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Hey guys,

So yesterday my poor, poor macbook suffered a hairline fracture on the screen. I'm not sure how; there was no single event that it could be attributed to. I had put it in my bag from the coffeeshop, walked home, and upon opening it again at home, saw what I'll be showing you at the bottom of this post.

I talked to Apple, who charged me $49 to a credit card to transfer me to their repair specialist. After I had described the problem, he told that something like this wouldn't have been covered under Apple Care (thank god, since I didn't buy it anyway), and that this kind of problem is a "Tier 4" repair. Apparently, Apple segregates their repair pricing by the severity of the damage, Tier 4 being the most severe. He said that it would cost a thousand bucks for me to have my screen fixed . Wow.

He gave me the numbers to the closest Authorized Apple Technicians and--at no request on my part --refunded the $49 fee to talk to him since there was nothing he could do on his end to rectify the situation. I need some advice.

My options:

1) having it repaired for a thousand bucks is not one of them.

2) After signing into my Education discount, and checking the refurb, the best, cheapest Macbook I oculd get priced on apple.com was $949 for a 2.4 Ghz white Santa-Rosa model. Not bad, but I am unemployed and going to school. So a cheaper option would be desireable.

3) Purchase a $399 Acer Aspire one with a HDD instead of a SSD and try to run Ubuntu Netbook Remix on it? Is that hard to install ?

4) Eat ---- and just live with basically having 1/3 of the screen useless.

5) YOU give me some sort of advice or option I don't know/haven't thought of.

My roommate had that same thing happen. It'll get a lot worse if you don't fix it. He got the same $1000 estimate. He ended up going to a local shop who fixed if for like $600 I believe. They didn't do that good of a job though. The case wasn't put on properly, for some reason they ended up charging him for a new one and the fan was annoyingly loud afterward.

****. That sucks, man...

...since you're considering a netbook, though... have you considered looking at used iBooks and stuff on eBay?

Have you considered buying a replacement LCD on ebay and installing it yourself?

Not being an Apple person, I've never replaced a Macbook panel; however, it's fairly straightforward on Dells and HPs.

just buy a monitor for home and deal with the messed up screen on the go...

cheapest option available..

Well, you may be able to find cheaper Macbooks from resellers. I got mine for $950 from Amazin with a $75 rebate, which is a little better.

There's not a lot that can be done with fixing it, though -- you need a new LCD screen. You could try buying a new screen ($200 from this place, but it was just the first Google ad so you might find better deals) and replacing it yourself, if you feel up to it. I haven't taken apart a Macbook, but disassembled my old Powerbook 12" without too much trouble (just a lot of care and small screws).

Yeah there *IS* a guy around here that repairs laptops and electronics--in fact he did an okay job repairing my iPod by replaacing the hdd. I'd be willing to pay him a nominal fee if I knew which screen replacement to get on eBay.

In order to determine the panel, a bit more information is needed. What size screen? Resolution? Glossy or matte?

Assuming it is the 13.3" glossy screen (1280x800), then you are probably looking at this panel.

Based on these instructions, panel replacement looks to be about a 30 minute job if done carefully. I don't know your level of "repair aptitude" but there is nothing very complex about the process. Just take your time and make sure you have small screwdrivers.

--SS

Put the 1440x900 LCD panel from the Lenovo X300's in there.

^ yes because laptop display connectors are universal. :rolleyes:

http://www.ifixit.com/Categories/MacBook-13-Inch/86 <-buy a screen, more expensive than eBay but more reputable. Getting the whole assembly might be easier than SNM's link, too.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook ... /27/Page-1 <-install it yourself.

derFunkenstein wrote:

^ yes because laptop display connectors are universal. :rolleyes:

http://www.ifixit.com/Categories/MacBook-13-Inch/86 <-buy a screen, more expensive than eBay but more reputable. Getting the whole assembly might be easier than SNM's link, too.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook ... /27/Page-1 <-install it yourself.

Good news!

I talked to the aforementioned guy and he had a new one installed for me for $180, and in twenty minutes. I am writing this post from my macbook, new screen in all! If you've been following other posts of mine, you might guess that $180 is still nothing to sniff at (for me), but it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than all the other options (including the suggestion by derFunk... but thanks anyway ). I guess I'll just have to turn to prostitution in order to make rent. ...

ssidbroadcast wrote:

I guess I'll just have to turn to prostitution in order to make rent. ...

Don't worry man, you've got a sexy working Macbook to help out in that endeavor.