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Friday, March 28th 2003 11:17 CDT

How to Calibrate a G4 PowerBook Battery

Apple has posted a Knowledge Base article on calibrating PowerBook G4 batteries so the on-screen power remaining indications and the actual time left in the battery matches up accurately.

MacMice.com Announces iTilt Stand

MacMice.com sent us a press release for their new PowerBook/iBook stand:

The iTilt is the least expensive desk top riser stand on the market. With a wide range of adjustability, stable utility, sturdy construction, and a truly attractive design, the iTilt is set to be one of the most popular accessory products of the year.

The iTilt is constrcucted from specially drawn wire, is coated in specifically selected white silicon rubber, and works well with any recent dual USB iBook, or G4 PowerBook, including the newest 12 and 17-inch versions. Just set your PowerBook or iBook into the iTilt, adjust it where you want it, plug in your keyboard and mouse, and you have the best ergonomic solution available, and at the lowest price.

The MacMice iTilt is available now from the MacMice.com web site for only US$12.99.

Thursday, March 27th 2003 14:17 CDT

12" PowerBook Overheating Responses

We received quite a few responses to our call for confirmation of any vastly abnormal heat levels in the 12" PowerBook:

I have 2 12in pb with dvd burner... no probs at all with high heat... but when doing tons of stuff like rendering in the background and surfing.. etc... it get warm...but not uncomfortable.

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I just bought a Superdrive equipped 12" G4 Powerbook. I must admit that after a week of use that it certainly does get very hot. The area around the power jack becomes too hot to touch and the left palm rest is only slightly cooler. It is something that makes the computer uncomfortable to use in your lap but otherwise it's still an absolutely amazing machine with great speed and beautiful industrial design.

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I don't need to go into too much detail.. The left front side of the PB ie opposite to the battery compartment gets excruciatingly hot, not warm, hot.

I followed some other discussions and let the battery fully charge and discharge a number of time which made little if any difference.

I haven't seen any harm come from this heat but I can't believe it's good for the components in the long term especially the row of ports on that side which feel slightly hotter than the shell.

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My 12" PB gets extremely hot on the left-hand side after 1.5 - 2 hours of use.

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maxed out 12" from apple store with superdrive... sits on my desk all day checking email in my studio and used for billing too... HOT TO THE TOUCH on the upper left and UNTOUCHABLE on the bottom...really unusual... i've had numerous tibooks and none of them were as crispy as this one. called apple yesterday after reading the boards as you did and got the "in spec...normal" routine. i cry b/s! this puppy is way too hot for just sitting there humming away and apple needs to address this pronto! the applecare rep suggested sleeping the screen as often as possible and leaving on the sleep hd when possible option under power management. LAME! i didn't buy this thing ot water it down...cmon apple!

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I've got a standard Combo/40GB/256MB PowerBook 12". It does get pretty WARM around the Hard Disk (left of the trackpad) and just above where the power cord plugs into it (top left). The fan comes on almost all the time on mine, when I'm doing even the least demanding task (E.g. playing iTunes- not visuals, just standard iTunes). I use mine almost exclusively on my desktop, so i'm not sure how the fan affects batter life etc as my battery has never dropped below 90%!!. I'm not surprised at the heat at all. This thing is a lot smaller than the 12" iBook, it had a G4, bigger HD and a better GPU. It's a lean, mean, Sony Vaio-crushing machine and I wouldn't trade it for the world (maybe a 17" though but alas, I can't afford it).

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I purchased two 12" PBs w/ combo drives on Sunday March 16 at the Apple Store in West Farms Mall Connecticut. One is perfect.no heat problems...a gem. The second is another story: first one airport extreme didn't work so they replaced the PB and airport extreme card (Saturday March 22). This unit ran soooo hot (couldn't touch the palm rest without getting burned) and wobbled too. So yesterday Monday March 24 they replaced this PB as well. So last night while configuring this PB it got hot and also wobbles a bit..albeit no as ba as the previous one. I am rustrated and bringing it back for a refund and going to wait for a newer rev or the new 15.4 AlBook. I almost traded it for a 15" TiBook but I hate the keyboard. So going to return it after work.

Speaking of the 12" PowerBook, ZDNet reviewed it today.

Photo Control Announces 12" Docking Station

As expected, Photo Control has announced that they're adding a 12" docking station to their line of similar products for the 15" PowerBook and iBooks. The new dock will be available in May.

Tuesday, March 25th 2003 03:00 CDT

Brenthaven 17" Shouldercase Review

Reader Darren Murph has contributed an extensive review of the Brenthaven 17" Shouldercase offered by the Apple store online and other resellers. We've placed it on its own page and highly recommend the review; we've heard good things about this case and the reader's review bears out those initial impressions.

Significant Heat Problems with 12" PowerBooks?

Reader Ken writes:

What do you think Apple will do with owners of the PB 12" who have machines with extreme heat problems?

Apple still appear to be in denial of this problem. As usual, no official position or policy. Just "unofficial," inconsistent comments from Apple service people. Just a peek at the Apple Support message Boards confirms this.

In fact, I called Thursday night to complain and the tech said "I know they run damn hot...but that's normal." I don't believe it!

Do you think there will be a replacement/repair program or will it result in owners eventually filing a class action law suit?

