Apple :: New Macbook Pro That Came With A Scratch/dent
Apr 28, 2010
I know some might think I am being over dramatic but I pay the high premium and I expect a high quality product.
I got my new i7 15" macbook pro last wednesday. I noticed maybe 2 or 3 days after I got it I that there was this tiny dent to the left of my left speaker. It's nothing huge, maybe 1 cm long and a fraction of a cm wide but once you notice these things they really start to tick you off.
In the last 3 months I have gone through about 2 dell "studio xps" systems due to major build quality issues and finding this mark today just about broke my heart (thearpy).
What are my options?
I don't really want to go without a laptop for another week so if that is my only option I will just live with it....
And, I know this is not anything of my doing unless my soft little generous fingers somehow dented my macbook... I have babied this thing since I brought it into this world (unboxing) and this whole ordeal just frustrates me.
Am I able to get a replacement for it being "defective"? If so would it be brand new. If not would I be able to get a full refund and re order? Or would they send me a new laptop and I sent this one back? Does the 10% restocking fee apply?
Just ordered a S&D M1710 from the Dell Outlet with a 7600G chip (woo) and 7950GTX to replace my "ailing" off-warranty Gen2. I also ordered a three year warranty with CompleteCare, something I *didn't* get on the Gen2.
I'm expecting the scratches and/or dents will be superficial at best, and I can deal with that. If the notebook was heavily damaged I'd assume Dell would just junk it and sell the salvageable parts as "refurbished." Should they *not* be, however...
1) Does CompleteCare "cover" damage that was already done to the notebook at point of sale? If the notebook is damaged beyond my level of comfort, does CompleteCare cover its repair, since I'm assuming it'll be a lid or chassis problem. Or is this a case of "someone else broke it, and *you* bought it?" I would think the logic of the situation would be that (and please do not read into this as I'm not this type of person) if I damaged the notebook myself accidentally, I assume they wouldn't just fix the dents *I* put in it. =/
2) If the "damages" are severe, does the Outlet have the same 21 day return policy (or *any* return policy) regardless of whether an item is refurbished, off-lease, or S&D? EDIT: Found the answer to this one myself, it's the same return policy with a possible 15% restocking fee.
3) Could anyone with *past buying experience* (or knows someone and can recount their experience) with the Outlet please tell me what to expect and how your refurb or S&D part arrived?
4) Not a question, but yes I'm aware I bought an "older" and therefore "non-1337" model. I don't much care about DX10 at the moment, and also didn't feel like spending 2500 for a new notebook that is *slower* graphically than my 7800GTX was or 3500+ on a SLI 8800GTX setup and gives me more pain in driver support. Sufficed to say, the difference between 1900 dollars and 2500-3500+ dollars is not "slight." So if you're going to post in here and say something to the effect of "why didn't you buy a 1730," please don't bother and keep the discussion on topic.
And before anyone asks: T7600G / 2GB (upgrading to 4GB despite the chipset limitation) / DD DVD-R/W / 7950GTX / Vista Ultimate ("downgrading" to XP with my Gen2's disc) / Intel N-Band Card ("downgrading" to a Gigabyte PCIe SuperG to take advantage of my existing network)
I had an Inspiron 1420 and I installed Windows 7, I could not get the wifi working with the dell drivers, so I had to reformat my entire computer. I was able to sell my 1 year old Inspiron 1420 for $525 on ebay. Then I found notebookreview.com and the fourms, now I am happier than ever that I did!
Received my scratch and dent studio xps 13 from Dell Ordered on Tuesday 4/21/09 at midnight. Arrived 4/24/09 7:55pm Friday Shipped from Tennessee to Pennsylvania
Specs: Studio XPS 13 P8600 2.4ghz 4gb ddr3 320gb 7200rpm WLED screen Wifi 1515 n Bluetooth
Cost: $729 dell outlet + 15% off coupon (expires 5/1/09) With tax and shipping $656
Time on Dell Outlet website hitting the refresh button: 3 hours to find the studio xps 13 outlet pc for $729 with WLED screen Most had LCD.. so I had to keep checking every 5 minutes for a couple of hours
Looks: Looked almost brand new when I opened it up
one word.. awesome.. design is very sharp looking, blacklit keys are really nice Small surface scratches hardly noticeable on the top of the laptop..have to look at it in the light at a certain angle to notice the scratches. When I opened it up it looked really nice, keyboard is brand new, no scratches of any kind on the inside.
