2006 MacBook Pro

Question

So my 2.33 late 2006 MBP recently started displaying jagged artifacts on startup, and i've narrowed the problem down to the ATI X1600 graphics card, or something related to that in the logic board. Obviously, the machine is far out of warranty, but a couple years ago I had had similar problems (first started with endless "USB Over Current" warnings), and in November 2011 I took it to the store. After sending it away and paying my $300, I got the machine back, working beautifully. The only problem was that the "USB Over Current" notice still kept popping up, which I suspected was related to the logic board. Now, Apple had replaced quite a few parts; optical drive, HD, etc. But the original reason I brought it in was because of the logic board/video card problem. And since I can't see the repair history on my apple account, I'm not sure whether the logic board was replaced. Part of the deal is that if there's no customer fault, Apple will replace everything that is broken. But it seems to me that Apple either failed to replace the most important part, or did so but completely failed to fix the problem. I knew my optical drive and HD were both close to needing replacement, and both of those are repairs I can do. The logic board is the one thing I most definitely couldn't do, and their repair didn't fix the problem. Now my video card is cooked, and there's no way I can afford a new computer. My question is, is this something worth bringing in to the store and explaining? I'm aware that after a certain point Apple stops supporting legacy macs, but the repair was less than 2 years ago! Any ideas?
And despite the fact that it sounds like I'm complaining, i love this computer and have been absolutely thrilled with it since I bought it!
As long as Apple keeps making machines like this I will sing their praises and recommend them to anyone that asks.

Answer 1

The repairs that Apple made on your MBP are warranted for a given period of time and if they were done about two years ago, I am certain that the warranty on that has expired ( I believe repair warranty's are 90 days).
You may bring your MBP to an Apple store for a free evaluation but be prepared to have them refuse to do any repairs on your MBP due to its age.  You may have to seek other repair facilities to rectify the problem or look for parts on the Internet and do it yourself.  (iFixit.com, Powerbookmedic.co,).
Ciao.