A Little Tip For New PowerBook Owners...

[tjwett]

Many people who have had their aluminum PowerBooks for any decent period of time have complained of corrosion on the palm rest areas caused by sweat and the like breaking down or oxidizing the aluminum finish, myself included. Getting fed up with watching the condition worsen I decided that what I needed to do was simply somehow protect the area from my poison, sweaty hands. But how? Not in the mood for spending any money on some third-party felt or leather solution. I don't type well with boxing gloves on. Don't want to start applying paint to the machine. Hmm...what to do? Then it hit me, my Apple stickers! As we all know, every new Mac comes with two Apple logo decals in the box. Slap one on the left, one on the right. Good to go. Maybe obvious and not the most elegant, but it's cheap and it works. And it does look better than the "My Other Computer Is a Dual G5" bumper sticker plastered across the top of your book. :)

[jasylonian]

or you could always wash your hands with soap every 30 minutes or so (and dry them well)... of course this doesn't help if your palm rest gets really hot and makes your hands really sweaty, or if you're sitting next to a really swell person...:D

[Spizzo]

Or just buy a new powerbook every six or so months. ;)

[cb911]

nice idea.... but wouldn't the heat from your hands/palms do some funky stuff to the adhesive used on the stickers? i can just imagine the sticker slipping off leaving a sticky goo on the palm rest area... :eek:

luckily i've never had that problem. my palms don't even touch the proper 'palm rest' area... my hands just always seem to float as i type... :D

[virividox]

when im working long periods of time i put a eye glass cloth on it, but in lectures whic are only 1 hour long i dont. it works for me

[johnnyjibbs]

No problems here either, my hands also tend to 'float' more often than not when typing.

Regarding lectures - Britain is so behind the times! People would think I'm mad if I took my PowerBook to lectures to take notes on!

[tjwett]

Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
No problems here either, my hands also tend to 'float' more often than not when typing.

Regarding lectures - Britain is so behind the times! People would think I'm mad if I took my PowerBook to lectures to take notes on!

i don't think it's the typing so much as the mousing that killed my machine since it's more concentrated on that one side. anyway, regarding Britain; i've always been under the impression that you guys were sort of living the Jetsons life over there. anytime i see some cool new technology being displayed or some weird futuristic bubble car it always seems to be in Britain.

[James Craner]

Has anyone else seen this problem? I did't know it was a potential issue.

[johnnyjibbs]

Originally posted by tjwett
anyway, regarding Britain; i've always been under the impression that you guys were sort of living the Jetsons life over there. anytime i see some cool new technology being displayed or some weird futuristic bubble car it always seems to be in Britain.
I think you're confusing us with the Flintstones :D

[tjwett]

Originally posted by James Craner
Has anyone else seen this problem? I did't know it was a potential issue.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@163.3ryLaxsWej4.2@.599899be


http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?50@163.3ryLaxsWej4.118740@.688cf75a/0


http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@163.3ryLaxsWej4.118841@.59973ae1

[rueyeet]

Would this be a bad time to comment on computer use and sweaty hands? ;)

Probably. :)

[virividox]

i just wipe down my pb every so often.

[James Craner]

Thanks tjwett, looks like we need to keep the palm rest area clean then.

[Spock]

Originally posted by Spizzo
Or just buy a new powerbook every six or so months. ;)

And give Spock Your old one.

[Bilba]

I really dont like the sound of it. I went to the forum at Apple.com, only to find out that MANY are suffering from this issue.
I am begining to regret selling my old and trustful tibook 500.... :(
First it was the white spots issue, then its been the latch that dosent work weel, and now this..

While the color chiped from few places (esp. due to my watch band) , it still looked rather great after 2.5 years. People here are complaining about holes!!! after 5-8 months of usage. What I don't get is why Apple dosent acknowladge the problem and come up with some sort of a solution. People who paid $$$$$ for thier computer, and suffer from this issue, seem to take it rather lightly.

[KC9AIC]

The old lombards are great! the svelte black plastic doesn't show a thing. I wish that the PowerBook G5 would be a metallic black plastic beauty.

[wPod]

easy solution. . . get an external keyboard/ mouse when you know youre going to be typing for prolonged times. i keep mine almost 'docked' at home with external keyboard, mouse, and monitor, then i take my lap top to class for notes or to work on group projects. I have also found that a damp paper towel cleans off the keys and hand rest really well after the nice cheetos snack during a group project.

