I bought a MBP CD 2.16 in Jan 07 from the Apple Refurb site.
At the same time I picked up a Samsung 1gb chip from NewEgg and installed it myself. My last laptop was an ASUS M6, so I learned how to swap hardware correctly.
I use this lappy for 2D + 3D CAD and heavy imaging post production. It is my only computer in use.
My machine ran great until last week when kernel panics started occuring several times a day (whenever I pulled out a USB device) and my hard drive sounded like it was making popcorn in a microwave. Finally, it would no longer get past the gray startup apple and spinning gear.
I maintain a bootable external, so this is not a lost data story.
Apple Care at the San Francisco Genius Bar was quick and knowledgable from what I could tell. Dropped my machine off Monday, received it repaired via overnight at my home Thursday.
Pronosis + repairs performed:
Dead hard drive. 100gb/5400rpm original replaced with 100gb/7200rpm Hitachi Travelstar. Very nice.
Logic board replaced.
Aftermarket memory (Samsung 1gb sold as 'same as Apple uses') determined by Apple tech to be faulty and causing the kernel panics.
NOW FOR THE QUESTIONS:
Should I believe that my memory chip is bad simply because of the Apple report? Would they actually test RAM bought elsewhere or is this a generic response to aftermarket hardware?
How do I test the chip myself?
Overall, a positive experience in customer service. My machine even came back cleaned.
At the same time I picked up a Samsung 1gb chip from NewEgg and installed it myself. My last laptop was an ASUS M6, so I learned how to swap hardware correctly.
I use this lappy for 2D + 3D CAD and heavy imaging post production. It is my only computer in use.
My machine ran great until last week when kernel panics started occuring several times a day (whenever I pulled out a USB device) and my hard drive sounded like it was making popcorn in a microwave. Finally, it would no longer get past the gray startup apple and spinning gear.
I maintain a bootable external, so this is not a lost data story.
Apple Care at the San Francisco Genius Bar was quick and knowledgable from what I could tell. Dropped my machine off Monday, received it repaired via overnight at my home Thursday.
Pronosis + repairs performed:
Dead hard drive. 100gb/5400rpm original replaced with 100gb/7200rpm Hitachi Travelstar. Very nice.
Logic board replaced.
Aftermarket memory (Samsung 1gb sold as 'same as Apple uses') determined by Apple tech to be faulty and causing the kernel panics.
NOW FOR THE QUESTIONS:
Should I believe that my memory chip is bad simply because of the Apple report? Would they actually test RAM bought elsewhere or is this a generic response to aftermarket hardware?
How do I test the chip myself?
Overall, a positive experience in customer service. My machine even came back cleaned.