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Dropped my macbook air!! :(

O

omniatlas

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 31, 2004
83
0
Tripped on the charging cable and it went flying (isn't the magnet suppose to come off?!!) Silly...change that, stupid me.

Big dent now on the left side --

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Laptop operates fine. Anyone know how much the dent depreciates the laptop?

I'm planning to resell it now -- perhaps after the new macbook air release around May. This laptop is the late 2010 model (bought in 2011) 1.6 ghz with 4GB ram and the nvidia video card.

Would appreciate any advice, someone told me I would only expect around $300-400 if I sold it when the new macbook airs are around the block; so should I just bite the bullet and get the new ones now?
 
If it had been plastic it probably would have broken off and be less usable than it is now.

The 'good' thing about denting is that it absorbs a lot of energy. The bad thing is that if it's a minor impact it won't bend back like plastic. But you should see the number of plastic Dells here at work with corners, hinge covers, LCD covers etc broken off.

Considering the amount of damage I'd suspect it would have been worse for a plastic laptop.

To answer your question: I think it will take a large chunk out of the resale value though, because the Air's value is highly dependent on its looks.
 
GekkePrutser said:
To answer your question: I think it will take a large chunk out of the resale value though, because the Air's value is highly dependent on its looks.
Click to expand...

Sigh. Laptop is only slightly over a year and have kept it in mint condition, until today. Now i'll have to live with that mistake until I sell it.


Do you think something like this would have saved it from a fall?

41pLxZjGO7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Not really into putting plastic covers onto my laptop. Now I know; all my apple equipment need major protection!

Do you think the next macbook air will have a nvidia graphics card or will it all be an integrated solution from now on?
 
omniatlas said:
Sigh. Laptop is only slightly over a year and have kept it in mint condition, until today. Now i'll have to live with that mistake until I sell it.

Not really into putting plastic covers onto my laptop. Now I know; all my apple equipment need major protection!

Do you think the next macbook air will have a nvidia graphics card or will it all be an integrated solution from now on?
Click to expand...

I know, but someone else wouldn't really like looking at it either unless it was very cheap. That's what I'd guess anyway, I never tried to sell a damaged Apple product. But the thing is that they fetch such a high price because of the looks, not just the specs.

Maybe insurance would be a better choice. I don't think anything would really save you from any damage in case of the impact of a fall on a corner. Any padding will be squashed with minimal effort and the remainder of the energy will still be absorbed by the laptop itself (although a good case will spread it around a wider area).

Regarding the Graphics: The previous MacBook Airs also had integrated graphics. The 320M was an IGP just like Intel's GPU. It was just integrated in a different place (in the northbridge of the chipset, where Intel's IGP is in the CPU).

nVidia makes no IGPs for Ivy Bridge (due to legal issues with Intel), and it also would be very tricky to make one due to the memory controller now being part of the CPU as well.

And I'm pretty sure there won't be any space / heat dissipation for a real discrete GPU. So I think Intel's HD4000 is a safe bet for the next Air.
 
:eek: Sorry to hear that.

I had a similar thing happen to a 2010 15" Macbook Pro I had. It was connected to an external hard drive that contained 30 interviews I'd shot and didn't have a backup for (stupid, I know!). I rolled my chair over to the printer, the HD cable caught and the whole thing came crashing down to the floor.

Miraculously the HD and MBP worked just fine. The only consequence was a dent similar to the one your's suffered. I sold it later on and it didn't seem to effect the price much.

It's a pretty sturdy design, and like someone said, it's a badge of honor :)
 
Oh yeah....I mean.... when I dropped mine the price pretty much dropped as well! No one would give me anything for it :(

But I'll give you 501 for yours, because I'm a nice guy :D
 
omniatlas said:
Sigh. Laptop is only slightly over a year and have kept it in mint condition, until today. Now i'll have to live with that mistake until I sell it.


Do you think something like this would have saved it from a fall?

Image

Not really into putting plastic covers onto my laptop. Now I know; all my apple equipment need major protection!

Do you think the next macbook air will have a nvidia graphics card or will it all be an integrated solution from now on?
Click to expand...

Were you using it when it dropped? I carry mine in a Neoprene case between meetings, then in a messenger bag to and from work. Its only out when in use and it doesn't have any plastic on it.
 
For what it's worth, the next gen Macbook Air will likely have the GPU updates Intel is shipping with Sandy Bridge. Should be significant upgrade from the Intel 3000 which is about the same as the Nvidia 320s. Anand is reporting numbers up to 60% improved, so it's not bad at all. Going to make a lot of low end discrete gpus worthless.
 
DustinT said:
For what it's worth, the next gen Macbook Air will likely have the GPU updates Intel is shipping with Sandy Bridge. Should be significant upgrade from the Intel 3000 which is about the same as the Nvidia 320s. Anand is reporting numbers up to 60% improved, so it's not bad at all. Going to make a lot of low end discrete gpus worthless.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome! The 3000 is actually a lot more powerful than people give it credit for! So 60% boost would mean it could start doing dx11 and maybe even some AA
 
GekkePrutser said:
Regarding the Graphics: The previous MacBook Airs also had integrated graphics. The 320M was an IGP just like Intel's GPU. It was just integrated in a different place (in the northbridge of the chipset, where Intel's IGP is in the CPU).

And I'm pretty sure there won't be any space / heat dissipation for a real discrete GPU. So I think Intel's HD4000 is a safe bet for the next Air.
Click to expand...

Would the Intel HD4000 at least be be equivalent to the NVIDIA 320M? Heard these intel graphical solutions are pretty crummy.

