I’m hardly one of those crazy Apple freaks…yeah, you know who I’m talking about. However, I’d like to share another positive experience further reinforcing why I won’t ever buy a PC again.
What is different about a MacBook Pro, then say, your typical laptop? Macs are more expensive (maybe – read on). As far as home use is concerned, that’s about the only advantage I can think of that PCs have over Macs. Upfront cost. I don’t need to tell you that Macs are virus free, more stable, have a better OS that never crashes, are extremely more sexy (in both look and form factor), and in general just work better. Oh wait, I just told you.
Back to the subject at hand. PC guy: eat your heart out. When was the last time you heard a PC tell its owner that its own hard drive was failing? Yeah, that’s what I thought. My experience is that it tells you when it crashes or gives you the blue screen of death. A few days ago I opened up disk utility in my MacBook Pro. Sure enough, my MacBook Pro had evolved into some kind of self-aware being that told me that I should back my files up because the hard drive was failing. Seriously? Maybe that’s why it gets the “Pro” added to the end of its name.
I thought about it for awhile. Well, my MacBook IS coming up on 4 years old, I thought. Yes, that was another shameless plug for its quality – 4 years of problem free computing courtesy of Apple (even considering I upgraded the memory and OS). It’s the computer equivalent of driving a Toyota or a Honda (recent events not withstanding). I took it down to the futuristically designed and decorated Apple Store near where I work and signed up for a free Apple Care doctor’s appointment. Guess what, no co-pay or office visit fees! They checked out my Macbook Pro on the spot for free and they confirmed the worst...my Macbook Pro HAD evolved some computer sixth sense and had properly self-diagnosed itself. My guess is my MacBook Pro had been secretly surfing a WebMD equivalent site while I slept and then covered its own tracks by deleting the history.
Apple quoted me a price to swap out my hard drive. Since my laptop was old, they only carried 160 GB hard drives now – double what I currently have. Of course, they made sure I had backed up all my files with Time Machine (more on this later). I knew they were going to be more expensive but didn’t expect them to tell me that (in not so many words). The guy asked if I wanted to shop around at some of their recommended dealers in town. I declined, since I didn’t want to attempt to fix it myself nor hassle with potential hacks…not too mention the Apple Store is literally across the street. So, I left my MacBook at the store with the undersanding that it should take 3-5 days. Guess what? They called the next day to tell my it was ready. That’s called under-promising and over-delivering.
I took my newly fixed computer home and fired it up. To my pleasant surprise, they had loaded the same operating system but had upgraded me to iLife ’08 for free (the main software applications for Macs). I’m sure the only reason why I was “upgraded” was because my original software was so old that they didn’t carry it anymore…but that’s OK. To me, the customer, it’s the same result as if I had purchased it. Currently iLife ’09 is out and sells for $80. Who knows how much ’08 sells for – if it does. I’m glad I never actually upgraded and paid for it. My Mac screams in comparison now. I have twice the hard drive space, on a brand new hard drive that isn’t cluttered from 4 years of use. As I mentioned above, I plugged in my Time Machine backup and am in the process of restoring all of my files. It works like a charm. I’ve restored all of my files except my pictures - which are currently being transferred now. Having a backup system built in to the software and that is user friendly is a great idea.
Apple will be keeping my business. The next time I buy a computer (probably for Stacey) it’ll be a Mac. Sorry PC guy, for my use, they are just better in every way.