I don’t really know what I do to my MacBook to cause it so much damage. It’s already had 2 new displays, a new keyboard, new bottom case, new dvd drive, a new hard drive and a new fan – the last repair having been completed last week.
Tonight the DVD drive that was replaced last spring packed up (just as I was about to install iLife09, grrrr!), so tomorrow lunchtime it’s off to Apple once again to drop it off.
At least I’m getting the most out of my extended warranty…
[Update]
I made a mad dash to the Apple Store (Shibuya) at lunchtime, and was assured that the drive would be replaced by 7pm – which it was. iLife09 now installing 🙂
I think this is more of a reflection of the lower quality of Apple’s products than your use. Notebook computers are meant to be dragged around and if that causes them to fall apart, they’re not well-built.
Despite how it may seem, I’m not Apple bashing. I plan on keeping myself dual-platform (always both a Mac and a PC on hand), but I continue to be disappointed with the fragility of Apple’s machines considering they cost more and should be better quality material-wise.
If you want to improve your next notebook experience, you may want to invest in a full-time desktop (a Mini for instance) at home so that you don’t wear the components on one machine all the time. Particularly, it pays to invest in a desktop if you do a lot of conversion or video processing. That being said, your hard drive and optical drive on a Mac will almost always fail within 2-3 years no matter what. Mine always have.