OneToOne and other questions I didn't think of at the Apple Store

[KiKiBloom]

Soooo, I never EVER keep liquid by my MB and one day while walking past it a cup of water slipped out of my hands and dropped right on it! So much for being careful After considering my options I just decided to purchase a MBP which I did on this past Friday. Saturday I dropped it off to do a data transfer via OneToOne, which was the only way I could be able to get the data off.
While there I asked the Genius to explain to me exactly how they would be getting the data off, just out of curiosity. He gave me a frosty look and told me it would be 24-72hrs for the data transfer to be completed.
Here's my question,
He was a very nice guy and all, he even offered to run a free diagnostic (usually $39.00) on the MB just to make sure it wasn't the logic board that was fried. However, I felt like he didn't want to waste time explaining the process to me because he felt it might be "lost" on someone like me. Granted I'm not tech savvy but I do know enough that explaining the process wouldn't have me popping Advil after he explained it to me.
Can someone please explain the process? Is it done with an external drive? and why would it take so long? I don't have a lot on my MB to begin with, just a season of a TV show, 819 songs (yes I know the exact count), papers that I've written for my college courses and some photos I've stored for my blogs.

Second question.
Do you think it would be worth it to even repair the MB depending on what I'm quoted? I would really like to be able to give it to my younger sister. She's dying for a Mac, and let's be honest I'm not too keen on spending $1200 + on any computer for a 14 yr old especially when I know it's just going to be used for facebook. However, If I were to resell it I would probably only get $450 max for it, and sentimentally speaking I'm just no ready to part with it yet.
What do you all think? In the meantime I'll just be sitting here, twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to call me to pick up my Pro!
PS I didn't know that pages and numbers no longer came loaded! Also my friend is saying that she is having problems running Microsoft office on Lion, she didn't tell me what "problems" (I hate when people do that). I haven't experienced these problems myself for obvious reasons, but it did make me want to take a closer look at iWorks. What do you guys suggest, should I stick with MS home edition or should I buy iworks?

Thanks for your suggestions in advance and sorry for the long post.

PS yes I know I should have asked the ladder questions at the store, but I forgot and honestly, I probably will forget to ask again when I go back in there.

 

[Shrink]

PS yes I know I should have asked the ladder questions at the store, but I forgot and honestly, I probably will forget to ask again when I go back in there.

Suggestion form an old man who doesn't trust his memory: write down your questions before you go to the store.

Yes, write - you know, paper... pen... all that old fashioned s***.

 

[KiKiBloom]

Suggestion form an old man who doesn't trust his memory: write down your questions before you go to the store.

Yes, write - you know, paper... pen... all that old fashioned s***.

Yes, but you have to REMEMBER to write it all down first. I wrote it all in my little black note book you know the kind they used to sell at boarders? Then I forgot to bring it.

 

[Shrink]

Yes, but you have to REMEMBER to write it all down first. I wrote it all in my little black note book you know the kind they used to sell at boarders? Then I forgot to bring it.

Sorry, kid. Sounds like you're in worse shape than I am.

You could always tie the notebook around your neck with a string. Of course, that would make showering a little messy.

 

[Quad5Ny]

Most likely they will take the hard drive out and put it in a working Mac or put the drive in a external enclosure.

Apple has great support, but they don't always hire the most knowledgeable people. There is a chance he did not know how the data was going to be copied off.

Once the drive is in or connected to a working computer, there is a bunch of ways to copy the data over: CCC/SuperDuper, Time Machine, Migration Assistant, Manual file copy, Disk Utility Restore, ect.

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Have them do the diagnostics on your old MacBook, it might not be that expensive to fix.

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Office 2008/2011 works just fine on Lion (provided you install the latest patches).

As for the iWork suite, you can purchase Pages/Numbers/Keynote individually ($19.99 each) on the Mac App Store.

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