Dropped MBP! Need repair help!

[wing70301]

So I finally did it. It was bound to happen some time in my life. It was about a three-foot-fall onto the pavement. It was in a soft case, but it didn't protect it from anything else than a few scuffs.

So can you fellows recommend some help to me? I don't have Applecare, but will it cover something like this? Any other services that can help? Thanks!

P.S. Buy hard cases!!

 

[Pressure]

AppleCare does not cover accidental damages.

You can ask in an Apple Store how much a new case will set you back.

 

[Cheesecake]

That's terrible, man. Makes me wonder about the Soft Case I have right now.

 

[mkrishnan]

That's terrible, man. Makes me wonder about the Soft Case I have right now.

Soft cases are going to protect against scratches and dull the minor trauma from being in a bag that doesn't have a built-in sleeve. But the simple sleeves are not going to do that much in a 3' drop, especially if it lands on a corner like that.

To the OP: My condolences. Sucks when that happens. There are some services I think that specialize in these repairs, but it is nowhere near cheap, unfortunately. I'll try to dig one up if no one else posts one.

Here's one: http://macmedics.com/index.htm

 

[wing70301]

To the OP: My condolences. Sucks when that happens. There are some services I think that specialize in these repairs, but it is nowhere near cheap, unfortunately. I'll try to dig one up if no one else posts one.

Thanks, I appreciate that. It just happened about fifteen minutes ago, right in my own driveway I hope it won't be too much.

 

[00hkelly]

i would consider getting the laptop independently insured (i never understood applecare when this option is avaliable, anyway this wont help you much as it already happened. Sorry)

i can only hope this never happens to my macbook pro
http://www.ifixit.com is a good place for parts. By the looks of it you were bloody lucky it didnt get the screen as well. good luck

 

[macmedics]

Thanks for the plug!

Soft cases are going to protect against scratches and dull the minor trauma from being in a bag that doesn't have a built-in sleeve. But the simple sleeves are not going to do that much in a 3' drop, especially if it lands on a corner like that.

To the OP: My condolences. Sucks when that happens. There are some services I think that specialize in these repairs, but it is nowhere near cheap, unfortunately. I'll try to dig one up if no one else posts one.

Here's one: http://macmedics.com/

Howdy and thanks for the plug. At MacMedics we can do several things for you.

1. Sometimes we can bang, blacksmith style the problem area out. The cases are soft and respond pretty well to that. It’ll never look exactly the same again, but if the unit won’t open or close correctly we might be able to fix that well enough so that the unit is still usable.

2. We can replace the case with either a new or used case for you. Used case prices depend on what condition they are in, and a brand new case from Apple is always an option as well.

Give us a shout if we can be of assistance!

Dana
MacMedics
1-866-MAC-MEDICS

 

[DopestGingah]

Well for that, if your DVI is not damaged, it looks like you are going to have to get a new lower case. ifixit.com is good but you will obviously have to install that yourself. I had this happen myself (2 times actually ) and both times my warranty was up. They charged me about $350 each time ($100 just for "labor"!!!!!) and I had nearly the same damage as you. If you are not scarred of opening your laptop, then $250 for the bottom case is a good deal.

 

[wing70301]

Well for that, if your DVI is not damaged, it looks like you are going to have to get a new lower case. ifixit.com is good but you will obviously have to install that yourself. I had this happen myself (2 times actually ) and both times my warranty was up. They charged me about $350 each time ($100 just for "labor"!!!!!) and I had nearly the same damage as you. If you are not scarred of opening your laptop, then $250 for the bottom case is a good deal.

Thanks everyone for your replies. They've given me an idea on what to do next. Gingah, how hard was it to replace the lower case? I'm looking at a diagram on how to remove the logic board from ifixit.com, but the process looks pretty intimidating.

 

[maxp1]

Depends on how handy you are with a screwdriver and how good you are at remembering how to re-assemble stuff. Taking it apart isn't really a problem, just don't bend anything else. I just too my old PowerBook apart and put it back together. Only one screw left over!

The iFixIt guide are the best resource out there. If you keep the different types of screws separate and give them a color (like highlighter on a post-it or something) that matches the color on the iFixIt picture you can know that you're putting things back the way they should be.

You'll need some thermal paste to re-attach the logic board to the heat sink. You can find instructions for how to do that on this board.

 

[tjm337]

I feel your pain

This happened to me 3 months ago... I brought it to an apple certified repair center. To get the bottom case replaced it was $320 with labor. I looked into doing the repair myself, but you have to take almost the entire computer apart. It is one of the most intensive repairs on the MBP. Spend the extra money and have it professionally done. What is $120 versus a nonfunctional MBP.


Cheers and good luck!!!

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Thanks everyone for your replies. They've given me an idea on what to do next. Gingah, how hard was it to replace the lower case? I'm looking at a diagram on how to remove the logic board from ifixit.com, but the process looks pretty intimidating.

If you do decide to fix it yourself and follow the pbfixit guides, here's a big suggestion, grab yourself a pad of paper and a pen. Before doing each step in the pbfixit disassembly guide, draw a little sketch of what your laptop looks like, mark off where the screws are going to come out of and label the paper for that step. Pierce the places on your diagram where you're taking screws out and when you unscrew them, pierce them through the paper. That way when you come to put it back together again there will be absolutely *no* worries about which screws go where and you won't have to sit for ages using a ruler measuring the lengths of the screws, something that I think the pbfixit guides expect you to do.
I've disassembled and reassembled many laptops in this manner and there's simply no safer way of doing it!

 

[mkrishnan]

Spanky's advice is excellent... you can even grab your digital camera and take snapshots, if you have another computer to view them on. But it's too easy for even someone who's done this before to get to the point where they "don't know where that screw goes."

 

[sushi]

But it's too easy for even someone who's done this before to get to the point where they "don't know where that screw goes."

That is so true.

To the OP, as mkrishnan said follow Spanky's advice. You will be glad that you did.