Help! MBP Broken- Screen constantly blacking out

[stefmacbook]

Hi everyone,

I am in need of some advice about my broken MBP. It is a mid-2009 MPB 5.5, I bought it new in January 2010.

Yesterday, I started it up from sleep and after a few seconds the screen went black, and then to sleep. The only way I could get it to respond again was by rebooting. But again, after logging in and OS starting up (fully with all the icons, dock etc) it goes black, goes to sleep again. Then I have to reboot and the repeat happens.

In November 2010, when still under warranty, I brought my MBP to the apple store to fix some dead pixels and a weird shape in the screen. According to the record, they ended up replacing both the full screen (661-5232) and the logic board. According to the Apple people I talked to today, that repair had a warranty of 90 days.

It's obviously not under warranty anymore, and I don't have AppleCare, but I find it a bit pathetic that I may have to pay between 300 and 800 euros to repair a year and a half old MBP. I'm very careful with it, I have all the sleeves and bags, I'v never spilled anything on it. I'v never even scratched or dented it.

I would really appreciate some advice. What might the problem be? How can I get some cooperation from Apple qua cost? I'm a student, I have to finish my thesis before September. I can't afford to pay a huge amount for a fix (I had kind of hoped to avoid computer issues by buying a sturdy MBP), nor can I afford not to have it. Thanks!!

 

[Queen of Spades]

I though the European warranty laws were different?

You don't have a ton of options when it's out of the one year warranty and you opt not to buy Apple Care. Honestly, the people who should always buy Apple Care are the people who can't afford to pay for repairs should something occur to their computer. A hard lesson for next time.

I would take it into the Apple store and let them diagnose it. It may not be as much money as you're thinking. And if you at least know what exactly is wrong with it, you can map out some options - be it fixing through Apple, third party repairs, or attempting it yourself.

Good luck.

 

[stefmacbook]

Queen of Spades- Yah I have read some things about consumer rights regarding warranty on laptops in Europe (I'm in Holland) as well. I will have to look into that.

But indeed it would have been great if I had AppleCare, but I figured that an expensive laptop would't break this badly on its own after just a year and a half. But yes, hard lesson learned. However, I hope that this consumer law will help; I think what it is that as a consumer you have the right to expect certain things to have a lifespan of X years, and if the product stops working, it is the responsibility of the seller to repair/replace it. I wonder if Apple holds to that...

My big worry is that the logic board is the culprit... Which is super expensive and apple gave me this logic board new in November, so it is, in fact, only 7 months old!

But I will wait and see. It is getting checked out at the Apple store now.
Thanks for your help!