normal - when it's not so bright in the room, I can see lights all over the back of the macbook. As my brother said, it looks like someone just got a glue stick and glued a piece of thin plastic on the back - it's disgustingly ugly. My iBook never had any lights showing through the back. Is that normal?
I'm really pissed, and I didn't buy applecare - can I still get this fixed? I just bought this crap.

 

[bartelby]

Take it back.

 

[~~Hello~~]

Well you get a warrenty with it, so why wouldn't you be able to get it repaired?

 

[siurpeeman]

Well you get a warrenty with it, so why wouldn't you be able to get it repaired?

it's only been two days. don't get it repaired; get it replaced/exchanged.

 

[iTeen]

Take it back.

YES DO IT NOW!!!lol...no really do it....my macbook black is PERFECT and thats the way it should be

 

[Quiara]

I say definitely get it replaced. That's ridiculous. Mine is spiffy and wonderful - if it came out of the box looking like that, I'd cry - and then I'd drive my (un)happy butt back to Memphis and exchange (yes, exchange, not repair) it.

Good luck. Get a good one.

 

[kevindosi]

still pissed

OK -
so i went to the apple store and told them the problems. they exchanged it in a matter of minutes, no questions asked. i was really excited, needless to say.
but this has been giving me problems. for a couple of days, it would automatically go to sleep in the middle of work, then come back on every once in a while - no idea why. also, it wouldn't unmount anything (wouldn't eject disks, hard drives, etc). i was busy, but the day i had time to take it to the store, things started working fine. soooo, i decided not to take it to the store. but, all of you macbook owners... do me a favor, because i am having a problem that persists and want to know if it's just my computer or not. turn your brightness all the way up. go in dark room and turn off all the lights, and look at the back of your macbook. does light shine through the plastic in random spots? this was the case on my last defective macbook AND this one, so i'm wondering if it's just a disgusting design flaw that's been overlooked. it wasn't the case with my ibook, anyway. so... do your macbooks look like crap from the back in the dark?

 

[Quiara]

Yeah, unfortunately, it has a spotty look to it, like tiny illuminated rectangles all over. I don't like it, but it doesn't affect performance, so I'm not all bent out of shape about it.

 

[TheStu]

My year old MacBook does not have, nor did it ever have, splotchiness on the back.

 

[Quiara]

The slight spottiness doesn't bother me much. But what does bother me is the give in the side of the casing on the front. I can just barely press in and it gives in to the pressure, like it's not well-fitted. I'm foreseeing trouble there and I'm not thrilled. It's only on the left side, toward the front, but it shouldn't be there at all.

 

[MacsAttack]

No spots here. Sounds like backlight bleed.

 

[Quiara]

Is it something worth looking into replacing/repairing? Or is it just a cosmetic thing? I guess I never really noticed it before.

 

[MacsAttack]

The slight spottiness doesn't bother me much. But what does bother me is the give in the side of the casing on the front. I can just barely press in and it gives in to the pressure, like it's not well-fitted. I'm foreseeing trouble there and I'm not thrilled. It's only on the left side, toward the front, but it shouldn't be there at all.

Looks like there is no bracing behind that part of the case - got the same issue here. Got myself a Stucano sleeve to carry the Mac Book in, and I try to avoid sharp blows to that part. The sleeve is padded and has kept my Mac Book in excelent condition for a year.

 

[Quiara]

I carry mine in a faux fur lined Incase sleeve/case but I'm thinking of getting a Speck case as well. Why would they leave an area unbraced like that? It just seems like it's asking for trouble. I'm glad I have yet to have the cracking noted along the wrist rest by many people, though. That makes me positively squirmy. Don't get me wrong: I'm an Apple fan and have been for years - I just think they could have thought a few things through better on the latest line of portables.

 

[MacsAttack]

Is it something worth looking into replacing/repairing? Or is it just a cosmetic thing? I guess I never really noticed it before.

I guess it depends. If you never noticed it before and it is not driving you nuts... Good screens should have minimal bleed. Of course Apple are cutting corners on the Mac Book and went for "Just about OK" screens to max out their margins. The vertical viewing angle on the Mac Book is "not good", and they made them glossy so they look "better". Apple "just works", but the Mac Book screen "only just works". It is Ok for light work, but I would hate to be using it as my primary display 24/7.

Only saving grace is that I have seen lots of laptops with screens that are not even this good. But I've seen better screens too, and in this case I think Apple cut one too many corners. The Mac Book could have been excelent. As it is, it is "just" very good. Still better put together than the Mac Book Pro. Now that needs a serious redesign. In making a choice between a Mac Book and a Mac Book Pro I ended up going for the Mac Book. Price was no object. The Mac Book just scored over the "Pro" on so many points that it was just not funny. From a subjective point of veiw.

 

[Quiara]

I bought the MacBook instead of the Pro because I didn't need the non-integrated graphics and there were so many issues. Outside this forum, I've known many people who've had nothing but ProWoes - I just didn't feel like gambling. For the most part, I've been nothing but happy with my MacBook, but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts about it - problems I never had with my iBooks. Backlight bleed is one thing, but I've also got an issue I can't find anywhere else. When I wake my MacBook up from sleep, I get static through the speakers. It's only for a few seconds and only when it wakes from sleep, but this can't be normal or good. I'm hesitant to take it in, though; I rely heavily on my laptop and don't want to be without it unless absolutely necessary.

 

[MacsAttack]

I carry mine in a faux fur lined Incase sleeve/case but I'm thinking of getting a Speck case as well. Why would they leave an area unbraced like that? It just seems like it's asking for trouble. I'm glad I have yet to have the cracking noted along the wrist rest by many people, though. That makes me positively squirmy. Don't get me wrong: I'm an Apple fan and have been for years - I just think they could have thought a few things through better on the latest line of portables.

Got to cut cost and materials. Sometimes they just go a little too far.

Thankfully they appear to have fixed the cracking issues. I hear they reinforced the casing at the critical point. Of course I close my Mac Book with care - not just slamming down the screen.

Also the discoloration issue that was reported looks like it was fixed by using a different (off-white) plastic. My Mac Book is clean - and it gets used on average one or two hours a day.

After a year of use the only signs of wear are a little glossyness on the trackpad and two little glossy bars where the buffers on the screen hit the keyboard surround - and you have to look hard to see that. All acceptible ware and tear.

 

[MacsAttack]

I bought the MacBook instead of the Pro because I didn't need the non-integrated graphics and there were so many issues. Outside this forum, I've known many people who've had nothing but ProWoes - I just didn't feel like gambling. For the most part, I've been nothing but happy with my MacBook, but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts about it - problems I never had with my iBooks. Backlight bleed is one thing, but I've also got an issue I can't find anywhere else. When I wake my MacBook up from sleep, I get static through the speakers. It's only for a few seconds and only when it wakes from sleep, but this can't be normal or good. I'm hesitant to take it in, though; I rely heavily on my laptop and don't want to be without it unless absolutely necessary.

Hmmm.. Have to see what mine does. I mute the sound most of the time. Of course I don't sleep the Mac Book much. When it is on the desk it is being used. I just turn it off for transit (heresy I hear you cry). OS X boots fast enough that the delay is not a problem - certainly not comapird to my old W2K laptop boot times.

 

[Dybbuk]

I have the backlight showing other parts on the back as well ... I thought it was simply due to a brighter backlight.

Wondering if I should get something done about that now ...