Cracked Macs rankle Apple customers
Apple isn’t going out of its way to publicize the problem, but the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that cracked Macbooks are troubling users. Underscoring that, a Flickr site carries pictures of more than 200 cracked Macs, posted by the owners, along with their commentary.
Apple spokesman Bill Evans invited users with problems to bring them to Apple.
“Any user who has an issue with their Macbook should contact AppleCare for support, even if it is out of warranty,” he said of the problem, which dates back to at least 2006 and is still angering consumers.
Apple won’t say if they have upgraded the plastic that cracks, how many Macs they have fixed or if they expect more troubles as the aging plastic splinters. Although the problem is notorious in old machines, users say it has also appeared in machines that are less than a year old. A British website, The Inquirer, reported earlier this year that Apple will repair the problem for out-of-warranty Macs at no charge. Users like this one on the Flickr site also said the machines were repaired at no charge.
At a Facebook site dedicated to the problem, a user reported getting his machine fixed only to have it crack again. Others on the Flickr site also reported recurring problems.
If Apple seems to be playing down the problem it’s understandable. People pay a hefty premium for Apple products compared to PCs, and the company prides itself on the sleekness of its design and the quality of its products.
Photo: An Apple launch event/Reuters.
Microsoft loves it when Apple cries Uncle
Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner did cartwheels of joy down the corridor — he claims — when Apple’s legal people called him a few weeks ago demanding he stop the “Laptop Hunter” ads, where penny-pinching punters opt for cheaper PC machines over more costly Macs.
“We’re going to keep running them, and running them and running them,” Turner said at a Microsoft conference on Wednesday, relishing a clear blow in the fistfight for customers.
Watch Turner’s spirited performance here — scroll the bar onto 2:57:45 for the Apple segment.
Apple didn’t reply to a request to confirm Turner’s story.
In case you missed the Microsoft ads, or would like to relive Apple’s pain, here’s the first one again:
You do, of course, need some extensive background on assembly language and basic knowledge computer architecture. If you have that, you’ll be treated to quite a wide scope of material. This text is very clear, and the wealth of information is staggering
Intel vs AMD: battle spills over into battery life
(Posted by Clare Baldwin)
Advanced Microchip Devices Inc is arguing that laptop battery life should be measured the same way as cellphone battery life: in terms of idle time and talk time.
AMD first raised the issue in a blog post in March, but is again making the rounds to convey its message that current standards, which it says measure the equivalent of standby mode in a cell phone, is misleading consumers.
Why exactly is this issue so important to AMD? Because under current standards, laptops based on arch-foe Intel’s chips demonstrate significantly better battery life. Under alternative standards, their battery life is roughly equivalent to AMD’s.
“Twenty-dollar cell phones give better information to the consumer about battery life than a $799 notebook,” AMD vice president Patrick Moorhead said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
Moorhead said the current standard is based on dim screens (20 percent brightness), miniscule microprocessor loads (7 percent usage) and has WiFi turned off.
“That’s no Web browser, no audio like iTunes, no video, and no games,” he said.
I guess AMD is right, we should get to know the battery life, in both the cases
Netbook grows up, learns to play games
Slowly but surely, the netbook is growing up.
At first these sub-notebook machines were seen as weaklings. Now Nvidia Corp, which makes computer graphics cards, has teamed up with Lenovo to offer its second “ion” Netbook, following an announcement last month with Acer. Nvidia’s suggestion for computer makers is to soup up the low-powered Intel Atom chips which run netbooks by combining them with Nvidia graphics cards.
The new product, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12, is touted by the companies as having the long life of Netbooks, but the quick graphics performance of Nvidia chips. It has a 12-inch screen and a keyboard, which puts it closer in size to the average laptop than to the average netbook. Of course, the machine is priced closer to a low-powered laptop than it is to a traditional netbook, at $499 (if netbooks, being of such recent vintage, can be characterized as traditional).
The machine is said to run video games and other applications that usually can only limp along on a normal netbook. It runs all recent versions of Windows and will show high-definition Blue-ray movies.
Do not, however, try to buy one yet. It won’t be around until “later this summer” a press release says.
Hi,I can’t believe this is still a problem with the Macbook. My sister’s 2.5 year old Macbook cracked at the palm rest, was fixed, and she was told this was a once off. They refused to fix the cracking around the screen as it wasn’t identified as a problem. This was six months into ownership. I just looked at hers last night and was shocked with how the plastic around the screen is disintegrating and I can see the metal parts behind the bezel. The computer looks terrible, and in an Apple world looks are just as important as function. Her boyfriend wonders why she bought the thing.I love Macs but I would never buy the Macbook due to this problem.Hey, on the bright side, at least the Macbook doesn’t have the logic board problems that the iBooks had.