The Story So Far
Mar. 18th, 2010 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteSo. I went to the Apple Store and to PowerBook Guy (third-party Apple product repair) today. I picked up my MacBook Pro from the Apple Store, where they reiterated what the guy told me on the phone: it's Tier 4 damage, must be sent out, and will cost $1240 flat for all repairs, which would include the keyboard, logic board (most expensive part), connection cables, CD drive, hard drive, etc. Apple has to replace anything they see damaged: there's no part/parcel replacement, and heck, even if there were, it would probably cost more.
The guy even showed me the internal damage: chocolate milk and dried-up sugar (?) in small splotches throughout the entire thing (so much for my prompt and level-headed clean-up and reaction). I went to PBG and told the guy this, but for him to open it and give me a different diagnosis would have cost me $125. Based on what I told him, he estimated $1025 for repairs, and even had to ask me to plug in, because the power cable internally and the port for it on the outside had chocolate milk damage.
So even though $1240 and $1025 are not a new Mac laptop in and of themselves (short of a brand new model: a MacBook, which I don't really want), it's close enough and risky enough even with the repairs to warrant getting a new one.
With the new 13" MacBook Pro unibody as an option, I can take the difference that I would have spent on a 15" screen and apply it to a bigger hard drive. I don't need a printer, but the rebate I would have gotten on that is pretty much nullified: you have to spend the money to get the money back, and the computer is still the same price. I do get $100 off the list price of the 13" for being a student, and the total comes to roughly $1544, with no accessories: I already have a remote, and don't see myself using the mini-Display Port without anything to present. It'll have a bigger hard drive, same amount of memory, better graphics card, and faster processor than my current 15" MacBook Pro, for less money than I originally spent.
However, they no longer do a free data transfer: it costs $100, but with Migration Assistant, I should be able to do it on my own. The question is, what apps would I have to deactivate first? Anyone know? I know CS4 is one of them, but what about other common/popular apps? MS Office? iWork? Parallels?
Where would this miracle money come from? Pretty much the entirety of my financial aid check plus my tax refund. Which sucks, because I wanted to pay my credit card off and have some buffer for my bills over the next few months, but without a computer, I can't do much at all. I already owe Mom lots for Grad Fest, but paying her back will have to wait until after I get a job, which will hopefully be soon (and not some hourly wage job that I'd hate).
It sure would be nice if Will (#repomen) would show his face here in San Francisco so I could collect the $7500 bounty on his head. *sigh*
The guy even showed me the internal damage: chocolate milk and dried-up sugar (?) in small splotches throughout the entire thing (so much for my prompt and level-headed clean-up and reaction). I went to PBG and told the guy this, but for him to open it and give me a different diagnosis would have cost me $125. Based on what I told him, he estimated $1025 for repairs, and even had to ask me to plug in, because the power cable internally and the port for it on the outside had chocolate milk damage.
So even though $1240 and $1025 are not a new Mac laptop in and of themselves (short of a brand new model: a MacBook, which I don't really want), it's close enough and risky enough even with the repairs to warrant getting a new one.
With the new 13" MacBook Pro unibody as an option, I can take the difference that I would have spent on a 15" screen and apply it to a bigger hard drive. I don't need a printer, but the rebate I would have gotten on that is pretty much nullified: you have to spend the money to get the money back, and the computer is still the same price. I do get $100 off the list price of the 13" for being a student, and the total comes to roughly $1544, with no accessories: I already have a remote, and don't see myself using the mini-Display Port without anything to present. It'll have a bigger hard drive, same amount of memory, better graphics card, and faster processor than my current 15" MacBook Pro, for less money than I originally spent.
However, they no longer do a free data transfer: it costs $100, but with Migration Assistant, I should be able to do it on my own. The question is, what apps would I have to deactivate first? Anyone know? I know CS4 is one of them, but what about other common/popular apps? MS Office? iWork? Parallels?
Where would this miracle money come from? Pretty much the entirety of my financial aid check plus my tax refund. Which sucks, because I wanted to pay my credit card off and have some buffer for my bills over the next few months, but without a computer, I can't do much at all. I already owe Mom lots for Grad Fest, but paying her back will have to wait until after I get a job, which will hopefully be soon (and not some hourly wage job that I'd hate).
It sure would be nice if Will (#repomen) would show his face here in San Francisco so I could collect the $7500 bounty on his head. *sigh*
