Apparently my logic's board dead

jtsuited

Right so, bit of a long story....bear with me...

Yesterday, after waking the computer (MBP, 2.4ghz June/July 2007) from sleep, the screen would not turn on. I turned it off and turned it back on again but to no avail. It makes the startup noise but the screen stays dark.

So I did all the restarts (pram, smc, etc.) and nothing. Now the computer sounded like it's booting fine but won't run an external monitor. If i hit the volume up/down keys i can hear the clicks (so it's not totally dead).

Anywho, after investigating this, it turned out that there is a known issue with mbp's from around the time i got mine with the Nvidia graphics card and apple are currently repairing all effected models free of charge.
Which was a slight relief.

But.....
This morning i brought the computer to mactivate, they ran a test and said it was not the 'known issue' and that most likely the logic board will have to be replaced. I left it with them for a further proper test and they said they'll get back to me later in the week.

Now it's not under warranty, and i don't have applecare, so it looks like i'm going to be shelling out a good bit of cash for a logic board replacement. And even though it sounds like it's not the known issue, it shows all the signs that it is, or something very close to it.

Anyways, I was wondering if it turns out that the logic board needs to be replaced, the person in mactivate said it could cost anywhere between 500 and 800 euro (:( ).

If it is in the upper end of that price spectrum (and assuming that it's definitely NOT the known issue that apple will pay out on), I'm presented with a little bit of a dilemma. Replace the logic board for €800 or get a recent refurb mbp for €1349.

Anywho, I would like to hear your thoughts.

Sad Professor

jtsuited wrote: »

If it is in the upper end of that price spectrum (and assuming that it's definitely NOT the known issue that apple will pay out on), I'm presented with a little bit of a dilemma. Replace the logic board for €800 or get a recent refurb mbp for €1349.

If it comes to that just get a new machine. No point spending that much money on a 2 and half year old computer.

jtsuited

Sad Professor wrote: »

If it comes to that just get a new machine. No point spending that much money on a 2 and half year old computer.

yeah that's pretty much what i'm thinking. however, replacing it with a new one won't be too much of a jump specs wise.

guess i'll have to see what the diagnosis is first.

Jev/N

If it's the Nvidia 8600m GT/logic board, then it's covered under the 3 year extended guarantee - no need to fret!

edit: sorry I didn't read the whole story; never mind!

Elessar

I assume you paid close to €2000 for this machine? You should still be covered under the sale of goods and supply of services act 1980 to get it repaired. One poster on here mentioned a small claims court registrar told him his €1400 macbook would be expected to last at least 5 years when it failed out of warranty. If he had a good case, then so do you. Read up on your consumer rights but if you want I'll post up a summary of what you should do. Can't do any harm.

Edit: Heres the thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055511436

NUTZZ

Im in almost the exact same scenario as you OP. I have the exact same MBP, bought almost exactly the same time. Last week the screen stayed black after waking from sleep.

I read about the Nvidia problem and hoped it was that so I could get repaired for free, all the symptoms where there, it turned on as normal, when connected to external moniter there was no image either. I brought it in to Mactivate last week and they said they would run diagnostic tests to see if it was the graphics card issue and that they would get back to me in five or six days.

It will be a week tomorrow and I still haven't gotten any word so I'm going to ring them tomorrow to see what the story is.

NUTZZ

NUTZZ wrote: »

It will be a week tomorrow and I still haven't gotten any word so I'm going to ring them tomorrow to see what the story is.

So I rang them today, turns out mine is the known 'Nvidia 8600' issue so I'm getting it fixed for free under the 3 year extended warranty. Happy days!

who_ru

good for you Nutzz!

jtsuited

thanks ellessar for the info. greatly appreciated.
right here's what i reckon will happen. mactivate will most likely get back to me saying it needs the logic board replaced (had it replaced two years ago to the day actually) and that it's not the known issue.
I'll give apple a ring and see if they'll pay for it. If not I'll go down the small claims court route (which seems surprisingly simple), or at least let them know (politely of course) that that's my plan. Hopefully get a bit of joy there.

Thing is, I really need to get that machine back up and running for work stuff so I'm tempted to pay whatever i need to pay to get it sorted now and then try and figure it out from there (apple apparently do refunds for repairs).

Elessar

jtsuited wrote: »

Thing is, I really need to get that machine back up and running for work stuff so I'm tempted to pay whatever i need to pay to get it sorted now and then try and figure it out from there (apple apparently do refunds for repairs).

I wouldn't do this. It could be seen as you accepting the fault. Not to mention it will be unbelievably harder to get money from apple than to get them to repair it.

Just make sure you are seen to give apple enough of a chance to repair the machine (i.e. phone them, then send a registered letter mentioning small claims court etc) before you open a case.

Good luck and let us know how you get on please.

jtsuited

Elessar wrote: »

I wouldn't do this. It could be seen as you accepting the fault. Not to mention it will be unbelievably harder to get money from apple than to get them to repair it.

yeah was kinda asking that in a round about way....right will have to wait for the full test to be done on it by mactivate first before i decide to do anything. still seems strange that my computer is from the EXACT time of the NVIDIA problem and is showing the EXACT same symptoms.

The logic board was replaced under warranty two years ago. Sorry for the silly question but does that mean the graphics card was replaced too?

Elessar

jtsuited wrote: »

The logic board was replaced under warranty two years ago. Sorry for the silly question but does that mean the graphics card was replaced too?

Yeah the graphics core and CPU are all soldered onto the board so to replace any of them you have to replace the entire logic board.

jtsuited

Elessar wrote: »

Yeah the graphics core and CPU are all soldered onto the board so to replace any of them you have to replace the entire logic board.

ah ok, so it's not the known NVidia issue as it was in january 2008 that i had the logic board replaced.

edit...just realised january 2008 is still in the timeframe specified by apple. hmmmmm...

Zapp Brannigan

Repairs are expected to be permanent so if it has failed again I'd say you are entitled to another free repair or replacement.

jtsuited

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Repairs are expected to be permanent so if it has failed again I'd say you are entitled to another free repair or replacement.

really?? that's great news.

Zapp Brannigan

I'm pretty sure this is the case, but you'd be better asking over in Consumer Issues they'd know better than me!

jtsuited

well good news folks....turns out my hunch was correct and it was indeed the known issue. yer man from mactivate who tested it was a bang-on guy and said often on the first test the problem doesn't show up as being the known issue.

10/10 to mactivate on great customer service (jaysus i had them driven mad ringing all morning!). gonna have my baby back tomorrow or monday.

relief is not the right word!!

Elessar

Good to hear.