F/U to a F/U that I sorta kinda threadjacked... MBP nVidia 8600M issue

[BillMac]

original F/U

Genius AND Store Manager said "vintage" product now, and they don't even have "access" to the parts to fix it, suggested maybe AppleCare online could help.

AppleCare Online said "vintage" product now, and while they "might" have parts, the parts would be "so old" that they couldn't even "guarantee" that the fix would stick. She even noted that we've been great customers over the years.

REALLY? You're telling me that if you pop in a NEW mobo (old stock, obviously) it might just fail cuz it's 5 years old? I guess that's true of any electronic part, though.

The wife is not pleased since it's a known problem. And this MBP spent most of its life in a Speck hardcase sitting on the dining room table. Genius even said that it was really clean and looked like it was in great shape.

Oh well, off to figure out another option. Might be a refurb, might be a cheap PC laptop. She basically uses it for an online program for work (teacher) that requires IE. And SERIOIUSLY? REQUIRES IE???

And before anyone gives me the "well it IS 5 years old" speech, I am aware. But a known hardware problem? It probably would have shown up earlier if she had dragged it back and forth to work everyday, banging it around, loosening things up. It's not like it was dropped, spilled, etc... The G4 AlumiBook is still going strong (well.... considering!!!!).

[GGD]

I would have pointed out that it is still supported by the current version of the OS and rumored to be supported by the next version of the OS (10.9). It was probably sold as refurbs into late 2009, and maybe 2010, and those could have had 3 years of Apple Care. There might be a few out there that are still under Apple Care warranty.

I had one done last Nov/Dec and they sent it out for Depot repair. So I can believe that they don't have the parts in the stores, but that shouldn't mean that they can't repair one.

As for the logic boards, I'm pretty sure that they do component level repair of the defective ones, so the stock used for repairs isn't necessarily brand new, but rather "refurbished", in which case there can be some components that are fairly old, but they should have passed all diagnostic tests.

[davester]

I don't understand why they didn't offer you the $310 flat rate depot repair. He got a new motherboard, battery and fans out of it. My brother just did this two weeks ago with his MBP which is the same as yours. Try going back to a different genius bar. That "we can't guarantee it" statement sounds bogus. I think all depot repairs have a 30 or 60 day warranty. Perhaps he meant that they can't give it a full 1 year warranty, which is always true.

[silvarios]

If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems is they will likely fail eventually. Apple should have issued a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

[silvarios]

davester wrote:
I don't understand why they didn't offer you the $310 flat rate depot repair. He got a new motherboard, battery and fans out of it. My brother just did this two weeks ago with his MBP which is the same as yours. Try going back to a different genius bar.

davester, don't you live in California?

[BillMac]

silvarios wrote:
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

But won't the serial number give it away that it's a Pennsylvania MBP?

[GGD]

silvarios wrote:
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

Do you have any details to back that up? I'm in CA and never heard that before, although I was successful in getting them to repair one after being persistent when they first said no.

Apple's initial written policy on the NVIDIA problem said it would repair them for 4 years from purchase date, and never mentioned anything special about CA or no time limit. But there have been a lot of reports of successfully getting them to do it after 4 years.

[silvarios]

BillMac wrote:
[quote=silvarios]
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

But won't the serial number give it away that it's a Pennsylvania MBP?
I wouldn't think so, because if you give the system to someone who happens to live in California, they should be covered by service terms. You'd still have to pay most likely. I doubt Apple will give you the free repair. $310 plus shipping to and from, I'd save my money and get a new computer. $400 into a dog isn't worth it, in my opinion.

[silvarios]

GGD wrote: Do you have any details to back that up? I'm in CA and never heard that before, although I was successful in getting them to repair one after being persistent when they first said no.

Apple's initial written policy on the NVIDIA problem said it would repair them for 4 years from purchase date, and never mentioned anything special about CA or no time limit. But there have been a lot of reports of successfully getting them to do it after 4 years.

Sorry, not a given Apple will repair for free, but Apple is obliged to offer service on products between 5-7 years of age in the state of California.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1752

The vintage/obsolete coverage list terms have been around for a while.

[timg]

I'm in California and had a SR MBP repaired for that issue just a couple months ago. For free.

I never heard that Apple treated them differently in other states. Guess I'm lucky I live here (unless you count the unGodly high cost of living in these parts)