[UrielSynthesis]

Hi, I'm looking to buy my first Mac. I've been wanting to do it for a couple of years but never saved the money, and with the new unibody Macbooks I'm definitely going to bite the bullet now. I've decided I want the new 2.0 base model, since after lugging around an 8 pound 15.4 inch HP for several years I find the smaller size of the MB more appealing than the MBP. Although I really like the idea of having a backlit keyboard, I can't justify spending more on the higher end model because A.) Benchmarks seem to show an extremely small performance increase with the 2.4 ghz processor, B.) I plan on installing a larger hard drive than either model has anyway, and C.) I don't really type in total darkness, and in lowlight I imagine that the screen will illuminate the keys just fine.

Anyway, enough about my purchasing decisions. What I'm really concerned about are the reports of slanted keys, dead pixels, and smudges/dust under the screen. I consider myself extremely anal and would be driven crazy by these issues. Since I'm basically spending a premium largely for aesthetics, I really need it to be perfect. I was in my local Apple store this week buying an iPhone 3G and while the Genius was setting me up, I talked to him about this issue. He said he wasn't aware of any of these defects, although as I pointed out to him one of their aluminum MBs had severely slanted function keys all the way across. As I was asking him about whether they've had many returns for these defects, he said he wasnt aware of any and even said "people try to get us for any little thing". I'm guessing he said this because I was speaking as a curious observer rather than a prospective buyer. Anyway this highlights my insecurity about returning a MB for something they may feel is ridiculously nitpicky. I don't want to be put in the position to do that, even though logic tells me I shouldn't be worried about what the employees think. I just don't want to be that guy, you know?

Anyway, to finally get to my point, I was wondering if anyone has tried to get a somewhat accurate feel for how common these issues are. The fact that people with defects like this are usually a vocal minority, combined with the fact that many casual users wouldn't notice/care/post about it, makes hard to get a good impression. Is it even possible to get anything other than scattered anecdotal cases?

Also, more importantly, does anyone know what Apple's official stance on this problem is? I know in recent history they have been hard pressed to even acknowledge the existence of these manufacturing defects until the problem because overwhelming. I;ve heard some people say that they took their MBs into an Apple store and they exchanged them no probem, while others are being told that its not a big problem and that they need to just live with it (this is mostly in regards to the tilted key issue). I have my doubts that Apple will address any manufacturing problems by the time I will be buying this, which will be early January.

This is kind of disjointed and longwinded, but I'm just trying to get advice on how likely it is that my MB will have these issues, and whether I can count on the Apple store to exchange it for me until I get one without these problems. Thanks for reading!

[Ted L. Nancy]

My 2.4 has one small factory defect...

there is a slight imperfection in the aluminum case at the top edge of the screen (barely noticeable unless you run your finger over it). I have not reported it to Apple, complained, returned, etc. because, although I'm am "anal," I'm not that anal.

Apple will exchange if it is in fact a manufacturing defect. The size of a fuss you raise may have to be tailored to the size of the defect. (Bigger defect, smaller fuss. Smaller defect, bigger fuss.)

In some cases, Apple will insist that you return the laptop. For example, I've owned 2 aluminum MBs since they were released. The first was a 2.0 that I ordered the moment it became available. After about 2-3 weeks of use, the power adapter stopped working. When I called Apple, they asked that I send the computer back for a full refund. They were clear that they wanted to investigate the issue to the fullest extent since it was a relatively new model, problem arose so quickly, etc.

I doubt you'll get an overall feel for this sort of thing at this point beyond tallying individual reports like this one.

[Spheric Harlot]

I am not aware of any "regular" defects except for the trackpad clicking issue that has since been fixed with the firmware update.

None at all, a couple of fluke defective units notwithstanding.

In fact, this thing appears to be the most error-free release in *ages*.

[Maflynn]

All in all, my MBP is defect free and I know of a fair number of others that also defect free.

[UrielSynthesis]

thanks for the responses guys. I guess I'm worrying too much.

On another note, can anyone else with a 2.0 MB comment on whether or not the screen brightness compensates well for the lack of a backlit keyboard?

I would think that white letters on black keys would actually be easier to see than on the previous ones, but a lot of people are saying they are harder to see.

