Dropped Macbook Pro 15, no visible damage, things to look for?

I was running to the bus when I tripped and fell in the mud. Unfortunately for me, while I was running I had my backpack with my macbook pro in it. The macbook pro was in a neoprene sleeve that was in a padded laptop compartment in the back pack. I think I landed on the back pack however, so I'm kind of worried. So far the macbook pro seems to be fine, it booted up in like 30 seconds, and there is no visible damage.

Are there any things I need to worry about and/or look for?

Also I'm just kind of paranoid because its a $1700 laptop, and my last laptop was $450 so you can understand why I want to make sure everything is fine.

I'm only in warranty for the first year as well.

 

If it's on a flat surface and it's not wobbling, it should be fine. Check all your ports.
Other than that, it should be fine.

 

no dents or dings on the body or cracks in the screen.. you are probably fine. Possible the hard drive got screwed up and might not show up for a little bit. Make sure you have things backed up extra good for awhile.

 

This would come under accidental damage - so wouldnt be covered by warranty anyways.
If its working Ok for now, Im sure you'll be fine. The main thing would be the shock to the HDD, but since you say its booting and working fine I dont think you have any need to worry.

 

Yeah there is no external damage at all, I was just worried about it in general if there was any hidden damage or something like that, or if the hard drive would become slower.

 

I'd recommend getting 3 year warranty, Unless you want to replace it if something does go wrong after the first year. Mac's are extremely expensive to repair.

But if it's working fine, I wouldn't worry about anything. If it was off the hard drive should be fine.

 

Spotlight > 'disk utility'

This tool will let you check the SMART attributes of the drive to ensure that its OK.

 

i would be concerned about the hard drive.

 

Which doesn't cover accidental damage such as drops and falls.

 

if every thing appears fine, then it's good. The only thing you should be worried of is the hdd. Even if it was bent or the screen was cracked, it would not have been covered under apple care.

 

These notebooks are pretty resilient. My gf dropped it countless times. There are dings around it. But it's still pretty solid.

Don't forget to backup regularly.

 

I know. It is still recommended to get the 3 year warranty.

 

Personally I'd recommend taking out an extra policy through your home insurance, or another company that covers accidental damage since Apple Care doesn't. There's a larger percentage of accidental damage compared to faulty equipment.

 

+1 as Macs are damn expensive to repair when accidentally damaged..

 

Well, they usually don't cover any manufacture defect. So then you would be out of luck. Unless some one stole it out it was drowned in a lake. He would also be out of luck for any minor problems.

 

Most insurance companies will let you take out an additional policy on specific items such as computers or other items of high value. I personally have a zero deductible policy which costs me an extra $50/year. If ANYTHING happens to it, all I need to do is take it to an Apple store to get a repair/replacement quote, and then provide that to my insurance company.

 

Similar thing happened to me with my macbook. What happens if it is wobbling?

 

One of two things:

1. Your surface isn't really flat (obvious, I know, but lots of wood etc isn't).

2. Assuming it's just a little or tiny movement, one of the corners got bent just enough in the impact to move the rubber foot up/down. Still no big deal, and this will not impact the internal electronics, but the wobble might get annoying.

 

Thanks, that makes me feel better. I've inspected my computer a few times (trust me, I've never been this compulsive about a computer until I bought a mac) and it seems like there is a little bulge where the battery is. It seems like my computer is too new (5 months) to have battery problems. IDK. I'm nervous to take it into Apple because I believe they void the warranty if there is accidental damage.

 

Warranty coverage is void for any components damaged by the accident. Component failure (hdd, ram, battery) that is not due to physical impact is still under warranty for the duration.

Apple doesn't void the entire system warranty because of something more limited. If you are concerned about the battery, take it in for review.

 

OMG! A girl on a computer tech site j/k .

Well, my opinion is that it is better to find out the warranty is void sooner than later.

 

Macgirl32,

if you are concerned about the battery, open the back of the case and do a quick visual inspection.

Some of the much older macbooks had battery failures that would cause them to balloon and deform the case, but I've not heard of anything like that in the newer generation of Macbook laptop batteries. I'm sure yours is fine but open it up to take a look and calm your nervousness about it.

My laptop took a serious tumble and it dented the corners bad enough for me to decide on replacing the case. The internals were fine. If my laptop could survive and still works great then I'm sure yours is still fine too. I take regular backups though, just incase the HDDs decide to quit. That is good practice regardless.