Choices about a broken laptop

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Raemon777

My laptop slipped off a table yesterday and landed on the power supply connector. The computer still works, if you stick a fresh battery in, but it cannot be charged up on its own. Rendering it mostly useless. The frame of the computer was dented in such a way that you can't really install a new power connector without getting a new frame.

The computer is a 3 year old Macbook Pro. I took it to the Apple store yesterday. They said it'd be about $150 ($100 + labor) for a new connector and another 150 for a new frame. But that if I went to an independent repair service I might be able to skimp on the new frame. Later I went to TekServe, where a friend of mine works, and he said A) they would definitely need to fix the frame, B) the whole price somehow came out to $500+, C) my computer made scary clicking sounds and excessive fan noise and basically could crap out at any time.

AppleCare also ran out, apparently in September. (Thought it was last week, actually, but apparently the school that gave me the laptop on opening day bought it two months earlier)

So.... I really don't know what to do here. I was anticipating getting another computer in another year or two, unless it crapped out on its own. The one I have works fine if I could just power it, but I'm not sure it's worth putting additional money into.

Basically, I am looking for a) some satisfying (hopefully but not necessarily logical) reason to commit to either fixing the current computer or getting a new one, and b) advice on what type of computer to get if I do get a new one).

If I'm getting a Mac, it's going to be the current 15" MacBook Pro for $1799 (possibly a used version, not sure how I feel about that).

For the first time in my life, I am actually open to the possibility of getting a PC. I'm aware of the advantages/disadvantages of PC vs Mac. If the price is equal, I prefer a Mac. But if someone can demonstrate that I can get a significantly cheaper PC with capabilities comparable to the MacBook Pro, I'd consider that. (I think my official coefficient of MacAwesomeNess benchmark is such that the PC would have to be $1200 or less).
 
strawman

strawman

If you have a local hackerspace or geek that likes soldering, you may be able to fix or replace the connector for much cheaper - hacking away at the frame if needed. For instance, if you were local to me I'd probably be happy to do it for $100 or so. Then you can run the laptop into the ground - the next time something breaks buy a new laptop.

If you've got the money to buy a new laptop, then the only reason you might want to do it is that you know this one's going to fail sooner rather than later, and you don't want to be without the laptop when it finally dies. It will surely do so when it's most inconvenient. So buying new laptop now would simply be insuring yourself.

Regarding PC vs MAC, if you like the way apples does things, just stick with the mac. If you're comfortable in either world, then you can get fast quad core i7 laptops for around $1k now in the PC world, which would be more powerful than the macbook pro you propose, depending on your usage of the machine. Dedicated graphics, 6GB of triple channel ram, etc. Blows the macbook away in terms of performance. However, battery life suffers with higher performance, so if you depend on battery power a lot, then a macbook pro might still suit your needs better. If you compare straight across the board, though (the macbook pro you're looking at has an i5, 4GB ram, 320GB HD, Nvidia 330 graphics) then you can get essentially the same laptop for well under $1k as a PC, so it might be worth considering given that you'll save quite a chunk of change.
 
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Raemon777

I'm reasonably comfortable with either Mac or PC. I do care about battery life. I'm actually a little freaked out by the claims on the new MacBook of 7-8 hours though - my old MacBook Pro battery basically sucked (claimed to last four hours I think, in practice it lasts about 2 and only 1 if I'm doing anything interesting). Don't know what to think about the new one's claim. (Though if it's still "half as good as the claim," 4 hours is going to be plenty of battery).

The thing with PCs is I have no idea how to go about getting one. I know the pieces are more modular but with that comes less certainty about whether I'm getting all the right ones and putting them together right.

I have a techie friend coming home for Christmas who was going to take a look at it. Waiting a week (and potentially more, since if he can't fix it I'll need to send it in) is going to suck. But hey, I've been feeling kinda lame about my lack of social life recently. Maybe going without a computer for a while is a good thing.
 
strawman

strawman

You can actually get 7-8 hours on the new macbook pros when you are doing very minimal usage (one program open, editing a document or watching a movie, not using the wifi too much). But you'll be able to get a solid 4 hours of reasonable usage as well.

Make friends with someone who has the same computer as you and charge your battery in their laptop. Then you can be social and have a computer!
 
