Once again, thanks for your comments.
Just to confirm, the MacBook Pro was purchased in August 2007, so is slightly over 2 years old.
It was interesting to read the comments about the possibility of chafed wires.
I had wondered if it was a progessive failure due to dirt or failure of a wire or contact - particularly as the symptom of the Mac not waking up has been present for a few weeks. It may just be coincidence that a component has failed OR it could indeed be the chafed wire. The MacBook has been turned on and off regularly and the screeen opened and shut many times - the computer being used on a daily basis as a 'laptop' rather than a 'desktop'.
I'll try and connect the machine to an external monitor before I go any further, as you suggest, and that should at least isolate one problem (Let's hope the monitor works?!).
Still on the car theme (well nearly) - a training captain whom I met a few years ago complained that he was experiencing vibration on his newly purchased motorbike. He wrote to the supplier and bitterly complained that he expected more from the bike and that this fault was unacceptable - he added that the vibration only occurred above 150mph!
KR
FOK
