New iBook annoyances...

OldCorpse · Dec 22, 2005

OK, so I have a few small problems so far with my new iBook 1.33Ghz. First the battery compartment is not flush against the underside and it sticks out leaving a pretty big gap (about 1mm) visible even as you type. Opening and closing the compartment doesn't correct the problem. Second, the space bar key is situated unevenly on the keyboard, it sticks out more on the right side (looking at it from the perspective of the latch). OK, I guess these are not big problems and I can live with them. However, the third problem is a more aggravating annoyance. It seems that the top and bottom of the chassis has not been tightened. As a result, when I rest my left hand next to the trackpad, there is an annoying scraping sound as the plastic sinks to touch the bottom panel. I can clearly see when I press that the panel is moving - obviously some screw or other was not tightened. This constant squeaking sound is very annoying, it feels shoddy and makes the whole experience less than what it could be... I mean, you can hear it when I type in a cafe... embarrasing. I'm reluctant to open up the case... ok, I'm chicken.

My plan: I was thinking that as soon as my 1GB of RAM arrives dec. 27, to head on out to an Apple store, and hoping to find a kindly genious. I'll ask them if they'd be so very kind to put in the 1GB stick of memory in (I know it's "easy", but I'm just too paranoid about fiddling with a new machine), and also ask them if maybe they'd be willing to tighten up the chassis to get rid of the flexing, riding and squeaking. Does that sound reasonable, or am I asking too much? TIA!

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

FocusAndEarnIt · Dec 22, 2005

OldCorpse said:
OK, so I have a few small problems so far with my new iBook 1.33Ghz. First the battery compartment is not flush against the underside and it sticks out leaving a pretty big gap (about 1mm) visible even as you type. Opening and closing the compartment doesn't correct the problem. Second, the space bar key is situated unevenly on the keyboard, it sticks out more on the right side (looking at it from the perspective of the latch). OK, I guess these are not big problems and I can live with them. However, the third problem is a more aggravating annoyance. It seems that the top and bottom of the chassis has not been tightened. As a result, when I rest my left hand next to the trackpad, there is an annoying scraping sound as the plastic sinks to touch the bottom panel. I can clearly see when I press that the panel is moving - obviously some screw or other was not tightened. This constant squeaking sound is very annoying, it feels shoddy and makes the whole experience less than what it could be... I mean, you can hear it when I type in a cafe... embarrasing. I'm reluctant to open up the case... ok, I'm chicken.

My plan: I was thinking that as soon as my 1GB of RAM arrives dec. 27, to head on out to an Apple store, and hoping to find a kindly genious. I'll ask them if they'd be so very kind to put in the 1GB stick of memory in (I know it's "easy", but I'm just too paranoid about fiddling with a new machine), and also ask them if maybe they'd be willing to tighten up the chassis to get rid of the flexing, riding and squeaking. Does that sound reasonable, or am I asking too much? TIA!

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

I don't think your asking to much

. As for the battery thing, I have it too. I know other people have it also.

Chundles · Dec 22, 2005

My battery sticks out too, nothing I can do about it.

The ribbon that connects the keyboard to the whatever is underneath it is situated at the righthand end of the spacebar. It makes it harder to push an annoys the crap out of me but I figure, meh, most of the time I'm using an external KB anyway.

OldCorpse · Dec 22, 2005

Chundles said:
My battery sticks out too, nothing I can do about it.

The ribbon that connects the keyboard to the whatever is underneath it is situated at the righthand end of the spacebar. It makes it harder to push an annoys the crap out of me but I figure, meh, most of the time I'm using an external KB anyway.

Yeah, I'll live with the battery compartment and space bar key. My problems is the squeaking and moving of the loose chassis.

I wonder if they'll laugh me out of the store

...

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

840quadra · Dec 22, 2005

OldCorpse said:
Yeah, I'll live with the battery compartment and space bar key. My problems is the squeaking and moving of the loose chassis.

I wonder if they'll laugh me out of the store ...

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

My 1.22 GHz ibook has the same spacebar issue and the battery is somewhat out of alignment. I got it Refurbished late last month, and attributed them both to being refurbishment issues.

Both are somewhat annoying, but besides that this ibook as been a great companion.

stefan15 · Dec 22, 2005

Why would they laugh at you? If they did, what the hell kind of service is that? Wouldn't that make you wonder why you even invested in a mac? Hopefully they aren't THAT bad!

generik · Dec 22, 2005

Did you buy the stick of memory from Apple?

