wednesday_10_00 | of course this happens right after I spend a crapton of money on new games

The battery on my laptop is not charging. It works fine when plugged in, but I can't take it away from a power source. I did some google research, and I guess it's either a bum battery or bum connection to the battery. A new battery is ~$120. Not sure how much fixing the connection would be, but posts I saw on the topic suggested it's best to go with a flat "refurbish" rate, which means for ~$250, Apple will just replace any parts on the laptop (logic board, battery, etc) that need it.

However, my laptop is going on five years old, so I'm wondering if I should pay to have it fixed, or just replace it? I'm eyeing a refurbished MacBook Pro for $1200 that's looking pretty attractive right now.

The problem with either option is that my current "new computer fund" is a whopping $0.00. (I just knew that was going to bite me in the butt soon.) Either way I'm going to be stuck with my bum laptop for a while, so I guess I'll have some time to consider my options, but I'm curious what others would do in my position.

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Aw, crap, bad timing!

I had to make this decision last Xmas, when my PC laptop was doing the same thing (refusing to charge the battery). I did try buying a new battery, which, Murphy-like, did not work, proving that the problem was not with the battery itself. At that point, I decided to just suck it up and buy a new laptop, and fortunately there was a good sale on Woot (I got a pretty nice new laptop for $600). That laptop had other issues that made it easy for me to let go.

How do you feel about the functionality of the computer? If Apple will really replace anything that's not working for $250 (sounds like a deal!!) and you're otherwise happy with the computer, you could do that and get at least another year out of it. If you feel like you've outgrown the computer and using it is just frustrating you, then replacing it is a better bet.

Sympathies on the empty computer fund (eyes completely empty car fund with +220,000 miles on car). Did I mention the time last spring when I tipped a water bottle over on my Macbook Pro and had to replace it, when the computer was barely a year old? Yeah, that was not a good time. It wasn't a good YEAR.

How do you feel about the functionality of the computer?

Not that great, honestly. It's starting to get really sluggish and I'm constantly fighting the "almost full hard drive" battle. (It's a 250G hard drive and I think 2G memory?)

I'm looking at Apple's offer for 18 months with no interest and thinking I might just go ahead and get it.

Did I mention the time last spring when I tipped a water bottle over on my Macbook Pro and had to replace it, when the computer was barely a year old?

Not that I remember. Ugh, that's the worst. :(

The financing deal sounds good!

God, such an awful year. That was part of the reason I stopped posting much -- it was nothing life-ending, but just non-stop "I don't want to talk about it" suckage. I remember the computer incident because there was so much else going wrong at the time that all I did was mutter swear words, go to the Apple Store and slap my credit card down. I have spent more angst on choosing a flavor of toothpaste.

Anyway, good luck making a decision and I hope you get a nice new computer out of it!

Ugh, I'm sorry you had so much sucky stuff. :/ Just for future reference (though I hope you never have to do this), if you ever spill water on your laptop again, I've heard that sticking it in rice can make it come back to life. You just have to be sure to not turn it back on until it's COMPLETELY dry or the water will fry the computer.

I had a battery problem on my MBP for months (before the graphic card died, a completely separate issue): it would charge, but it shut down if the charge ever dipped below 90%, so I couldn't use it unplugged.

Anyway, I would buy new (or refurb-new, in this case).

Yeah, I'm leaning toward replacing this computer. I wish the education pricing deal was good on the refurbished Macs; as it is the discount is kind of a wash compared to the refurbished prices. Though it would come with a $100 gift card, so I wonder if it's better to go that route, rather than refurbished.

As I said to Sara, there's 18 month no interest financing available, which is looking pretty tempting to me right now.

Just noticing:

right after I spend a craptop of money on new games

Craptop...

Haha! I guess that's what my laptop turned into, right? A craptop?

of course this happens right after I spend a crapton of money on new games

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