Rev. A. MBP - Worth repairing/upgrading?

[thefunkymunky]

Hello,

I have a Rev. A. 15-inch MBP 2.16GHz which I use daily but has got a few problems of late.

First off the SuperDrive has stopped working. Doesn't read/write to any media at all.

Second, the display panel has some clusters of dead pixels forming on the right hand side.

Third, I spilt water on the keyboard and managed to fry the backlight. Well I say water - it was beer.

And fourth, I'm thinking about upgrading the hard drive as it only contains a 100GB model.

Anyway, I'm wondering is it worth reparing/upgrading or shall I just save some cash and buy a shiny new unibody. I don't have AppleCare so I'm thinking about doing the work myself. I have taken these machines apart before so I don't mind giving it a crack.

Now, I can find nearly all the parts on ebay. SuperDrive and keyboard I can get for a couple of quid. I've seen a complete display panel with all casing and cables intact just come on ebay from the same seller as the keyboard and SuperDrive. I've contacted him and he's just selling the parts off as he doesn't need them anymore.

The hard drive I'm just going to buy a new one from Ebuyer UK.

If I can get the all the parts for a reasonable price surely it would be worth it rather than forking out £1400 smackers on a new unibody and trying to sell this one on ebay with all the problems for not much cash.

What you think?

 

[cherry su]

You won't get much from selling it because
a) it has the burning core duo chips
b) it's not perfect
c) it's old.

(I have the same model MBP, but only 2GHz)

If you don't want to get a new computer, then here are the upgrades you can do:
a) upgrade the screen to a 1920x1200 model
b) upgrade the hard drive
c) replace the top case so you can fix your keyboard backlight

 

[Quu]

Me personally I'd buy a new Machine. I also have a Rev A MacBook Pro (17" Model) and I'm about to buy a new Unibody one. Mines kinda falling apart as-well, my screen has some scuff marks in the left, the shift key on the right side of the keyboard keeps popping off, the battery doesn't give me much time anymore, the charger is kinda borked, the case itself has a lot of dents and scratches.

I've considered repairing some of the stuff but it's a 3 year old machine nearly (I got it in August 06) so I'm just going to get a new one, the 2GB RAM limit and the slow CPU are also reasons why I'm going to get a new one. I upgraded the 802.11g to 802.11n and already did a Hard Disk upgrade to 320GB last year but if I hadn't of done those (only £80 upgrade for both!) I would be putting those on the list of reasons to upgrade also (And I would guess you've not done those upgrades so there is another reason for you)

At the end of the day these are expensive machines and if you don't feel you need a new on and your happy with the performance of your current model then do some repairs. But set yourself a budget because you may spend £100 here £100 there and before you know it you've paid 1/4th the price of a new model but you've still got that RAM limit and the slow 32-bit CPU.

 

[mikes70mustang]

Get a SSD with all those upgrades and itll feel like a new computer.

 

[thefunkymunky]

Thanks for the replies.

I personally don't find the machine slow. I would if I tried the new ones but I haven't so I'm not too bothered about the speed.

1920x1200 in 15-inches would do my eyes in and I don't need to replace the whole top case just to replace the keyboard - though that would be easier as the keyboard is one of the hardest things to remove.

I doubt I would go down the SSD route. Way too expensive and not enough space right now.

I don't need to upgrade the Airport card as I only connect to a 'G' router anyway so it would be a waste.

I've been looking and I reckon I can get all those bits for around £150 - £200 if I shop around. Better than trying to scrape together £1400 for a new unibody don't you think?