Back in December of 2004 I wrote a fairly glowing review of Apple’s new 20? iMac G5 1.8GHz. This was my first Apple and I was impressed with the switch from the tried and not-so-trusted world of Microsoft and x86 processors. MacOS X was a refreshing change, the new iMac performed well, and it was a joy to use.

Editor’s Note:  Paul has consistently been a strong proponent of Apple / Mac OSX without compromising his objectivity.  Anyone dubious of this editorial as Mac-bashing in disguise is invited to visit the conclusion to his original iMac review (here) or his numerous forum threads on the Mac vs. PC debate (one example located here). 

At the time I wrote the review, however, my experiences with the AppleStore had already left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth, but I chose not to mention this in the review. After all, one customer’s bad experience doesn’t mean the whole organization is bad, and I was prepared to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.

However, in the five months since writing the review my Apple experience has been far from satisfactory and I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that far from being an isolated case of bad luck, Apple has some serious problems with customer service and quality control. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and so it is difficult to assess how typical or widespread my experiences are. However, Apple’s own support forums are full of similar experiences (despite very active deletion of complaining threads by the Apple moderators) and several third-party Apple fan-sites have very similar tales of woe ? Macintouch being a particularly concise example. The new iMac G5 seems particularly prone to serious hardware problems ? defective fans, failing screens, smoking power supplies and bursting capacitors. I feel compelled to inject some balance into my account of the Apple iMac and experience of switching.

So what exactly is my experience of becoming a ?switcher??

next >

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• Five Wasted Days, Three Months Delay, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. (1 of 4)
• The Saga Continues. (2 of 4)
• The Mac: It Just Breaks. (3 of 4)
• Conclusion: Real "Switching" Story Doesn't Match Apple Fairytale. (4 of 4)