The girlfriend has a MacBook Pro from architecture school, that currently isn't working.

She bought it in 2008, replaced the hard drive in the first year, quit working in 2010 (probably hard drive again, but I don't know how to tell), been in her closet ever since.

MacBook Pro 17in
2.4ghz Core 2 Duo
2G
256 mob vram
160gb

Is it worth repairing? If so how much would that cost? If we just sold it off for parts, how much should we try to get? Any easy ways to diagnose what could be wrong? Thanks so much!

[Edited on August 11, 2012 at 12:52 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2012 12:46:13 PM

If there were only a store that was specific to this brand of product that employed people qualified to answer your questions...

8/11/2012 1:32:14 PM

Probably worth a couple hundred bucks fixed. Someone would buy it to do iOS development.

If you guys need a laptop for web browsing, word processing, and light-mid photoshop type work, it would be worth fixing it. The 17" was the top of the line, and it's still a pretty quick computer for most things.

Taking it to the Apple store might not actually be a bad idea. Even if it's out of warranty, they'll probably be able to give you a diagnosis.

8/11/2012 3:07:15 PM

Those specs would make it the 2007 Santa Rosa model. They use the GeForce 8600M GT graphics chipset, which is absolutely infamous . . . . they all die at some point. That would be my guess as to the problem.


I'd be happy to take a look at it and see for sure. After diagnosing it I can give you a quote for both repair cost and for cash value as it sits (I can always use parts). If it is just a hard drive issue or such I could have it ready to go in no time.

8/11/2012 3:27:34 PM

I was going to recommend fregac. Glad to see he's already on the case.

8/11/2012 3:37:14 PM

Well. If it turns on and you get something on the screen, you can almost guarantee that it's the hard drive. If it won't come on, it's probably the graphics chip or memory. If you have spare memory (DDR2 laptop memory), take the modules out and pop one of those in and try (though usually you can get it to turn on and get to the desktop with a bad memory module). If it turns on but the display remains blank, it's probably the graphics card (I had this issue). It might still be covered by Apple for getting repaired. I had mine go out (8600m GT) go out on my Macbook Pro (2007) in 2010. They fixed it in a few days and it ran strong for the rest of the year and is still working (upgraded the hard drive last year to a 500 GB 7200 RPM).

If or when it bites the dust, I will probably replace it with a Macbook or a Macbook air (I don't need that much power anymore). But even though it's now 5 years old, I still love the thing, and I would seriously consider replacing the logic board if anything ever happened and Apple wouldn't fix it.

8/11/2012 3:57:49 PM

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Being a 2007 yours is likely out of coverage, but can't hurt to take it to a Genius Bar and try.

8/11/2012 4:03:00 PM

His GF bought it in 2008. Depending on when, it might still be covered. Though I would not delay a single second on taking it to an Apple Store. Had your GF taken it to be repaired, she would have a working laptop.

8/11/2012 4:06:06 PM

She says she tries taking it before, but they said because of the scratches on the outside, they wouldn't even look at it. I think she was kinda rough on it.

About a year ago I did bust it out and it did turn it on. I think I remember the screen kept messing up or something that prevented me from doing anything. Being that she was in architecture school, she has several projects saved to it that she would love to get off, although I think she's about given up hope on that.

8/11/2012 5:10:09 PM

Yeah, they'll frequently deny service if they don't like the cosmetic condition.

Bring it to me and I'll see what's up and whether its worth saving. Getting her files off is no trouble at all if the hard drive works, I can just pull it and connect it to a different machine externally.

8/11/2012 5:24:06 PM

^

8/11/2012 6:59:26 PM

maybe he could put some sort of 3G card in it as well...

8/12/2012 1:19:45 AM