Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

advice re: broken macbook

U

uxiizo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2010
1
0
hi all! hopefully this is the appropriate place to post this--i'm new here.

so, i purchased a re-furbished macbook in the summer of 2008 which has served me well, but for the past few months the screen has become increasingly finicky and now requires being on a bizarre angle with pressure at the back for it to work (otherwise its too dark to see, though i still see the screen if i shine a light on it)...which i've come to believe is a problem with the inverter.

AND, now it is not at all detecting my battery. it needs to be plugged in 100% of the time to use.

i have no applecare, i'm in Berlin with not much money and i'm trying to figure out the best approach in fixing all of this. should i sell this one, buy a new second hand one, have this fixed.... just looking for advice. i have no idea as to what it would be valued at now, how much fixing it would cost...

thanks for any and all help!
 
T

tigress666

macrumors 68040
Apr 14, 2010
3,288
17
Washington State
That depends on your budget and what you think it is worth.

What I would do is look around to see what second hand ones (of a type you'd be willing to replace yours with, you don't have to get the exact same) cost vs. how much it takes to repair it.

You could also repair it yourself. You could go to ifixit.com and they have repair manuals for stuff like that (as well as difficulty ratings).

I replaced the keyboard and fan on my laptop for 43 dollars (no idea what that equals in your currency) by buying parts on ebay and fixing it myself. Certainly worth fixing my computer even though I am hoping only to have it for another year (I'm hoping that next year I'll have the budget + Apple will put out a laptop that I think is worth it). I can't get myself to spend the 60-100 more for extra RAM though it certainly would make my macbook perform a helluva lot better (it's only got 1 gig and it is really showing these days).
 
spinnerlys

spinnerlys

Guest
Sep 7, 2008
14,328
7
forlod bygningen
You could go to Card Services in Kreuzberg (Ritterstraße 3) or to MacHouse in Steglitz (Schloßstraße 34-36) or to Gravis in Tiergarten (Ernst-Reuter-Platz) or to Holzapple in Friedrichshain (Stargarder Str. 56 ) to get an idea how much a repair would cost.

Or go to http://www.ifixit.com and see if you could repair it yourself.


I don't know of a place that sells used MBs though.
 
T

tigress666

macrumors 68040
Apr 14, 2010
3,288
17
Washington State
spinnerlys said:
I don't know of a place that sells used MBs though.
Click to expand...

No classifieds or even an equivalent to craigslist?

There's also Ebay (it's how I bought my macbook and I got a pretty good deal on it too. It was a month old, just released model, for 300 less than new if you count tax since I didn't get charged thta for buying used with some extras thrown in). You just gotta know how to pick reliable sellers (and also in OP's case some one willing to ship to Germany. Plus you gotta factor in shipping costs to make sure you're still getting a decent deal).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom