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This deserves a new thread... MBP Screen Issue

Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,725
25
San Juan, PR
Hello Guys,

It all started with a problem with the sreen of my MBP. It was acting wierd and suddenly the screen went black. The compter turned on but the screen not so I took the computer to an Apple Service Center near my home. Before I went there I saw in Apple's web page that there was an issue with the Nvidia chip so I thought that was the problem. Anyway, I took the computer for a check out and the technitians told me the screen was dead. They were charging me $1,035 to replace it with a new one. I went the next day to pick up my computer and back home to keep working with a monitor (ACD) conected to the Macbook Pro. They said that was the only thing I could do right now If I didn't want to fix the screen.

Well, when I turned my computer for the second time today.... Wala!!!!... the screen came to life. It was like a miracle and is still working fine...

Now what should I do?... should I go back to the Apple Service Center and get my money back?... or should I get a new Macbook Pro anyway?... or should I wait?... :confused:... I'm so confused!!!!

Now, if is not the screen... what could it be?... would it be a good idea to reinstall everything back?... just in case is some software incompatibility issue

:apple:
 
What generation mbp is yours? Nvidia 8600m gt or 9600m gt?

From your sig seems that its the newer 9600m gt?
 
If you paid for some kind of check up/diagnosis I'd definitely go back and not only ask for my money back but also complain, after all they misdiagnosed the problem and almost charged you for a repair that's obviously not needed.
 
pnyc said:
If you paid for some kind of check up/diagnosis I'd definitely go back and not only ask for my money back but also complain, after all they misdiagnosed the problem and almost charged you for a repair that's obviously not needed.
Click to expand...

The OP most likely will not get his money back because with computers its not possible to be able to 100% correctly diagnose the problem every time.

If the OP took it to the genius bar, and the screen wasn't working when they got it, they tried a few things, and it still wasn't working, of course they are going to say the screen went bad.

By the sounds of it it sounds like either a bad backlight or a backlight that is going to die (OP if your screen does that again shine a flashlight on it, if you can see icons and the background its your backlight) or the wire/wires connecting the screen to the motherboard may be breaking or have a loose connection.

Usually if its a vid card you will see screen artifacting and such before you see failure.
 
jjahshik32 said:
What generation mbp is yours? Nvidia 8600m gt or 9600m gt?

From your sig seems that its the newer 9600m gt?
Click to expand...

Specs:

- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4GB (two SO-DIMMs) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI
- 160GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm
- 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
 
chrono1081 said:
The OP most likely will not get his money back because with computers its not possible to be able to 100% correctly diagnose the problem every time.

If the OP took it to the genius bar, and the screen wasn't working when they got it, they tried a few things, and it still wasn't working, of course they are going to say the screen went bad.

By the sounds of it it sounds like either a bad backlight or a backlight that is going to die (OP if your screen does that again shine a flashlight on it, if you can see icons and the background its your backlight) or the wire/wires connecting the screen to the motherboard may be breaking or have a loose connection.

Usually if its a vid card you will see screen artifacting and such before you see failure.
Click to expand...

Thanks... I will check on that.

Why you refer to my as OP?... what is that?
 
chrono1081 said:
The OP most likely will not get his money back because with computers its not possible to be able to 100% correctly diagnose the problem every time.

If the OP took it to the genius bar, and the screen wasn't working when they got it, they tried a few things, and it still wasn't working, of course they are going to say the screen went bad.

By the sounds of it it sounds like either a bad backlight or a backlight that is going to die (OP if your screen does that again shine a flashlight on it, if you can see icons and the background its your backlight) or the wire/wires connecting the screen to the motherboard may be breaking or have a loose connection.

Usually if its a vid card you will see screen artifacting and such before you see failure.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ. As far as I know and I'm pretty sure I'm right it's always possible to correctly diagnose a hardware problem. It might not be cost effective to pin point the exact issue, but that's neither here or there as far as the ability to do it is concerned.

The OP paid for system diagnosis the diagnosis given to the OP was that the screen is dead, apparently that was not the correct diagnosis, ergo in my opinion he/she should ask for a refund.
 
Sdahe said:
I'm in the process to get my money back
Click to expand...

$69 is reasonable....normally you should not get your money back...


now the issue i have is that he obviously diagnosed the problem wrong...which makes it a ripoff...so i would certainly apply some pressure on them, i hate it when stores RUSH diagnose things....it makes them look very bad.

good luck
 
MacModMachine said:
$69 is reasonable....normally you should not get your money back...


now the issue i have is that he obviously diagnosed the problem wrong...which makes it a ripoff...so i would certainly apply some pressure on them, i hate it when stores RUSH diagnose things....it makes them look very bad.

good luck
Click to expand...

Well if we consider that they have certified Apple technicians there... it means, they didn't give me the right service that I payed for.

I payed $69 for a wrong diagnosis... If they don't give me a refund, I wonder how much they charge for a correct diagnosis....;)
 
As someone who does system work, let me explain. Someone brings you a computer. The LCD doesn't work. The rest of the system seems fine. You take the time to look it over, and give what you think is the problem, they pay the fee. If the screen springs back to life, oh well. It was not working for a while so given the circumstances, the problem was diagnosed to the best of someone's ability without swapping your LCD out for a new one and testing to see if that solves the problem.

Thus you do not deserve the $70 back. Given the circumstances, the LCD seemed dead, and very well may have been dead at the time. It might be flakey, but at any rate, the LCD was indeed the problem according to the technicians. However if you had paid the $1000+ for a new screen and it still didn't work, you would deserve that $1000+ back.
 
uberamd said:
As someone who does system work, let me explain. Someone brings you a computer. The LCD doesn't work. The rest of the system seems fine. You take the time to look it over, and give what you think is the problem, they pay the fee. If the screen springs back to life, oh well. It was not working for a while so given the circumstances, the problem was diagnosed to the best of someone's ability without swapping your LCD out for a new one and testing to see if that solves the problem.

Thus you do not deserve the $70 back. Given the circumstances, the LCD seemed dead, and very well may have been dead at the time. It might be flakey, but at any rate, the LCD was indeed the problem according to the technicians. However if you had paid the $1000+ for a new screen and it still didn't work, you would deserve that $1000+ back.
Click to expand...

I payed for a correct diagnosis, not a wrong one!... if you are a certified technician you suppost to give correct diagnosis. That's why they are certifed.
 
Sdahe said:
I payed for a correct diagnosis, not a wrong one!... if you are a certified technician you suppost to give correct diagnosis. That's why they are certifed.
Click to expand...

indeed the company is certified apple dealer...but highly unlikely that a actual certified technician looked at it...obvious to the diagnosis.

those places have a "Certified technicial" with apples standard...but all there technicians are not.

just get your money back...end of story.
 
uberamd said:
As someone who does system work, let me explain. Someone brings you a computer. The LCD doesn't work. The rest of the system seems fine. You take the time to look it over, and give what you think is the problem, they pay the fee. If the screen springs back to life, oh well. It was not working for a while so given the circumstances, the problem was diagnosed to the best of someone's ability without swapping your LCD out for a new one and testing to see if that solves the problem.

Thus you do not deserve the $70 back. Given the circumstances, the LCD seemed dead, and very well may have been dead at the time. It might be flakey, but at any rate, the LCD was indeed the problem according to the technicians. However if you had paid the $1000+ for a new screen and it still didn't work, you would deserve that $1000+ back.
Click to expand...

If it was infact the actual LCD panel that was broken it would not just spring to life would it? I think that for 69 bucks you should get a real diagnosis, if the screen isn't showing picture even I can take a guess at the LCD panel being broken, but for 69 bucks they should prove it.
 
Davidkoh said:
If it was infact the actual LCD panel that was broken it would not just spring to life would it? I think that for 69 bucks you should get a real diagnosis, if the screen isn't showing picture even I can take a guess at the LCD panel being broken, but for 69 bucks they should prove it.
Click to expand...

Have you worked on systems repair before? If the screen doesn't work, and shows no sign of life, and you run a battery of tests and still it doesn't work, that would be any techs diagnosis. What would you have told him it was? You paid for the time for a tech to look it over, you didn't pay them to tell you the screen was dead. The tech took the time, looked it over, and based on the evidence in front of him drew up that conclusion. Thats all he could do.

The fact that it works again would point to a loose cable or something of that sort, but that would still be a bum screen. As I said, chances are it is still your screen, loose cable or not. What did you expect the techs to do, power it on and off over and over and over until the screen sprung back to life? They ran their test, and thats the result. You yourself said it suddenly kicked in, which still indicates there is a problem.

Also, as I said, if you had paid them to replace the screen and the problem wasn't fixed you would have 100% grounds for a refund, but you didn't do that.
 
uberamd said:
Have you worked on systems repair before? If the screen doesn't work, and shows no sign of life, and you run a battery of tests and still it doesn't work, that would be any techs diagnosis. What would you have told him it was? You paid for the time for a tech to look it over, you didn't pay them to tell you the screen was dead. The tech took the time, looked it over, and based on the evidence in front of him drew up that conclusion. Thats all he could do.

The fact that it works again would point to a loose cable or something of that sort, but that would still be a bum screen. As I said, chances are it is still your screen, loose cable or not. What did you expect the techs to do, power it on and off over and over and over until the screen sprung back to life? They ran their test, and thats the result. You yourself said it suddenly kicked in, which still indicates there is a problem.

Also, as I said, if you had paid them to replace the screen and the problem wasn't fixed you would have 100% grounds for a refund, but you didn't do that.
Click to expand...

For one I would expect them to check if any of the cables were loose, since a lcd panel does not die then start working by itself, it is obviously something else. And they should see that those "something else" should be checked before saying you need a screen replacement.
 
I called the Apple Service Center and he told me what I though he would... now I will wrtie an email to the Apple Support Center in www.apple.com to see what they have to say about this.
 
Sdahe said:
I called the Apple Service Center and he told me what I though he would... now I will wrtie an email to the Apple Support Center in www.apple.com to see what they have to say about this.
Click to expand...

good luck with it.

apple has NO control on a service center...they can put pressure on them...which they most likely wont.

just get it fixed and be done with it.
 
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