Out of warranty Macbook Pro given a new life!

My Problem

I sent my machine to Apple for a free out of warranty logic board replacement and while in their care, they broke the left IO board! Because it was sent in initially for "display issues" (lines through the screen), they considered this a pre-existing condition and it was going to cost me over $300 to fix! Someone call Obama.

My Fix

The repair went smoothly. The board from iFixit came quickly and the instructions were very helpful and clear. After about 20 minutes (I've done this before), my machine was good as new! Well, good as it was before anyway.

My Advice

If you have a display that won't light up on a Macbook Pro from 2008, don't immediately assume the LED driver board is dead. That repair takes a bit longer and disassembling the display is dicey even with good instructions. If at all possible, swap the display into another Macbook Pro to see if it really went bad. It might be just be fine. If it is, then the left IO board is the real culprit.

Oh, and when reattaching the screws on the express card stage, there are 4 screws of 3 different sizes. Be absolutely certain each is in its right place.