[Bilba]

Listen to yourself!! this is why we bought a "top-of-the-line" portable machine for 3000$ so that we will be forced to use an external keyboard? Its one thing when you use external keyboard out of comfort, it is totally different when you are forced to use one in order to avoid holes in the case.

The last thing I need to hear about is putting some plastic tape or leather crap in order to protect my laptop from, and I repeat, sweat!

Give me a break. If the thing is truly common as it seems right now, Apple needs to straight their act, and find a way to solve it.

[7on]

hmmm, or you can learn to 'float' your hands :P

[Diatribe]

No seriously, I don't think of this being particularly funny.
I was thinking of giving my iBook to my Mum and getting me a 12" PB, but if the freaking palmrests corrode on a $ 2000 product, it would freak me out. And I don't feel like sending it in every 5 months or so.
I love Apple, but I HATE them for not acknowledging quality issues. Damn you Apple for that.

[tjwett]

Yeah, I'm considering selling mine before it gets too bad and buying myself a G4 iBook. I can deal with 67 mhz less of power.

[Diatribe]

Does anyone know whether this happens only to rev As or to the rev Bs too? If they cannot cope with this problem we might yet see another material being used for the pb. Though this would be kinda funny going through a new material every time, it is pretty sad, you would think they'd be able to figure such stuff out beforehand :mad:

[Bilba]

While not reducing the problem, I would also like to know if rev B (the AIbook without the white spot problems) are free from this issue. This will mean that Apple realized the problem with the previous line, and did something to fix it.

If this is true, it makes sense that they will be able to fix those with Rev A that still suffer from it. If this is not the case, Apple should receive a spam for ignoring this absord problem. People also did not mention the health issue at hand. The chemical reaction that affects the pbook case, might also affect your skin.

I don't find this issue funney at all. It is not less concerning than the white spot issue.

[pudrik]

I think this is just one of those "lessons learned." I don't expect the design guys were aware how easily aluminum can corrode. I don't hold it against them too much, since this is the first time, as far as I know, that aluminum has been used as a laptop case material.

In the rest of the world, you protect aluminum from corrosion by painting it, coating it, or using a corrosion inhibitor of some kind (like WD-40). Unless you are willing to take these steps, or use another material between your palms and the laptop, you're SOL.

Hopefully, Apple has recognized the problem, and will incorporate palms rests made of some kind of plastic (like the iBook). Maybe the G5 Powerbook will be made of stainless steel?

Personally, although it doesn't look as sharp, I prefer the polycarbonate plastic of the iBooks... it's light-weight, durable, and conceals scratches better.

[Spock]

Originally posted by tjwett
Yeah, I'm considering selling mine before it gets too bad and buying myself a G4 iBook. I can deal with 67 mhz less of power.

You should not sell Your Powerbook, just give it to Spock.

[OutThere]

It's the content of the sweat that makes the aluminum corrode, because of this any aluminum powerbook would be affected.

Simply getting in the habit of wiping down the palm rests with a wet cloth every couple days (mind the track pad) should remedy the problem quite painlessly. As more and more sweat builds up on the palm rests it will only corrode faster. Keep it clean, and you won't be let down.

[Sun Baked]

There is that clear 3M film they use on automobiles for chip protection, and printed advertisements -- of course the auto grade vinyl products used for lettering and graphis may work.

This would probably work better than stickers, which degrade and leave funky residues.

[yamabushi]

I think aluminum is a fine material for laptops apart from the corrosion problem. With clear coat or paint the current Powerbook would be just fine. If anyone plans on coating it themselves be sure to first prep the metal surfaces thoroughly with an alcohol wipe.

[Counterfit]

Maybe the G5 Powerbook will be made of stainless steel? Between that and all the cooling necessary, it'll weigh 10 lbs! :D

[Diatribe]

Me personally, I'd vote for carbon fiber. I think that would be a perfect material. And stylish too.

[macboygrey]

...or if you're sitting next to a really swell person...:D

It is Spring after all...
*hums "Love is in the Air"*

[amnesiac1984]

No problems here either, my hands also tend to 'float' more often than not when typing.

Regarding lectures - Britain is so behind the times! People would think I'm mad if I took my PowerBook to lectures to take notes on!

We always have at least two iBooks and a few 12" pbs in use in our lectures and I'm at UWE bristol.

[Kwyjibo]

I've got this problem too, and its spreading like acne on a teenager. I'm still having the applecare debate, i think i'll end up buying it soon and then calling them up and getting it fixed when I go home for the summer but that will be real disspointing.

