Advice for a new 12" PB owner

[Col127]

after waiting for months for an update to the 12" PB line, i purchased one this morning from the apple store. i'm hoping the heat issue has been solved in this revison (crossing my fingers).

just a few questions:

1) is there a special way to treat the battery, to prolong battery life?

i'm probably going to make the PB my main desktop machine (i have a G4 450 DP right now), so it'll be plugged in all the time, aside when i'm using it at school. should i take out the battery when plugging it in directly or does it not matter?

2) is there any accessories / things that i should consider purchasing for my new PB?

i have purchased a "brain cell" by tom bihn (which is essentially a laptop hard case sleeve).
and i was also thinking about the icurve as well.

thanks!

[KBFinFan]

Great topic.. I was wondering the same thing about battery life in my new 15"

To answer one question.. I have heard good things about the case you speak of, and am considering on for my new computer as well.

[Daveman Deluxe]

Regarding the battery: pick a day once a week to use the 12" PB off battery until it goes to sleep for lack of power. That should help keep it in prime shape--I had an iBook battery die prematurely on me and then the tech told me to try what I just told yo. No troubles since.

Every other day except that one, plug the PB in when you can.

[patrick0brien]

-Col127

First off, do what Daveman Deluxe suggests for your battery.

And my contribution is to never grab-and-carry it by the latch side. This will warp the screen. Grab-an-carry it by the hinge side. Yes, yes, it's a design quirk - but then we humans have them too - ever stand with your knees locked for a while?

[jxyama]

if you got the APE card, make sure to seat it really well. if it's not set correctly, there's been cases of kernel panics when the pb is lifted by one of the corners. (left palmrest, i believe.)

get a portable mouse... and targus travel cool pad. it's awesome. (i think it helps with the cooling a little, but the best thing is that it angles the laptop just so that it's even more comfortable to type on...) it's worth $20.

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by jxyama
get a portable mouse...

-Col127

Oh, right. Absolutely. Personally I recommend the Kensington PocketMouse Pro - wired, not wireless.

Why wired? Well, it's got a retractable wire so there's no problem with that. But the reason to go wired is no batteries! That and the wireless version comes with a stowable - and losable - tranceiver.

[plutnicki]

Consider the Waterfield Slip case:

www.sfbags.com

I have their RacerX bag for my TiBook and really think it is a nicely made piece of luggage.

As far as accessories. I'd recommend a second AC adapter, one to travel with and one to keep at home. I second the recommendations for the Kensington wired Travel Mouse. I have a CoolPad for work and a travel CoolPad I keep at home. Both work really well, and the pivot feature is nice to have.

I got a set of Radtech Wildeepz for my TiBook, they are little silicone pads that go on the screen to keep the screen from touching the keyboard. I've no idea if the 12" needs such a thing, but it might be worth looking into.

Congrats on your new PB!

...Jim

[Col127]

about the APE card, i did order one with my purchase. wouldn't apple install it for me? i don't see why they wouldn't since it's directly from them.

what's so special about the kengsinton mouses? is the only difference b/w them and an optical the retractable cord?

[agreenster]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Col127

First off, do what Daveman Deluxe suggests for your battery.

And my contribution is to never grab-and-carry it by the latch side. This will warp the screen. Grab-an-carry it by the hinge side. Yes, yes, it's a design quirk - but then we humans have them too - ever stand with your knees locked for a while?

Im such a pansy. I always carry my 15 Tibook underneath her so there no chance of damage. Carrying it any other way is a serious no-no in my opinion.

But then again, Im very anal about my toys. I was the same kid in elementary school who never let the other kids play with my stuff. Always ended up broken....

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Col127
about the APE card, i did order one with my purchase. wouldn't apple install it for me? i don't see why they wouldn't since it's directly from them.

what's so special about the kengsinton mouses? is the only difference b/w them and an optical the retractable cord?

-Col127

AFAIK, the PocketMouse is still the only mouse with a retractable and stowable cord. So that leds itself to travel with a notebook very well. It's younger brother has an RF tranceiver that stows in the mouse. It's up to you, but for hardcore traveling, the less things to keep track of (transceiver, batteries), the better.

As for the AE card, they might. But if they didn't, it's easy as pie to install - just make sure it's pushed in all the way and the antenna is hooked up. :D

[evilsprung]

Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
Regarding the battery: pick a day once a week to use the 12" PB off battery until it goes to sleep for lack of power. That should help keep it in prime shape--I had an iBook battery die prematurely on me and then the tech told me to try what I just told yo. No troubles since.

Every other day except that one, plug the PB in when you can.

actually if you're suggesting on discharging the battery completely once a a week, you're actually killing the life span of your batt.
In regards to the powerboook, take care of the little pads on the bottom. Treat em too rough and they'll come off easy.

[MacBandit]

Forget the iCurve. There is no way of securing the PowerBook to it. This is the way to go.

http://www.macimports.com/macimp/kamas2.html

I only know about this because I just read today about someone who had their 17" PowerBook slide off the iCurve and off the table onto the floor. The 17" is fine but it is dented. He is getting the Kamas now.

[tazo]

I highly recommend you get an AE card, ape? wth :rolleyes: You'll never know when you could have a wireless hotspot available!

Also, in regards to that Kamas stand, the thing looks deadly :D

[Nik_Doof]

Yah im also heading for a 12" Powerbook within the next week or so... Im tryin to decide if to get a Airport card (i h8 abbvs :P). I live in the UK .... is it worth me getting one (i might get a Airport Extreme base station)

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Nik_Doof
Yah im also heading for a 12" Powerbook within the next week or so... Im tryin to decide if to get a Airport card (i h8 abbvs :P). I live in the UK .... is it worth me getting one (i might get a Airport Extreme base station)

-Nik_Doof

Airport Extreme card is an easy decision. Wait on the base station to see if you really need it.

[Daveman Deluxe]

Originally posted by evilsprung
actually if you're suggesting on discharging the battery completely once a a week, you're actually killing the life span of your batt.

WRONG. Yes, lithium polymer batteries cannot be recharged if they are completely and utterly discharged, but to cause that to happen, I'd have to discharge the battery until the computer goes to sleep, then leave it in until the computer can't even stay asleep due to lack of power. Then I'd have to leave the battery sitting on a shelf for a few months to wring every last nanowatt of power out of it.

When you discharge the battery until it goes to sleep, it doesn't discharge all the way, just most of the way. Doing this forces the power manager to reset, and at a deeper level than starting up with command-option-p-r (or whatever the keystroke is) does.

Given that an Apple tech told me to do this and I am no longer having battery problems, I'll stand by my assertion.

[Col127]

thanks for all the responses.
in regards to the battery, does it make a difference to take out the battery when i'm plugging it straight into a wall outlet? or should i not worry about that?

also, i was wondering about the pads on the bottom of the powerbook. i heard that they slipped off on Rev A. what exactly are they used for? :P

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Col127
i was wondering about the pads on the bottom of the powerbook. i heard that they slipped off on Rev A. what exactly are they used for? :P

-Col127

Well, they're actually quite important and used all the time - thus get knocked off. They're little rubberized plastic discs with little nipples on the top and they snap in place.

They are good for several things, stability, they keep the machine from sliding around, and cooling. By keeping the machine up off a table surface - even just a little, - provides cooling.

I managed to get 6 months out of my 12PB before it tossed a foot. Yeah, it was my fault, I dragged it against the grain of a wicker table. I managed to recover the foot though.

I then popped the three remaining feet off and glued them back on with Duco Cement. They're there to stay.