Burnt by my MacBook Pro :-(

[Sutekidane]

Well, I've had this 1.83ghz macbook pro for about a month, and it has been pretty trouble free. I've had about 2 kernal panics with it in the past 2 weeks, but other than that, smooth sailing. Today I went to school and left my macbook pro on my desk downloading files. When I got back, I saw that the screen was black, so I tried to move the mouse pointer and it didn't respond, the screen just stayed black.

Well, I got annoyed and lifted up my macbook pro to put it on my bed so I can work on it from there and it was so hot I nearly dropped it. Now, 2 of my left fingers have a lingering stinging sensation, trademark of a burn. I'm kind of mad, because something similar happened to me before with a RevA 12" PowerBook G4, but I didn't really get burnt.

So, what should I do? I'm afraid to send it to apple because I'm not sure if I can trust them with taking care of my macbook pro. It has been running okay after I pulled the power adapter and quickly removed the battery and let it cool down. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe the SMC failed...

Any ideas?

 

[TheMonarch]

Hmm. Weird.

Though, I wouldn't mention it was on the bed to Apple, as I'm pretty sure they advise against that.

 

[EricNau]

I would take it back threatening legal action.

You might not be the type of person to sue over a couple of mildly burnt fingers (either am I), but there are plenty of people out there who would. I would think that should scare Apple enough to get you a new one. I wouldn't settle for a repair. Temperatures that hot could damage other components inside of the MBP.

Also, you shouldn't be getting that many kernel panics. There is something wrong with your computer.

 

[Sutekidane]

Hmm. Weird.

Though, I wouldn't mention it was on the bed to Apple, as I'm pretty sure they advise against that.

Well, actually, it was on the desk when it was burning up, I was going to lift it to move it to my bed when I got burnt a bit.

 

[killuminati]

I would sue them.

 

[Sun Baked]

I would sue them.

Only after chopping the finger off and putting it in a bowl of Wendy's chili.

Otherwise, it'll be a frivolous lawsuit -- which I hope Apple wins and takes your parents home away.

 

[Abstract]

Yeah, don't sue over the smallest things. Geez, you sound so American....


Anyway, I'd threaten to get lawyers involved just to get a quicker response. Two kernel panics is 2 too many, and they really should get you another machine to see what happens. Don't keep it and say it's "ok" that it gets too hot.

And are you sure it was a burn? Do you know how hot metal would have to run before it burnt you? Just try running water on your fingers and keep making it hotter until you feel the same sensation. It would take a very hot surface to give you a burn, I would have thought.

 

[TheMonarch]

Doesn't Apple have a policy to hang up on you if you mention legal action?

I hear they're really defensive when it comes to this stuff...

 

[EricNau]

Doesn't Apple have a policy to hang up on you if you mention legal action?

I hear they're really defensive when it comes to this stuff...

Then just be very careful about slipping it into the conversation.

 

[jaxstate]

I agree.

I would sue them.

 

[pentae]

Go download CoreDuoTemp and tell us how hot your MBP runs.. take screenshots for us

 

[Kingsly]

Dont threaten legal action... when I complained they kept blowing me off until I said I feel I MAY be burned. Then all the sudden it was "oh well sir, if you feel bodily harm could come to you let me transfer you to so and so to get that looked at" etc.

So yeah. Explain that you were running in on a desk and went to move it and sustained a burn. Not perhaps you sustained a mild burn. YOU SUSTAINED A BURN. Thats all they need to know.
Good luck.

BTW, if you can PM me with results, as I am also fighting for a new MBP.

 

[MACDRIVE]

You should get the burn looked at by some kind of medical establishment and documented. That way if you do need some kind of leverage to get a new computer out of Apple, you'll have it on record as proof.

 

[EricNau]

You should get the burn looked at by some kind of medical establishment and documented. That way if you do need some kind of leverage to get a new computer out of Apple, you'll have it on record as proof.

Of course, in this case, since the burn was mild (and may even be gone by now) it may be better not to get it looked at. This way you can make Apple think it was a little worse than it really was.

But if there are any signs of a burn still, it would probably be good to have proof that there ever really was a burn.

 

[weg]

You should get the burn looked at by some kind of medical establishment and documented. That way if you do need some kind of leverage to get a new computer out of Apple, you'll have it on record as proof.

Not necessary, as long as he's able to reproduce it

 

[webcookie]

If I were you, I would definately call up Apple and let them know that their product burned me. I might also throw in mention of a lawyer.

 

[EricNau]

I would only mention a lawyer, if and only if, Apple is refusing to exchange your MacBook Pro with a brand new one. Then let them know you mean business.

 

[jaxstate]

It's sad that you would have to threaten legal action, but it seems that this is what it takes for the little guy to get attention from a major corp.

 

[etoiles]

I had a similar experience last night... didn't actually get burned, but realized that it was getting very hot and when I checked, well, it was red hot underneath (would definitely have burned my lap ).

That was right after along filetransfer from the iPod to an external HD, so I guess it might have to do with a long file-transfer... the hotspot was on the left, next to the ports.

I will try CoreDuoTemp to check on the processors, thanks for the tip !

 

[AJ Muni]

Have both of you installed the SMC Firmware update? After installing mine, my MBP runs ALOT cooler...

 

[aristobrat]

Have both of you installed the SMC Firmware update? After installing mine, my MBP runs ALOT cooler...

That's the $64,000 question.

 

[Tomaz]

Have both of you installed the SMC Firmware update? After installing mine, my MBP runs ALOT cooler...

Just wondering, what does this update do? Does it activate the fans earlier? Does it slow down processor speed? Anyone know?

 

[Sharewaredemon]

That's the $64,000 question.

The MBP's aren't 64 bit.

So I'd say it's a $32,000 question.

Of course there ARE two cores..... so you could be right....

 

[Tomaz]

The MBP's aren't 64 bit.

So I'd say it's a $32,000 question.

Of course there ARE two cores..... so you could be right....

Geeeeeek alert ..

 

[iGary]

Ugh, people.

Do you have an Apple Store close by? If so, make an appointment, take it it and firmly explain that you want a replacement.

What is your serial range?