2006 iMac Seeing Last Days - Repair Ideas & Costs

[John Doe 57]

Specs:
2006 iMac 17"
1.83 GHz Core Duo
2GB SDRAM
160GB 7200rpm HD (48GB Free)

My 2006 17" iMac has begun showing signs of old age. A vertical green line has shown up on the screen today. I've done some Google searches and have read that replacing the LCD or the LCD circuit will resolve this issue. I'm just trying to find out generally how much this will cost. I've learned that LCDs for this iMac sell at around $300 so I'm guessing it will be around $400 - $500. Am I in the right neighborhood?

Also the iMac has been running quite slow for about 4 months now. My theory is that the hard drive is starting to die. It has 48GB of free space remaining (out of 160GB) but my guess is that even if I free up 100GB of space, it will still run slow. I'm thinking about buying a Avastor 750GB - 1TB for a new external backup source. I see that a Serial ATA 160GB Hard Drive can sell for about $50. Would installing it myself be an easy task or should I bring it into the shop to have it replaced? How much would it cost to have it replaced by specialists?

Thanks.

 

[alust2013]

Just as a word of advice-I'd use now as an opportunity to upgrade. Spending $450-$550 to repair it is more than it is worth even in brand new condition. A refurbished 3.06GHz i3 21.5" iMac is $929 from apple, which is a pretty good deal for a considerably better computer.

For reference, mac2sell.net puts your model as worth about $420.

 

[John Doe 57]

Just as a word of advice-I'd use now as an opportunity to upgrade. Spending $450-$550 to repair it is more than it is worth even in brand new condition. A refurbished 3.06GHz i3 21.5" iMac is $929 from apple, which is a pretty good deal for a considerably better computer.

For reference, mac2sell.net puts your model as worth about $420.

Thanks for the info and the link. I'll look into it.

 

[spcopsmac21]

$420.00 if it was in perfect working order......

with a shot LCD about $150-200.00

its not even worth it, if something else goes out, and it will. I.E the logic board , there is a $720.00 part and here soon the core duo Logic boards wont even be able to be back ordered.

So get rid of it how it sets and get either a refurb or a new rig.

 

[John Doe 57]

$420.00 if it was in perfect working order......

with a shot LCD about $150-200.00

its not even worth it, if something else goes out, and it will. I.E the logic board , there is a $720.00 part and here soon the core duo Logic boards wont even be able to be back ordered.

So get rid of it how it sets and get either a refurb or a new rig.

Ah, I should have mentioned that the Logic Board died 2 years ago and was replaced.

 

[Makosuke]

I'm thinking about buying a Avastor 750GB - 1TB for a new external backup source. I see that a Serial ATA 160GB Hard Drive can sell for about $50. Would installing it myself be an easy task or should I bring it into the shop to have it replaced?

Having just torn apart two 17" iMacs of similar vintage to yours--one with a bunch of lines on the screen, and the other with a perfect screen but failing motherboard--to combine the good parts into one working machine, I wanted to add that unless you're comfortable inside a computer, you don't really want to mess with those--unlike the G5 iMacs, they are NOT easy to work inside, and you need to remove the LCD panel and a bunch of shielding even to just get to the hard drive. (Ironically, that means it's slightly easier to replace the display panel than the hard drive.)

If you could find a cheap LCD (maybe a dead iMac with a good LCD panel), and were to do the work yourself, it might be worth fixing, especially since the motherboard is only 2 years old. Otherwise, though, sell it for what it's worth, like others are saying, and buy something newer and refurbed (or one of the new Sandy Bridge iMacs if you can afford it--they're VERY nice).

 

[John Doe 57]

So it turns out that the processor is NOT a Core 2 Duo, putting the price at about $350. My apologies for that mix up.

Otherwise, though, sell it for what it's worth, like others are saying, and buy something newer and refurbed

This is what's probably going to happen. But I'm not sure where to sell my iMac. The highest amount I can find for it is $250. Anyone know of a good site to sell used Macs?