how reliable are macs?

Like all electronic equipment things can go wrong. The Applecare cover gives a longer guarantee beyond the usual 12 months. I have it for my iMac but hardware problems on those are somewhat difficult to diagnose.

As for reliability they are outstanding. I have had mine for almost 2 years and it has only been restarted when updates require. During that time it has never crashed, locked up, slowed down or broke. Not once. :)

I can only speak from my own experience but my 20" G5 iMac is without doubt the best computer I have ever used or owned.
 
My G5 has been faultless for ages, it's been run 24/7 since new and never skipped a beat.

I run a lot of Mac minis, too, in a datacentre, and haven't yet had a major hardware failure... which is good. It remains to be seen just how reliable the Intel ones are, though.
 
i have the chance to get a student pack which includes the 3 year warranty and quite a discounted price.
it worth getting then?
 
While they're certainly more reliable than some laptop manufacturers I could name. They're not magic, like all hardware they can fail. My Powerbook's logic board failed a few months after I got it, luckily they replaced it under the 12 month warranty. But if it had been out of warranty it would have cost a fortune. My next mac will have apple care just in case.
 
I think hardware wise they're no better than other branded laptops and desktops but the operating system is fantastic. I've hear of a couple of people having hard drive failures after a few years but its not that suprising in a portable machine. Hard drives are fairly cheap and not too hard to replace in some of the machines so I don't know if the extra care package is worth it.
 
MichaelHo said:
i have the chance to get a student pack which includes the 3 year warranty and quite a discounted price.
it worth getting then?
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How much is it? Is this just the standard apple care but ordered from the higher education store?
 
The chap from our local Apple Support Store (whatever its Appley name is) has said he's getting tonnes of problems with the Macbook Pro's. Primarily in the overheating department & disk failures (which can be common anyhow).
 
My Mac Mini has locked up once, but that might be related to the reason why there have been some recent firmware updates.

Also, under load (well, you've got to give the CPU a good old thrashing, haven't you), the hard disk runs at a somewhat egg frying 51C. That might not be so good for it's long-term future. :(
 
TCEuk said:
How much is it? Is this just the standard apple care but ordered from the higher education store?
Click to expand...

yes it was from high ed, jus call them up, tell them your from a university and thats it.
Im not too sure on the package price as i quoted for 1gig mem too, so 1 gig mem and the pack which inc ms office mac, 3 yr warranty and bag was about £200-250 extra i think.

when i buy it i will jus get the student pack and not the mem upgrade.
 
MichaelHo said:
3 yr warranty and bag was about £200-250 extra i think.
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Nice and cheap then :o . Can you buy this later, after you have bought your mac? I'm guessing you have to buy it whilst it is within the 1yr warranty.
 
buying the apple care plan alone without student discount is £200 i think.
The student pack is around that price and you get 3 yr warranty and ms office and bag.

im stil deciding whether to go for it or not.
Are there any alternatives to office?
 
MichaelHo said:
buying the apple care plan alone without student discount is £200 i think.
The student pack is around that price and you get 3 yr warranty and ms office and bag.

im stil deciding whether to go for it or not.
Are there any alternatives to office?
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I can't comment on it, as i don't have a mac yet, but i hear open office is quite good. My dad has it on his PC and it seems to do the job.

In terms of getting the warranty or not, are you going to be keeping the laptop for the next 3 years. I mean, there is a fairly high chance that within that time something will go wrong. If £200 is affordable, then go for it.
 
You're meant to get 3yrs as standard with the HE bought kit, but no one seems to know if that's true or not! and the terms and conditions seems to contradict themselves :(
 
The 3 yr Applecare cost me £72 when I bought my iMac G5 with HE Discount last December :confused:


...£200 :eek:
 
When i bought my MacBook there wasn't an option for AppleCare... though i think they've added something now! :confused:
 
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