liquid damage to my audio

I am new to the apple world and having just bought my mac book pro 8 months ago, I spilt red wine on the keyboard. The computer then whirred for about 10 minutes and as a result all audio has been lost. This is not ideal as I primarily use garage band, you tube and Skype. Can the sound card be fixed? Do I use my travel insurance (I was on holiday when it happened and they cover up to $450 worth of damage to 'valuables') or does my warranty cover it...? Help please!?! What's more, I live in Dubai, and there is no Apple store nearby. Can I trust regular computer store tech departments? Or should I send the Mac away to Apple...? Need to know soon too as have to deal with insurance claims. Don't know which way to turn, so ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Note: Everything else still works on the computer. It seems to be only the audio that is wrecked.

Miss Georgie said:

Can the sound card be fixed?

Click to expand...

No...there is not a separate sound card...thus it cannot be replaced.

Miss Georgie said:

Do I use my travel insurance (I was on holiday when it happened and they cover up to $450 worth of damage to 'valuables')...

Click to expand...

There are hundreds & hundreds of different insurance companies in the world...and they all have different policies. You need to contact your insurance company...and see what they say.

Miss Georgie said:

...or does my warranty cover it...?

Click to expand...

If you mean the Applecare warranty...no. The Applecare warranty ONLY covers manufacturing defects...not accidents.

Miss Georgie said:

What's more, I live in Dubai, and there is no Apple store nearby. Can I trust regular computer store tech departments? Or should I send the Mac away to Apple...?

Click to expand...

In my opinion...Apple is always your best choice. I think that the cost of the repair is going to be a lot more than you would like. This is why no one should be drinking beverages when they are near their laptop computers...unless they fully understand the risks.

Good luck,

- Nick

Thanks so much for the feedback Nick. So re: the sound card, if I can't replace it, are you saying that my audio is now wrecked for good? If I take it in to be looked at, (cleaned or fixed) they wouldn't be able to sort it out for me? Surely there is a way of fixing audio?!

Miss Georgie said:

Surely there is a way of fixing audio?!

Click to expand...

Please don't take this the wrong way...but do you have any computer repair experience to be able to make this statement?? Do you know what parts in a computer are responsible for controlling the various aspects of a computer?

A person cannot blindly make this statement unless they know how a computer is put together...and what parts are responsible for controlling various parameters.

The main part in a computer is the logic board. The logic board contains thousands of micro-soldered connections between very tiny capacitors, resistors, the cpu, the gpu, etc., etc. This includes how the audio is controlled. If the logic board is damaged...then the whole logic board needs to be replaced. And in U.S. dollars...that adds up to about $750.

Could the problem be something else...maybe...but there's not a whole lot left. There really aren't many parts inside of a computer.

- Nick