Macbook Pro Video Problems bought in July 2007

[mutron]

Hello!

I have a macbook pro 15'' 2.2Ghz with a GeForce 8600M GT, bought on July 2007.
I recently upgraded the stock memory (from 2G to 4G) and hard disk (to a 320GB one).
The only thing that I did was to blew the board with compressed air for removing
any dust.

After that I have started experiencing some weird problem from time to time.
Whenever I boot up the computer in many occasions the video is distorted
for some seconds or minutes and then distortion disappears and everything is back
to normal (it seems as if the screen is trying to calibrate to get rid of the problem).
I do not experience any slow down on the OS or hanging. With the distortion
happening the computer is operating normally. Unfortunately this morning I boot up
the computer and the distortion did not go away. After waiting for some minutes nothing happened.
I shut down the computer and then I took it on my hands a shook it (yes shook it!) a couple
of times in the air. After switching it on there was no distortion!

I notice that distortion happens more often when I carry the computer on my bag and take it out
and open it. Also it is far more common when it is on (in sleep mode) that completely off.

Initially I thought that it might be the Macbook Pro: Video Distorted Video but I think this is
not the case.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[chscag]

Just a stab here.... But it might be a loose display cable, possibly loose at the connector end. (logic board) If you're handy with taking a computer apart, you may be able to repair it yourself. However, if your machine is still covered by a warranty (Apple care), let Apple repair it.

Regards.

 

[cwa107]

Just a stab here.... But it might be a loose display cable, possibly loose at the connector end. (logic board) If you're handy with taking a computer apart, you may be able to repair it yourself. However, if your machine is still covered by a warranty (Apple care), let Apple repair it.

Regards.

That would be my advice as well. It seems suspect that the problems started occurring after the machine was opened. However, this model does have a known defect with the NVIDIA 8600 chip. If the problem persists after checking the cable's seating in the connector, you may have recourse with Apple beyond the warranty period.

 

[nZa]

I have a 2.2ghz and also upgraded to 4gb of ram. Mine started doing the distortion thing you seem to be referring to about 4 months ago, and my video chip (entire logic board) went bad about 3 months ago..

Hopefully the same doesn't happen to you.

 

[mutron]

nZa, when my distortion is happening I cannot really use the computer the screen is showing only lines! Is this the same with you?

Is this the macbook pro distorted video case?
MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues

 

[nZa]

nZa, when my distortion is happening I cannot really use the computer the screen is showing only lines! Is this the same with you?

Is this the macbook pro distorted video case?
MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues

actually, that's the exact reference they noted when i took it into the apple store to have it repaired. it started with the - "Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen" and eventually turned into "No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on".

My laptop had been out of warranty (no Applecare) for about 3 months when I took it in and they fixed it free of charge since it's a fairly common problem. Otherwise, IIRC, it was going to be $1200ish.