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Macbook 13" checklist to verify que everything is ok?

sweet160

sweet160

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 2, 2006
133
3
Ecuador
Next week I am buying a new Macbook Pro 13 inch in New York. I am only staying a few days there so I want to be shure I dont leave with a dud.

What errors/fabrication faults should I look for on the unit.

Dead pixels, what else?

Can I do some tests of some kind? To be shure I have a good one?

Thanks!
 
If it works, it works...These things are manufactured to such precise spec that its sort of ridiculous to worry about getting a "good" one. Only things I could see being DOA (within reason) would be a hard drive or dead pixels on the display.

Most important thing is a good case for it, so that it doesn't become a "bad" one if you drop it or something :)
 
I was wondering the same thing. I cam up with this:


Check for Hard drive stalling due to EFI 1.7 (beachballing). If occurs have them Downgrade to 1.6
Check for Hinge Popping noise
Check for dents, scratches, and screen damage
Check Flickering top 1/3rd of screen
Check Website scrolling distortion "tearing"
Check battery health

When Home:
Spinrite (Modified intel mac verison
Memtest 86
Reinstall SL (clean)
 
How do I check for this stalling of the HD?

Can they downgrade the firmware on the spot?

thanks!
 
Good thread! Checked everything mentioned on my MBP 13" bought earlier this week. Found none of the problems and outwardly it's perfect too. I suspect it has the EFI 1.7 firmware installed because SATA is 3 Gbit but no beachballing with the stock 160 GB hard drive. Any other way to check the firmware version?

Note that dead pixels may not be there at first. Usually they appear in the first few weeks of use.
 
oh my dear lord, it'll be fine....i've never seen a thread like this..downgrading the firmware in an apple store? no they won't do that...they will have no clue what you're talking about

the computer has a 1 year warranty, they've been making them for a while now, so a lot of kinks would have been worked out...even if you get it home and it's doa they'll still replace it rather than repair during the first month or so

unless you're buying this third party (craigslist, etc) and you're asking what to check for? in that case run the apple hardware test, use istat pro to check battery health and cycles
 
swingerofbirch said:
oh my dear lord, it'll be fine....i've never seen a thread like this..downgrading the firmware in an apple store? no they won't do that...they will have no clue what you're talking about

the computer has a 1 year warranty, they've been making them for a while now, so a lot of kinks would have been worked out...even if you get it home and it's doa they'll still replace it rather than repair during the first month or so

unless you're buying this third party (craigslist, etc) and you're asking what to check for? in that case run the apple hardware test, use istat pro to check battery health and cycles
Click to expand...

The thing is that I am living in Ecuador. So I have to be quite sure when I leave NYC.
 
swingerofbirch said:
oh my dear lord, it'll be fine....i've never seen a thread like this..downgrading the firmware in an apple store? no they won't do that...they will have no clue what you're talking about

the computer has a 1 year warranty, they've been making them for a while now, so a lot of kinks would have been worked out...even if you get it home and it's doa they'll still replace it rather than repair during the first month or so

unless you're buying this third party (craigslist, etc) and you're asking what to check for? in that case run the apple hardware test, use istat pro to check battery health and cycles
Click to expand...

Actually, apple will downgrade the FW in the store:http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2054387&tstart=0

"The best thing that can be done now, is to take the machine back to Apple and have them downgrade the EFI firmware to version 1.6. Your SATA speed will be limited to half of what the hardware is capable of, but it will get rid of the problems you're seeing until Apple fixes the SATA II support of their new laptops (which they may - or may not - be working on). "

"I had the local Apple Store roll back the EFI update. It took maybe 2 or 3 minutes and they did not give me a hard time about it. I did not even have an appointment."

You can check by running AJA System test and watching a video. The number of IO's per second will just stop, the whole system may freeze, and then return after 5-45 seconds. here is a video example: http://vimeo.com/5854152

AJA system test can be found here: http://aja.com/products/software/
 
Check the sleep indicator light: my first machine had an indicator light that wasn't functioning which I spotted before I left the store. Five minutes later, I walked out with a replacement machine that had a working sleep indicator. :D
 
Shaduu said:
Check the sleep indicator light: my first machine had an indicator light that wasn't functioning which I spotted before I left the store. Five minutes later, I walked out with a replacement machine that had a working sleep indicator. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks !

I am going to buy the exact same machine and upgrade the ram and HD myself. Did you experience the dreaded beachballing effect on hard disk load?
 
sweet160 said:
Thanks !

I am going to buy the exact same machine and upgrade the ram and HD myself. Did you experience the dreaded beachballing effect on hard disk load?
Click to expand...

Nope, no beachballing here, although I haven't done anything that would be considered drive-strenuous. I'm running the factory-installed EFI 1.7 update, too.
 
moral-hazard said:
If it works, it works...These things are manufactured to such precise spec that its sort of ridiculous to worry about getting a "good" one. Only things I could see being DOA (within reason) would be a hard drive or dead pixels on the display.

Most important thing is a good case for it, so that it doesn't become a "bad" one if you drop it or something :)
Click to expand...

either you have never gotten a bad mac, or you just have really low standards. I and many others on here have had dead pixels, dents & scratches,
warpped bodies, crooked lids. off center lids, lids that won't stay closed, and a plethera of other issues. Apple's "precise specs" are not as precise as one might hope. in fact i have been told by many genius' that the issues i see are
"within spec" wow!!! some of these things if they are in "spec" the tolerances must be huge. i mean if you have a 1/8" tolerance on the alignment of the lid I think that is sloppy, just me i guess....
 
jfyrfytr25 said:
either you have never gotten a bad mac, or you just have really low standards. I and many others on here have had dead pixels, dents & scratches,
warpped bodies, crooked lids. off center lids, lids that won't stay closed, and a plethera of other issues. Apple's "precise specs" are not as precise as one might hope. in fact i have been told by many genius' that the issues i see are
"within spec" wow!!! some of these things if they are in "spec" the tolerances must be huge. i mean if you have a 1/8" tolerance on the alignment of the lid I think that is sloppy, just me i guess....
Click to expand...

Probably i should check of all the keys are working allright as well.
 
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