Design: Very good, I have no wobbling problems, on a flat table now.. no issues. When you open this up the keyboard seems pretty big.. It definitely does not feel like a 13 inch laptop.. the keyboard looks like it could be on a 15 inch laptop. Lots of extra space for your palms etc
Weight: not a problem at all even if you had to carry it with you
Keyboard: Typing on it now.. Definitely there is a learning curve to it as I am used to smaller keyboard with the keys closer. I watched that video of the other person showing keyboard keys were loose.. I noticed that some keys are looser than others but as I am typing on it now I have no problems whatsoever. After 20 minutes I noticed the oil from my fingers showing as smudges on every single key (again only in certain light can you see this) but it does not bother me at all. The sound buttons and eject button works great on the keyboard
Trackpad: Very small, learning curve here also but its not a deal breaker. Very responsive
Monitor: LED screen is beautiful and totally kills my old Inspiron 14 inch LCD. So clear and bright I would not trade it for anything, also looks brand new. I did notice that the monitor hardly blocks the fan on the bottom.. not a problem. The heat on the left of the monitor is slightly warm but not hot. The 1200x800 display is the perfect size for the monitor
Heat: I received the laptop, put in my 64bit windows cd and reinstalled, then upgraded the bios to A06 Both cores run between 41 and 45 C , Have noticed this creeping up to 50 C sometimes but never over 50 A little warmer than other laptops I have used but not a problem at all. The laptop feels warm (but I would not say it is hot.. Even if I put my hand under the laptop it is only warm. The palm rests are comfortable and slightly warm but nothing bad. When I was doing the windows reinstall from the cd, when I put my hand under it, it was very hot.. the A06 bios update really helped cool it down!
Performance: Fastest laptop I have ever used and now owned. Add/Remove programs loads in less than second. Word, Excel, Powerpoint load in 2 seconds If I hit the power button and put this into sleep mode.. walk away and then open up the lid again, it comes back up in less than 3-5 seconds. Windows vista 64 loads very quickly
Sound: Good and loud, same as any other laptop
Fan: Bios A06 update seems to have the fan running all the time now.. I do not have any problem with it. It is very quiet and it does not run 100% of the time either
Battery Life: Regular 6 cell battery.. not sure how old this battery is but I think with wifi on, Screen brightness on max, giving me 2 1/2 hours Might need to upgrade to the 9 cell in the future, but it works fine for now
HDMI: Plugged it into the tv.. looks really nice but I cannot get sound to work yet.. I was trying to play a tv show from fox.com through Internet Explorer.. Video worked very good, but sound was not working.. still need to look into this more............
So I purchased a "scratch n dent" mini 9 from the dell outlet. It arrived today. When I looked at the bottom it had a refurbished sticker on the bottom. I know on the outlet they have ordered previously new, refurbished, and scratch n dent.
Do all the scratch n dent computers come with this sticker? I figure the refurb would but didn't think the scratch n dent would as it's only a used computer..
I'm trying to figure out if I should keep it or not.
Specs for the laptop are: Latitude E6500 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB) WindowsXP Pro, with Vista upgrade disk. There was no documentation (manual) with it at all.
-- 6 Cell Primary Battery -- Back-lit Keyboard -- 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (1 DIMMs) -- 90W AC Adapter -- NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M -- Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module -- Integrated Webcam with digital microphone -- Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card -- 250 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200 RPM) -- 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability -- Genuine Windows XP Pro with Vista Business License -- 15.4 inch WXGA+ LED Laptop Screen
I paid $735 with a 20% off coupon.
It's definitely got a rather visible dent, and the chassis is bent out of shape. Looks like it fell and landed on it's right front corner.
It runs fine, no problems connecting to the wlan or the internet, sound seems fine with no crackling (if a little tinny), the backlit keyboard is fantastic and I love typing on it. Touchpad is a serious hassle when it comes to scrolling, and I hope they are planning on an upgraded driver soon. My previous touchpad is a Synaptics and beats this one by a mile!
I'm not sure about the screen (1440x900, LED backlit). Is it supposed to be a vast improvement over regular screens? If yes, I'm not seeing it and the colors seem a little off. I've tried adjusting it, but am not convinced I did a good job. Does this laptop have an "Auto Synch button" somewhere? When I try and use the Nvidia Screen optimizer Wizard", it tells me to locate that, and I'm not finding any info about it.
Fan is very nice and quiet compared to my emachines M6809, but the dvd drive is very loud! Is that normal, or could it have to do with the chassis being bent in that corner?
Hardrive is fast and quiet, and the laptop is a lightweight compared to my almost 9lbs emachines!
I ordered a XPS 16 scratch and dent from dell outlet few weeks ago for $750 after taxes/coupon:
P8700 4gb 500gb hdd Full hd Blu-ray RW Ati-1GB 6cell
anyways..orders kept getting delayed and delayed (found that strange since they are already built). Today I found out the order got "changed" and they reinstated a new order for what it look like a brand new system (for same price!) plus the upgraded to next day shipping Here is the new system: ...
