Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Broke my friends MBP screen..

B

broketrouble

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 20, 2009
12
0
Well I managed to break my roommates macbook pro screen.

We're studying abroad in the netherlands currently, we live in a small room. I tripped over my chair and in an attempt not to fall attempted to grab onto something... I grabbed onto his macbook pro...

The fall wasn't really what broke it, he has a hard shell on it, but all my weight shifted so i was pressing on the top of computer (the computer was closed) I hear almost a "pop" sound. There aren't any other dents or scratches or anything, but his screen is obviously cracked and impossible to use now (It's all just a lot of colors)

He's traveling currently and I have no way to contact him. He won't be back until sunday so i want to figure everything on how to repay him for this before that. I feel like a huge schmuck and I need to make this up to him.

His data is obviously recoverable so that's not an issue thank god, but what is the cheapest solution to get this fixed? I can't start working until december when I get back to the states and money is really tight so buying him a complete new computer is semi-impossible... Obviously I can't just say I'll start a payment plan for him, I want to pay him all upfront. I was thinking that until he gets his fixed, we transfer all his data onto my laptop and he uses mine. Or I get him a cheap moniter so he can at least temporarily use his own, which I would prefer. (I do have to do school work as well on my own laptop.)

I've seen a lot of different options to have it repaired, all of which will probably have to wait three weeks until we get back home. It seems extrememly expensive (1000 dollars?) to get it fixed directly through apple, and cheaper (400-500?) to get it fixed through a third-party manufacturer. Are there any trusted ones? Recommendations on other options?

I just want to have a list of options and like 500 bucks sitting on his desk when he gets back.

Help a brother out, what do I do?
 
ouch! I feel for you. I would imagine there's a Mac repair place somewhere in the Netherlands, but if you're paying in dollars I'm not sure the exchange rate will be kind to you.

What kind of computer do you have compared to his? Do either of you need more mobility with your computers? (it's a bit difficult to carry that external monitor around).

If he goes for it, you could swap data between the two computers (assuming they meet compatibility requirements) and you use the broken one with the external display.

Good luck! and I'd swap out the beer for some whiskey (like a wild west doctor before the amputation).
 
I'm making a list of various apple stores/repair places with prices for him.

Buying the bottle of whiskey/external monitor for him tomorrow.

I left a envelope with 500 euros (about 750 american) as a gesture of honest apology on his desk for when he gets back, and the promise more will be given if needed.

What else could I do? I'd be ripshit if someone did it to me.

Luckily he doesn't actually take his mac anywhere on his travels so it stays in the room at all times so the lack of portability, while ******, won't ruin his day too much.


any other ideas guys?

what a weekend ruiner. crazy how 5 seconds of bad coordination can **** up so much.
 
This happened to a friend of mine when her dog jumped onto her lap and somehow kicked the screen of her PowerBook, cracking the LCD in the process. The cheapest solution that I found for her was to buy a used, compatible LCD assembly off of eBay (it was the entire "lid," basically, from a PowerBook that had a fried logic board) and then to have a 3rd party swap them out for her. She found the LCD for about $300 and then had a technician do the swap on his "off hours" (it helps to be a beautiful woman) for just under $100.
 
Which model MBP is it? If it is one of models prior to the Unibody you can get a new screen on eBay for about $200 shipped. Then replace it yourself using the repair guides on iFixit.com.

If it is a Unibody you can still find screens but repairs are more difficult given the Glass that needs to be removed. You can also find whole top lids with the screen
 
TechRestore.

It will cost more than fixing it yourself, but the work is guaranteed and convenient. All you have to do is select the kind of Mac it is, the type of repair, and then ship it to 'em.
 
Ouch this is a rough one.

If I were you I'd leave the money, the options, and then let him know you'll cover the rest as soon as you start working. If you don't cover the entire cost of replacement/repair unfortunately anything else you do wont be good enough.
 
charlesbronsen said:
good thing your not that person then:rolleyes:. I think the OP is handling it very well.

Tough one dude- best of luck
Click to expand...

I didn't say that the OP wasn't handling it well. :rolleyes:

However, there are a bunch of folks recommending that he repair it himself. This could void the owners warranty. My point is that the OP should get in touch with Apple and find out how much a repair like that would be then be prepared to pay it. I would not want someone that is not certified digging into my box as he could cause more problems. Doing it through Apple guarantees that it is at least covered under warranty if it fails shortly after the repair.
 
I admire the OPs honesty. A lot of people would make excuses and blame it on someone or something else. Good on you :).
 
Forget the whiskey and the external monitor.

You said Apple wants $1k to repair the screen.

You are giving him $750 and Whiskey ($20?) and External Monitor ($100+?).

Thats at least $870. Come up with the $130 and repair the mans hardware to what it was before he left.

Simple as that. But you have my respect for being honest otherwise.

