The Joys of Being Out of Warranty.
After finding out today that my iMac would cost more to fix than it was worth, I decided to do a self-build. With the help of Newegg, I just purchased a computer’s worth of components for about as much as Apple was going to charge me to fix my fried logic board. What’s a logic board, you ask? Well, it’s a hip way to say motherboard.
I still love OS X, but it wasn’t worth it to fix my two year old computer when I could build a much better computer for the same price. At least I have my MacBook to get my OS X fix. I am excited to check out Windows 7, though, and very excited to do some PC gaming again. I didn’t exactly miss all the cheap PC gaming to be had, but it’s definitely going to be refreshing.
Apple also quoted me a price for a new graphics card, in case it wasn’t the logic board. How much, you ask? Why, only around $540 including labor. For comparison, I picked up a mid-range DirectX 11 card tonight for $169, and it is MUCH BETTER (and a couple years newer) than the nVidia GeForce8800 that I would be getting with the Apple repair. Ridiculous? I think so.
There is a lesson to be learned here. If you enjoy Apple products, as I do, then take this to heart: If you don’t have AppleCare and you are still eligible, now might be a good time to pick it up. It will cost you less than a logic board failure (~$750, out of warranty).
