Gave myself a scare.

[TheRockinDonkey]

I was putting my macbook (13" white) away tonight. I keep both of my laptops on the shelf in my closet (yes, in their cases). A minute or so after I put it up, I heard a "thunk!" I looked over and the laptop bag was on the floor. I had the macbook in a protective sleeve inside the laptop case because it didn't quite fit snugly in the case.

I opened up the case expecting the worst, and all I could see was a dark spot on the corner of the backside of the screen (something on the bag had smudged it -- i was able to rub it off). I also notice a slight mark on the palmrest, barely noticable. I booted it up and everything seems to be in working order. Are these things really that durable? Or have I just totally hosed my new PC?

I think I might have gotten lucky. From now on I'll be taking special care to make sure the thing is stable when it's put away. I'm still not quite sure how it happened.

Well, ok, I am. Gravity.

 

[snessiram]

Off-course its always a little bit about luck, but I think that if you had an aluminium macbook, chances are high that it would have been dented...

 

[J&JPolangin]

...time to go get apple care for those just in-case moments...and I hope the polybooks will be around for a long time as the uni-MB would have dented and then apple would have said "sorry, you dropped it"....

 

[Patriks7]

...time to go get apple care for those just in-case moments...

AppleCare doesn't cover accidental damage, so that would not help him at all...
To the OP, if it was in a case and sleeve (like I understand from your post) then all should be OK.

 

[cdcastillo]

If there are no visible marks on the outside, and the machine seems to be working fine, I think you shall be ok. These machines are great and (within normal limits) very durable.

I once got my G4 PB dropped from about 1.5 mts high, it just god a slightly dented case, but it kept working fine till the day it was stolen from me.

 

[TheRockinDonkey]

If there are no visible marks on the outside, and the machine seems to be working fine, I think you shall be ok. These machines are great and (within normal limits) very durable.

I once got my G4 PB dropped from about 1.5 mts high, it just god a slightly dented case, but it kept working fine till the day it was stolen from me.

I appear to have lucked out. The battery compartment is a hair out of alignment, but it doesn't appear to have affected the battery contacts at all and the notebook seems to work fine either using Tesla (AC) or battery Power.

I expect some wear over the years, but I'm still pretty mad at myself for having let it happen. I have changed the way I'm placing it on the shelf, so now there's no way it could happen again. Scared the crap outta me though.

I really am impressed with these machines. I expect that next year I will be getting one of the iMacs. For the most part I really like the OS. Very elegant compared to Windows.

 

[shady825]

I'm still pretty mad at myself for having let it happen. I have changed the way I'm placing it on the shelf, so now there's no way it could happen again. Scared the crap outta me though.

Yea Im always scared something is gonna happen to mine to. I usually just take an extra second or two to make sure its in a safe place. I dont have the best of luck so I try to prevent as much as I can when I can.

 

[yossim]

Ya, with something so expensive...

 

[aznguyen316]

yikes, glad it's okay.

 

[TheRockinDonkey]

yikes, glad it's okay.

It's kind of funny, actually. I've been using laptops for around 10 years now, and this is the first mishap I've had. I don't know if my Toshiba would have fared as well as the macbook did. I'm pretty sure the compaq I used to use would have, though. That thing was a tank.

 

[California]

You'd be surprised how the well designed Apple hardware holds up in laptop falls.

I dropped a 12" Powerbook TWICE from about four feet, in its sleeve, but it worked fine and no dents, either.

 

[falterego]

I've also been impressed with the durability of Mac hardware. I was bringing my Mac Mini out to my car and it fell out of my hand, falling about 4 feet onto the concrete below. It bounced a couple times and came to rest upside down. Sure enough, it booted up just fine later that night, and the case really didn't show any signs of damage.

Similar issue with a 30GB iPod. Fell about 6 feet from a bookcase and landed on a tile floor. Everything looked fine and it's still working over a year later.

I've been careful not to drop my Macbook, but I have accidentally bashed it into a table or chair when moving it and there's nothing more than normal wear and tear on the machine.