While I still need to re-install all of my applications, and customize things to my liking, my laptop is back from the shop, and the diagnostic time, and hard drive replacement came with a total bill of zero dollars.

The computer seems to be running fine. I am still hoping at some point to upgrade the RAM to the full 8GB it supports, and potentially swap out the hard drive for an SSD, but neither of those upgrades are critical at this point, and I’m just happy to have it working properly once again.

With this issue, I’ve had lots of people ask, “would you buy a MacBook Pro again?”

Unfortunately, I can’t really answer that as of yet. Component failures like I experience happen all the time. I am happy that it was early on into its life cycle, and easily resolved at zero personal cost. The machine still feels far more durable in its shell than anything else I’ve put my hands on over the last few weeks at various computer shops.

I am still not a fan of the trackpad, despite being the industry best, and as such, I put a mouse on my Christmas wish list.

Could I have done my job from a much cheaper machine? Sure, but knowing that I was going to be moving from place to place, I think I made a good decision buying something that felt tough, durable and safe.

Most laptops on the market today can’t really handle being a daily use laptop that you bump around, carry with you, and potentially let slip and fall. I feel like the durability of laptops has taken a huge hit in the last few years, and it is a real shame as manufacturers try to compete on raw specs and price.

At the end of the day, I’m just glad to have a laptop once again, so I’m not tying up other people’s computers.