MacBook 2GHz Intel Core Duo bad enough to justify a Recall??

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
December 2006, I received my bespoke black MacBook 2GHz Intel Core Duo in the post after waiting 15 days for it to be assembled the way I wanted. I jumped on it, quickly installing the music softwares that would allow me to get the most of my new computer. Little did I know.



I had 3 Macintosh computers before the black MacBook and all of them were brilliant to make music with, but this one proved itself to be totally useless. Every time I used a heavy synth on Logic or tried to chop audio, or anything that requires a bit more processing power, the computer stopped, usually with the message ?system overload?. The sound card had a hard time trying to cope with the MacBook lack of power as well, and even after I changed the buffer speed a few times I could still hear glitches, the system would still crash.



Another thing that surprised me is how hot it would get. I mean, burning hot! The computer would frequently crash for that reason too. Five months later, the hard drive dies. 5 months of life? Well, things break, I thought. I had it replaced at an apple repair shop and then, back to the struggle!



Installed Leopard and the new Logic Studio on my new hard drive. Slightly better but still glitches, system overload and crashing.



I gave up making music with the MacBook, but the problems didn?t stop there. I could not download more than 3 files at the same time or use a few demanding programs at the same time, otherwise it would heat up and crash. I took it to a repair shop, they tested it but didn?t find any problems with it. So why the hell does it crash everyday when I use it at home?! A computer is not supposed to crash EVERYDAY!!! And who is going to help me with this if the repair shops say my computer is OK???



Just before I left the repair shop, the guy said to me: ?This model of MacBook has a little problem. When you open the screen you cover the fan in the back, so it sometimes heat up. They fixed it in the new models. It?s a design fault.?



OH GREAT! AND WHY NOT RECALL IT, APPLE??? ?SOMETIMES HEAT UP??? EVERYDAY IS NOT SOMETIMES! THE SCREEN COVERS THE FAN?!! IT?S QUITE A BIG DESIGN FAULT, DON?T YOU THINK?!!



I saved some money and bought myself a big iMac 24 inches so I could move on from that crap, but funnily enough, my iMac crashed and died after 2 months of use(!!) and while it was being fixed (it was just a power source problem) I used my MacBook, and it crashed and died as well. Unlucky me? No. Just a badly designed product! I had to have its hard drive replaced once again.



Then I got a new job that required daily use of my MacBook. Here we go again!



So I researched into types of surfaces that would contribute to the heating problems, changed my tabletop, restricted simultaneous downloads, in short, started using it as slowly and carefully as possible. Still, it would crash at least once a week, sometimes many times a day. I also did some research into MacBook problems to only find quite a lot of people with the same issues. Why not call it back?



I ran out of patience and sent it to a different repair shop. They did all the tests they said they could but the MacBook didn?t crash in their hands. Weird. Do I have magic hands? Who can help me then?



July comes and it?s time for my 5 month trip to China, and I will have to bring my crappy little MacBook with me. Praying time! I backup everything and clean install Leopard once again just in case. Fingers crossed. You won?t believe it. My hard drive died 2 weeks into the trip, and I had to take it to the nearest apple certified repair shop 2 hours away from where I was, and it took me 3 hours to find it (yes, that?s china for you!).



Got my CrapBook back and installed everything again from the backup. A mate came up with the idea of buying one of those computer pads with little fans on it, and so I did. Brilliant!! Made my CrapBook usable for £6! Who would imagine that a supposedly suppa duppa apple product would be so dependent on a little Chinese piece of plastic worth 10 dollars? Shame on you Apple!!



It?s pathetic!! If I have to disconnect my little plastic-pad-with-fan thingy because I need to use the USB (CrapBook only has 2 USB ports, another crappy point!), obviously switching off the fan, it?s not long until CrapBook crashes again. How sad.



But still, how long until it dies again??? My 3 year warranty is going to end at the end of this year. Should I sell it to my worst enemy? Three complete hard drive failures and thousands of crashes later and still no solution from Apple. I?d love to buy a new Apple laptop, but how can I trust Apple to be honest and be responsible in case anything goes wrong with its products after witnessing how things really work (or don?t)? Buy an Apple Care Plan?? After calling it so many times and having to use it so much, I would rename it Apple Don?t Really Care Plan!!



Does anyone want to buy a black MacBook 2GHz with 160 gigs hard drive? Cheap?





Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    I wouldn't say it justifies a recall since I don't believe I have heard of too many people having this problem. This site did report the plastic MacBooks are being re-designed and I'm sure your issue was probably resolved some time ago.



    It appears you seem to be just be getting faulty computers which really is unacceptable though can happen with anyone and any brand.



    You said prior to your black Macbook and 24" iMac, your other three Macs worked great.



    On average, how long did each of them last?



