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Coffee 1 Macbook Pro 0. What are my options?

M

mellofello

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 1, 2011
1,257
556
Being the great loving son that I am, I bought my mom a brand new 13 inch Macbook Pro. Being the klutz that she is, she spilled a cup of columbian supreme into the charging port. Now the battery will charge but no sign of life when you hit the power.

We attempted to put it in a tub full of rice for two days, to no avail. My uneducated guess is that the motherboard is toasted. Hopefully the keyboard will be salvageable since the computer was closed when this happened.

From what I can tel I have a few options.

Go to Apple. Once they find out that the computer was wet they will tell me that I need to pay $1,000+, and then they will blacklist the computer from repairs. However they will probably be able to tell me which parts need replacing. Which is nice.

Buy another i3 motherboard off of Ebay, $3-400 and attempt to put it in. Doesn't look like rocket science but the unibody macbooks seem more challenging then my 2007 MBP was.

Go to my local independent mac mechanic, and have him do everything for $600.

Sell the computer for whatever it's worth broken $2-300 and snag a refurb for $1000, or give her my 2010 13 inch MBA, and wait for whatever upgrade comes around this year.

Then there is one unknown option. There is a guy on ebay who claims to be able to repair the motherboard for $250

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MacBook-Pro...020?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3373ff4bcc

This seems a little suspect, but is the cheapest option by far.

What would you do?
 
G

georgehito

macrumors member
Apr 11, 2012
37
0
eBay. But first, contact the seller, and discuss the details of the process with them in order to prevent being scammed.
 
yusukeaoki

yusukeaoki

macrumors 68030
Mar 22, 2011
2,550
6
Tokyo, Japan
To be honest, I would not trust anybody but Apple to repair my machine.
It may cost a lot, but reliable.

Just go to genius and ask for what the problem is.
Dont mention about the drink and see if you can get a free repair (If the LCI on Mac hasn't changed colors, you have a small chance).

And finally I would never trust a guy on ebay to repair a 1200+ worth of machine. Worst case scenario, he's going to jack your device.

The i3 upgrade seems a bit hard. Never seen anybody do it before and dont know if its even possible.

From seeing your post, Im guessing your machine is 2007?
I prefer you just to buy a new machine.
 
E

ender land

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2010
876
0
My first thought was, well, if the laptop lost round one what about round two?

Tie it up then go for the win in the third round?

(probably not the best option :D)

I would consider not getting another $1200+ laptop for someone who manages to spill coffee onto it. Having a mac is nice but if your mom doesn't take that care of her computer perhaps you should get her cheaper ones :)
 
M

mellofello

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 1, 2011
1,257
556
Yeah she really didn't need the latest and greatest. The machine was/is a late 2011 MBP. I wish they still offered the white macbook, the prospect of plopping down an additional $600 to get it repaired stings. I managed to get my GF a white macbook for $750 in 2009. If they still sold them I would just get her one of those and call it a day.
 
east85

east85

macrumors 65816
Jun 24, 2010
1,343
495
mellofello said:
Yeah she really didn't need the latest and greatest. The machine was/is a late 2011 MBP. I wish they still offered the white macbook, the prospect of plopping down an additional $600 to get it repaired stings. I managed to get my GF a white macbook for $750 in 2009. If they still sold them I would just get her one of those and call it a day.
Click to expand...

They pop up on the refurb section of the Apple store every now and then. It's pretty hit or miss that they're in though.
 
J

JohnStar

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2009
7
0
KRAMNED
Cleaning the logic board with either purified water or denatured ethanol is also a possibiliy since the warranty is void. However, time is a factor - act sooner rather than later if this is to be done.

Replacing the magsafe dc-in is also a cheap repair, but since the battery is still charging that is probably not the defective part.

It requires nible fingres and a proper read through on the ifixit teardown guides. Be absolutely sure what you are doing before you start.
 
M

mellofello

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 1, 2011
1,257
556
I took a look at the ifixit teardown, and I must say that it is a bit intimidating. While there are only a few connections, some seem very delicate.
 
Medic278

Medic278

macrumors 6502a
Feb 1, 2012
657
0
New York
mellofello said:
I took a look at the ifixit teardown, and I must say that it is a bit intimidating. While there are only a few connections, some seem very delicate.
Click to expand...

I would take it to the genius and find out what the damage is. You can spend a chunk of change troubleshooting random parts. Worst case scenario your logic board is toast. Best case scenario they don't realize it was a spill and replace it free. Bottom line you'll at least know exactly what the problem is and you'll have a better idea how to proceed.
 
talmy

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,726
332
Oregon
I had a 2008 MacBook that got wet. Apple quoted >$1000 to repair, which was more than the cost when new (I bought it refurbished). I sent it to a guy who advertised on E-Bay who fixed it for $250 (with shipping). It still runs, 3 years later.
 
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