A few weeks ago, I was out with some friends when a powerful thunderstorm rolled through downtown Austin. I remembered that my MacBook Pro was on in it's
BookArc cradle, but I wasn't concerned about a surge because the power cord was plugged into a surge protector.
This was a huge mistake.
I had completely forgotten that the MacBook was plugged into an ethernet cable which was plugged into a U-Verse router. When I came home, the gf informed me that there had been several lightning strikes around the building and that the office room had lost power. I checked on the MacBook. It seemed ok. And it was ok, until the next afternoon.
Over the next day, the MacBook began to have trouble accepting a charge. The immediate effect was that I could no longer use the large monitor (it can only run off a MacBook which is plugged in). Very quickly, however, the MacBook stopped charging if the lid was open.
I took the MacBook in to the Apple Store, wherein the problem was quickly diagnosed. The ethernet port was fried, and it had damaged the charging port in the process. The solution: a new logic board. The Apple Store offered to send the MacBook to their repair depot (where the logic board would be replaced for a flat fee), but they didn't offer to back-up data. Instead, they recommended a Time Machine backup.
Backing up to Time Machine took a while with an ailing computer. During this time, I decided to contact a third party Apple support solution. I called
Compuzone on West 5th. For a slightly higher price than the Apple Store, they offered to send my MacBook to the same Apple repair depot (with the same flat fee) as well as back-up my data on their server. Not only did they offer this, but they also gave me an estimate for a faster repair time.
I dropped the MacBook off last Wednesday, and it was in Compuzone this morning. It appears to be working just like it did before the lightning storm. Furthermore, Compuzone is much less crowded than the Apple Store. Overall, it was about as decent of an experience as you can have with computer repair.
Moral of the story: be careful with your MacBook in the event of a storm with intense lightning, and don't forget to run your ethernet cable through a surge protector. Also, keep an old computer around for a spare. I would have been in a lot of trouble without my MacBook had I not kept my old Dell Latitude up to date and connected at
my office.
If you are interested in stopping by Compuzone, they have a store located conveniently at 5th and Lamar (in the Homeaway building).
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