powerbook repair - how much?

[gernb]

right, so aluminum is a cool looking material to build laptops out of, but not terribly durable.

had my 12" powerbook in its case in the back seat of my car. got out, opened the door to grab my laptop and it had fallen between the door and the side of the back seat...couldn't catch it in time and it landed on the corner of the case. the front left corner is slightly bent...looks like someone took a hammer and gave it a slight whack. not horrendous...just out of square.

i was at the apple store last night and asked a seller what he thought a ball park cost might be to fix it...he said at least $1,000. The machine cost $1,500. What the $%&*#@!

This is cosmetic damage only. It just needs a new casing on the bottom.

anyone have a similar experience and know what a repair might cost?

 

[StarbucksSam]

I know a good Apple certified repair place in Pennsylvania near where I live. If you want, I can refer you to them. I'm not sure if they do out of state repairs, but they charge somewhere around $80/hr and this shouldn't take more than an hour to fix.

 

[Mark James]

You'd be surprised by how little Apple charge for replacement cases for current PowerBooks and iBooks.

My company would carry out a 12" bottom case replacement for £220-250 (depending upon exact model). I doubt it would cost you more than $300.

 

[Sun Baked]

Look at places like pbparts.com

12 inch Aluminum DVI Bottom Case $229.00
PowerBook 12-inch G4 Bottom Case $229.00
PowerBook 12-inch DVI G4 Top Case/Palm Rest $219.00
PowerBook 12-inch G4 Top Case/Palm Rest $219.00

Nothings cheap, and there's no reason for them to keep the parts cheap when they want to make a profit on the parts and sell you a new machine when you find it's too expensive to fix the old one.

 

[gernb]

thanks for the suggestions. i'll look into the site mentioned and check with one of the apple VARs here in Detroit.

sounds like the salesman at the apple store was misinformed.