[Simon]

Right now it appears as if the unibody release might have been the most trouble-free rev A portable Mac in quite a while. Apart from the trackpad issue (which has been fixed with the recent software update) there seem to be no systematic flaws.

[OreoCookie]

Apple is very similar to other high-quality manufacturers, e. g. HP's business line or IBM Thinkpads (now Lenovo Thinkpads). I don't want to go into a philosophical debate whether one says one manufacturer is better than another. Their service is as good as HP's at least, professional, fast. My point is: Apple is not some strange company from a parallel universe, the quality is just like that of other quality manufacturers. There is no need to worry.

Regarding manufacturing defects like dead pixels, you will always have the chance that you have a notebook with a defect like that. My notebooks have never had dead pixels when I got them (my current ProBook acquired a dead pixel after a serious bike accident, that doesn't count ).

In any case, I recommend you get Apple Care (my sister thanked me that she got extended warranty for her HP). Don't save money on that.

[perbl]

Originally Posted by Simon 

Right now it appears as if the unibody release might have been the most trouble-free rev A portable Mac in quite a while. Apart from the trackpad issue (which has been fixed with the recent software update) there seem to be no systematic flaws.

Think I might have to disagree with you on that one. I have discovered some very annoying problems with waking the machine up from sleep. Have had my computer for three days, and allready experienced the exact same problem three times. When trying to wake the computer up from sleep via my new bluetooth-keyboard, the light in the keyboard comes on, but the display is still black, and the only way to revive the computer is to turn it off via holdning the power button until I kill it. The problem continues when it comes back on, where there seems all bluetooth hardware has disappeared, and I have to shut it down via the apple menu->shut down, and turn it back on until the system reports having installed bluetooth hardware again.

If I was the only one having this problem, I would just go back and demand a refund or replacement, but after looking at some quick google searches there seems to be a lot of people having problems exactly like this one, and a temporary solution seems to be to disable bluetooth devices for waking up the computer.

After I did that, I thought I had solved the problem temporarily until Apple perhaps releases a fix for this, but a couple of hours later I discovered a new problem. When waking the computer up via the internal keyboard the external display suddenly had bright colored defects scrolling rapidly on the screen, and after another quick google search, this also seems to be a very common problem, where you have to pull the mini displayport adapter out, and put it back in again to get rid of the defects.

So far, I am not impressed compared to the almost five years of flawless operation with my Powerbook with regards to sleeping, and from reports from friends and colleagues with Macs, I am under the impression that there are quite a few issues relating to sleep and wake up after Apple switched to Intel. Specially since my HP running XP so far seems to be much more stable than my brand new Mac that was supposed to replace it as the primary computer

[kylef]

Originally Posted by UrielSynthesis

I don't really type in total darkness, and in lowlight I imagine that the screen will illuminate the keys just fine.

For the most part I think you'll be fine. Right now my backlit keyboard isn't on and I'm in a semi-dull area and it is still easy to use, although I'm more of a touch-typer these days. Just make sure the screen isn't too bright in comparison to dark conditions unless you enjoy eye-strain or headaches!

Originally Posted by UrielSynthesis

Anyway, enough about my purchasing decisions. What I'm really concerned about are the reports of slanted keys, dead pixels, and smudges/dust under the screen. I consider myself extremely anal and would be driven crazy by these issues. Since I'm basically spending a premium largely for aesthetics, I really need it to be perfect.

I'll run through these in orders. In terms of slanted keys, none are out of place. However my Y key comes off when I tap it from the top - I checked it out with a Genius and they were happy to replace it. Dead pixels - none spotted. Smudges that are surfaced on the screen (damn fingers, right?) come off fine with the cleaning cloth Apple supply, it's so much better than what came with the 1st gen iPhone to say the least heh. In terms of dust under the screen, I can't say I have experienced any.

Originally Posted by Ted L. Nancy

My 2.4 has one small factory defect...
there is a slight imperfection in the aluminum case at the top edge of the screen (barely noticeable unless you run your finger over it). I have not reported it to Apple, complained, returned, etc. because, although I'm am "anal," I'm not that anal.

This is very, very coincidental. When I went in to the Genius bar to fix my Y key (see above) under "defects" the genius wrote small indentation on left and right edge of screen. I hadn't noticed them, but I checked them out and on the side where the aluminium meets the display 'black' (glass?) there was a tiny, tiny ding / indentation.