Dammit! Someone tell me what to do.

[Deleted]

So last week, the clutz that I am spilled water on my table that had both me and my boyfriends laptops (both macbooks) on it. The water didn't get on top of either laptops and I didn't think did any damage. But it must've gotten underneath my boyfriend's laptop a little bit as he turned it on in the morning, it started up, but the screen was black.

Took it to 1 of the only apple repair shops here and the guy said that the logic board is faulty and needs to be replaced. He said that since it's an old macbook (2007) the part is hard to find and it wouldn't be worth it to replace.

So I looked it up and found the part in the US pretty easily. It'll be a total of $128 to buy the part and have it shipped to South Africa. The repair guy is also saying that there might be some other damage like the keyboard might not work, but need to replace the part first to test. But like I said, there was barely any water and it must've all been underneath, so I think (and hope!) that the part is the only problem.

I've also been looking on ebay for the same 2006 or 2007 macbook and with shipping here (and customs fees) it'd be about $250 - $300.

I'm a huge macbook fan and know it's old, but it had been reliable and many of my other family members still have their old macbooks for simple uses of checking email and working on documents, so I don't even want to look in to the cost of another cheap laptop. Apple fan for life!

So wwyd? Should we try to fix the damaged macbook or should I keep looking for a reasonably priced used macbook? Or anyone have a 2006 macbook laying around for sale
Grr, this is seriously pissing me off!

[karmasabiotch]

I always vote for buying a new one. It sounds more safe and less stressful.

[underwaterrhymes]

Can they retrieve what's on his hard drive if you don't replace that part?

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2014 9:05:55 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Can they retrieve what's on his hard drive if you don't replace that part?

Yes, he said that all data has been saved and I can bring in an external drive at any time to recover it.

[circa1978]

I'd buy a new one.

[valetgirl]

I have a Macbook from the same era that's still kicking. I never want to let go! So I feel your pain. However, I agree that it's not worth fixing it.

[VillainV]

My H's track pad started to get flaky, so we took it to an Apple Repair Center. They were able to run some kind of hardware diagnostic test to see if there was anything else not working. Turns out everything was fine, it was just the trackpad. I would think your place could run a similar diagnostic.

I think I would maybe buy a new one. Otherwise, you'd be paying $128 for the logic board, and if anything else turned out to be broken you'd probably already be up to the cost of a replacement.

[underwaterrhymes]

I'd get a new one.

But I'd be cautious about buying one off of eBay.

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2014 9:19:49 GMT -5 valetgirl said:

I have a Macbook from the same era that's still kicking. I never want to let go! So I feel your pain. However, I agree that it's not worth fixing it.

My mom has a macbook that's even older and still kicking. It's actually pretty slow now, but gets the job done to check emails and facebook.

I got a dell in college because my school had a special agreement with dell and that thing kicked the dust in 2.5 years. Never again! I'm pretty sure my dad has owned every apple product available since the 80s, so apple is in my blood lol.

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2014 9:24:30 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

I'd get a new one.

But I'd be cautious about buying one off of eBay.

Have you had a bad experience?

I was looking at the stores with 100% positive feedback and read up about the money back guarantee.

I guess that's another reason I was trying to justify fixing our laptop because I know it's history.

Any other suggestions of where to buy used macbooks?

[pegasuskat]

We have bought 2 off of ebay and got very good deals, no issues. If you pay with paypal and read the description very carefully you should be ok. Make sure the seller has good feedback! My son is in IT, he is all MAC, he worked at Dell for a short time and hated it, hated the product.

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2014 9:44:29 GMT -5 pagas said:

Is a new one anyway in budget? Because buying a 7 year old laptop seems like a really risky thing to do.

New mac definitely not in my boyfriend's budget. I'd honestly rather buy a used mac than a new anything else.

[Deleted]

What about getting a refurbished newer model from Apple? They have MacBook Airs for $850. More than the ones you were talking about, but would probably be a safer bet long term to me than buying off Ebay.
store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

[underwaterrhymes]

I think the risk you run with buying a used one from eBay is not necessarily with the buyer (although I think 100% approval rating is absolutely necessary), but with the fact that you are still buying an older computer. Do they offer warranties?

You can buy refurbished through Apple for $800 or so and get both a new computer, as well as a warranty.

If that's above your budget, I would just make sure whatever buyer you're using on eBay has a return policy and that all of the reviews are from people who appear to be legitimate.

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2014 10:22:19 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

I think the risk you run with buying a used one from eBay is not necessarily with the buyer (although I think 100% approval rating is absolutely necessary), but with the fact that you are still buying an older computer. Do they offer warranties?

You can buy refurbished through Apple for $800 or so and get both a new computer, as well as a warranty.

If that's above your budget, I would just make sure whatever buyer you're using on eBay has a return policy and that all of the reviews are from people who appear to be legitimate.

Yeah I see what you're saying. I wish a new one were in the budget for both of us!