I am not too sure if the genius at Applecentre would be too happy to put in a third party stick for you

TodVader · Dec 22, 2005

I Have the 3 "problems you have with my 2 month old iBook. The loose left side of the chassis, battery & space bar. The loose chassis is kinda anoying but for the 2 other "problems", it seems everyone have them.

I wonder if any other people other than us have a loose chassis.

OldCorpse · Dec 22, 2005

generik said:
Did you buy the stick of memory from Apple?

I am not too sure if the genius at Applecentre would be too happy to put in a third party stick for you

No, I didn't buy the memory from Apple... I may be stupid braind dead (I'm a corpse after all), but not that stupid... I paid $125 plus shipping ($132) for a 1GB stick... I'd pay almost 3 times as much if I bought it from Apple...

A friend of mine put in a 3rd party memory 1GB stick into his 12" iBook, and it wasn't showing up, so he took it to the Apple store, and the genius there checked it out for him.. transpired my friend didn't push it in hard enough... so the genius took in back and a few minutes later came back with the thing working perfectly... so, I'm counting on an indulgent genius and the spirit of the holidays...

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

840quadra · Dec 22, 2005

TodVader said:
I wonder if any other people other than us have a loose chassis.

LOL I find the way you worded that funny !

Anyway, I believe it is a slight problem with a select few of the iBooks. I was able to return my first G4 iBook for this as a resolution. If you confront them for warranty issues and such, be sure to be polite and genuine.

I went to the Apple store at the Mall of America in Minnesota, I simply told them (with direct eye contact always) that I didn't like how the chassis was loose, and the fact that the ibook would squeak when I was typing. He didn't even question me on it, and worked with me to return it and receive an other apple refurbished ibook (this is what I had purchased in the first place).

We boxed and shipped mine that day, and I received my replacement in about 4 days.

The spacebar and battery issue on my current ibook isn't really that pronounced, I just happen to notice it if I am being overly anal on a given day

.

OldCorpse · Dec 22, 2005

840quadra said:
LOL I find the way you worded that funny !

Anyway, I believe it is a slight problem with a select few of the iBooks. I was able to return my first G4 iBook for this as a resolution. If you confront them for warranty issues and such, be sure to be polite and genuine.

I went to the Apple store at the Mall of America in Minnesota, I simply told them (with direct eye contact always) that I didn't like how the chassis was loose, and the fact that the ibook would squeak when I was typing. He didn't even question me on it, and worked with me to return it and receive an other apple refurbished ibook (this is what I had purchased in the first place).

We boxed and shipped mine that day, and I received my replacement in about 4 days.

The spacebar and battery issue on my current ibook isn't really that pronounced, I just happen to notice it if I am being overly anal on a given day .

Wow. I was hoping something less drastic could be done... I mean, I'm not anxious to return the thing, I just got it!

Maybe the guys at the Apple store could just tighten the screws or something??

Plus I bought it through Amazon... it'd be a huge hassle

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

840quadra · Dec 22, 2005

OldCorpse said:
Wow. I was hoping something less drastic could be done... I mean, I'm not anxious to return the thing, I just got it!

Maybe the guys at the Apple store could just tighten the screws or something??

Plus I bought it through Amazon... it'd be a huge hassle

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

Anything is possible, and that was what I was expecting to happen. But for whatever reason, they just sent it back without question in my case

.

Maybe they have me marked as a good customer or something? Who knows, he pulled up my information before he started to talk to me and possibly decided it was worth their time / money to keep me happy

. I am happy though, and am glad that they did go this far, I have spent more money then I care to go into on Apple this year

.
Powermac G5 Dual 2.0, iBook G4, 3 iPod nanos (2 as gifts), 1 5G iPod, 2 Airport extreme cards, OS X Tiger, 2 Mighty mice, 1 USB keyboard, and quite a few songs and videos on ITMS.

GimmeSlack12 · Dec 22, 2005

My battery isn't flush with my iBook either, but I didn't notice it until I saw people complaining about it on here. I guess it isn't 100% seamless, but I see a lot of people complain about it. I think that is nit-picking.

840quadra · Dec 22, 2005

GimmeSlack12 said:
I think that is nit-picking.

