Fix my macbook myself or Pay out & leave it 2 the experts

[metallicapc]

my sister gave my her out of warranty macbook, just over two years old, and with it a host of problems

1. the battery wont charge, see this is a problem many have, ive reset the PRAM and NVRAM without success so id say its the battery itself

2. At some point a headphone jack was brocken while in the mac and bent the socket. hence the mac thinks theres headphones in it and bypasses the speakers which work cos they still make the "awwwww" sound upon startup which gets really aggravating after a while
How serious is this?? BIG FIX/small fix

3. Windows? on a mac? well i suppose its a good idea but if your rapidly running out of storage and you dont use it.... bootcamps not on it so what can i do?

can i fix these things myself if have have the right parts or am i better off leaving it to a pro... or option 3. will i end up spending an amount which would be better put towards a new macbook

Siblings have an uncanny ability to make you feel very happy yet VERY FRUSTRATED at the same time...

ANY AND ALL ADVISE WOULD BE APPRECIATED BEYOND MEASURE!!!!

 

[flir67]

the headphone port seems like the hardest problem.

check out ifixit.com for repair parts. I'm not sure if the head phone port is soldered on to the logic board or not. disassembly instructions on that site too.

the battery just needs to be replaced, as it sounds like.

good luck

 

[TommyLee]

2.

The headphone jack CAN be a big or small fix.
I have personally repaired a macbook jack with a magnifying glass and some Tweezerman precision tweezers, by bending in the little piece of thin metal that bridges the connection.

BUT it could require 1) ordering a new jack and soldering it on OR ordering a new logic board (and that's the most expensive part on the MacBook.) These two options are both difficult and the soldering is risky. what I do is melt the solder on the tip of the iron and transfer it to the connection using a needle and for the back connections, I've successfully used super glue.

hope that helps.

 

[windowpain]

As for number 3, you could just buy a new hard drive. The prices have dropped a lot in the two years since you got the macbook. And you can get one far bigger than the 80(?)GB one that came with it.]

Replacing it is (almost!) idiot proof.

 

[metallicapc]

Nice one!

Thanks a million guys, the disassembly instructions on ifixit will come in handy later but couldnt find replacement jacks, just the logic boards which i hope to god doesnt need replacing, ill take it back to where she bought it too find out since its a bit over my head.
As for the battery, found a replacement battery at

http://store.fastmac.com/product_in...21CFC&cPath=10_4&products_id=150&currency=EUR

which, from what ive heard, has is a fair bit better, and cheaper, than the original.
I think ill just replace the HD, cheers windowpain, didnt think theyd gone down that much. Found a nice one at

http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=454

which i think should do.
Do ye think ill be alright with the 5400rpm or should i go for the 7200rpm?

 

[windowpain]

When I said they had dropped in price..I forgot how expensive the uk is!
Here is the same drive in japan for ¥9000, about ukp47.

If you look around you might find it cheaper than the 88 pound one..

Personally I would get that exact model. The 320GB Western Digital.
I have the 250GB one at the moment, and am giving some thought to upgrading to the bigger one as its so cheap here. (sorry )

Its very quiet, much more so than the apple one that came with my macbook.

There are a few threads on the difference in speed between the 7200rpm and the 5400... But imo I would get the bigger cheaper 5400 one. The difference in speed will probably be slim to none.

 

[windowpain]

Just found it for 57pounds (+7pounds postage.)

Here

 

[metallicapc]

That, my friend, is just unfair Not much i can do about it though so ill just have to spend twice as much for the same thing
To make things worse, im in ireland so itll probably end up costing me even more!!!

 

[GoCubsGo]

The battery not charging is an issue with your logic board (most likely). The logic board replacement by Apple is said to be $1200.00 USD. Can't say what they charge in Ireland.

 

[nufanec]

The battery not charging is an issue with your logic board (most likely). The logic board replacement by Apple is said to be $1200.00 USD. Can't say what they charge in Ireland.

The battery is over 2 years old. Its most likely the battery. They don't last forever. Even if it weren't, its just as likely to be the battery connector as the MLB.

 

[metallicapc]

Sorry windowpain, sumhow missed your second comment, cheers for finding that on amazon, that will save me a bit anyway.
Just got my hands on a friends macbook and put its battery in mine. It started charging fine so thats that figured out.