So, following the advice of CB, I took my Mac into the Apple store. Holy cow, what a difference!

I took my laptop into the Apple store at Fashion Place mall. At first, I was a bit shocked that it would take me about two hours to just to talk to a technician, but I sucked it up and waited (had to move an appointment twice). Having said that, the wait was worth it.

After briefly explaining the issue with the technician, he thought it was a bad GPU (which I pretty much already knew), and if it was, it meant the entire controller board would have to be replaced. He hooked up a testing unit, and right after it started he said the colors weren't right, and in less than a minute the test failed on graphic errors (which was a good thing). The test returned a special code that he didn't know what it was, so he had to go look it up. When he returned, he informed me that the special code indicated that that specific problem was covered by a special extended warranty. Bingo! The repair would be free.

That was on a Wednesday, and the tech said it would be 3-5 business days before my computer would be returned (they ship all their repairs offsite). On Friday, I'm sitting in a park and I get an email saying my laptop was back and fixed. So, the next morning, I go and pick it up, and I'm given even more surprises. About two and a half years ago, my computer fell out of my bag and dropped on its corner. A little damage, but nothing too big. The service center replaced the lower case--no charge. Also, I've been telling my business partner for a few months that I need to replace the battery. Replaced, again no charge.

As I was preparing to leave, I needed to sign the paper showing I took it, etc... Well, I saw the invoice for the original repair. The controller board was $210 and the labor was $100--which had been extended out to 0$ for each item. That bothered me, not on Apple's account, but on Simply Mac's account. The Simply Mac tech had told me that a new controller board would be around $700.

The Apple store and service center gets an A++ for their service and resolution. Even if I had had to pay for the repair from them, I still would have been very satisfied. Simply Mac has lost me for good.