[scratt]

This made interesting reading...

I have done a quick check to see if anyone has posted already, and could not find it. Appologies if it has been posted already..

Contrary to what most people (I won't name any names) seem to be saying and thinking a lot of the new Apple PowerBooks etc. are actually more reliable than they used to be...

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/laptops.html

I've highlighted a few points in the conclusion (quoted below) which I think are worth noting...

Conclusions The iBook G3, which sold quite well, had the most failures of any Apple laptop we surveyed and the failures were critical (the motherboard). Some other Mac models have had quite a few failures as well, but they generally were due to specific component problems. The iBook G3 simply appears to have been a flawed design, but it took a long time for Apple engineers to get a handle on the problem and fix it. Each generation of aluminum PowerBooks has shown improved first-year reliability, as have the iBook G4 revisions. Repair rates for these models appear to drop in the second and third years of ownership (where applicable — some are too new to measure), unlike the Titanium PowerBook, PowerBook G3 and 12" iBooks, all of which required more repairs in their second and third years. When comparing models, we largely chose to ignore fourth year and later repairs, since this data is not available for all models and distorts reliability comparisons. Repairs increase with age, but we think this just reflects wear and tear — laptop computers do not lead easy lives. Despite the apparent increase in repairs as they age, owners of these older laptops say they are very happy with their Macs. The "average" laptop in our survey had a roughly 20% chance of requiring some sort of repair in its first year, and 18% chance of requiring repair in years 2 or 3. Fourth year and later repair rates appear to drop, but this (and submitted comments) indicate machines without major problems remain in use, while machines with severe problems in earlier years are replaced. Given the rate of repair of Mac laptops in our survey, extended warranties appear to pay off almost as often as not. We're somewhat concerned by the repair rates we saw in our survey, but PC World's January 2006 laptop reliability survey placed Apple squarely at the top of the list for both low problem rates and high owner satisfaction. (However, unlike its previous year survey, PC World did not list failure or repair rates, so an apples-to-apples comparison is not possible.) Apple has led the notebook market, with laptops accounting for more than half of its overall sales. Over the years, we've seen a steady maturing of laptop technology as Apple has learned what works well and what is prone to failure. As usual, when radical changes are made (such as the ultra-thin Titanium PowerBook G4), there are teething pains, while economizing has its own risks, for which Apple has paid in high warranty repairs for its popular G3 iBooks. But it appears that Apple has since learned how to make affordable, yet reliable, consumer models, and steadily thinner and lighter, yet more rugged, professional models. Trends suggest that Apple's latest crop of laptops may be the most reliable since the original, extremely rugged orange and blue iBooks. Based on what we've seen in this survey, we'd be pretty confident buying a new iBook or PowerBook today. It will be interesting to see what happens with Apple's switch to Intel hardware.

[torifile]

I've been using my rev. c (?) 12" powerbook for almost a year and a half and I haven't had a *single* problem. (Knocking on wood vigorously.) And I use my laptop *all the time*. I average nearly 20 battery loadcycles a month and those aren't just top offs. On average, I'd say my computer is in use 6-7 hours/day. It's a pretty darned good computer.

[intlplby]

could it be a tad skewed.... i would say that apple powerbook and ibook owns take much better care of their laptops physically since it is such a pretty machine

i still believe that they are better quality, but i wonder if that is a factor

[alcimedes]

Part of it too is (for example) there were a variety of 15" powerbooks with white spots on the screen and/or bad latches. According to this that's a "repair" type problem.

However, your iBook with a dead MB also counts as a "repair" but in this case one day your computer just up and dies. It would be nice if they had a "catastrophic failure" vs. regular repair type break down. (maybe they did and i didn't notice it earlier)

However, when you look at the numbers, keep in mind that groups like Consumer Reports and PC Magazine consistantly rank Apple laptops near the top of the heap for quality. So as bad as Apple has become, everyone else has gotten worse.

[BlueRabbit]

Originally Posted by intlplby could it be a tad skewed.... i would say that apple powerbook and ibook owns take much better care of their laptops physically since it is such a pretty machine i still believe that they are better quality, but i wonder if that is a factor

Well, people like us take really good care of our computers, but not everyone else does. I've seen some pretty beat up iBooks/Powerbooks around campus, ranging from cracks in the plastic siding to dents in exterior and broken latches. It's kinda like how most of us here would abhor putting stickers on our computers, yet a ton of people seem to do it.

[Sargasm]

According to the second to last paragraph in the post, it says Apple is leading the notebook market. Do they mean in overall sales or in terms of notebook reliability?