This is definitely worthy of an mention on your page.

Monday, March 24th 2003 12:34 CDT

Two Reader Reviews of the 17" PowerBook

Reader Edwin sent in his report on the new 17" PowerBook:

Just picked up my 17" powerbook at the King of Prussia Apple Store (Philadelphia, PA) on 3/22. This is without question, the most beautiful machine Apple has ever created (sorry cube fans!).

Formfactor- Somehow, Apple has put a microfine iridescence into the anodized aluminum shell - it almost glitters! Surprisingly, it's not nearly the "ironing board" I had come to expect. I bought an incase leather sleeve for it, and it looks like a normal carrybag in dimension. Also the size makes it a superior machine for lap use. It serves as it's own tablerest for your wrists and forearms and spreads evenly across both thighs.

Keyboard- The keyboard has a very smooth tactile feel to it. The keys travel very evenly, yet give you a definite response. After only 2 days I'm adjusting. The backlighting feature only engages in near darkness, but when it does, the keyboard is surrounded in a pale blue glow.

Screen- The screen is spectacular. I don't think it's the same screen in the imac. The pitch between the pixels seem to be narrower giving a sharper image. The pitch in the tibook is even finer, but this screen is about 50% brighter so the overall impression is superior. Pressure on the back of the screen produces no distortion. After you've used it for a couple of days, anything short of the 20" cinema display is a step down!

Power/wireless- As others have noted, the airport reception is greatly improved, but this baby really drains power- especially with airport AND bluetooth turned on. Just to give you an idea, I'm getting about 2 1/2 hours with the wireless features turned OFF and about an hour and 20 with them on....

Speed is snappy- the increased bus speed really shows on memory intensive apps, and 10.2.4 seems to be tuned to support the bandwidth.

Overall, this is the best laptop I've ever used. It's balance of quality, practicality, beauty and power are unmatched. if you've ordered one, you won't be disappointed!

Just received my 17" AlPB here in Bermuda (Friday, 21st). It's a beauty - very fast, the 100dpi screen is extravagantly enormous, no bad pixels(!), and the Aluminium case is engineered to look incredibly sleek! Fingerprints don't seem to show up on the Al like they do on the Ti. The track pad is larger than the one on the 15" TiPB and is set a bit further back from the keyboard. The keyboard itself feels very nice to type on, and has enough "inertia" to give you confidence that the key you want is centred under your finger and responding properly to touch-typing. Or, maybe my hands are just the right size for this keyboard - most laptops feel uncomfortable to me.

Once you do the usual setup routine, it immediately does a Software Update and upgrades Java, iPod, iMovie, plus a Security update, then re-boots. I immediately ran the Disk Utility. It found and corrected a few general file permission errors and quite a few problems with the Miniterm app and its associated files. In general, apps seem to launch and run much faster than on my PB550.

Other first reviewers have noted that the font smoothing is defaulted to CRT rather than LCD value. Don't forget to open the X.509Anchors that are hidden in the System Library Keychains.

I'm now restoring my backup files from my old TiPB, and note that you have to check the owner values (chown command) if you restore to a different user id (as I am). You can probably get away with just running the Disk Utility again to fix the owner and permission bits yet again.

All in all, "my heart soars like an eagle, my happiness knows no bounds..."

17" Shipping Reports Increase

Some, but not all, resellers are now getting stock of 17" PowerBooks and shipment from Apple sources are now increasing:

Just wanted to let you know I ordered a 17" Powerbook [from the Apple Store online] on 2/8/03 and it has finally shipped!!

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Just talked to MacConnection this morning. I was told they have received no stock yet and the latest arrival date they have is April 15, for 1000 units. This is getting very painful!

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I just got an email from Apple on the PB17 that I ordered right after the keynote on 01/07/2003. It looks like some of us are getting screwed (again) by Apple...

Dear Valued Apple Customer,

Thank you for placing your Apple Store Order Wxxxxxxx

We need your response to continue processing your order.

Due to an unexpected supply delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s) by the last date you were quoted:

M8793LL/A, PBG4 17.0/1GHZ/512/60G/SD/AP/BT-USA will now ship on or before 04/25/2003

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I ordered my PowerBrick17 in the second week of January. It is an academic order (I work at a university). Today (3/20), Apple confirmed that they shipped the unit yesterday, and gave me the tracking information which I have included below. Iım not sure what the ³returned to shipper² is all about, but itıs a little concerning- is the war influencing shipping from Taiwan? Thought you could use the info...

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I ordered my Apple 17" PB on 1/15, one week after the announcement directly from Apple. I did bump the memory to 1GB outside the normal config. My date has always been on or before 3/28. Today (3/20) my laptop has shipped directly from TW with an expected arrival of 3/24. It is going to be one LONG weekend waiting...

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Ordered my pb 17" on 01/15 and received my ship notice from apple this morning. My pb 17" has 1gig ram

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Ordered 1/7/03 (Apple Online Store)- it was delivered this morning- two days before deadline. I wonder if I got mine before Al?

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I ordered BTO on 01/07/03 at 2:13 PM PST. I got a tracking number this morning [3/20] at 2:13 AM MST. It just left Taiwan. So the BTO's are on their way!