Agreed!

And I am not complaining about that, the only thing that bothered me, was the squeaky chassis on my first G4 ibook. The spacebar and battery don't bother me one bit. Builds character

NYmacAttack · Dec 23, 2005

840quadra said:
Agreed!

And I am not complaining about that, the only thing that bothered me, was the squeaky chassis on my first G4 ibook. The spacebar and battery don't bother me one bit. Builds character

I never noticed the uneven spacebar until I was upgrading a friends memory. You cant really notice it if you are looking top down on the keyboard.

OldCorpse · Dec 23, 2005

Another annoyance...

OK, this is another annoyance... and pretty big. The upper right side of the keyboard, from the number "8" key all the way right, and all the way down to the "k" key, is visibly moving... springy... the rest of the keyboard is not... is this normal???

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

i4k20c · Dec 23, 2005

I have that loose chasis thing going on with my powerbook too, it's on the right side.. starts right after the latch, i think the reason with this is because the metal in my case, or plastic in ures is not one piece like the left side.. but rather split in compartments b/c of the battery..

i went to the apple store, and guess what, the powerbook on display had the same problem..was kinda in a rush and just showed it to a sales guy..and he didn't even realease it.. but i kno its annoying, because if u push down on the right side close to the edge.. the metal actually moves down..like its unatched or something!

i4k20c · Dec 23, 2005

i posted this awhile back..this is what u mean with the loose chasis right?
like on the left side of the latch..where the powerbook meets like this I- on the left side is stuck down.. but to the right above the latch and above..its not..

California · Dec 24, 2005

OldCorpse said:
OK, this is another annoyance... and pretty big. The upper right side of the keyboard, from the number "8" key all the way right, and all the way down to the "k" key, is visibly moving... springy... the rest of the keyboard is not... is this normal???

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

Old C:

I share your concern. I had a 1ghz 12" iBook that i had replaced the topcase and bottom case on and it was ... squeaky.

I was NOT happy with it, though the Apple tech I sold it to was more than pleased because I had dropped a superdrive into it while upgrading the cosmetics.

I found that my battery space issue healed itself! I think it is because I use my 14" iBook on a Macally ice pad stand and the plastics' heat and pressure on the middle part of the ibook have closed down the battery gap. It annoyed me, too. As for the keyboard space bar issue, it's also on the 14" ibooks, but none of it bothers me because I use an iSkin.

If the squeaky thing really bothers you, take it back. It bothered the heck out of me. Also, DON'T pay anyone to drop memory into your machine. That's nuts. A 0 philips head and you can do it yourself in ten seconds. I just did it on a friend's brand new 12" ibook last night and I'm a girl. They were all very impressed when I did it on their daughter's 1.2ghz 12" ibook, too, which requires taking off the airport card too.

omeletpants · Dec 24, 2005

OldCorpse said:
No, I didn't buy the memory from Apple... I may be stupid braind dead (I'm a corpse after all), but not that stupid... I paid $125 plus shipping ($132) for a 1GB stick... I'd pay almost 3 times as much if I bought it from Apple...

A friend of mine put in a 3rd party memory 1GB stick into his 12" iBook, and it wasn't showing up, so he took it to the Apple store, and the genius there checked it out for him.. transpired my friend didn't push it in hard enough... so the genius took in back and a few minutes later came back with the thing working perfectly... so, I'm counting on an indulgent genius and the spirit of the holidays...

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

I would be disappointed if an Apple employee installed 3rd party RAM for you. You wanted to buck the system and save money, now do it yourself. Some people think that their own need to save money supercedes everything else. Aren't you embarrased to ask them to violate Apple corporate policy and potentailly risk getting fired? Seems like you would risk their employment for your selfish desires. Everything isn't all about you.

OldCorpse · Dec 25, 2005

omeletpants said:
I would be disappointed if an Apple employee installed 3rd party RAM for you. You wanted to buck the system and save money, now do it yourself. Some people think that their own need to save money supercedes everything else. Aren't you embarrased to ask them to violate Apple corporate policy and potentailly risk getting fired? Seems like you would risk their employment for your selfish desires. Everything isn't all about you.

