Today, I was setting something down and I knocked over my friend’s glass of water all over his macbook. He ninja’d the battery out and drained the water and let it dry for 2 hours (I thought he should have waited a couple days, but he said the damage was already done). It’s not turning on. All that happens is the light glows when he plugs it in.
Anyway, I “offered” to pay for repairs :eek:. He’s going to take his laptop to a couple places tomorrow to get it checked out but the outlook is grim. It will probably need replacing. But here’s the thing, I don’t know what exactly I owe him.
My first inclination is to buy him a new computer. Of course, his computer is 2 years old and not worth $2300 anymore (which is how much he said it cost him and they are apparently the same price now – strange considering it’s not even a MacBook Pro, but he’s an honest guy and I don’t think he’s trying to cheat me, so let’s assume he’s not). He had a perfectly good computer and I ruined it, so he shouldn’t have to pay dime to get another perfectly good computer.
On the other hand, since the computer was a Mac, I can only replace it with another Mac. But the computer was two years old and not worth the same amount of money as a brand new computer. If it were a PC, I could just buy a computer of the same brand with 2-year-old specs and it would cost less money; if he were to try to sell the macbook when it was still running he would probably get, I dunno 500-700$. So is it fair for him to expect me to pay more than his computer is worth just so he can get that same Apple experience? My friend pointed out that it’s not my fault that he bought a computer from a company that doesn’t lower their prices after 2 years…
But it is my fault for spilling the water.
And, naturally, I can’t afford repairs/replacement either way.
First of all, they haven’t lowered their prices because they’re still selling new products.
Second, It’s your personal responsibility to replace an item you’ve damaged. To what extent you believe it’s your responsibility varies on the situation, and individual. I’d say you owe him a new computer of the same specs, buy him one used if you need to. After all, the one you broke was used.
You don’t need to get him a new computer, you need to get him a replacement computer. Go to www.ebay.com or www.google.com and find a comparable one, buy it, and give it to him. If you have to spend more than market value in order to get him a replacement for what you broke – so be it.
No, it’s not your fault that he purchased a computer from an expensive company – it is, however, your fault you broke it, and you are ruining that experience (whether real or imagined). So now, it’s your responsibility to get his experience back for him.
Apple often sells refurbished computers on their website, some of which may be previous models. It will still probably be more expensive than the true value, but not as bad as buying new, and it comes with a full warranty.
I don’t think you’re obligated to buy him a brand new computer. I think he’s taking advantage of you a little if he insists on it. If he insists you buying the brand new, big fancy model you can’t afford, then he’s taking advantage of you a lot. Yeah you’re his friend and you want to make this right. But as your friend, he should want to make this easy on you.
I think you and he together should take the computer to the Apple store and let the Geniuses look at it. That’s what they’re there for.
You’re not the first person to dumb a glass of water on a laptop. I’m sure the Apple store people have seen it before. It might just need that the keyboard needs replaced. If it’s really dead then I agree that a refurb bought direct from apple is a fair replacement.
Another vote on a refurb, it won’t be as cheap as buying secondhand, but it’s peace of mind that the laptop is in good condition and if I remember rightly, you still get a period of cover from Apple.
Does your friend not have contents insurance?
I’m not sure about this - I think macbooks hold their value better than pc laptops.
I think that’s less true as Mac prices have become more reasonable & the refurbs have become popular. A brand new Macbook (not a Macbook pro) is only $1000. A refurb basic Macbook is $850. Why pay more than $700 for a second hand model that hasn’t been refurbished?
The OP said the original laptop cost $2,300. That indicates to me that a lot of its specs were beefed up - a bigger harddrive, better graphics card, etc. My experience is that those things hold their value a lot better than just a bottom end model.
Is that $2,300 in U.S. dollars? Because if it’s not a MacBook Pro, it would be really, really hard to make a MacBook cost $2,300, unless he installed an SSD in it or something.
I agree with the refurbished model, and see if he’ll level with you a bit on what’s going on. Shit happens from time to time, and I think you have the right mindset with this situation.
I’d say you technically owe him a used computer of comparable age and specifications, as well as the cost of recovering the data from the old computer (unless one of you knows how to do that yourself).
As friends, I would say it would be nice of you to maybe give him just a little more than what he deserves…and as your friend, he should be nice enough not to try to get you to buy him a brand new one.
If he’s worried about the reliability of a used computer, you could always offer him a guarantee of sorts—if the replacement fails within a certain amount of time, you’ll replace it again.
Also, I would try your BEST to avoid a lawyer-type argument of technicalities, what you really owe him legally, what a judge or jury would say, et cetera. Just try to arrive at something that’s fair.
The Macbook -is- the bottom end model. There’s not much beefing up you can do with it, even two years ago. A slightly bigger hard drive & a choice of 1gb or 2gb of RAM were the only options. Wikipedia lists the specs from 2008 and also the current specs for comparison.
