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C2D MacBook Pro with bent slotdrive

xlii

xlii

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
1,867
121
Millis, Massachusetts
I'd like to see if anyone else has seen this because I believe this is a design defect. My daughter got one of the first C2D MBP back in late October 2006. She told me several weeks ago that a CD she had put in the slotdrive would not come out. Today I got the chance to take a look for myself. The case over the slotdrive was bend down so the top and bottom of the slot was touching in the middle. When typing one would rest their right palm over the slotdrive. I think over time using that area as a palmrest made this happen. Resting your hand there is normal usage in my mind. I was able to use a piece of metal (with tape around it so it wouldn't scratch the metal) and bend the slotdrive and palmrest area above the drive back into place. I then ejected the disk that was in the drive with no problems.

So what you say? I see this happening again. That area above the drive is flimsy. I was able to take my thumb and putting just a little pressure on it bend the slot slightly. This is where plastic (MacBook) has an advantage over metal. Metal bends, plastic has more spring to it.

I want to know if anyone who has a C2D MBP has had this problem. If you take a pencil and put it on the left side (of the MBP) and then the right side above the Slotdrive you can see if both sides are level.

The only fix I see is to make the metal above and around the slotdrive slightly thicker so it doesn't bend and support ones weight when it is used as a palmrest. PS - my kid weights 115 lbs so she ain't that heavy.
 
I don't have a C2D MacBook Pro, but my CD MacBook Pro which i bought in October has never had this problem. I'd say the casing it probably bad, you should take it to the Apple Store and see if they'll replace the casing for you.
 
Good luck getting it fixed, I can see them saying you damaged it.... even though you didnt.
 
Sp71Supra said:
Good luck getting it fixed, I can see them saying you damaged it.... even though you didnt.
Click to expand...

I had a damaged screen that was the fault of some idiot at my school and told Apple about it and they replaced it. So I don't see the casing being replaced as too far-fetched.
 
iBookG4user said:
I had a damaged screen that was the fault of some idiot at my school and told Apple about it and they replaced it. So I don't see the casing being replaced as too far-fetched.
Click to expand...

My daughter is using her's at college also. I've told her what the problem was and now that she knows... to look out for it again. The case looks undamaged. I used a large flat washer with tape on it of just the right thickness to fit in at the edges of the slot. I then worked my way toward the middle, slightly turning the washer as one would turn a key. This bent the slot back open and straightened out the top of the MBP above the slotdrive. It is almost as straight as the left side. It doesn't look damaged.

It's on watch. If it happens again I will take it to the Apple store which isn't too far from us. One of the reasons I'm asking you folks is to see if it has happened to others or is it just me. If others have the same problem I have more of a case (no pun intended) with Apple.

I have done some thread searches both here and on Apple's web site and a lot of people have had problems with disks that get stuck in the slotdrive. I'm wondering if their cases are slightly bend in that area as the root cause of a lot of these problems.
 
This can happen if the machine is picked up by the cd drive slot. All slot loading Apple portables are affected. Apple won't do this under warranty as the bottom case is not a part that repair centers can order under warranty. Apple say that it shouldn't fail under normal circumstances. You are better off just bending it back. Just dont use a metal object to do this and also don't push that object too far in.
 
Thanks to all who responded. It doesn't look like anyone else has had this problem. As I said... it is on watch to see if it happens again.

Using a metal tool... You are correct... don't use bare metal... but I used a metal washer wrapped in tape. It did the job without scratching the slot.

Thanks for pointing out the picking the machine up by the slot. I hadn't thought of that one.
 
I've had this problem occur twice to my MBP. I bought mine in August of 2006, so I'm sure it is much like your daughter's.

When the problem first occured, Apple fixed it for me. Though, I'm not sure if they replaced the case or what because the computer that was returned to me had a completely clean hard drive and required reinstallation of all my software. (nothing like using up those software registrations because of a problem with the casing)

We'll see how they treat this second repair. I've been careful since then to only pick up my MBP with two hands. Of course, this is where I rest my wrist when I'm using it away from a desk. Why not move the superdrive to the back of the computer?
 
I have the same problem with my SR MBP. I noticed the problem within a week of ownership. I believe its caused by presure from wrists or picking up the computer by the slot drive. I definitely thinks its a design defect since a $2000+ computer should be substantial enough so that presure from your hands wouldn't cause the case to bend. I have also read that there could be a clip in that area which might not be attached properly.

I decided not to return my computer since everthing else was good. No dead pixels, yellow screen, etc. I didn't want to take the chance of returning it and getting something worse.
 
Apart from buying something much more solid and actually built for the road such as a Dell Latitude or a Sony SZ, your options with OS X are severely limited.

Current Apple build quality seems to be not actually poor but average for the industry, yet the design of the MBP's requires premium Sony / Lenovo / even Dell Latitude levels of build quality in order to be reliably accomplished - something that Apple clearly aren't equipped for right now. If you want, or need, an MBP, the lottery is just something you'll have to take.
 
Slotdrive damage on MacBook Pro

We bought a refurbished MacBook Pro for our son for his tertiary course from Apple Sales New Zealand on 15 October 2007 and within two weeks found the casing above the optical drive had compressed downwards and the CD in it could not be extracted.

Apple Sales NZ would not tell us why the product had been refurbished but we were reassured by Apple that they do a thorough job so the problem would not have stemmed from there. My son assures me he did not physically damage the laptop and in fact there are no signs of compression or other damage on the palmrest area beside the keys.

We were told by the service manager at the local Mac shop that "the top cover is flexible but the casing above the optical drive is not" but that the fact that it had collapsed must have been caused by "physical damage".... a contradiction surely. If the casing below cannot cope with the flexibility of the hand rest casing this must be a design fault!!! Because of their decision Apple would not consider replacing the casing.

My son is really disappointed and I am thoroughly disillusioned with Apple's lack of support.... we have been buying their products for years.

I mentioned that we had found this fault on the MacRumors: Forums website and Apple replied to me.... "They are only rumors... why haven't they contacted us?" Well I did contact them (as I am sure you did) and went through all the right channels, little good it did me. Thank you though for your comments... I fixed the problem myself with a plastic wedge and you can hardly see any damage at all - I don't know how long it will last though. I was not willing to let the MagnumMac shop Service Manager fix it as she said "it would not be pretty" after they fixed it because they had to perform a kind of "panelbeating".... not so..... have these people not idea at all?

Apple it is time you recognised the weakness in this area as a structural defect and did something about it!!!
 
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