I ordered the new 13" macbook pro but when I opened it I noticed there is a small mark/scratch on the aluminium case about 2 inches below the apple logo. The scratch is about 1 inch, it isn't very deep but is noticable.
Do you think apple will accept that it was like this when I recieved it and replace/repair it?
Would I also be able to take it into the apple store that is near by to get it replaced/repaired?
The store is listed as an authorised service provider on the apple website. I paid for applecare if that makes any difference. I also live in the UK.
This is my first mac and I have had no experience of dealing with apples customer support, I have been told that they are very good.
I slipped up a few times and caused hairline scratches on the underside plate of my 13" MBP when I installed my Momentus XT (which I am now returning and getting X25-M). My heart dropped when I heard these screeching noises, but it doesn't look too bad and hopefully eliminates the OCD I tend to have with electronics.
To start I should remind everyone that i'm not a mac user. I have never owned a mac or used OSX properly before today. As such, my opinions should be taken as coming from someone who has much knowledge and experience as far as PC's are concerned, but who is a total mac n00b.
First Impressions
When I first walked over to the Macbooks I was quite taken aback. The build quality is out of this world. In fact, I immediately walked over to the latest PC laptops to compare and immediately thought "manufacturing FAIL". Really, the Macbooks are italian sports cars, and PC's are 30 year old farm tractors to use the typical "car analogy".
The Macbook
I really only had any interest in the Macbook when I first went to the Apple stand, but came away with the intention of buying a MacBook Pro. Let me explain:
The MacBook's build quality is awesome. It's solid, no creaking plastic or flexable build, completely and utterly solid. Awesome.............
I have been speculating over this prospect giving the direction that Apple took with the starting price of the 24" iMac (upgrade everything else and downgrade the VRAM).
I mean, this is something I would like to see, but I wonder if it is a smart move on Apple's part given how much they make off the current MBP's with the so called Apple Tax.
And, if they made this move, one has to wonder if it still would be considered a Pro.
This is going to be my very first Mac. I'm really excited about it, but I don't know which one I should go for... I narrowed it down to these two models. Which one should I go for and why?
I bought a black macbook this summer and every night when I'm in bed trying to do work I can barely see which keys is which. Obviously this wouldn't be a cheap fix but is there a way or is it possible to install the new light up keys of the new macbooks onto a pre-remodel macbook?
I downloaded this updated for my unibody Macbook Pro, and I think it's pretty vital. However, it gave me this error when I tried to install it: "You cannot install Macbook, Macbook Pro software update on this volume. This update requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or newer." Now don't tell me that I have selected the wrong partition to install the update, or that I need to update my OS to 10.5.5 because I already have 10.5.6 and I chose the Macintosh HD partition to install the update.
So I'm definitely getting a 13" Macbook or Macbook Pro. Apple has some great prices on refurbs so that's probably the route I'll be going however I'm having trouble discerning the difference between the 13" Aluminum Unibody standard macbook and the 13" Unibody Macbook Pro. From what I've read they both have the upgraded screen, they're obviously both unibody, both have the large button-less trackpad, and both have the 9400m. They even have the same dimensions and the only difference I can see between the images is a slightly different case bevel (also the firewire and sd card ports, both are useless to me).
Unfortunately, none of the Apple stores or BestBuys in the area have a non-pro unibody 13" Macbook for me to actually handle and compare. So, basically, what makes the pro version with the slower cpu and smaller hard drive at the same price point worth it?
If I make an image of my hdd from my white macbook with disk utility onto a hard drive I take out of a unibody macbook pro will it work and boot properly?
I will do this by taking the 250gb hdd out of the unibody macbook pro and putting it into a sata external usb hdd enclosure, then making an image of my current 120gb white macbook and writing the image onto the 250gb. After, I plan to put the 250gb hdd back into the macbook pro and boot it up normally as if everything from my white macbook was just copied onto the macbook pro.
The design of the Z series results in a large scratch across the screen if the laptop gets compressed a little. Question is , has anyone tried to get it repaired under the warrenty? I purchased the full screen protection plan.
about the flex in the screen of the Z5/6 series causing it to scratch against the palm rest. I also read they recomend using the cloth over the keyboard when shutting to stop this from happening. Does the Z11 still suffer from this design flaw?
She has a white macbook with leopard I think, and has a separate partition in which she has boot camp, she uses specialized software that can only run in windows (doesnt run in vm). She got a new macbook air but wants to keep everything intact.
