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My iBook is blowing: repair advice needed (DIY?!)


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My iBook is blowing: repair advice needed (DIY?!)
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Dorian Gray
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2006-07-27, 09:21

Hi everyone,

My 12-inch iBook has had a tough life that no iBook should have to experience, but until a couple of months ago it soldiered on bravely with nary a complaint. But then I had some intermittent charging problems (nothing to do with the battery) and a few sudden shut-downs. A couple of days ago I had another shut-down but this time it wouldn't boot. Instead the fan blows wildly, and the hard disk/screen/backlight do nothing. The fan blows merrily until the battery is pulled (holding the power button does not shut it down).

I took my sick iBook to the Apple Store at Oxford Circus and a Genius somehow managed to get it booted after ten minutes of fiddling with the power cable/power-in socket. I'm convinced this was luck because it died again a few minutes later and I haven't been able to boot it again despite the usual remedies. The Genius really seemed to know what he was talking about and confidently diagnosed a shot DC in-board (he also suggested nothing much else could go wrong with my iBook, hard disk excepted, so repair seems sensible). The DC in-board costs only £20 but labour is about £75 and takes 7-10 days.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had this happen to their Apple notebook, and does this diagnosis sound reasonable?

2. Is it possible to buy a DC in-board online (I'm in the UK)?

3. If the answer to question 2 is yes, is there any reason I shouldn't do the surgery myself and save £75? I remember hearing about a site with repair instructions for Apple computers, but I can't for the life of me find it now (it's probably in my iBook's bookmarks).

PS. It's been at least three weeks since I touched a Windows computer and I had already forgot how clunky this OS is! Please, please let the Apple doomsayers be wrong forever more.
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Windowsrookie
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Minnesota
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2006-07-27, 10:15

http://ifixit.com But opening your iBook will void any warranty.
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Dorian Gray
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2006-07-27, 10:29

Ta, windowsrookie. If my two-year-old iBook still had a warranty it would currently be in the Apple Store getting fixed for free! I'd like to think I'm pretty handy at messing around with the internals of gadgets, and this procedure doesn't look too bad. I think I'll give it a try if I can find a source, online or otherwise, for the part. Any help in that direction much appreciated.
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Windowsrookie
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Location: Minnesota
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2006-07-27, 10:49

umm, Link above.

Or I'll do it for you. I'm nice like that

http://www.ifixit.com/cart/customer/...67&cat=&page=1
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colivigan
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Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-07-27, 11:22

A little pricey, that one.

Here's a site in the U.K.
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