MacBook Pro Logic Board fail

Last November I bought a used MacBook Pro A1260 15". It's a late 2008 model. Here are the full specs: http://tinyurl.com/7splcto

Woke up last week to find it wouldn't turn on. Attempted SMC and P-RAM resets, visited a genius bar. Diagnosis: logic board fried. Replacement would cost hundreds of pounds. Searching the forums, I came across a place (AppleRepairsInLondon.co.uk) which said they could repair the logic board at component level. Which they did, for £255. Got it back yesterday, and it seems to be working fine.

What the guy said who mended it was that, in addition to the logic board problem the laptop had been overheating and one of the fans had gone. He told me: don't run the MacBook on the battery and the power-cord at the same time. Use battery, run it down, recharge etc.

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I'd never heard this before. Is this good advice? Could running the two together have caused the overheating and logic board failure? How can I avoid the same problems in future? All suggestions gratefully received.

Well I think the guy is full of it. Never heard of such a thing. Just how are you not supposed to run it on battery and AC power at the same time? What when the battery needs recharging you turn it off then connect the AC, then wait for the light to turn green before you turn it back on. Load Of Bull droppings.

Simple fact is you bought a 3+ year old computer. If that is all you can afford then maybe you should of bought a new inexpensive Windows PC that actually came with a warranty of some type. As it looks now it would of been much cheaper.

Simple fact is you bought a 3+ year old computer. If that is all you can afford then maybe you should of bought a new inexpensive Windows PC that actually came with a warranty of some type.

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You're right, Shootist, and next time that may be what I'll do. For now though, I'd like to try and keep the MacBook on the road for as long as possible.

I highly doubt that running off of both power sources caused the overheating. Mac's are very good about not over charging the battery. Once the battery is at 99-100% it will run off the battery, while the charger is still plugged in, and once the battery drop down to 90-94, it will charge it back to full.

I would say the defective fan was the problem since i have been running on power/batt on all my laptops and it has not affected the Mac's or the PC's.