2008 Penryn Keyboard repair

[AMDGAMER]

Have an old 2008 laptop with a broken keyboard, soda spill and it never worked right again. I haven't used the laptop much, and now I'm thinking of repairing it. I can get the keyboard online for 88 bucks plus tools and shipping probably 110. I watched a repair video online. It doesn't look too bad, looks like a good hour long job but anyone here do it? Or should I bring it to apple store and set up a repair? How long does that take from time I drop it off?

If I buy it myself I'm looking at a site called powerbookmedic.com, seems to be well known.

Any info would be great.

 

[chrisperro]

if is an aluminum macbook pro (non unibody ) early 2008 is an easy repair, go to ifixit.com for instructions.

 

[AMDGAMER]

It is. I ordered the tool kit and keyboard, watched the video. Looks easy enough. If I get stuck I'll bring the part to apple. Thinking of upgrading to a 7200RPM drive also, hard to tell which are compatible on amazon, anyone know for sure?

 

[l.a.rossmann]

110 sounds insane for a keyboard if someone else is not doing the work for you. Is this an A1260 machine?

 

[AMDGAMER]

84 for keyboard, plus tools, plus shipping. I have a few hours off this week to be able to work on it so figured why pay someone.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

It is. I ordered the tool kit and keyboard, watched the video. Looks easy enough. If I get stuck I'll bring the part to apple. Thinking of upgrading to a 7200RPM drive also, hard to tell which are compatible on amazon, anyone know for sure?

Apple won't repair your machine using a part other than one they pull off of their shelf, completely against their policy. On top of that they are forced to send it to the repair depot for a tier 4 repair due to the accidental (liquid) damage, costing upwards of $1000.

With that said, and only mentioned to help you avoid wasting your time, it's a pretty straight forward repair. The top case is a little strange to pop off once all the screws are removed but from there it's just removing several (10'ish?) small screws and bending a few tabs to separate the keyboard from the top case. If you take your time you shouldn't have any issues assuming the liquid damage didn't affect the logic board or top case. Just remember to stay grounded to avoid ESD damage to the internal components and follow the iFixit walk throughs step by step.

As far as hard drives go, really just about any 2.5" wide, 9.5mm tall or thinner, SATA hard drive will work with your MacBook Pro. You'll want to make sure to transfer the carrier/mounting pieces from the original hard drive to the new one but aside from that it's about as difficult as replacing your keyboard.

Best of luck!

 

[AMDGAMER]

Thanks for all the help, I did it in about 90 mins time. It fit pretty well, its not PERFECT, and the backlight doesn't work on the keyboard, but it's fine. It's totally usable from basically being a paperweight! Did a complete re install of OSX upgrade to latest version, and its like new.