Are MacBooks safe to buy now?

Is there still a lot of cases of RDS?
Or did they fix the problem?

And were there a lot of cases with the MacBook Pro?
Or was it just the 13" model?

 

Regarding the random shutdown thing, we at least know that Apple is now officially aware of it and that if you do get one that has the problem, they now are apparently able to fix it (I've heard various things about what they swap out or fix on affected systems).

But I don't think there's a clear idea of really how widespread it is, but it does at least seem like there have been some resolutions to it if it does come up in a MacBook you buy.

I only heard about the random shutdown problem on the regular MacBooks, so it seemed to be isolated to them.

-Zadillo

 

So, if problems continue to happen with my Dell order, and I cancel and get a MacBook (13") I should have some peace of mind?

 

Well, I'd say probably. There's no guarantee you'll get a flawless MacBook with no problems at all; I think the peace of mind would come in primarily that in case you do get one with a problem, you can be relatively rest assured that Apple will take care of it and fix it.

-Zadillo

 

Yeah, that's good to have in mind...Because I'm seriously concidering a cancelling my Dell to get a MacBook. Dell has been REALLY frustrating with even getting my notebook.

 

I noticed that you were ordering the XPSM1210 with a GeForce 7400; is gaming important to you at all? If so, the MacBook might not be such a good option with its Intel GMA950. I'm not sure what you were spending on the M1210, but given the price range, it might not be a bad idea to look at some other options that would give you good gaming performance, like perhaps the Sony SZ with the same GeForce 7400. Or, if you don't mind going bigger, the MacBook Pro (it's X1600 is underclocked, but it would still be a good performer compared to the Go 7400).

If your problem is just that Dell is taking a while to get you the notebook, I would say it is probably because of the fact it has a Core 2 Duo processor, and those are just starting to trickle out of Dell. I'm not sure I 'd cancel the order if that was otherwise the machine I really wanted.

 

Gaming isn't too important to me, I wouldn't be doing any at all really. I would just mainly be watching DVD's on it. So the intergrated would be okay for that right? And the battery life is good? Are you able to turn down the brightness for battery use?

 

I get about 3 1/2 hours with normal usage, wifi on and Bluetooth off. Last night I watched a DVD that was stored in another machine using NFS/wifi, it took about 50% of the charge for a movie of 1 1/2 hours. So DVD watching+ constant wifi should give you about 3h. It is quite good in my opinion. And, of course, you can turn the brightness down. The integrated chipset is quite good for everyday tasks and even some light gaming.

 

Wooky already answered this one, so yeah, you should be ok.

The last thing I want to do is dissuade someone from buying a MacBook, but I am still curious about why you're angry with Dell. If it really is just that they are taking longer to ship the XPSM1210 out, I'm still not sure if it is really fair to Dell to be angry with them; Core 2 Duo chip supply is still somewhat limited, and they've only just started being able to ship them. I mean, Apple hasn't even officially announced when they will be upgrading the MacBook or MacBook Pro with the new chips.

-Zadillo