----------
MovieCutter said:
No kidding, if you think that dent drops the price down to $300-400, I'll give you $500 cash money for it right now.
Click to expand...

Someone quoted me $300-400 as macbook air worth by the time the next generation MBA hit, so I'm trying to figure out if it will be worth it to invest in a new MB air now, or wait. I'll probably wait until the next generation hits, unless the graphical power, Intel HD4000 as some of you are saying, really suck compared to the 320M.

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gentlefury said:
Were you using it when it dropped? I carry mine in a Neoprene case between meetings, then in a messenger bag to and from work. Its only out when in use and it doesn't have any plastic on it.
Click to expand...

No, unfortunately not :( I had placed it on my desk for once and not by the side table; hence the charging cable stretched out across the floor. Wasn't expecting the thing to go flying. Next thing I know, I hear a crash :( When travelling I also use a neoprene type case, but now I'm thinking it'll probably be smart to always have a case on it.
 
A 2010 11 ultimate sells for less than $900 new now.

it's not going to be worth jack. apple resale isn't as good as it once was.

if someone's going to buy this for $500, sell it now!

plus make sure the internal fan's working OK. there ARE actually moving parts in there still.
 
MovieCutter said:
THey were full of crap.
Click to expand...

Conflicting...

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BENJMNS said:
A 2010 11 ultimate sells for less than $900 new now.

it's not going to be worth jack. apple resale isn't as good as it once was.

if someone's going to buy this for $500, sell it now!

plus make sure the internal fan's working OK. there ARE actually moving parts in there still.
Click to expand...

information...
 
BENJMNS said:
A 2010 11 ultimate sells for less than $900 new now.

it's not going to be worth jack. apple resale isn't as good as it once was.

if someone's going to buy this for $500, sell it now!

plus make sure the internal fan's working OK. there ARE actually moving parts in there still.
Click to expand...

If it isn't worth anything he my as well give it to me for free and I will take it no comment
 
omniatlas said:
Would the Intel HD4000 at least be be equivalent to the NVIDIA 320M? Heard these intel graphical solutions are pretty crummy.
Click to expand...


For most games, the HD 4000 should be faster than the 320M. As it is, many games are about the same on the HD 3000 as the 320M. The HD 4000 is supposed to be about 30-60% faster than the HD 3000 from what I have read.

I suspect from now on Apple will use only the integrated graphics on the Air line. There isn't much room for a discrete chip, and unlike with the older Core processors, the IGP is "good enough" for the average user.

----------

omniatlas said:
Someone quoted me $300-400 as macbook air worth by the time the next generation MBA hit, so I'm trying to figure out if it will be worth it to invest in a new MB air now, or wait. I'll probably wait until the next generation hits, unless the graphical power, Intel HD4000 as some of you are saying, really suck compared to the 320M.
Click to expand...


I sold my 11.6" 2010 "Ultimate" model last year for about $800 when the 2011 came out. $300-400 sounds about right for when the 2012s come out. In terms of resale value, with electronics, your best bet is the lowest end model (not the highest end). Remember, in 2012 no one cares about the difference between a 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo. If recovery of purchase price is a prime concern, my advice if you get the 2012 is to purchase the lowest end model that has what you need in terms of RAM and SSD space.

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omniatlas said:
Next thing I know, I hear a crash :( When travelling I also use a neoprene type case, but now I'm thinking it'll probably be smart to always have a case on it.
Click to expand...

That sort of defeats the purpose of using a thin notebook. These things happen. How bad is the dent? I had a small crease in my 2008 MacBook Air, and it affected the resale value by about 15% when I traded it in at PowerMax. As long as it still closes properly and the screen itself isn't damaged, my guess is that you are talking a reduction in value of $100 tops. Someone buying a 2010 MacBook Air in mid-2012 is looking for something inexpensive, anyway.

If it doesn't close properly, see if the Genius Bar can tap it back into shape a bit. It will still have a crease, but it would be an improvement nonetheless. To replace the case would likely be as much as or more than the unit is worth. It was $300 to fix the case on my mother's 2009 MacBook Pro when it got dented (by something inside a carrying case, no less).
 
omniatlas said:
(isn't the magnet suppose to come off?!!)
Click to expand...

Haha, yes it is. The newer magsafes (the aluminium ones) are no where near as safe as the old plastic ones. My MBP's have nearly gone flying of the table or couch 3 times so far due to that stupid new Magsafe.
 
omniatlas said:
Sigh. Laptop is only slightly over a year and have kept it in mint condition, until today. Now i'll have to live with that mistake until I sell it.


Do you think something like this would have saved it from a fall?

Image

Not really into putting plastic covers onto my laptop. Now I know; all my apple equipment need major protection!

Do you think the next macbook air will have a nvidia graphics card or will it all be an integrated solution from now on?
Click to expand...

I have this cover and like it a lot. I haven't dropped my Air, so I can't comment on how well it would protect.
 
omniatlas said:
Laptop operates fine. Anyone know how much the dent depreciates the laptop?
Click to expand...
I can't answer with a dollar amount, but clearly having a dent will raise a flag to a potential buyer about the laptop and such the price will have to be reduced sufficiently to offset that risk.

I'd say try to look on Craigslist or ebay to see if you can find any less then perfect MBAs and see what the asking price is.
 
It will still sell very well with the dent. I see them on ebay selling for good money when the machine wont even turn on. My laptop sells for more on ebay than what paid for it from the refurbished depot from apple.
 
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