Macbook repairs

keefg

The keyboard lights on my MBP don't work for some reason so I need to get it fixed.


Has anyone used the Mactivate repair store in Blanch?

Do they provide a good service?

cheers

ethernet

Silly question but have you hit F6 to turn up the brightness?

keefg

ethernet wrote: »

Silly question but have you hit F6 to turn up the brightness?

Not a silly question at all, and yes I have tried F6.

It's really weird because a strip in the center of the keyboard lights up, say from F5 to F8 all the way to the space bar but either side does not light up.

Silverfish

I used them, but found them a little dodgy with how long they take...


HD failed on my mbp, sent it out, they said it was fine, had it for 2 weeks, reinstalled leopard and sent it back, charged me 165 euro, of course it collapsed again a day later so sent it back again where they had it for another while and replaced the hd, all in all it took a month to get it repaired, I needed it back by a certain weekend and they said they could do it, however when I rang on the friday they said they couldn't get it back as 'something had gone wrong' and it missed the courier, so I had to get it collected myself for an extra 40 euro.

Lots of instructions on the internet about how to do this yourself, might be worth buying the keyboard yourself and having a go. Otherwise, mactivate are the only place to go really.

keefg

Thanks Silverfish, I was kind of worried about the return time.

I have only had my MBP for a month and I have the Apple protection on it so the repairs should be covered by warranty - I don't want to have to fork out more cash for a repair.

deevey

Typetek ....

They did me a fantastic service (twice!) especially good when time-was-of-the-essence.

Give them a call, they should be able to give you an estimate on the spot, and they have their own guys in house that actually do work.

Mactivate wanted to send my ibook to netherlands to replace a screen, err no thanks.

If its something like a keyboard/casing they should be able to get one based on the serial, and tell you when the replacement has arrived and arrange a time / date

keefg

deevey wrote: »

Typetec

If its something like a keyboard/casing they should be able to get one based on the serial, and tell you when the replacement has arrived and arrange a time / date

That's what I was hoping I could do, get a diagnosis on the machine (it's an obvious keyboard prob) and just drop it in for repair when the parts are on site rather than leave my lappy sitting on a shelf for a few weeks.

Cheers deevey.

Silverfish

Yeah, unfortunately it'll take 7-8 days for them to even look at it, then an extra day or so to be sent back, and it'll cost you 85 euro minimum

440Hz

Silverfish wrote: »

Yeah, unfortunately it'll take 7-8 days for them to even look at it, then an extra day or so to be sent back, and it'll cost you 85 euro minimum

That's really awful!

Gauge

Sorry for partially hijacking the thread, but I need to get some Applecare repairs done on my Mac in Dublin. Bit disappointed to hear that Mactivate are a bit rubbish, because the place that I went to in Cork for repairs were brilliant so Typetek would be a good choice then?

440Hz

Gauge wrote: »

Sorry for partially hijacking the thread, but I need to get some Applecare repairs done on my Mac in Dublin. Bit disappointed to hear that Mactivate are a bit rubbish, because the place that I went to in Cork for repairs were brilliant so Typetek would be a good choice then?

Was that ARC in Cork? They are very good alright. As are CompuB in Limerick. Thats why im surprised to hear stories like this about Dublin places, you would think they would have more business and therefore would at least operate to the same standards as other places with less traffic.

440Hz

betafrog wrote: »

Thats the problem... If they had a little less business they might actually bother with their service to encourage business

Actually, that's pretty much what I thought after posting that last message!!

sadista

Same thing happened to my boyfriend lastyear. Someone spilled coke on it. A full keyboard replacement in Mactivate will set you back about 170 quid which is ok but they are quite slow to get it done. It took them over a week to do something that should have taken a day and my boyfriend had to keep ringing them to follow up on it. The first time he rang which was after at least four days, they hadnt even looked at it.
If you have apple care they will send a courier out to pick it up otherwise it will cost you 50euro to send it to them by courier.

Hope this helps.

Elessar

I've had a good experience with Dectek, who also have their own apple in house technicians. They called me to give me an update on the service, they said they couldn't find anything wrong (hard drive clicking) but replaced it anyway. Had it back within a few days.

Gauge

Going to give Typetek a ring tomorrow, but before I do, anyone know if you can drop stuff in for repairs/collect them at weekends?

deevey

I don't think they do weekends ...

But they did look at mine straight away, ordered the keyboard and let me know when it arrived (about a week later) ...then did the job in about 20 mins while i sat in reception (now thats service)!

I'm guessing it was a slow day :P

BTW I had the classic "staining" issue ... by the sounds of yours they may need to take it apart to diagnose ... but you might be lucky, unfortunatly I now have the classic "cracking" issue, and its 2 years old

If its not under warranty ebay is 'yer man, and the MBP keyboard is even easier than macbook to take off.

Ham'nd'egger

I used Mactivate twice in the last year (Macbook cover and iMac powerpack) and found them grand and pleasant to deal with. Both jobs were done way quicker than they estimated and both times all was well after the event, touch wood. I wanted to use Typetec as they are closer to me but they basically told me I was in a month of a queue:eek: Mactivate also take in a hell of a lot of iPods and are Apple repairs only so I guess they tend to get snowed under at times with work.

Gauge

Grr, typetek are only open while I'm working so I can't drop my macbook off there. Trying Dectek next, hopefully there's somewhere in this city that'll let me drop off a macbook outside of my working hours >_<

Ham'nd'egger

Gauge wrote: »

Grr, typetek are only open while I'm working so I can't drop my macbook off there. Trying Dectek next, hopefully there's somewhere in this city that'll let me drop off a macbook outside of my working hours >_<

Gauge, would Bondi be any use to you? They are off Clanbrassil Street so you may work closer to there.

God, I'm getting an idea here; maybe I could do out of hour pick ups on Macs for people and run them into the service agents the next working day and delivery upon completion of work. I could call it Apple Cabs

Gauge

Or iCab

I'll check that Bondi place out, can't seem to find a website for them. I work in the Southside of Dublin though. Also trying to get info about Dectek's courier service which would probably be the best option (if it's free). At this rate I'm thinking of waiting til I'm back in Cork because at least I know there's a place there that'll let me drop it off on a Saturday, even if it means being without a laptop for a month while I'm in Dublin!

The sooner Dublin gets an apple store with a genius bar, the better!

Ham'nd'egger

Gauge wrote: »

Or iCab

I'll check that Bondi place out, can't seem to find a website for them. I work in the Southside of Dublin though. Also trying to get info about Dectek's courier service which would probably be the best option (if it's free).

http://www.bondigroup.ie/Home.html

Used them before and an excellent Apple Qualified pro working on your machine, excellent service, thorough and cheap.

If it's any use, contact me off site and I'll run it in and back for you...

redenemyjoe

Just sent my MBP to Mactivate, no idea what the problem is hard or soft.

35 quid to collect from Maynooth, they said it'll be 8-10 days before I get it back. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mervatron

where is this Typetek place?

I tipped a glass of water over my MBP yesterday. I dried it off, turned it on today and the keyboard is bust. Most keys are not typing, or if they are are doing something like constantly typing a capital 'G'.