Fan Noise
For a couple months now, my (work) Macbook Pro would make some awful fan noises on waking up in the morning. I believe the underlying problem also contributed to a few hard freezes, since the fan was probably not working properly.
Luckily we have the Apple Store and the Genius Bar which can make repairs to things like this. I dropped off my machine at 11:30 on a Saturday morning, and the fan was replaced within 3 hours. Meaning I didn’t have any downtime in my workweek which would have occurred if I had to ship my machine off to some support center to be fixed.
I’m sure Dell and HP have ways of fixing things fast as well, but please note:
- I did not have to talk to anyone on the phone
- I did not have to talk to someone in a different country, or even a different city
- I made an appointment on the web in a few clicks, showed up 10 minutes early, and a technician quickly told me I had a bad ball bearing in my fan by listening to it
- They had the replacement part in stock (for a machine that was 2 revs ago – not unibody)
- Created an isolated testuser account for them if needed
- Got a phone call 3 hours later saying I could come pick it up
- Pick it up, they ask for my ID, I sign that the work was done, and I’m out the door
I’m sure there are similar places that repair Dell and HP machines, but I would be surprised if it was this easy.
