Backup dead macbook pro before sending in?

Hi, so I sadly have a dead MBP that shows a blank screen when turned on, and instead the sleep light turns on, and no hard drive spinning either. Tried the PRAM and SMC reset and other suggestions like removing the RAM, holding power button for 10 secs etc. I think/hope it's the Nvidia logic board issue.
Now how do I back up everything in my hard drive first before handing it over to Apple repair? I was thinking of removing the hard drive, putting it in a 2.5" casing and connecting it via USB to another Mac, and then...Time Machine it (is this possible)? Then I was thinking of wiping the drive before putting it back into my MBP.
Any input much appreciated.

You could try booting the display-less MBP in Firewire Target Disk Mode, which would allow you to mount the MBP's HDD as an external drive on another Mac, copy the data from it, and erase it if desired.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

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