Despite complaints from some MacBook owners dissatisfied with cracked plastic casings, Brown students with the Apple laptops seem content with how their plastic laptop casings are holding up. Complaints of MacBook casings spontaneously cracking have been recurring on Apple's MacBook user discussion forum and other blogs since 2006.
Still, students who own MacBooks seem comparatively happier about owning MacBooks than Dell or other notebook PCs.
"Better, prettier, greater resistance to viruses," said Emily Silverman '09 of her new MacBook. Silverman had owned a Dell Inspiron since 2005, but she switched to a MacBook after her Dell crashed multiple times. Silverman described her experience with Dell's customer service as "awful" and said her friends' satisfaction with their MacBooks and Apple's customer service helped her decide to buy a MacBook.
Her only complaint with her MacBook laptop's gleaming white case was that it showed smudge marks "pretty obviously."
"I like my MacBook 724 times better than my last computer," said Ben Mishkin '08. Mishkin bought his MacBook in December 2006 after owning a Dell Inspiron 5150. Mishkin said he experienced problems with his Dell's keyboard.
He mentioned that a small splinter of plastic broke free from the casing near his MacBook's touchpad, but that he considered it "no big deal."
Computer consultants at the Brown Computer Store expressed similar sentiments. "The MacBook and MacBook Pro are solid machines," said Bob Geake, staff assistant and computer consultant at the store. "There've been a few MacBook case defects that I've seen, but Apple is generally good at taking care of the problems."
"Sometimes (MacBook) cases can discolor from heat and handling, but I haven't seen a lot of cracked cases," said Elliot Fleming, the lead computer consultant at the store. "The one obvious case crack I ever saw was close to the (MacBook)'s wrist pad."
Fleming said a cracked laptop case is relatively unimportant, noting that, "Cracks in the cases are cosmetic issues. But if you lose your hard drive, you lose your work."
Geake and Fleming have occasionally dealt with complaints surrounding hardware components of early MacBook models. Geake said some early MacBooks had problems with their motherboards and overheating. Fleming mentioned that some Seagate hard drives were unreliable in some early MacBook computers. But both agreed that hardware and software problems are not uncommon with either Macs or PCs.
"We regularly do maintenance and repair work on Macs and PCs in about a 50-50 ratio," said Geake, who recommended that if students do find problems with their computers, they should be cautious in taking on repair jobs themselves. "If you try and handle a problem yourself, you can very easily void your warranty," Geake said.
As for complaints about cracked casings, "Apple is more responsive to individuals in some cases," Fleming said.
"If you're worried about your laptop casing, try contacting Apple yourself," he said. "(Apple) decides what to do about case defects via one-by-one determinations."
Many of the complaints about MacBook casing defects on Apple's Web site come from MacBook owners who were unable to get their cracked cases replaced. These customers tended not to mention in discussion posts whether their computers were still covered by the original warranty or whether they had bought the AppleCare Protection Plan.
The AppleCare plan is an all-inclusive warranty package that covers hardware and software problems on new Apple products ranging from iPods to desktop computers. The plan's terms and conditions explicitly state that the plan does not cover cosmetic damage "that does not otherwise affect (computers') functionality" but does not specifically mention plan coverage terms for cosmetic defects.
"The AppleCare plans that we sell cover minor accidents, dings on the computer and many replacement parts," Geake said. "(AppleCare) is probably a good idea for some students."
Holistically, Geake, a former PC and current Mac owner, has enjoyed his personal Apple products. "I got an iBook via a grant, and I never turned back (from Apple). The components in the system are really user-friendly - the iLife software packages give users a lot of things to play around with that often cost extra on PCs. Many new users are very satisfied with the new operating system, OS X Leopard. I think more computer users are considering Macs because of their dual core processors and because they can run both Mac and Windows operating systems," Geake said.
Students who have recently bought MacBooks voiced similar enthusiasm for the new MacBook's features and operating system.
"It's an awesome computer," said Evelyn Limon '11 of her MacBook, which she purchased Aug. 27.
"I've had my (MacBook) for about two weeks, and I've really enjoyed it so far," said Elisa Foster GS, a history of art and architecture graduate student.
Whether or not cracked MacBook casings are a problem on College Hill, students and bookstore employees alike agreed that the significance of these minor cosmetic defects pales in comparison to larger problems that have occurred with both Macs and PCs.
