A1226 MBP Santa-Rosa chipset (2.6Ghz C2D) purchased December 2007
Last month I became one of the many who had their A1226 MBP die. I tried all the usual fixes/tests and pretty sure I need my logic board repaired/replaced. My local Apple genius seems to think so too. Unfortunately, I don't have apple care.
Because of the enormous logic board replacement cost ~$800+ on a laptop less 3 years old that was originally purchased for ~$3000, I've received sympathy from my local apple store. They offered to cut down the logic board replacement to ~$400 and offered a very tempting 25% discount towards the purchase of a new machine.
My biggest beef with the repair (replace logic board) is that it comes with a 1 year warranty. $400 is a lot of money to spend on a machine that, although is far from obsolete, is depreciating rapidly through its final $1000 (likely even lower) of worth. With that said, I suspect I'll probably need a new battery soon (I'm a heavy user). My fear is putting money into machine worth increasingly less with the potential of needing more service.
I spec'd out a new 15" core i7 w/ hi-res glossy + adapters + apple care which came to ~$2k after taxes.
On an mildly related note, my brother works at Art school within a top public university that exclusively uses macs and requires all students to buy a specified computer/software package (typically MBP + Adobe CS). Out all the machines (G#-era to i7-era desktops/laptops), the A1226 MBP has proven to be proportionally the most problematic. Would you guys say the A1226 is a problem child?
While I have the savings for a new machine, getting value for money is important. What would you do in my situation?
Would you get the logic board replaced?
Would you buy a new MBP? Would you also get the logic board replaced and sell the machine to minimize the loses? Would you sell the MBP broken (people repair them themselves or sell the parts)? How much could one expect to a sell an old MBP in either a repaired or broken state?
Thanks in advance!
Last month I became one of the many who had their A1226 MBP die. I tried all the usual fixes/tests and pretty sure I need my logic board repaired/replaced. My local Apple genius seems to think so too. Unfortunately, I don't have apple care.
Because of the enormous logic board replacement cost ~$800+ on a laptop less 3 years old that was originally purchased for ~$3000, I've received sympathy from my local apple store. They offered to cut down the logic board replacement to ~$400 and offered a very tempting 25% discount towards the purchase of a new machine.
My biggest beef with the repair (replace logic board) is that it comes with a 1 year warranty. $400 is a lot of money to spend on a machine that, although is far from obsolete, is depreciating rapidly through its final $1000 (likely even lower) of worth. With that said, I suspect I'll probably need a new battery soon (I'm a heavy user). My fear is putting money into machine worth increasingly less with the potential of needing more service.
I spec'd out a new 15" core i7 w/ hi-res glossy + adapters + apple care which came to ~$2k after taxes.
On an mildly related note, my brother works at Art school within a top public university that exclusively uses macs and requires all students to buy a specified computer/software package (typically MBP + Adobe CS). Out all the machines (G#-era to i7-era desktops/laptops), the A1226 MBP has proven to be proportionally the most problematic. Would you guys say the A1226 is a problem child?
While I have the savings for a new machine, getting value for money is important. What would you do in my situation?
Would you get the logic board replaced?
Would you buy a new MBP? Would you also get the logic board replaced and sell the machine to minimize the loses? Would you sell the MBP broken (people repair them themselves or sell the parts)? How much could one expect to a sell an old MBP in either a repaired or broken state?
Thanks in advance!
