i can tell you on the basis that i deal with insurance claims, around handfull of pc and mac claims per year, the mac claims are always cost more to repair, i presume that this maybe as result of apple initative to get people to buy new products ( esp consider their target market has almost religious like following) instead of repairing.
one fact is that it's a load of bull that mac don't break down as often as pc, they have similar breakdown rates except one is usually easily and inexpensive to repair while the other is not.
I don't disagree on the hardware breakdown; but on "software faults" (those niggling blue screens and other crap that seems to happen to windows every week) I can certainly confirm that Mac OS is MUCH more stable, has saved me heaps of time. So very happy to continue to buy their computers. (I have little time for iphones and other consumer crap).
Moving, I don't quite get it. You've bitched on several posts about how unhappy you are with Apple for one reason or another, be it services levels or cost, yet you are fine to stay with them.
You know full well that Apple is a premium product, and as a result charges premium prices for both its products and its after care services (even if you are going through authorised retailers).
As for Windows software problems, I have to say, yes things were a bit flaky with 95, but since XP its not been bad, and now with Windows 7, using Windows is actually not that bad. But saying that my friends who use OS do keep on raving on about it.
This is why I'm looking forward to the Apple Store opening in HK....so that Apple's official policies and repair prices can be applied here, rather than be at the whim of a third party provider.
I just hope that the Genius Bar appointments won't be booked out months in advance....
So you like paying higher prices for repairs and products? You want Apple to crack down even more on the very minor discounts that occasionally sneek through the cracks so that you are protected from your fear of even the last tiny vestiges of freedom and competition in the market?
If I may say so, you're a bit odd.
I had a friend in the US who bought a MacBook Pro Last July. Wifi card has had problems. Took it in to the Apple store once - was asked to restore OS and see if it fixes the problem. It didn't. He took it in again, and they gave him a new one. Not a refurb, a new one of the current model, not his previous model.
I don't see that happening with the current service providers in HK.
There is an official policy for iPhones in the US which are out of warranty but need a new battery - you pay US79 to get a refurbed iPhone replacement which has a new external case, and looks and feels new.
Compare that to the stories we hear in HK where Smartone/Three/CSL say they won't replace the battery blah blah and sign up to a new contract. I hope the presence of an Apple store here breaks that down.