Think my MacBooks going...?

[Krafty]

Me and this thing have been chugging along for over 2 years now. It's a first generation 2Ghz Core Duo. My dad got Apple care but I think it ended since last year when I took it it said like 60 something days were left. A few things I notice:

Battery dying at 80%:I know this is due to the battery life being gone, but when I used my friends charger on his MBP, it started at 12%, then when I plugged mines in, it started at 85%.

Screen flickering & blacking out: This was actually due to a recent accident, but the screen came back to life. Now it flickers even worse and is starting to black out.

Not shutting down or starting up: This is happening a lot more often now, with the adapter in. It just wont start up, and I have to wait a few minutes or a few hours before it can work again. Almost all the time, it wont shut down, everything on the Finder disappears but the dock, and it just sits.

Lots of crashing: I've already re-installed leopard and small apps like Mail are crashing, Firefox a lot. The CPU goes bizzare with flash but I heard thats common, but now its doing with when just surfing FF, and the room isnt hot at all.

I use my MB a lot for school, graphic design, and photography, so I kinda can't let this thing go on me, given the fact that I can't afford one, nor can my parents as much as I hate to ask them for. I'm trying to see what I can sell to get one but doing that for a MBP (which is what I need, 15" screen would help a lot) seems far away.

Think I should hang on? I don't think its on its last string....yet....I hope...

 

[techound1]

For $350 you can make yourself a pretty nifty hackintosh netbook - not the speediest thing in the world, but it's better than dealing with all the loose connections it sounds like you have.

BTW, you can check on apple care's time remaining on apple.com - although with the drop I doubt Apple will look at it under warranty.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Sounds to me like you need a new battery. Everything you describe can be power-related. The laptop dying at 85% sounds like what my core duo MBP was doing when I had my battery replaced under AppleCare.

Try a new battery and see if things improve, if not return the battery.

 

[m.d.]

Me and this thing have been chugging along for over 2 years now. It's a first generation 2Ghz Core Duo. My dad got Apple care but I think it ended since last year when I took it it said like 60 something days were left.

Krafty, you should definitely recheck your warranty. If it's a MacBook, the AppleCare will still apply, seeing as how the 1st-gen MacBook didn't come out until May 2006; even if it's a MacBook Pro, you might still be covered (they were released in January 2006, so depending on when precisely you got it, you could be in luck).

HTH,
md

 

[Krafty]

Alright cool. I want to at least stick with this for as long as I can before requesting to shell out $1,990. Me and my dad have this deal where-as I keep myself in check with college, and he knows what I do, so if I need something he will help me get it, rather than struggle with what I have.

However, I find it better to use things until you absolutely have to replace it (sometimes not the best case-scenario). I'll definitely check up on Apple Care, cause sometimes I freak out when at 80% my screen goes black and doesnt turn back on, and just pray its just asleep.

Thanks for the replies.

For $350 you can make yourself a pretty nifty hackintosh netbook - not the speediest thing in the world, but it's better than dealing with all the loose connections it sounds like you have.

I understand that, but to be honest I just like sticking to the solid product. If I'm going to upgrade, I need something I can work best with, rather than just getting something and hoping I can cope with it. I've used the 15" MBP's, so I'm certain that's my next move sometime in the future.

The laptop dying at 85% sounds like what my core duo MBP was doing when I had my battery replaced under AppleCare.

Agreed, but I was wondering about the case with my friends charger, how it seemed to start from 12%, then when I switched to mines it started charging at 85% or so. I wasn't sure if it was the battery, or perhaps my MacBook is reading something wrong.

(they were released in January 2006, so depending on when precisely you got it, you could be in luck).

Alright, my dads a teacher so he got all that education discount goods on him, but he didn't fill me in on how long it was. Perhaps, the 60 days was something I misread, cause it was just a quick scan, I didn't really pay too much attention, but isn't it 3 years of coverage?

 

[Krafty]

Actually, now that I should have mentioned it, the punishment of the screen came for a water spill accident. Yeah, no coverage there.

 

[1969cj5]

sorry

I'm sorry but "mines" is not a word. Drives me nuts when people say that. Reminds me of "I gots mines"

 

[svndmvn]

Check here if it's still covered.
The screen problem is probably the inverter or something similar. The battery thing could be either the battery or the motherboard(chipset). Before making an appointment with a genius, make sure you make a backup of your data, I'm not sure they'll let you keep the HD before sending in your MB. I hope they fix it for you, which can also mean an exchange. Water usually fries the whole system/motherboard, it is possible they'll still help you since it kind of works. Fixing it without a warranty could cost a bunch, I wouldn't even suggest buying another battery, save money for a new machine you know you can work with.

 

[Krafty]

I'm sorry but "mines" is not a word. Drives me nuts when people say that. Reminds me of "I gots mines"

I'm sorry, but I did not ask for your opinion on what figure of speech I use. Don't like it, don't post. Simple as that. If you were truely sorry you wouldnt have trolled in the first place.

Check here if it's still covered.
The screen problem is probably the inverter or something similar. The battery thing could be either the battery or the motherboard(chipset). Before making an appointment with a genius, make sure you make a backup of your data, I'm not sure they'll let you keep the HD before sending in your MB. I hope they fix it for you, which can also mean an exchange. Water usually fries the whole system/motherboard, it is possible they'll still help you since it kind of works. Fixing it without a warranty could cost a bunch, I wouldn't even suggest buying another battery, save money for a new machine you know you can work with.

Alright thanks, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.