[1] The native Apple hardware has failed exactly once in the MacBook's lifetime (SATA cable)
That... pretty much runs the damage gamut, knock on wood. Also I have to admit the numeric keypad is pretty dusty. None of the keycaps are even rubbed off. All the ports work. (Or so I assume. I've never tested the firewire or eSATA port.)
(Of course, a true Apple fan wouldn't be caught dead with this brick, but, I'm a pretty big guy. In relative terms it is to me like a 15" is for most people.)
Yes, you can't get quality without paying for it, but... Apple prices have come in above that.
Also just let me point out that I'm on a 6-year-old laptop and while I periodically pop open some shopping websites and browse, I'm almost shocked at how little improvement spending $1000 again would buy me. "A much nicer graphics card" is pretty big, yeah, but that's about it. (I already put an SSD in this thing.) I remember when I could do things like jump from a 486 to a Pentium Pro with 8 times the RAM and 20 times the hard drive etc etc in the same time frame.