[Counterfit]

Me personally, I'd vote for carbon fiber. I think that would be a perfect material. And stylish too. Maybe if you feel like paying $3000 for a base PB. that stuff isn't cheap!

[Sedulous]

Wow, that corrosion is very surprising. A [not so] comforting thought... most commercial jets are made out of the same stuff.

Is it possible this is just dirt getting stuck in the anodized layer? As I understand it, anodization is simply a pitting process that digs small holes in the outer layer of aluminum so it can be coated/painted.

Another possible solution could be to coat certain areas of the powerbook with teflon. Painting, adding "stickers", etc seems bad to me.

[Counterfit]

Wow, that corrosion is very surprising. A [not so] comforting thought... most commercial jets are made out of the same stuff. Jets have components made of many different materials, like titanium (;)). Also, they don't have as much contact with sweat, and I don't think the external aluminum sheeting is anodized, so they probably wouldn't have this problem. Now at supersonic speeds, metal fatigue comes into play, but that's another thread ;)

Is it possible this is just dirt getting stuck in the anodized layer? As I understand it, anodization is simply a pitting process that digs small holes in the outer layer of aluminum so it can be coated/painted. I don't think it's the dirt so much as the salt in your sweat that's doing this. From these (http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize99.html) links (http://w3.uwyo.edu/~metal/anodizing.html), you can see that normal dirt wouldn't be able to fit in the holes, stick to the surface of maybe, but not get inside. Also, anodizing is not pitting, but purposefully oxidizing more than what would naturally occur so that the aluminum part is stronger. (read those links!)

[josepho]

We always have at least two iBooks and a few 12" pbs in use in our lectures and I'm at UWE bristol.

I guess it depends what subjects you're doing. I do languages and no-one dreams of using a notebook in class (perhaps partly because all the classes are small). Even last year, when I was in 500+ lectures on politics and business law not more than 1 or 2 people had notebooks out. And they were all IBM Thinkpads, which first year business school students are given (not to keep) - in 2nd year> they have to buy their own...

BTW, I'm at Strathclyde University, Glasgow.

I think if I whipped out an iBook people would just think I was showing off... I mean, I feel like a poser taking out my SonyEricsson P900 or O2 XDA II at uni - amongst all the poor student 3310s... lol ;)

[amnesiac1984]

I guess it depends what subjects you're doing. I do languages and no-one dreams of using a notebook in class (perhaps partly because all the classes are small). Even last year, when I was in 500+ lectures on politics and business law not more than 1 or 2 people had notebooks out. And they were all IBM Thinkpads, which first year business school students are given (not to keep) - in 2nd year> they have to buy their own...

BTW, I'm at Strathclyde University, Glasgow.

I think if I whipped out an iBook people would just think I was showing off... I mean, I feel like a poser taking out my SonyEricsson P900 or O2 XDA II at uni - amongst all the poor student 3310s... lol ;)

I know how you feel, I have a p900 too but some people have other nice phones too. My UNI is very wealthy and large with a lot of Nouveau Riche students in their beefed up bling bling Toyota Corollas and Video Cell Phones, My UNI is the second richest in the country too, but we don't even have a sports hall!

[smithwatches]

I keep seeing these references to corrosion, and I can not hold back any longer. Please excuse the product plugging, but the following 2 are a cheap investment. The previous response regarding the use of 3M tape was the closest to the obvious solution, and one which I would recommend for the palmrests and top of the machine at least, and that is to order TiArmor products which can be found at vixinc.com. These people were good enough to ship from the US to the UK and saved me the inevitable surface damage that the soft alloy attracts. Even a carelessly dropped usb connector will scar the alloy badly. A Regular wipe down with iklear found at KlearScreen.com as recommended will help as well. I first used these cleaning products as a result of freebies handed out at MacExpo 02 in London. I had a problematic trackpad on my 17" Powerbook and Apple replaced the entire top surface with which this is an integral part with a better constructed one.

[josepho]

I know how you feel, I have a p900 too but some people have other nice phones too. My UNI is very wealthy and large with a lot of Nouveau Riche students in their beefed up bling bling Toyota Corollas and Video Cell Phones, My UNI is the second richest in the country too, but we don't even have a sports hall!

Video mobiles from 3? Bling?

As much as these people might like to think they've got some flash phone ("Wow, look I can make a really low bandwidth video call..."), you know that you don't get much more bling-bling than a P900.