    Has Apple been willing to replace the faulty devices? Try getting them to do so. Calmly explain your issues and tell them you really don't want to give up on their products but will if necessary.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Winter View Post


    I wouldn't say it justifies a recall since I don't believe I have heard of too many people having this problem. This site did report the plastic MacBooks are being re-designed and I'm sure your issue was probably resolved some time ago.



    Well, if you think that the fan being covered by the top of the laptop is not a serious enough design fault them I don't know what it is. Also, I did read about A LOT of people with similar problems.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Winter View Post


    It appears you seem to be just be getting faulty computers which really is unacceptable though can happen with anyone and any brand.



    Most definitely



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Winter View Post


    You said prior to your black Macbook and 24" iMac, your other three Macs worked great.



    On average, how long did each of them last?



    I had an ibook for almost 7 years working really well. they used to last.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Winter View Post


    Has Apple been willing to replace the faulty devices? Try getting them to do so. Calmly explain your issues and tell them you really don't want to give up on their products but will if necessary.



    I will take my MacBook to an Apple shop when I get back to London since the repair shop haven't been at all helpful



    Thanks for your time
  • Reply 3 of 9
    chipzchipz Posts: 100member
    I have a black 2.4GHz MB and I love it. I have used it almost 12 hours a day since I bought it and it has run perfectly. Granted, it does get a little warm, but not terribly so. I've run all kinds of apps, etc. with no problems. I have a 2.16 GHz Core Duo iMac with 20" screen and the remarks are ditto. It runs beautifully. Evidently you do have the "magic touch" which brings out the worst in Apple products. Have you tried a Windows machine recently? They would reward you even more with crappy performance. Take it to a good mac repair facility, preferably an Apple Store and see what can be done.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Well I agree it is a major design flaw, I just was unsure in terms of whether Apple itself would do it.



    I wish you luck and provide an update if you can of how things go.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chipz View Post


    I have a black 2.4GHz MB and I love it. I have used it almost 12 hours a day since I bought it and it has run perfectly. Granted, it does get a little warm, but not terribly so. I've run all kinds of apps, etc. with no problems. I have a 2.16 GHz Core Duo iMac with 20" screen and the remarks are ditto. It runs beautifully. Evidently you do have the "magic touch" which brings out the worst in Apple products. Have you tried a Windows machine recently? They would reward you even more with crappy performance. Take it to a good mac repair facility, preferably an Apple Store and see what can be done.



    I'm very glad you're having great experiences with your mac. I know exactly how it feels since, as I mentioned before, I always loved my Macs, but I don't think you paid much attention to what I wrote. My complaint is about the 2 GHz MacBook with a serious design fault. The one you have is not the same and doesn't have the same design fault, so it obviously works perfectly as a Mac should.



    Thanks for your time anyway
  • Reply 6 of 9
    Very enlightening answer to my question posted on another Mac forum:



    "Some MacBooks from 2006 & 2007 had to have a new layer of thermal paste put on. The manufacturer had a problem with the thermal paste machine & Apple wasn't informed until later (not having enough or having too much can cause overheat / instability problems). Apple did offer to have a new thermal paste layer put on for free. However, the cases are pretty isolated around the world and your local techs / Apple office might not have had a report about it before. Did your technician check the memory modules? Most of the MacBooks with the thermal paste problem have paste all over the RAM slots that can cause connection problems and instability (causing your computer to crash, overheat, etc)."



    That fault on the top of the fan being covered when the top is open is, in my opinion, enough reason for recall.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    Paulette, I and I'm sure others here feel bad for all of the difficulties you've encountered. One suggestion for your posts... if you're going to go to such lengths to make these posts then please identify who has examined and repaired your computer. Most important, has Apple looked at it yet?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    mpwmpw Posts: 156member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Paulette_UK View Post


    ..."...Apple did offer to have a new thermal paste layer put on for free..."...



    This would be good customer service... if it were true, but I have this model, registered with Apple and they've never contacted me.



    The lack of contact is especially annoying when you've brought an issue to their attention early, been fobbed off, then the issue becomes widespread, but they never contact anybody. The next time you contact them and mention it as an old issue they say "oh yeah that was a known problem, but the recall period's ended; tough"
  • Reply 9 of 9
    Hi Hudson, you're absolutely right. I should have mentioned it before. Here we go:



    2 hard drive replacements and one chech up after 10000 crashes by: http://www.rapidgroup.net/ (very good customer service)



    One check up after 200000 crashes by: http://www.logosystems.co.uk/macintosh_applecare.html



    The 3rd hard drive replacement was by a Beijing Certified repair shop. I'm gonna take it to an Apple shop when I get back to London, but I thought taking the item to a Certified repair shop would be the same. I can see now that it's not. I wonder why the Apple Care guys didn't tell me that over the phone.





    MPW: Your message gave me stomachache. It's infuriating to know more people tried to do something about it and Apple didn't help at all.
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