Dying RevA with Runcore SSD

[ideonode]

So, what to do with a dying RevA?

We have a RevA at home (1.6, originally with 80GB HD, but replaced with 128GB Runcore SSD). It's more or less died, after many travels (Guatemala, Philippines, New Zealand, Cuba, lots of Europe - my partner is a travel writer and the MacBook Air is a revolution for her), and has been replaced with a 2011 Macbook Air (maxxed out)

But what to do with the RevA? The hinge has gone, the hard drive doesn't seem responsive (possibly dead and running in single-user mode doesn't provide hope), there are travel dents in the main frame. Should I kiss it goodbye? Is the Runcore even worth anything these days? I'd love to be able to do something with it, given the £1000+ cost when originally bought, but the price of early adopterhood seems to be a machine that has limited shelf life.

Anyway, just curious to know what people who had RevA machines did with them...

Cheers,
ideonode

 

[h00ligan]

Media center!

 

[AdrianK]

If the run core is dead, put the 80GB HDD back in. You could attach an external hard drive and use it as a fileserver for your home (just keep it in a cupboard somewhere).

 

[KPOM]

DigiLloyd sells a utility that can recondition an old SSD and restore some of the speed. I was going to purchase it and recondition my Rev B last year, but then the Rev D came out so I didn't bother. However, for $40 it might be worth it.

http://diglloydtools.com/disktester.html

Did you attempt to get your hinge covered by Apple? There were known problems with the earlier design, particularly on the Rev A. After their usual pattern of denial Apple finally started fixing them. It's also worth a shot. I wouldn't put Lion on the Rev A, as the heat management wasn't up to snuff back then, and the Merom Core 2 Duo likely couldn't handle it. But you should be OK with Snow Leopard for a while yet if you can fix the hinge and recondition the SSD.