What to do with my old MBP

[Farmer Pug]

Hello
I had some problems with my old macbook, it was continually doing kernel panics, and fits all the symptoms of the GPU being faulty which is a known fault.
So i bought myself a new iMac 21.5" 1Tb fusion drive, 16gb ram, and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, its a very nice bit of kit and the bigger screen is a welcome bonus. The time machine backup worked exceptionally well, i plugged in the external hard drive, waited about 1hr 30mins and the iMac is just like the old MBP files and folders are in the same place.

The only issue is the old Macbook, its still a good laptop, it was never dropped, scraped or abused and in the in-between periods when its not randomly restarting it still works fine, the battery even lasts for a reasonable amount of time.

Does anyone know how much it costs to get the GPU issue fixed at apple, i dont live near an apple store so i dont want the long drive just to hear it cant be fixed.

 

[pigoo3]

Does anyone know how much it costs to get the GPU issue fixed at apple, i dont live near an apple store so i dont want the long drive just to hear it cant be fixed.

Anything can be fixed…the question is…is it worth it? You didn't say how "old" the old MacBook is. To fix the GPU problem you would need a replacement logic board. Replacement logic boards are not cheap…and generally speaking…the older the computer…the less likely the cost of the repair is worth it.

And…depending on the age of the computer. If it's old enough…Apple will call it "vintage"…and won't even work on it.

Bottom line. If this computer is more than 3-4 years old…probably isn't worth the cost. If the problem required a less expensive part…it would be worth it. But replacement logic boards are about the most expensive repair there is.

- Nick

 

[Farmer Pug]

Hello Pigoo, the computer is 5 years old, with regards buying a replacement logic board how expensive would you be talking, if it cost the price of a new laptop from the likes of HP, Dell, sony etc (about £300) i wouldnt mind when its working its a much superior machine, although if the repair cost the price of a new macbook (about £1000) then yes it would be too expensive.

my dads old sony viao is about 8 years old now, it still works but its getting slow and certain buttons dont work, the mouse is tempermental. If the Macbook could be fixed up for less than the price of a new sony viao then it would be an acceptable cost.

 

[pigoo3]

Hello Pigoo, the computer is 5 years old, with regards buying a replacement logic board how expensive would you be talking...

I don't live in Ireland…so I really cannot say. But I'm sure the same trend applies in Ireland just like everywhere else. In some cases…the cost of a replacement logic board for a 5 year old computer can approach the value of what it would cost to purchase another 100% working unit. This is why it is not worth it.

Even if someone purchased the replacement logic board & did the install themselves…the total cost of doing this repair is questionable. But if someone needed it installed by a repair person (higher cost for the part + labor). The the cost really gets high.

Unless you can get an EXTREMELY inexpensive logic board replacement (this is called being VERY lucky). The repair is not worth it. If you really want to know the cost of a replacement logic board…check eBay UK.

- Nick

 

[techiesteve]

Below based up the OP's comment their MacBook is 5 years old.

The MacBook Early and Mid 2009 variants are vintage with no support from Apple. These are the MacBooks with ejectable batteries.

If the MacBook was the unibody variant, an exchange logic board fitted by an Apple Store or AASP would be a little more than £327.00, then the fitting cost. Apple and AASP's can only fit a part, will not supply for you to fit. It would have a 90 day warranty.

In my view replacement wouldn't be economically viable.