How much would you pay for a 2010 MBP... that crashes a bit?

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dclegg

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Topic # 129216 7-Sep-2013 15:55

I have a mid-2010 MacBook Pro laptop, with a 2.53Ghz i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, and 500GB 7200RPM HDD, which is now surplus to my requirements. The catch is that it is prone to crashing once or twice a day due to a known issue with its display driver (see here for details).

Apple did offer a free fix if it fell within 3 years of purchase, but I miss out on this by a matter of weeks. I will be contacting Apple support on Monday to see if they can squeeze me in free of charge, considering I'm only just outside the qualification period, but I have to cater for the contingency of them sticking to their guns on this one.

Apart from this (obvious) annoyance, the laptop works well, and is in pretty good condition. This crashing has been happening for quite a few months now, and I've still been able to use it as my primary development machine (with the expected odd choice word when the damn thing does decide to reboot itself).

I am currently weighing up my options, and one of these is selling it as is but being totally up front about this problem. Bearing this in mind, how much would you be prepared to pay for a laptop like this? Or would you avoid it like the plague?

If it sweetens the deal at all, I can also throw in the original 4GB RAM (2x 2GB modules), which were replaced with 2x4GB modules not long after purchase.

d3Xt3r

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Reply # 891378 7-Sep-2013 17:27

I'm guessing it could go for around $800 - depending on the exact specs.

Is it a 13" with the GeForce 320M?
What's the condition of the battery and what's the battery life like for light usage / web surfing?

How frequently does it crash? (and when it crashes does the whole computer freeze or it just the display that conks out?)

dclegg

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Reply # 891382 7-Sep-2013 17:46

d3Xt3r: I'm guessing it could go for around $800 - depending on the exact specs.

Is it a 13" with the GeForce 320M?
What's the condition of the battery and what's the battery life like for light usage / web surfing?

How frequently does it crash? (and when it crashes does the whole computer freeze or it just the display that conks out?)

Its the 15" model with the NVIDIA GeoForce GT 330M 256MB graphics chip.

When it crashes, a grey screen is shown warning of an impending reboot, and then the laptop restarts (the OSX version of a BSOD). This happens around 1-3 times a day, when used full time as a development machine with an external monitor attached. The external monitor may exacerbate the problem, but it isn't the sole cause, and the laptop can crash without it attached. It's not unknown for it to go a few days without a crash, but that is the exception rather than the rule (heh... I get the feeling I'd suck in a sales role).

I'm not 100% sure of the exact health of the battery, but I'm still getting around 2.5 to 3 hours when using it off power. When off power, it is primarily being used as a development machine, and as a lot of this dev work is in a Windows virtual machine it will be consuming a lot more power than simply using it for web browsing (after all, that's what the iPad is for, right? :-)).

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 891387 7-Sep-2013 18:04

I'm sure it'll be fine with another operating system like Linux :)

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alasta

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Reply # 891416 7-Sep-2013 18:52

Sounds to me like it would be best used as parts unless the problem can be fixed.

dclegg

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Reply # 891478 7-Sep-2013 21:54

alasta: Sounds to me like it would be best used as parts unless the problem can be fixed.

Yeah, quite possibly. Be interested to see what people would be prepared to pay if that ends up being the case.

dclegg

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Reply # 904145 28-Sep-2013 13:40

I have decided to chance my arm on TradeMe. I've been more than transparent with its condition, and with the low reserve I think could still be a pretty worthwhile purchase.

I have not been able to reproduce the crash since performing a factory restore (which includes a downgrade to Snow Leopard), but there are no guarantees it won't happen again.

dclegg

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Reply # 904347 28-Sep-2013 22:33

Sold for $400. So I guess that answers that question. I may have been able to get more than that, but I'm not sure I'd have felt happy taking more, considering its condition.

jarledb

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Reply # 904365 28-Sep-2013 23:40

Sounds like someone just wasted $400. My brother just got the same exact problem fixed (Luckily on warranty). The solution was to change the motherboard. Thats would be at least $1200 + work from what I understand.

So $1600 for a 2010 MBP?! Well done getting rid of it..

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d3Xt3r

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Reply # 904371 29-Sep-2013 00:26

jarledb: Sounds like someone just wasted $400. My brother just got the same exact problem fixed (Luckily on warranty). The solution was to change the motherboard. Thats would be at least $1200 + work from what I understand.

So $1600 for a 2010 MBP?! Well done getting rid of it..

Not really.. you can easily buy a 2010 MBP board for around $250 off eBay and fix it yourself, so $650 is not a bad deal at all.

dclegg

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Reply # 904397 29-Sep-2013 09:01

jarledb: Sounds like someone just wasted $400. My brother just got the same exact problem fixed (Luckily on warranty). The solution was to change the motherboard. Thats would be at least $1200 + work from what I understand.

So $1600 for a 2010 MBP?! Well done getting rid of it..

I know of someone else who was charged $2000 (all up) to have his 2010 MBP fixed, so fixing and selling it wasn't an option for me.

But I was more than upfront about the problem, and if it does only affect OSX Lion and above (as reported in various sources), the buyer may actually be OK if they stick with Snow Leopard on it. I was unable to reproduce the issue after installing Snow Leopard. But that in itself doesn't necessarily prove the problem has been completely solved.

jarledb

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Reply # 905056 30-Sep-2013 13:12

d3Xt3r:

Not really.. you can easily buy a 2010 MBP board for around $250 off eBay and fix it yourself, so $650 is not a bad deal at all.

And thats an unused board, or one that has been taken from one of the faulty GPU motherboards? ;)

If its a good healthy motherboard then that would be a good price for a 2010 MBP, I agree.

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jarledb

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Reply # 905057 30-Sep-2013 13:13

dclegg:
I know of someone else who was charged $2000 (all up) to have his 2010 MBP fixed, so fixing and selling it wasn't an option for me.

But I was more than upfront about the problem, and if it does only affect OSX Lion and above (as reported in various sources), the buyer may actually be OK if they stick with Snow Leopard on it. I was unable to reproduce the issue after installing Snow Leopard. But that in itself doesn't necessarily prove the problem has been completely solved.

Good on you. Not everyone is as honest about things they sell.

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d3Xt3r

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Reply # 905058 30-Sep-2013 13:14

jarledb:
d3Xt3r:

Not really.. you can easily buy a 2010 MBP board for around $250 off eBay and fix it yourself, so $650 is not a bad deal at all.

And thats an unused board, or one that has been taken from one of the faulty GPU motherboards? ;)

If its a good healthy motherboard then that would be a good price for a 2010 MBP, I agree.

Yes, it's a healthy board.

Most of the retail Apple repair stores are a ripoff..

but $2000? Damn. Perhaps I should quit my job and open an Apple repair business myself...

dclegg

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Reply # 905059 30-Sep-2013 13:16

jarledb:

Good on you. Not everyone is as honest about things they sell.

I was actually so worried about the crashes, that I seriously questioned whether I should be selling it at all. But I figured I would be as honest as possible about its condition, and then any potential buyers could make up their own minds.