Replacing screen

Hi rsherid,

Odd... I lived in NJ for 25+ years and they have several locations in my area and I've never heard of them. I see no mention anywhere on their site or Apple's site that they're an Authorized Service Center so they've most likely shipped it out. Did they give you any indication as to where it was going? Apple charges a whole lot more for a screen replacement than $179 so it's unlikely that it'd be going through them at a fraction of the cost.

Regarding the DIY, it's not a simple repair like a HD. Replacing the screen requires a fair amount of disassembly and a steady hand for the bezel clips. The first few times I did screen replacements I always would break/lose one and once I pinched the inverter cable (no backlight as a result). Unless you were confident in the replacement, paying to have it done was probably the smarter decision.

Also, if you dropped it off on the 28th (Friday) you have to figure that it probably didn't ship until the 31st. At a minimum (2 weeks) you're looking at getting it back on the 14th. Add into the equation of the Labor Day Weekend and how that may bring delays in service, I don't know if a "2 to 4" week quote translates into you getting it back for the 12th. Any particular reason why, if you knew you needed it on the 12th that you dropped it off on the 28th and agreed to the 2-4 week turnaround?

Call them... that's your best bet. They (Micro Center) and only them can answer the question as far as a turn around.

Hi rsherid,

I think calling them to get an update is reasonable. It seems odd that they'd hold onto your machine for 5 days only to ultimately ship the machine out for service. I'd have to believe that they would know if they were able to fix it right away or not. Does the unit still have AppleCare on it (I realize AppleCare doesn't cover this). Reason I ask... because if it does and a service like this is not performed by an Apple Authorized Service Provider then you run the risk of voiding your AppleCare on the unit if a problem arises as a result of the service.

I took my macbook to a genius bar because some pixels were dead.

and they told me they would ship it off... now they didn't end up doing that and they replaced the display there. Got my macbook 2days later.

My screen doesn't look the same...
When I am looking at it directly in front of me it looks clear, normal.
But when I move my head a little to the left, right or up. I see a lot of little dots. Like small pixel dots put together. This only happens at an angle. I told the technician about it and he said it's normal and didn't care.. It's annoying but I'm getting used to it..

U think this normal?
Make sure when u replace ur screen to tell me if it was same as before, (ex. no lil dots like mine)

Hi rsherid,

Gotcha. Well in this case, unfortunately, AppleCare wouldn't have been applicable for a damaged screen. So you certainly did the right thing. A screen replacement via an Apple Retail Store would have cost you almost $800 (Tier 4, out-of-warranty repair). I do know several Apple Authorized Service Providers (at least in my area) that will do screen replacements for about $300 with 2 day turn around service. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that the service is performed properly the first time. The 2-4 week "repair time" is odd, though. Any update when you called them?

Hi rsherid,

I did some digging for On Call and I was able to find two things, one of which was a place in Chicago and the other was a series of YouTube videos. I'm unsure if this is where you machine was sent out to or what's going on. As the places appear to have different logos it's unlikely that they're the same place.

I certainly understand the diagnostic portion, but that's a couple of hours (max). When I use to service Apple products, there was a series of diagnostics that I would have to perform on every machine, regardless of the issue. This was to ensure that no new issues cropped up as a result of my service on the machine. But typically a cracked screen is pretty cut and dry, unless they're finding issues with the bezel, inverter or something else.

http://www.classifiedads.com/tech_services-ad1908401.htm

http://www.youtube.com/user/oncall258

I figure it's unlikely that Micro will let you call the vendor (I can't imagine they would) and I've yet to hear of place that allows you to post pay for expedited service on something.