Anyone who would pay top dollar for a second hand 2008 Macbook is nuts. Which, of course, doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t do it. But if I were the OP I wouldn’t pay much over $500 for it, since at least with the refurb it’s been reconditioned and has a warranty.
Unless of course he’s really talking about a Macbook Pro. Then it would vary, I guess. Like SanibelMan, I think it’s pretty unlikely that a basic Macbook cost $2300. Maybe he’s thinking about the price including software or something.
That $2300 figure sounds fishy to me as well. A brand-new Macbook with all the top options plus the Applecare warranty would be $1498 equipped as follows:
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
Keyboard (English) & User’s Guide (English)
SuperDrive 8x DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW
MacBook / MacBook Air / 13-inch MacBook Pro - AppleCare Protection Plan - Auto-enroll
A 17-inch Macbook Pro OTOH starts at $2299.
causticsubstance we need more specific info about your friend’s computer.
It’s definitely a regular MacBook. It’s all black and says MacBook [sans “Pro”]. He said he beefed it up with a Terrabyte of memory, extra ram and a new video card for $500, but he wouldn’t expect me to replace the cost of that. I don’t know where he got the $2300 estimate but he’s a good guy. Luckily, he backed up the day before the spill. I believe it’s a 13" model.
In response to Chris Luongo regarding buying a used laptop on eBay, I really can’t personally guarantee a used laptop with my own money. I’m a recent college grad and I have about $3,000 to my name. If/when I repaid him for the new laptop, I would undoubtedly have to do it in installments or else take out a loan, move out-of-state to live with my parents or become a stripper or something. But you’re right about not wanting to argue technicalities. I knocked over the glass and I’m not trying to get out of repaying what I owe and not making him feel bad/guilty about getting back what he lost.
It seems that a brand new MacBook is $950 if I can finagle a student discount. A refurb is $850 :rolleyes:. I think the issue here is that there is no “fair” trade. One of us is gonna get screwed over because I can (and I use that “can” loosely) give him the market value of a used computer with similar specs (my Sony has similar specs and I would be lucky to sell it used for $300. I could even buy a brand new Vaio with slightly better specs for less than $500) , or I could give the market value of a used MacBook. But I assume he is set on a new MacBook and would have to spend a couple hundred more to be satisfied. The only way I can come close to replacing the laptop is to get him something way better than his old computer: brand new computer (though possibly refurbished), worth way more, with a new 2 year warranty, etc.
Considering you’re replacing a 2-year-old model, perhaps you can work it out with him that you just push him like $600 or so towards a new one if you don’t want to or can’t pony up the full amount. He’d be getting a brand new (or mostly brand new) computer for essentially $200-300. That seems fair to me; I’d take that deal in a heartbeat. And provided they’re not damaged he should be able to rescue the memory, ram, and video card from the ruined computer and just pop them in the new one easy.
I don’t think you’re screwing him at all by buying the $850 refurb even if he has his heart set on a new one. If he was really a good guy, he wouldn’t want to put you in any more debt than was absolutely necessary. And like DCnDC says, his extra components are probably still usable.
I still think you should take it to the Apple repair guys and see what they have to say about it. Honestly, his original computer might well be salvageable. You’re not obligated to buy him a brand new computer if his old one is fixable.
I’m calling BS. You can’t even get a 1TB HD in a MacBook TODAY. If he had 1TB, he did it himself, which is relatively cheap (maybe not in 2008, but it’s not 2008 now is it?).
Furthermore, you can’t upgrade the video card in a MacBook. It’s an integrated chip.
RAM is cheap today. Even through Apple (expensive!) maxing out a MacBook only costs an extra 100.00, again, do it yourself is cheaper.
Now the Black MacBook is a bit more of an issue, I believe the Black cover cost more (something like 200 bucks), but it serves no purpose other than color.
I don’t think so either, but I feel like I may be getting the undeservedly short end of the stick here. Refurbished, yes, but he’s still getting a practically new computer with a full warranty, which he did not have before. I mean, if I could afford it, great. Have two and throw one out the window. But as it is now, I don’t have the means to err on the side of generosity. It’d be a struggle to just be fair, frankly.
As far as the impossible components issue, that’s interesting. He does seem like the type who would possibly take his computer to the locally owned Apple Tech store to get things put in, though he himself is not a computer-buildy kind of guy. Getting $1000+ of work done on a $1000 computer is kind of far-fetched though. On the other hand, did he really think I wouldn’t look up how much a MacBook costs after pouring water all over his and volunteering to pay up?
The giving him money and having him choose whether or not he gets a new computer seems fair to me, though I don’t know how to bring it up to him without feeling stingy (I wouldn’t want to buy a used laptop. It’s basically asking him to pony up a couple hundred.) How much is fair?
He is taking his computer a couple places today to get estimates. We’ll see what he comes up with. Thanks for the help so far.
IMO: Get the exact model number and specs. Find out what an identical system sells for on eBay (“watch” several listings and find out what they actually sell for), and offer that amount in cash.