MBP with a broken display and now a seltzer-spritzed keyboard.

[bagelche]

The weary saga of an unhappy Macbook Pro.

I helped my mom buy a 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa MBP from a fellow I know who was upgrading. Decent shape, but apple care was expired: $500. All was good until she dropped it and cracked the display. She brought it with her to visit me and see about my replacing the screen. My daughter went in to say goodnight to her the other night and knocked a can of seltzer on it! Now the keyboard is not working.

The computer boots up fine, runs applications fine, works with an external monitor and the trackpad works, but only a few keys work and those that do repeat.

so...

the screen:
replacing screen seems to be $200-250 in parts plus my labor (ifixit tutorial looks daunting! I'll replace a HD any old day, but this makes me a bit apprehensive) or $350 labor included from techrestore.com.

the keyboard:
A replacement keyboard from ifixit is $87.

Is there a way to tell if it's just the keyboard or a problem on the logic board other than taking mine apart and swapping out parts (I have the same model)?

Is the screen replacement that difficult? I'm reasonably capable, but it looks daunting.

Putting $3-450 into the computer seems to be still worth it since she can't afford a new computer (not even this really) and other than the replaceable broken parts it's still a solid machine.

 

[bagelche]

Egads! I'm thinking I should only have computer problems when apple doesn't intro new hardware and when the iphone 4 is cured.

 

[mgartner0622]

Egads! I'm thinking I should only have computer problems when apple doesn't intro new hardware and when the iphone 4 is cured.

Have you tried reseating the keyboard? DO any of the keys work at all?

And i know this sounds very crazy, but, dissasemble the keyboard, and rinse it with some distilled water, blow it dry with some compressed air, and let it sit at least 36 hours in a well ventilated place as a last resort. That should rinse off any of the ingredients fom the seltzer. Plus, testing the keyboard is worth $0.80 for the distilled water if it works right? It's certainly better than a new KB IMO.
Also, look on ebay, you might be able to find one for around 30-40. Use the part number for ifixit, or anywhere else if you have it.

 

[bagelche]

Have you tried reseating the keyboard? DO any of the keys work at all?

And i know this sounds very crazy, but, dissasemble the keyboard, and rinse it with some distilled water, blow it dry with some compressed air, and let it sit at least 36 hours in a well ventilated place as a last resort. That should rinse off any of the ingredients fom the seltzer. Plus, testing the keyboard is worth $0.80 for the distilled water if it works right? It's certainly better than a new KB IMO.
Also, look on ebay, you might be able to find one for around 30-40. Use the part number for ifixit, or anywhere else if you have it.

Thanks for the reply. That does seem reasonable. I'll have to pick up some distilled water and give that a go. Most keys don't work. The "a" and "r" keys repeat, others work sometimes but once you get a repeating key, well...

I kind of assumed that seltzer wouldn't leave much residue, but I'll play around more. It's almost tempting to tell my mom to use this as a desktop machine w/ a monitor (w/o replacing the screen) and invest the money in a base iPad for her on the go needs (which truthfully are most of them since she only has dial up at home).

 

[millertime021]

I'd go external monitor and wired/wireless keyboard.

Seems cheaper than trying to fix it all.

 

[bagelche]

I'd go external monitor and wired/wireless keyboard.

Seems cheaper than trying to fix it all.

It certainly is, but much of her interneting is done away from home due to dial up at her house. She goes to a coffee shop for the email/facebook/news/etc parts of her day. can't see her hauling those along too. It's either a) fix this one; b) buy a new Windows laptop for the same price (heavy/junky) or c) do what you suggest and then have a base ipad for the internetting. Haven't sold her on that and she hates using my iphone.