So are all MBP owners with the 8600m GT cards screwed?

[Thilomas]

The 15" MBP I got in August 2008 just died on me. Can only assume it's the gfx that copped it,was completely without warning though. Apple's trouble shooting didn't solve it. Same issues as above poster,cept I don't even get a boot chime =/

I just hope I can get it fixed,there're no Apple stores in this country, so I just have to hope one of the resellers can do it...

 

[8CoreWhore]

For those of you will dead MBP's - cut your losses. Sell parts on ebay - you can get a good amount.. then, buy another laptop for $600 or so and Hackintosh it.

 

[Cool Runnings]

For those of you will dead MBP's - cut your losses. Sell parts on ebay - you can get a good amount.. then, buy another laptop for $600 or so and Hackintosh it.

Who would anyone want to do that?

I would never HT anything, I want the apple experience with integrated software and hardware, and the looks and feels of the sturdy computer.

 

[MikhailT]

For those of you will dead MBP's - cut your losses. Sell parts on ebay - you can get a good amount.. then, buy another laptop for $600 or so and Hackintosh it.

Why, can just get Apple to repair it for free and sell the refurb unit instead for more cost and use it to fund for a brand new MBP instead.

The problem is, I rather still live with 6-12 months out of this ~3000$ unit than some hackintosh 600$ laptop. I'm happy with it, just some weeks gone without it for the repair.

 

[kdum8]

Who would anyone want to do that?

I would never HT anything, I want the apple experience with integrated software and hardware, and the looks and feels of the sturdy computer.

Why, can just get Apple to repair it for free and sell the refurb unit instead for more cost and use it to fund for a brand new MBP instead.

The problem is, I rather still live with 6-12 months out of this ~3000$ unit than some hackintosh 600$ laptop. I'm happy with it, just some weeks gone without it for the repair.

Does anyone have a rough idea of how much a 2 year old MBP would fetch in $$ on ebay or refurb? Specs would be 2.5 GHZ, 250 GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 512 VRAM with one year apple care remaining. It is the dreaded 8600GT M chip and I am trying to ascertain how much I would lose if I sold it and traded up.

What are we talking here?

 

[MikhailT]

Does anyone have a rough idea of how much a 2 year old MBP would fetch in $$ on ebay or refurb? Specs would be 2.5 GHZ, 250 GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 512 VRAM with one year apple care remaining. It is the dreaded 8600GT M chip and I am trying to ascertain how much I would lose if I sold it and traded up.

What are we talking here?

What size and what resolution?

It could be anywhere from 800-1100$ for 15" and 1000-1400 for 17", an extra 50$ for high resolution model.

 

[kdum8]

What size and what resolution?

It could be anywhere from 800-1100$ for 15" and 1000-1400 for 17", an extra 50$ for high resolution model.

What size and what resolution?

It could be anywhere from 800-1100$ for 15" and 1000-1400 for 17", an extra 50$ for high resolution model.

15" , 1440 x 900 display. Thanks for the rough idea. It gives me a guide as to what I would lose by selling this machine 3/4 years ahead of what I would have wanted to. I know that Mac's with the Nvidia problem may be a special case, but for my first mac I have had an awful lot of issues.

Logicboard failure (x1), Superdrive malfunction (x2), battery failure (x1). It doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. Still I wont be switching back because of the OS. Would be nice to have some hardware that actually worked though...

The build quality on the pre-unibody MBP is rather low from what I would expect of apple. I have no experience of them but, are the unibody MBPs a lot better?

 

[MikhailT]

15" , 1440 x 900 display. Thanks for the rough idea. It gives me a guide as to what I would lose by selling this machine 3/4 years ahead of what I would have wanted to. I know that Mac's with the Nvidia problem may be a special case, but for my first mac I have had an awful lot of issues.

Logicboard failure (x1), Superdrive malfunction (x2), battery failure (x1). It doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. Still I wont be switching back because of the OS. Would be nice to have some hardware that actually worked though...

The build quality on the pre-unibody MBP is rather low from what I would expect of apple. I have no experience of them but, are the unibody MBPs a lot better?

Every generation has its own build issues. The last to current unibodies seem to be much better, the GPU failure are almost slim compared to 8600gt. I am talking about the 9400/9600 cards. It's too early to say about the 320/330, although they are good for the source engine games right now.

 

[kdum8]

Every generation has its own build issues. The last to current unibodies seem to be much better, the GPU failure are almost slim compared to 8600gt. I am talking about the 9400/9600 cards. It's too early to say about the 320/330, although they are good for the steam games right now.

