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A1229 2.4GHZ (Faulty) - Worth the money?

A

AMBPNewbie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 8, 2011
4
0
Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum, so hopefully this has been posted in the right place. I've lusted after a Mac laptop ever since I used an iBook at school. For whatever reason (my Dad doubting that any machine could be as awesome as I kept insisting?), I never got one and lumbered on with a range of other computers that would last a couple of years at best.

I've been thinking of 'building' one of my own for a while now. I've been using a really dreadful HP 550 since 2009 (I basically grabbed the first machine I saw that was within my limited budget), but doing some renovations over the weekend, I dropped a door on it. The already useless machine is now a tangled mess of screen and shattered plastic.

I know that saving money and buying a new/refurbished MacBook from Apple would be the smart thing to do. But at the same time, I'm looking for a project. Something for me to do while I get over a horrible break-up. I'm not a heavy gamer (just playing updated versions of Championship Manager 01-02) and just use the laptop for surfing the internet, watching YouTube videos and typing fairly standard documents. Nothing too intensive or major.

Without a doubt, I want a Mac. I can't explain why, but over the past week, the pull has been incredible. Perhaps I've tapped into some part of my youth or something. Anyway, browsing for a bargain on eBay (I know! I know!), I found a MacBook Pro from 2007. It's listed as faulty, but from what I can make out from the pictures, there's just cosmetic damage (a few keys are missing, the casing around the screen has cracked a little bit - but compared to the HP 550 I was using, it's still in much better condition!). The computer loads up, but it looks like there is a Kernel Panic that is stopping it from going any further.

"You need to restart your computer..." is written in several languages, so it looks as if the 'foundations' of the machine are still working. Is it too ambitious of me to just presume that installing the OS again would be enough to completely remedy this problem? Basically, even in this condition, the MacBook is miles ahead of what I was using before. Better processor, better RAM, having the nice name and awesome Apple design. I was just wondering what you guys made of it. Is it worth the money or not? Right now, I could get it for around 60 GBP (98 USD). I expect that will rise during the last few hours of bidding, but I would really appreciate it if you guys could lend me your honest opinions about this. Thanks in advance and sorry if any of this has been posted in vain.

Link to item and pictures: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170741228876#shId
 
I agree with the above poster. It looks like it's a GPU failure, which can only be fixed by replacing the logic board.

Don't buy. The only value in this machine is for replacement parts I think.
 
Could that be the wallpaper that's set and it's panicking at that point?

Still, hard to recommend buying that generation of MBPs. Mine was amazing and never developed the fault, but knowing that there's a good chance the graphics will fry doesn't make this a good fixer-upper.
 
I'd pass on it. I agree, it's pretty likely that the GPU is going bad or that it will in the near future. That would be a very costly fix and totally not worth it.
 
iMacC2D said:
It appears to be during the startup process (the kernel panic message would be covering the Apple logo). In addition, the lines are visible over the Kernel Panic message. Almost certain it's a Graphics Processor issue.
Click to expand...

I agree, you can see the spinning wheel below the kernel panic message in the picture so it's definitely happening during the startup process. Avoid buying this machine as there's likely no viable way of repairing it other than replacing the entire logic board.
 
Hey Man, Eric273 here!
If I were you, I would buy it for the $100 bucks and pay $20 on some third party site for replacement keys so it doesn't look bad and take it to the apple store and see if they fix it for free! If not, get in touch with tech support than customer relations! They will end up giving in and doing a flat rate repair for free and bring it up to a in warranty mechanical condition! This is not scamming at all because even though the recall is within four years of purchase, I am sure they'll be lenient for someone who wasn't knowledgeable about the recall!
 
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iMacC2D said:
Too risky. He could purchase the machine only to be left with a doorstop when its coverage is denied.

I assisted in the replacement of a faulty 8600M GT logic board a week ago, 4 years and less than 1 month old. Apple said exactly what I expected, it was outside of the 4 year coverage span and wouldn't be covered under the Repair Extension Program.

We managed to fix the machine in the end, but it was not easy.
Click to expand...

Did you try the customer Relations Route? That works for me 100% of this time with things like macs 3 months out of warranty or whomever!
 
ERIC273 said:
Hey Man, Eric273 here!
If I were you, I would buy it for the $100 bucks and pay $20 on some third party site for replacement keys so it doesn't look bad and take it to the apple store and see if they fix it for free! If not, get in touch with tech support than customer relations! They will end up giving in and doing a flat rate repair for free and bring it up to a in warranty mechanical condition! This is not scamming at all because even though the recall is within four years of purchase, I am sure they'll be lenient for someone who wasn't knowledgeable about the recall!
Click to expand...

There's no way you can guarantee that they'll repair it for free. If it's beyond the 4 years (and since it's a 2007 that's pretty likely (then they don't have to. In which case the $120 was a complete waste. If the OP thinks it's worth the risk to try then that's fine, but don't mislead him into believing that it will definitely be repaired free of charge.
 
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Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all of the replies. I took the advice of the majority and steered away from this one. I wanted a little bit of a project, but not to the extent that was a high possibility. Afterall, I still wanted to be able to use the thing(!) Thanks again for all of the replies. In the end, it went for £230. I probably wouldn't have bid that high for it, but I'm glad that I had the sense to ask about it on here before taking my interest any further. I'm really grateful for the advice that you all gave me, too.
 
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