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Raemon777

Make friends with someone who has the same computer as you and charge your battery in their laptop. Then you can be social and have a computer!
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I have been doing that actually, but for the next few days I won't be able to.
 
Espy

Espy

I have a 1 1/2 year old Macbook Pro (17inch) and it gets GREAT battery life when I'm using the lesser graphics card I get around 6 or so hours of battery life and when I'm using the more powerful I probably get around 3-4 depending on what I'm doing. Considering I really push my computer when I'm using it I'm probably getting pretty good battery life for how much I do on it. With the 15inch you would probably get even better battery life. My wife has the 13 inch and it goes forever.
 
Espy

Espy

If it really only costs a few hundred to repair it it might just be worth it. My first powerbook lasted me 5 years.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Jiarn said:
Where's Pat?! We need him here stat!
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Sorry. Life keeps happening.

Previous gen MacBook Pros (the ones with the boxy corners) have the power adapter port as part of a larger assembly piece which is not all that cheap (compared to, say, a MacBook's little magnet block). It's that part that would make the repair more expensive. If the damage to the bottom housing is just cosmetic, there's no reason why something that got bent in can't be bent back out again (making enough room for the previously mentioned assembly piece to be replaced). That's if you want to be able to plug the MagSafe back in again. The Apple store won't do body work for you, though.

Another possibility is to use an external battery charger. Remove battery, charge it, reinsert it, run it down, repeat. It's a great solution if you can get everything done on one battery charge (or if you buy a second one and charge one while using the other). Putting the computer to sleep while you swap batteries might get kind of annoying, though.

Regarding a new unit: Hard to say what to recommend without knowing what it is you want to do (and I mean specifically what you do, like what programs you run and how often). The new MacBook Pros do indeed last a looooooong time compared to previous. I'm happy to make more recommendations via PM, but I tend to check in only every couple of days this time of year. FWIW, I'm still running my Titanium PBG4 from 2003 as my main laptop. It lasts between 2-3hrs on a single charge (on the original battery!) unless I'm on WiFi. Then it's about 1.5-2hrs. It still does what I need, even if it doesn't do it as fast as I'd like.

tl;dr: Repairing your current MacBook Pro is probably the best option depending on which model it is and whether the new ones are significantly better at doing whatever it is you do to make up for the price difference.

--Patrick
 
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Raemon777

Went back to the Apple store. They say they can PROBABLY fix it in house for $270, but if it turns out that more stuff is broken they'll need to send it out and it'll cost like $600, in which I'd rather get a new computer.

Right now what I'm mostly using is Maya, Unity (3D game development engine), with Photoshop and Garageband also being important but not particular heavy programs. I spend about 3 hours each day commuting on a train, which is where I work on my game, and it would be very useful to be able to do that all on one battery charge. (How do the new MacBook Pros' battery life compare to random other PC laptops when you're working in 3D engines and testing games?)
 
Espy

Espy

I don't know about Unity's power drain and I haven't had to run Maya in a few years but I'm regularly using Photoshop, Logic, Final Cut, After Effects, etc. It runs great, but you still have to be careful about having to many programs open at once. If you are sitting on a train for 3 hours a shot (or is it 1.5 hours 2x a day? so you can recharge between them? If so... pffff... no worries at all.) then you will be fine. I can run my 17inch for 3 hours on the highest settings and run the above programs without worry. It might help to turn off wifi, use your ipod for music not itunes, etc.
 
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Raemon777

If you are sitting on a train for 3 hours a shot (or is it 1.5 hours 2x a day? so you can recharge between them? If so... pffff... no worries at all.) then you will be fine
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My current (previous) power supply was adequate, but it was exactly adequate, and if I ever needed to go remotely longer I ran out of battery. (It is indeed two 1.5 hour chunks, but when I'm running Unity a single full charge would typically last a total of about an hour. I think this has a lot do with the battery of that particular generation of macBooks particularly sucking).
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Maya and Unity are going to chew through plenty of battery. Turn your backlight down, wifi and Bluetooth off. There are other tweaks you can do, but they would need more digging/terminal commands and would cut some services (turning off Spotlight, for instance). Brand new batteries will go 3.5-4.5hr of low power usage, 1.5-2hr high drain. When you go to the Apple store, have them test your battery to find out how old it is. There's an app for that.

--Patrick
 
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