What are steam games? You mean games that take up a lot of processor power?

Any idea where the best place to sell a MBP is second-hand? Ebay?

 

[pandabearjohnso]

Does anyone have a rough idea of how much a 2 year old MBP would fetch in $$ on ebay or refurb? Specs would be 2.5 GHZ, 250 GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 512 VRAM with one year apple care remaining.

Any idea where the best place to sell a MBP is second-hand? Ebay?

I paid $910 (including shipping) for the very model you describe on eBay about two months ago. Believe it or not I found this forum just minutes after I had already placed the winning bid!

I had been watching prices for about six weeks and the $800 - $1100 range is spot on. There are always about a dozen 15" MBPs at any time on eBay. Some people on eBay are willing to pay quite a premium if high end software (CS4) is left on the machine.

Craig's List is popular, but I'd think you have a wider audience with eBay.

 

[MikhailT]

What are steam games? You mean games that take up a lot of processor power?

Any idea where the best place to sell a MBP is second-hand? Ebay?

I meant Valve's Source games like HL2/Portal/TF2. Steam is the store they use.

Ebay, MacRumors's MarketPlace, Craigslist.

 

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

You know I havnt heard any explicit reports of the 17 inch penryn (the one that was NOT updated to unibody in late 2008) failing. The thermal envelop of those machines are actually different from the 15 inchers because of the larger size .

I have a late '08 17", and it's been running like a jewel, especially with the very recent SSD upgrade that I did to it. It's not the fastest anymore, (getting an 17" i7 in the future), but no failures of any sort so far. It just runs like a tank. I am very cautious about making sure that the computer is cycled for heat, I give it an ample cooldown time after gaming, or other heavy work.

 

[creative78]

Got my laptop back. Working great, might just be my eyes playing tricks on me after using an old pc laptop for a few days, but the video output on the screen seems much better than before.

(One slight nit-pick, my laptop was very clean when I sent it in, was sent back with dirty finger prints all over it).

Spoke too soon Looks like I'm going to have to send my computer in for another replacement. Started getting the symptoms I had last time. Plus I'm getting a logic board related error when running the Apple hardware test program from my original macbook pro disc. Round 2

 

[kdum8]

Spoke too soon Looks like I'm going to have to send my computer in for another replacement. Started getting the symptoms I had last time. Plus I'm getting a logic board related error when running the Apple hardware test program from my original macbook pro disc. Round 2

Round 2 indeed. My computer has had 4 different problems so far, although only one motherboard replacement. I am seriously considering selling it and buying a 13" MBP and just be done with this one...

 

[peapody]

Round 2 indeed. My computer has had 4 different problems so far, although only one motherboard replacement. I am seriously considering selling it and buying a 13" MBP and just be done with this one...

You probably will be much happier with that new MBP.

 

[mscice]

FEB 2008 2.4ghz model MBP still running... approx 18hours a day run time...

I wonder if all Feb Models are effected.

 

[kdum8]

You probably will be much happier with that new MBP.

I hope so. I have had a play with one and the unibody construction is much nicer. I am shrinking down in screen size from my 15" but I'll just have to get used to that. I was planning to keep the current mac for a lot longer but haven't had a lot of luck with it sadly...

FEB 2008 2.4ghz model MBP still running... approx 18hours a day run time...

I wonder if all Feb Models are effected.

I don't think it has anything to do with the month it was made. All the 8600M GT chips are bad supposedly.

How do you know your mac is a Feb version? Is that when you bought it or did you actually check when it was manufactured?

[See http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php for that information if you don't know].

 

[mscice]

I hope so. I have had a play with one and the unibody construction is much nicer. I am shrinking down in screen size from my 15" but I'll just have to get used to that. I was planning to keep the current mac for a lot longer but haven't had a lot of luck with it sadly...



I don't think it has anything to do with the month it was made. All the 8600M GT chips are bad supposedly.

How do you know your mac is a Feb version? Is that when you bought it or did you actually check when it was manufactured?

[See http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php for that information if you don't know].

Its when Penryn was released, I remember waiting for it... I believe it was released in FEB 2008?

 

[wesrk]

Its when Penryn was released, I remember waiting for it... I believe it was released in FEB 2008?

Yes, late February of 2008. I bought mine the day after they were ugraded. You were talking about the update or purchase date. They were made weeks before.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Guys keep rackin them up. As soon as you get a few of these and maybe a screen swap or something then you can start asking for a replacement.