Cheers!
 
daflake said:
I didn't say that the OP wasn't handling it well. :rolleyes:

However, there are a bunch of folks recommending that he repair it himself. This could void the owners warranty. My point is that the OP should get in touch with Apple and find out how much a repair like that would be then be prepared to pay it. I would not want someone that is not certified digging into my box as he could cause more problems. Doing it through Apple guarantees that it is at least covered under warranty if it fails shortly after the repair.
Click to expand...
Good point. Though Apple does tend to stick it in and break it off when it comes to cost of out of warranty repairs.
 
daflake said:
If I was that person, I wouldn't accept anything less than Apple fixing it.
Click to expand...

Honestly I would have to agree. His warranty could be affected if not...yeah Tech Restore says they will cover things if Apple refuses but it shouldn't be up the the owner to have to deal with that. I do admire the OP for doing the right thing but I would expect factory or authorized repair center restoration...even thought I do agree those prices are robbery often.

Something else to check is if the owner has renter's or homeowner's insurance back in the US that would cover this...you can offer to pay the deductible and get it replaced that way possibly. I would go for that if I was the owner.
 
I agree with the whole "If it were me I'd settle for nothing less then apple fixing it." I'll give him the options, and that's obviously one of them. ****ing highway robbery, but I guess I'll deal with that one.

The reason I still have to get the external monitor is because there, as far as I've been able to tell (according to apple.com), there isn't an apple store in the netherlands. He'll need his computer now, we have school/finals/etc. So I'll at least get him using it until I can actually get it repaired once we get back to the states in a few weeks.

I'm fully expecting him to be salty about it for a long time, but that's life.

And thanks for appreciating my honesty, i feel like complete ****, so that helps.
 
Apple may not be in NL but they have authorized service there...look on this page for the number.

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

Do you know anyone with a spare monitor you could borrow rather than buying one for such a short time? Lots of people have one they could part with for a while.

I know it sucks and the money hurts but it's not like you did something malicious so don't be too hard on yourself. I wouldn't be mad at someone over that when it was an innocent accident so unless he is just ridiculously shallow I am sure he won't hate you for it...you are trying to make it right so what more can one ask?
 
Ouch... I would go all ape **** on my friend if he broke my laptop, but just explain the situation to him and put a little money towards a new computer on his desk.

At most he will see it was just a accident, hell he may tell you to keep the money if he is a nice guy, but I don't think telling him in note is the best way to go, do it in person, explain in vivid detail what happened, he should understand.
 
One last question..

How would I go about getting his computer hooked up to another monitor. I know you just plug the cable in, but without being able to see his screen it's kind of hard to go into the settings and turn it on.

are there any shortcuts on the keyboard to make that work?

Also, if I can't find a cheap monitor today, how would one go about getting the data off his computer? I remember one time being able to plug one computer into another using a USB cable and it acts like an external drive.. but I have no screen to go through the settings and enable this (if that's even how you do it..)

Could anyone refresh my memory? I know the other option would be take out the harddrive, get an external casing, etc etc, but I don't have access to a computer store near me, and can you even do that with a Macbook pro?
 
broketrouble said:
One last question..

How would I go about getting his computer hooked up to another monitor. I know you just plug the cable in, but without being able to see his screen it's kind of hard to go into the settings and turn it on.
Click to expand...

This probably isn't the easiest way, but it no doubt works.

Turn the computer on. Wait a short amount of time until you know it's bound to be at the login screen/desktop. Then close the lid, putting it in sleep. Plug in your external monitor, and wake it up using an external mouse or keyboard. It should pop up on your external monitor. Voilá.

You could also try plugging in the external monitor, then turning on the laptop and closing the laptop quickly. That may route the display through the monitor upon startup.

Good luck.
 
I agree with the above posters. A DIY repair is not an option here as it isn't your macbook.

An apple certified repair centre in the Netherlands would be fine. Your friend may well prefer to put the money towards a new computer, so it would be good to offer that option.

Plugging in a monitor is very simple - just turn on laptop, wait a while for it to complete boot, plug in monitor, turn on monitor, and it should come up automatically.

When is he back?

Getting data off is easy once you have the monitor working.
 
He gets back tonight.
Great advice on that monitor stuff, I'm unable to get a monitor until monday, but we have some spare ones at the school until then.

I've read that if I just plug his laptop into mine with a usb cable and boot it holding down the "T" key it should make his laptop appear as an external drive on my computer. I think that would help as well.


I'll probably recommend the apple netherlands repair service you guys mentioned as a first option, DIY obviously is not going to fly (I wouldn't let it fly if he broke mine either), and if he doesn't care who fixes it, I'll have the cheaper options written down as well. Hopefully he'll be okay making due until we get back to the states, but that's doubtful. oof, i'll let you guys know what he thinks when he gets back.

gracias.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back