Hey, I'm not griping at Apple for the Performa 6220CD that was dog slow (I blame the stupid Computer City retail guy for that one). I'm also not griping at Apple for upgrading the iMac just a month after I bought the one released earlier this year. Am I disappointed? HELL no! And what will happen when this machine is not supported under OS X anymore? Well, Linux/ppc should be WELL developed by then, and I would probably buy one of the more established Intel Macs if I need OS X!
Listen. All computer makers (not just Apple) have their share of the cool and the crap. Dell has some well made laptops and desktops, but they also have some crappy models (namely the GX50-GX280 of desktop OptiPlex PCs). HP is another one. I have one of their craptastic nx9010 laptops given to me from work that could keep us all warm during subzero temps for only about 1 1/2 hours on battery. On the other hand, I just read a wonderful review regarding the HP Pavilion DV1000.
The fault here is not only on Apple, but on this person's buying judgement. I've learned (especially with Apple or any manufacturer) that you never buy the latest and greatest model released. There are always things that come up later on as wear and tear take their place in the life of these machines. This is why I'm not so bummed out about my iMac G5 being replaced by a thinner model with a built-in camera and newer CPU. I'm VERY happy with my model and I know that it's quite stable thanks to the many reviews that are out there on these machines. The model previous to the one I own, however, did have some hardware issues. I obviously passed that one up.
As for his eMachines choice, they have had a history of bad hardware, but some of the recent stuff has been pretty decent, receiving good reviews from sites like AnandTech. Would I ever buy one? Not really.... There are better options out there if I want a PC laptop...like the Lenovo/IBM laptops.
This guy just wanted to rant and rave. What he should do is learn from his lesson and move on. Yes, it's an expensive lesson, but we all have to go through those at some point I guess. Although I am still wondering if he actually learned his lesson considering the eMachine.