Macbook Pro won't boot up, dim light. Apple still repairing for free?

My Macbook Pro (Intel, 4GB Ram, 500GB Hard Drive) died last night. We turned it off, shut the lid, and next time we came to power-up there was no chime and a blank screen. The power light on the front stays dim (goes brighter if the lid is shut), and no combination of starting it with/without the battery, holding on to the power button, or depressing Ctrl, Option Apple will work.
From reading around this sounds like the faulty NIVDIA card issue whick Apple keeps extending people's warranties to replace. But what are users' experiences of getting this repair done for free? It looks about 50/50 on other communities.
Also, some users have found that taking and re-installing the RAM seems to work. Should I explore this route before taking it to the Geniuses?

This is a user forum so the best anyone here can offer is to take it to an Apple store or AASP.

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