Do programs like duper clone drives with all files intact, including partitions? Keep in mind that the windows side is more important, installation of this software can only be done remotely from Russia, so it's a bit of a hassle if we screw up, we have to contact IT at a specific time and get them to do it.
Would I have to take the drive of the macbook air out? Or can i just clone to an external hard drive and then move that to the mba hard drive, in target disc mode or something.
I really love the black color of MB404, but is it good? does it crack easily?(is it plastic?)
Hows screen quality?
What do you think? which one should i buy?
I really wanted to buy Alu one before i hear about slanted keys and loose battery covers(i know %99 of them don't have that, but it's hard to risk when there's no way to fix it in here), because there's no Mac center in my country and i'm SO picky.
I've been looking at basicly two models, both got almost the exact same price tag here in Norway, so I'm not sure which one to go for.
The first ones is a MacBook Pro 15" with High-resolution 1650x1080 glossy screen, featuring the top of the line Intel Core i7-620M CPU the other is a MacBook Pro 17" with even higher resolution (1920x1200) glossy screen, featuring the slightly slower Intel Core i5-540M.
I don't list the other specifications as I don't really care about them, I already got a pair of 4GB 1600MHz CL7 (2x2GB) DIM's and a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD that I'll be using anyway.
There will be lots of movies and series played on my MacBook Pro, that's why I don't really considering paying a premium for the anti-glare screen, even though I love anti-glare and tend to struggle with glossy screens I don't see the point in actually paying more for it. And when watching movies and series, in often very dark rooms the glossy screen actually have some advantages.
The hard thing to decide here is slicker and lighter, with smaller screen and lower resolution, but better CPU versus the bigger, more heavy but featuring bigger screen and Full-HD+ resolution but slower CPU.....................
my big and heavy stapler felt down on top of my M6400 cover, the stapler made of steel and pretty heavy, not even a single scratch on the cover, pretty strong design and build,
1-a 13" MacBook Pro, primary use will be Internet and e-mail and manipulating music files. Will my husband really notice a difference/benefit between the basic 2.26 and the 2.53GHZ (and is it worth about $250 more)? If he uses it for video downloading will that make a difference?
2- a 15" MacBook Pro- here I'm debating between the 2.66 and 2.8. My daughter uses it for Office apps, PhotoShop, music, Internet and e-mail. Again, would video downloading make a difference?
I am currently returning a dell studio xps 16" as its so sooo much hassle to deal with dell and the fact that i got 3 messsed up replacements in a row. i am looking to get a macbook or macbook pro. i would prefer a macbook pro (lowest model) although the cheapest method i can find is £1163 from the higher education store. is there any other way or place that sells it for less? apple seem to charge crazy prices for a low spec. een £100 would be expensive but maybe afordable. only discounts i found for the macbook/macbook pro are 14% higher education (the one i am looking to use) and 6% EPP and school discount. iv looked at the macbook but im going to use the laptop for movies, work and internet. movies on a 13.3" arnt exactly enjoyable to watch so thats why im looking for a macbook pro.
I finally decided that i am going to take my desktop HTPC from home to grad school for movies/TV and playing demanding games.
So now I cannot decide upon which notebook to get - the base Macbook Pro 2.4 or the base Macbook Air 1.6
I am going to be mainly doing work: taking notes, photo editing, and also some light gaming (2d games and old 3d games (red orchestra, combat mission) when away from apartment) on the notebook.
So I was wondering which is a better choice for me.
The macbook pro has a faster core 2 duo cpu, but the FSB and RAM are all the same speed. Obviously the 9600mGT is 2.5x faster than the 9400M, but I am not going to need it for intensive gaming.
Also the macbook pro has a larger screen.
But the Air is so much lighter and thinner, and would be a good thing to take to libraries. And it is 200 cheaper....................
A friend of mine is debating which model. I noticed some small differences, but for 200 bucks it almost seems worth getting the pro model. It seems as if it's a higher quality build, firewire, backlit keyboard, is the screen the same? What do you guys think? Can the Macbooks without the dedicated video card run a game like Sims 3?
I want to buy the Macbook Pro 15 inc Unibody, there are 2 models
Model 1 Model 2 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ 2GB Memory 250GB hard drive1 NVIDIA GeForce 9400M+ 9600M GT with 256MB
Model 2 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ 4GB Memory 320GB hard drive GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB
A difference of £343. My reason for Macbook Pro over any Windows laptop is simpy becuase OSX and that the laptop fits my needs, its not too big like the 17 inch and not too small like the 13 inch, also it has an express card slot 34 which I can then add a memory card reader. I will be editing/converting a lot of photos and videos and looking forward to buying Final Cut Studio 2.0................
