I have a 1.5 year old 15" PowerBook that has some damage in the corner by the power adapter port. The case bulged a little bit, so I tried to bend the casing back in as best I could. It's not very noticeable, but you could tell if you looked closely. Other than that, I would say it has pretty normal wear and tear from daily usage (minor dings and scratches here and there).

Although not a result of the drop, the screen has developed a rather annoying flickering problem, generally reproducible when adjusting the display angle, or when typing on a shaky desk. The bottom 1/3 to 2/3 of the display will sometimes turn black or a faint white. A slight push on the display will fix the problem and return the display to normal.

The Powerbook has AppleCare for another 1.5 years. Is it worth bringing in to the Genius Bar to see if they'll fix it? I am fairly certain it has to do with a piched LVDS or display cable. A $50 part it seems, but one hell of a surgery job.

What has your experience been with dropped powerbooks and Applecare? Is AppleCare worth anything wrt the hardware ocne it's been dropped? TIA.

I have read that sometimes--not always--the Geniuses are compelled to try to put as much as possible off to damage by customer.

When in doubt, I have taken it to the local CompUSA or Specialty shop since they are less likely to be stringent on the "damage" policy.

At least this way, it may not get entered with your serial number and a case number showing "damage"

My nephew's dropped PB pretty much voided the warranty. Well, he said he did not drop it, but a corner was bent. That was enough for Apple to say it caused major issues and they quoted him $900 to replace the hard drive. I did it for free, just charging for the HD.

Metal doesn't bend itself, so if your case is physically damaged or misshapen it would be attributed to 'customer abuse'.
That doesn't necessarily mean 'dropped', but something happened to it that was not the fault of Apple, or at least that's what they will say to you.

Thing is, when a repair is done under warranty certain parts need to be sent back to Apple (exchange parts), and if a repair shop sends back a part that Apple thinks was not covered by their warranty then the repair shop could be liable for the cost of that part, plus they would not be reimbursed for the labor. So they need to be careful.

Good side is that if the only thing wrong with your PB is actually the video cable, they may be able to replace just that part under warranty, ignoring the bent case thing. I don't think a PB video cable is an exchange part anyway, so the old / broken part just gets thrown away and Apple never knows the difference (unless you go to Apple at the start). The whole bottom case may even be a non-exchange part, so you could potentially have everything fixed if the shop will allow it.

But like Ken said, it may depend on who you take it to for service. Try a local authorized repair shop first.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2006 05:55AM by mikebw.

Just take it to a local Apple Authorized repair shop. Don't tell them anything other than what the problem with your machine is and that you have AppleCare. They'll let you know if your machine isn't covered. If it's not just part out your machine on eBay. You know you want a new Core 2 MBP anyway.

Don't take it to a Genius. They are trained to look your machine over and if there is even a scratch (OK I exaggerate a bit) void your AppleCare on the spot. They put it into your per-ma-nent rec-ord. Mwahahaha.

Playing devils advocate here...Not all damage occurs right away. The pinched cable could very well be the result of the case being damaged and having too much flex and allowing for the cable to become pinched. That said....


Send it in, don't tell them it was dropped. The worst they can do is send it back to you.

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C(-)ris
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Again, the others make a good point by taking it to a Apple Authorized provider like CompUSA. I think they get paid/reimbursed by Apple to do the repairs so they are more likely to do it with little question ignoring the other problem.

The only downside is that it may take (a lot) longer for the repair. Be prepared for a 2 week dance minimum for the repair IF they have the part handy. Heaven forbid it is backordered.

Hmm, good stuff guys.

What I was also wondering is that since I have AppleCare, would Apple waive the diagnoses/labor fee to determine if it is actually the cable or not. And then if it is, I would attempt the repair myself.

In any case, you guys are probably right and I should try the likes of CompUSA first. Thx!

you don't operate on your machine if its under applecare!!

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Any authorized repair center I've taken a laptop to always sends it back to Apple. Apple AFAIK does not authorize their affiliated repair centers to open up the laptops.

BTW, I just had a repair done under AppleCare where the case of my G4 AlBook was "separating at the seams." They didn't notice that I had swapped out the HD for a larger capacity 5400 RPM model and that I was unable to get the case to go back together "quite right." I think the genius was pretty liberal with me.

Sorry Matt, can you clarify?

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mattkime
you don't operate on your machine if its under applecare!!

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bryanus
Sorry Matt, can you clarify?

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mattkime
you don't operate on your machine if its under applecare!!

Maybe he's a surgeon and Applecare is not in the local program.

My 17" pb got dropped on the corner and as a result the hd failed.
I toold to a local apple authorized center and they said Apple will not allow them to repair any laptops. Had to send it back to apple for $1000 charge

Ouch...