MacBook Pro Graphics/Screen Issue

[GMFan]

Good evening all,

My younger sister is in college and has a 17" Macbook Pro she bought refurbished (to save $500) about 1.5 years ago. The laptop was having intermittent graphics/display issues during the warranty period however Apple flat out refused to replace anything under warranty unless it could be "witnessed" in there store by their "geniuses." (If I sound sarcastic I am....I highly dislike Mac computers). The original problem was that the display would randomly fail to turn back on after the computer was asleep and woken up.

The issue was resolved for a bit however has come back with vengeance. The screen shows pink lines along the screen in white backgrounds. This youtube video shows the exact issue she is having:

As this MacBook pro does not have a port for an external monitor I have no way of diagnosing a bad LCD screen or graphics board. I cannot contact Apple as the phone requires you enter a Serial # and if you are out of warranty they will NOT talk to you at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to:

a) diagnose if the problem is a bad screen vs graphics board
b) where to order a new motherboard/LCD screen (no Ebay)

Has anyone ever replaced a screen on a Macbook pro? I believe the specifications on it are pretty good (Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram, 500GB HD) however if it will cost $600 to fix she would rather purchase a new Windows laptop.

Thank you

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I would plug it into an external monitor. If there are green lines on the external monitor; it's a bad video card. If not, it's a bad LCD.

If you're going to do the repair yourself (are these things even serviceable?), check that the LCD cable isn't lose first.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I would plug it into an external monitor. If there are green lines on the external monitor; it's a bad video card. If not, it's a bad LCD.

If you're going to do the repair yourself (are these things even serviceable?), check that the LCD cable isn't lose first.


Ok, so I found the MacBook pro does allow for an external monitor...you need a VGA to "Mini Display Port" adaptor from Apple which sells for $30 on Apple.com...yet is $6.92 on Amazon

 

[VicVinegar]

The cheapest one works fine. I use one from Monoprice for HDMI.

 

[itguy08]

Lots of [censored] in the first post. But, hey don't let facts get in the way of a good anti Apple rant.

Like you found out, you need the display port to VGA or DVi.

Your sister could have called 1800APLCARE and sent it in if the local store wouldn't help. They will send you a box and you can send it in. She could have also tried another store - everyone I know including me has had great service fromthenApple stores.

Out of warrant, Apple will talk to you on the phone $39 or $49. The store should look at it for free.

Google MacBook parts. There are many sources - ifixit.com is quite good but expensive. There are others. Ifixit has repair guides and they are quite good.

Even broken it is still worth some money and if she wants to trash it and make the Windows mistake have at it.

She really should have pushed for warranty on it. That is 100% her fault

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Lots of [censored] in the first post. But, hey don't let facts get in the way of a good anti Apple rant.

Like you found out, you need the display port to VGA or DVi.

Your sister could have called 1800APLCARE and sent it in if the local store wouldn't help. They will send you a box and you can send it in. She could have also tried another store - everyone I know including me has had great service fromthenApple stores.

Out of warrant, Apple will talk to you on the phone $39 or $49. The store should look at it for free.

Google MacBook parts. There are many sources - ifixit.com is quite good but expensive. There are others. Ifixit has repair guides and they are quite good.

Even broken it is still worth some money and if she wants to trash it and make the Windows mistake have at it.

She really should have pushed for warranty on it. That is 100% her fault


Who ever buys the extended warranty? I've never done that on anything I've owned. Including cars. This thing probably just has a bad graphics chip, which even for a person like me who does not like Apple, can say it has really nothing to do with Apple itself. It's probably made by AMD or nVidia anyways.

Annoying that it doesn't just have a VGA out though, would be a lot easier to test. If the OP lived close to me I would just give him a display port converter, I have tons of them at work.

 

[GMFan]

So I popped open the back and prodded around a bit with two mini screw drivers. I pulled out a few connectors that looked like connections to the LCD and popped them back in. Anyways the screen issue is fixed...at least for now.

Glad I don't have to mess with this thing anymore for at least tonight.

The only reason she bought a Mac was because her school highly recommended them for her major...yet she stated to me that her major hasn't required anything Mac specific...just typing papers etc. It seems like the school just tried to push Macs on financially strained school students. She paid for it with her own $$ and didn't have extra money for a warranty. All I heard was about Mac legendary reliability so I figured it a moot idea. Plus the refurbished machines came with the same 1yr warranty as the new ones.

 

[rg200amp]

She bought a refurb laptop a year and a half ago.
You do know Apple only supplies a one year warranty.
So, don't expect a replacement.

Old refurb product. Ok. She has a problem. Apple won't fix it unless they can see it malfunction? The humanity!!! They need to see the problem before they can fix it!!!!!

Man. Apple is off their rocker!

If it is not working right. Take it to the apple store and show them the issue. Apple would love nothing more than to fix your issue and make more money.

End of story.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp
She bought a refurb laptop a year and a half ago.
You do know Apple only supplies a one year warranty.
So, don't expect a replacement.


For the record I never claimed I expected a replacement laptop.

I think I've got it fixed now anyway.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
She bought a refurb laptop a year and a half ago.
You do know Apple only supplies a one year warranty.
So, don't expect a replacement.


For the record I never claimed I expected a replacement laptop.

I think I've got it fixed now anyway.

No, I know.

I just read your post as your taking an issue with how Apple handled the situation.

 

[JHZR2]

She wants to buy a (junk) $600 windows laptop if this one is not fixable? Like that will be more reliable at equivalent age? I doubt it. Ive had more issues with our cheap dells than any other computer Ive ever owned.

Besides HDDs, the only computers Ive ever had problems with are refurbs. Not sure why, but I guess just like some cars are lemons, some computers can be too... Refurb or not.

And Ill bet that is the root of the problem.

I think there was some user error, as I know for certain that my brother had good service when he took his long out of warranty MBP into an apple store due to a bad HDD. The cost for repairs was surprisingly cheap compared to what I had to pay a local computer store for a motherboard replacement on a proprietary Dell Precision Workstation that was out of warranty...

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp
She bought a refurb laptop a year and a half ago.
You do know Apple only supplies a one year warranty.
So, don't expect a replacement.

Old refurb product. Ok. She has a problem. Apple won't fix it unless they can see it malfunction? The humanity!!! They need to see the problem before they can fix it!!!!!

Man. Apple is off their rocker!

If it is not working right. Take it to the apple store and show them the issue. Apple would love nothing more than to fix your issue and make more money.

End of story.




Very interesting reply to "help" the OP.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
She bought a refurb laptop a year and a half ago.
You do know Apple only supplies a one year warranty.
So, don't expect a replacement.

Old refurb product. Ok. She has a problem. Apple won't fix it unless they can see it malfunction? The humanity!!! They need to see the problem before they can fix it!!!!!

Man. Apple is off their rocker!

If it is not working right. Take it to the apple store and show them the issue. Apple would love nothing more than to fix your issue and make more money.

End of story.




Very interesting reply to "help" the OP.

Some what better than your reply on his thread. . .