Hmm. I wasn't aware of the fact that it is against Apple policies to put in third party RAM. In fact, doesn't Apple have instructions on their site telling you how to put in extra RAM? Why would they do that if the only way to get extra RAM was through ordering it (BTO), and why wouldn't they specify at that point that only Apple RAM is to be put in? Further, it is my understanding, that putting in extra RAM, third party or not, does not void the warranty (I'm under the impression that putting in f.ex. a HDD by yourself voids the warranty). Bottom line, I was not aware of any policy that forbids Apple employees from putting in RAM for a customer. Obviously, if I thought it was against the policies, or that the Apple employee would get into trouble, I wouldn't ask them to. At this point, I'd like you to provide a link specifying the policy from Apple. Failing that, I figure you're just talking out of your axx. Happy Holidays mongo.

rhb1899 · Dec 25, 2005

Good for you OldCorpse.
I don't think you will have much of a problem getting a genius to help you if you ask nicely. I've had mac genius' help me with lots of stuff in the past, they are very helpful, and hell, they usually ENJOY helping people out with stuff, it IS their job after all. And I don't think there's anything selfish or self-centered about your request either.

OldCorpse · Dec 25, 2005

rhb1899 said:
Good for you OldCorpse.
I don't think you will have much of a problem getting a genius to help you if you ask nicely. I've had mac genius' help me with lots of stuff in the past, they are very helpful, and hell, they usually ENJOY helping people out with stuff, it IS their job after all. And I don't think there's anything selfish or self-centered about your request either.

Thank you for your kind words, rhb1899. I just found it a little off putting when the guy launched a personal attack, stating that I'm selfish and self-centered not to mention cheap and inconsiderate... all based on nothing. He didn't even consider, that first of all, I had no option of buying Apple RAM, even had I wanted to, since I was buying through Amazon, and they provide no BTO option... as a matter of fact, you can't even buy a BTO from a bricks and mortar Apple store either, you must order it online. So right off the bat, he's full of it. And truth be told, I might have not even thought of going to an Apple store and having them install the memory, except the real reason (as I said in my post) for my visit was going to be to see if they can't do something about the squeaky chassis... and while I'm there anyway, maybe have them install the extra memory, since if they can't fix the chassis, that way at least it is not a totally wasted visit and a waste of their time. Having said all that, if I knew it was against policy, I'd never do it... so "thanks" to that poster for immediately assuming that I'm merely taking advantage of Apple employees, without knowing me. This is a very nice board, as you have demonstrated... though I guess you always have to have a jerk or two

Anyway, no big deal. And thank you again for your kind words. Happy Holidays!

California · Dec 25, 2005

omeletpants said:
I would be disappointed if an Apple employee installed 3rd party RAM for you. You wanted to buck the system and save money, now do it yourself. Some people think that their own need to save money supercedes everything else. Aren't you embarrased to ask them to violate Apple corporate policy and potentailly risk getting fired? Seems like you would risk their employment for your selfish desires. Everything isn't all about you.

Hey omelet pants.

Uh, I wonder if you could be MORE WRONG than you were in the above post.

Ram is a "CUSTOMER APPROVED" install. I know because I was actually ON THE PHONE WITH APPLE the first time I installed ram in a PB as they guided me through the steps. PLUS I have had Apple techs put in so much third party ram for me I can't even count. (Now I know how to do it myself, which saves some bucks.)

So, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS but don't bother posting on MR when you insult the OP plus give us strange and wrong information.

OP: have some Apple techs tighten the screws on your iBook. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be tight but then again, I don't work in an Apple Labor camp in China. Perhaps someone had to use the loo and was threatened with the whip or something and just couldn't tighten down the screws enough. If it still squeaks -- complain. My chinese made iBook is of lesser quality than my Taiwanese made iBook, I can tell you. (LCD not put together perfect, etc.).

Oh, how do you know where your machine was manufactured? Go to coconut identity card and download it. Will tell you month and year and week and country of manufacture. Also coconut battery will tell you how much oohms you got on your battery. Nice apps.

rosalindavenue · Dec 25, 2005

I have a 1.33 G4 imac I bought from Apple in August. It has the millimeter gap on the left side of the battery compartment, the spacebar a little higher on the right side, and the squeakiness under the left palmrest. None of it bothers me; other owners of the same book on this board (ITASOR for example) seem to have the same issues. None of them bother me so I have let them go. I have not had (and do not have) the loose keyboard issue. Good luck with getting the issues resolved to your satisfaction, which you deserve.

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