 

[mscice]

Guys keep rackin them up. As soon as you get a few of these and maybe a screen swap or something then you can start asking for a replacement.

well for one, if nothing goes bad till Feb 2011 which is 3 years what Apple will replace in this time frame.. anything over 3 years old even if its the logic board video issue they wont replace it... which sucks..

also keep in mind that you need "i think" 3 service calls replacements for you to be eligible for a new macbook pro.

 

[Guitar geek]

::sigh::

Sent it in for the 3rd time. previous two 8600s failed last year.

This time, the trackpad and keyboard weren't working along with the usual signs of the GPU failure such as artifacting and whatnot. Unfortunately for some reason, they still wanted me to pay $300 for the flat fee repair (I guess for the top case.)

However, I just got a call from the repair facility and supposedly my lcd screen needs repair too which isn't covered so they quoted me $1240...strangely enough, my screen hasn't really given me any trouble at all, and show no signs of damage. The Genius Bar didn't make any note of screen problems at all either when I brought it in to be shipped out, yet the repair people insisted there was.

I told them to send that thing back because no way in hell am I paying over a grand to fix a laptop that's had so many previous problems, and is continuing to have issues.

I was actually told to send in my laptop by Executive Customer Relations, but look how that turned out...I have no idea what to do right now, and I really need my laptop to be working. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[panzer06]

::sigh::
snip...

I was actually told to send in my laptop by Executive Customer Relations, but look how that turned out...I have no idea what to do right now, and I really need my laptop to be working. Anyone have any suggestions?

So politely buy firmly call Executive Relations back and express in a clear concise manner how truly unacceptable the entire 8600m situation is. With multiple repairs and so much time without your system you need a better response than"pay us $1200+". If it truly is the third GPU failure, they need to replace the system.

Personally I sold that 2.2 SR timebomb I had a long time ago. If they ultimately just fix it; sell it the minute you get it back and buy something more reliable.

Cheers,

 

[colonelsanders]

::sigh::

Sent it in for the 3rd time. previous two 8600s failed last year.

This time, the trackpad and keyboard weren't working along with the usual signs of the GPU failure such as artifacting and whatnot. Unfortunately for some reason, they still wanted me to pay $300 for the flat fee repair (I guess for the top case.)

However, I just got a call from the repair facility and supposedly my lcd screen needs repair too which isn't covered so they quoted me $1240...strangely enough, my screen hasn't really given me any trouble at all, and show no signs of damage. The Genius Bar didn't make any note of screen problems at all either when I brought it in to be shipped out, yet the repair people insisted there was.

I told them to send that thing back because no way in hell am I paying over a grand to fix a laptop that's had so many previous problems, and is continuing to have issues.

I was actually told to send in my laptop by Executive Customer Relations, but look how that turned out...I have no idea what to do right now, and I really need my laptop to be working. Anyone have any suggestions?

Couple quick questions and suggestions.

I read through your previous posts and didn't see anything about the top case. Can you give a little more detail about what you meant by the top case? Did you dent or bend the screen casing? Do you know how you did it? More importantly, when did you bend it in relation to the last time your computer was sent to apple?

Do you run an external display when using your Mac? Did you experience artifacts on the external display as well? Basically can you isolate the problem and show the apple store that it has nothing to do with the LCD? If so then i would take a screen shot or cell pic of the issue and take it back to the Apple Store with the picture printed out. Make a list of the documented repairs with the picture and go in to speak to the Apple Store manager. At this point I would explain that your confidence in this unit is gone and you have spent too much time on repairs already. I would respectfully request that they replace the entire unit. Show him your list and the picture and see how he responds. There is nothing wrong with asking.

Just my two cents.

 

[colonelsanders]

2.2 SR timebomb

That is the best description of the 2.2 SR MBP 8600 EVER!

My 8600 (artifact grenade) was replaced twice before they gave me a new (at the time) early 2008 unibody. I've been sporting clean artifact free graphics ever since. My old 2.2 SR MBP 8600 graphics card died in the middle of a trade show presentation. Nothing like an artifact covered video followed by the entire screen in front of 75 people.

Though my unibody has had its share of problems. After a month of use they replaced the right speaker, the superdrive, and a fan. lol but that's nothing compared to my previous experience.

In my opinion people dealing with multi 8600 repairs should be looking up their local lemon laws and proceeding accordingly.