Macbook 13.3 white, the screen goes off and only comes on when screen moved

Question

Hi.
I have the macbook 13.3 in white, early 2009 model. The screen keeps going off and the only way I can get it back on is to move the screen back and forth. By the looks of things this is a common problem and it's usually related to a cable between the screen and the logic board.
My question is, how easy is it to open the mac up and get to this cable to re-connect it properly?
Or do Apple repair this FOC due to it being a popular problem?
Thanks
Mark

Answer 1

My girlfriend has a white macbook that is just over the year warranty.  We were going to get the Apple care, but forgot as we got the computer at Best Buy and didn't expect to have problems.  I've always previously been a PC guy and had never had problems with my Dells. They all still run and work perfectly but are just obsolete in many ways.
I'm very disappointed with the Macbook.  The screen freezes and fades to white and you have to move the screen to get it to work.  The computer is still running fine, it just seems like a connection to the screen that is the problem.  I brought it to the "genius bar" and they went down and opened up the computer.  When I got it back they advised it might be the cable for the screen or the screen itself.  He went on to say Apple will not just fix that problem, the only option is to have Apple do a $470 (I believe that's what I was quoted) warrantied overhaul of the entire machine.  They don't just fix the problem, they go through the whole machine for $470 and its warrantied.  He said a computer repair shop could probably fix the problem cheaper.  My problem is that this was a fairly expensive machine that is barely over a year old and its having a problem that it seems many people are having and their only solution is to spend half the money of a new one to fix something as small as a cable that is definitely their fault.  I do not think the screen needs to be replaced or the logic board as when you pinch the screen and angle it, it works amazingly.  I opened up the machine just to take a look and it seems that the cable for the video goes through the hinge and there is a pleat inside the hinge shaped to contour the outside of the machine when closed that tugs on the cable slightly.  I also saw that there was some missing screws that the "Genius Bar" may not have put back.  They told me they unplugged and inspected the video cable and the computer worked better for a while which leads me even more to believe there is something wrong with the cable and the hinge design.
I think Apple should fix this problem.  This problem that is becoming more and more common and it is definitely a product defect.  We are paying a decent dollar for these products compared with PC laptops out there.  I'd like to see some decent service.  This is not a $470 "one fix fits all" problem for the customer, this is an easy fix for the company to make on faulty products.  It will cost them little and its the right thing to do.  I predict more and more people will be complaining about this problem in the coming year.  They should not be able to profit on this flaw after so recently profiting on the machines.
-JC