Why I Should Not Have Gotten A Credit Card

June 3, 2006 10:21 AM

I just seriously effed up my MacBook Pro's previously-gorgeous casing. What are my best options from here?

This morning I was rushing out the door of my new apartment (which I just spent 3 nearly-sleepless days moving into) when my MacBook Pro, in its neoprene case, tumbled out of my not-zipped-up backpack and bounced off a diagonal stair and whammed flat onto the stair below it. Upon inspection, the stair seems to have impacted the bottom case directly at the Cardbus slot, smashing it in and widening the side face on both the top and bottom.

The computer functions fine sa far as I can tell, having used it to play music and rip a CD and boot both OS X and Windows since this happened. I currently don't have a cardbus device and suspect that if I needed to I could probably get it into the hole (although I can't say for sure this is true). But between the middle 2 screws on the side, the case diverges outwards from the grey lining about half a cm, leaving a gap that looks crappy and makes me nervous. Furthermore, at the bottom of the CardBus slot, the case is indented a little bit, making me nervous about what damage might have been done to the contents. (This also causes the CardBus slot's door to be partially open, because its hinge is at the bottom, which is now angled up and in towards the inside of the case. This leaves another opening exposed.) I don't know how much room there is between the case's walls and the inside components, so I'm not sure whether to worry about damage.

I have AppleCare, but apparently that doesn't help here ("When -would- it help?", I'm asking myself). So what are my options? I will have to leave it for at least a little while as I have no money for repairs. But if I were to repair it, where could I get the best deal? Is it possible to buy the part and do this myself (sounds like I'd have to basically unbuild and then rebuild the computer in a new case, which I am definitely not real comfortable with)? Or should I just leave it alone and not stress because it doesn't really matter? Any guidance/reassurance/hints/free MBP cases will be greatly appreciated. Thanks MeFi.

posted by Embryo to computers & internet (12 comments total)

I'd highly recommend the Computer Loft in Allston, MA (I checked and saw you were in RI). They fixed my iBook's broken wireless and have fixed a Mac or two where I work. They're smart guys who only deal with Macs.
posted by jdl at 10:27 AM on June 3, 2006

This might be a long shot, but did you buy it with a credit card? One that might include some sort of accidental damage insurance for the first 90/180 days or something? Stuff like this is often buried in fine print, so it might be time to dig out your card agreement or make a few phone calls. You may find it takes a few calls to get someone who knows what you're even talking about.

Another possibility: Does it happen to be covered under any sort of home owner's or renter's insurance policy?

Sorry about the accident, BTW. It does suck.
posted by veggieboy at 10:37 AM on June 3, 2006

The same thing has happened to my Powerbook G4, after dropping it. It looks really sad, has that weird denty thing you're describing, and a crack in the case above the CD slot. After doing some research, talking to Apple, looking online, I eventually determined it's not worth the huge expense to fix it because it still functions fine. If you can live with it, you probably shouldn't bother.
posted by booknerd at 10:58 AM on June 3, 2006

As to whether it's possible to get the part and do the repair yourself, I'd say that's a definite "no". A million tiny screws and a voided warranty later, you'd likely be worse off than where you are now.

I second the advise above: see if your credit card has an accidental damage clause and, failing that, just live with the damage (and be more careful next time ;).
posted by maniactown at 11:32 AM on June 3, 2006

Thanks for the responses, friends. I'll check to see if my card has accident insurance, but I doubt it. It's proving to be really difficult to even find the full Terms and Conditions online, even.
posted by Embryo at 12:17 PM on June 3, 2006

What is your credit card provider? American Express has excellent damage insurance.
posted by zia at 1:17 PM on June 3, 2006

Gosh I think I'd have Apple fix it myself. I've got a 15" Aluminum PowerBook I purchased in April 2004. About three months later the strap on my carry bag broke and the bag fell onto concrete.

Inside, the front right corner of my PowerBook took the force of the impact. It was bent up at perhaps a 30 degree angle, really distorted.

But the PowerBook worked fine, optical drive and all. I was amazed. About the only thing it wouldn't do is sleep while in transit, as the case was bent up just enough to cause it to wake up with any jiggle.

So I visit a Genius at the Apple Store on Regent Street, and he tells me they need 300 pounds (maybe 20% of purchase price) to repair the case. I go for it.

Six days later I get the machine back and it's looking fine (as you'd expect). But the kicker was when we reviewed the repair ticket - Apple replaced not only the lower case, but also the logic board and hard drive, "just in case" the Genius assured me.

If your case I'd reccomend letting Apple fix it as you don't know what other problems might surface in a short or even longer period of time due to dropping your computer. Think of it as (relatively) cheap insurance against a problem in the future.

Best of luck - it sucks but it could have easily been far worse.
posted by Mutant at 1:22 PM on June 3, 2006

Actually, you might've already voided your warranty. The new powerbooks have a "Sudden Motion Sensor" in them, and it records when serious shocks happen...

It made me choose to get an iMac for work instead of a new powerbook. I don't want the liability of my workplace billing me for a new commputer when the MacBook breaks and apple says it's because it was dropped...
posted by SpecialK at 1:32 PM on June 3, 2006

I had a similar injury inflicted upon my PowerBook. I exasperated things by messing up the little latches that hold the wristpad to the lower case so now there's a gap between. The PowerBook still runs great but lost some of its dead sexiness.

A Mac aficionado came up to me and said he knew some of the Mac specialist repair places that can fix that. A Mac genius also told me I could have it fixed via Apple [no cost given but he said probably hundreds of dollars].

I ended up doing the "proper Mac user" step of buying a MacBook Pro, but that was after the PowerBook had served about 28 months of service. I'm going to sell the PowerBook on Craigslist or eBay but from what I can tell will get a fraction of what I could get if the case were in pristine condition.

It was a very expensive lesson for me and now I treat the MacBook like it is a museum piece.
posted by birdherder at 4:45 PM on June 3, 2006

Actually, if you can get the part, fixing it isn't that bad. I took mine all the way apart and as long as you're careful, it's totally doable. Email me if you need help.
posted by rbs at 5:57 PM on June 3, 2006

That's an ExpressCard slot, not a CardBus slot.
posted by zsazsa at 6:03 PM on June 3, 2006

zsazsa, you can tell, then, that I have yet to use the thing (: Anyhow, I realized on later reflection that the opening is totally misshappen and there's no way I could reasonably jam anything in there as it now stands.

BUT, veggieboy gets the gold star, because my MasterCard does, in fact, have purchase protection, although it is nowhere in any of the documentation I can find. So... looks like this one is on them. Cheers y'all, thanks for the help!
posted by Embryo at 12:42 AM on June 4, 2006