However, in my opinion, most P900 users don't have it for bling, rather because it's powerful... very powerful, and because they use it for what it was built. Most people could get by fine on a Nokia 5110 and a disposable camera for special occasions. Few people use their phone for more than basic calling and texting - even WAP is massively underused. Cameras are a novelty, certainly in my experience.

Cheers!

[mms]

You should not sell Your Powerbook, just give it to Spock.
That's getting annoying. First time wasn't as bad, but it's not at all funny, interesting, or beneficial when you repeat this stuff in the thread.

[legion]

Me personally, I'd vote for carbon fiber. I think that would be a perfect material. And stylish too.

Maybe if you feel like paying $3000 for a base PB. that stuff isn't cheap!

Welcome to the T and X series Thinkpad from IBM.
(casing made from Ti-CFRP material = Titanium Carbon-Fibre Reinforced Plastic, screen backing and case structural-cage from Magnesium)

[dontmatter]

Dang! I sweat on mine all the time! thing runs so hot.

So, then another question-anybody know a good way to clean the keyboard? mine gets dirty and gross from my hands, and it seems like a just slightly damp cloth works, but I'm worried about messing it up by rubbing too hard w/ the keys (not the downward force, but the side to side b/c that's not quite how a keyboard is supposed to be used).

Also, trackpad?

Another item that I would point out needs a bit of fixing is the uber-wide trackpad that matches the uber wide screen-for those of us non floating typists, it can be seriously annoying when your wrists bump the corners of it and suddenly you find you're in another application or just selected 15 lines of text and all that's there now is the letter a.

[Souljas]

does the same thing happen to the Ti laptops? ...mmm i was thinking of getting one,,now maybe not :rolleyes:

[Diatribe]

does the same thing happen to the Ti laptops? ...mmm i was thinking of getting one,,now maybe not :rolleyes:

No it does not but TiBooks have other problems like "vanishing" paint. :D

[Versello]

Fortunately for me, God gave me non-sweaty hands :cool:

[Giaguara]

i have so far had no issues with my hands sweating ... they do sweat when im on the mac too long .. i'm not washing my hands all the time .. and i just after 6 months of use still can't see any signs of use in the aluminium.

maybe my sweat has some kind of chmeically different composition.. ? :confused:

[Diatribe]

maybe my sweat has some kind of chmeically different composition.. ? :confused:

If I recall correctly there are two factors that make aluminum corrode. First it's the salt in the sweat and it's the pH-value that is the other factor. The more the sweat tends to be a base instead of being slightly sour the more and the faster the aluminum corrodes.
If there are any chemists out there that can explain this better I'd be more than happy to learn.

[joker2]

For some reason, I haven't had that problem yet with my Rev. B 12" powerbook. I use it almost constantly, though I do wipe it down every so often (maybe twice a week) with a slightly damp cloth. I make a point to wipe it off with at least a paper towel if I notice I've been sweating...

I guess I'm wondering: with people spending $1400-3000 on such a machine, why aren't they taking better care of their 'toys' ? :confused:

[Diatribe]

I guess I'm wondering: with people spending $1400-3000 on such a machine, why aren't they taking better care of their 'toys' ? :confused:

The point is that you shouldn't have to. It is ok to be careful with it, etc. But if there's one thing that shouldn't do any harm to a book it is sweat. I mean come on next thing is that if you touch the keys with your fingers they wil disintegrate...

[m4rc]

Just to bump this story, anyone had any success getting their corrosion/pitting looked and at and resolved?

[jsalzer]

The old lombards are great! the svelte black plastic doesn't show a thing. I wish that the PowerBook G5 would be a metallic black plastic beauty.

My Pismo and I are with you. I've been wanting to upgrade for some time so that I can properly operate in OSX, but the entire idea of a metal laptop that scuffs and dents scares the tar out of me. I've finally broken down and bought an iMac G5 to stay at work and keep my Pismo at home for the basics. Black plastic - or even a layer of clear polycarb over the aluminum (ala EZQuest drives) in a G5 laptop would be perfect!

[bigsteve3]

Sadly, I am typing this message to you folks on a Rev B Aluminum Powerbook G4 with slight corrosion on it....

I bought my Powerbook about a year and a half ago, and the corrosion just started showing up about a month ago... needless to say I am very disturbed by it...

The corrosion on mine is only on the left wrist-rest area, which is directly above where the hard drive is. Since the computer gets a bit warm, my left hand always sweats...which I guess has caused this whole problem...

-S