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Rev. D powerbook issues gone?

CaptainCaveMann

CaptainCaveMann

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Has Apple solved any issues the previous Powerbooks had, with the rev d models? Like excessive heat, warping? I want to go this week to upgrade from my 12 inch ibook to the 12 inch pb. But i want to make sure im not gonna have any headaches. Cheers 😀
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Has Apple solved any issues the previous Powerbooks had, with the rev d models? Like excessive heat, warping? I want to go this week to upgrade from my 12 inch ibook to the 12 inch pb. But i want to make sure im not gonna have any headaches. Cheers 😀
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You should know the answer to this, Captain. First, those issues only ever affected a minority of PB owners. Second, every computer made by every company has the potential to have a few with "headaches." Apple is no exception, but it could even be argued they are better than most. Thankfully, all new laptops you can buy come with warranties too.

That said, the general consensus on these boards (a skewed sample) seems to be that this is of course a pretty trouble-free 12" rev. D. That doesn't mean some people won't have some problems with some of them, but I wouldn't expect anything less of any laptop in existence. The one caveat on this might be the new trackpad, but again, we here are more likely to hear about the problematic ones than the ones working just fine.

In short, I would not be stressing over this. You should be fine.
 
mcgarry said:
You should know the answer to this, Captain. First, those issues only ever affected a minority of PB owners. Second, every computer made by every company has the potential to have a few with "headaches." Apple is no exception, but it could even be argued they are better than most. Thankfully, all new laptops you can buy come with warranties too.

That said, the general consensus on these boards (a skewed sample) seems to be that this is of course a pretty trouble-free 12" rev. D. That doesn't mean some people won't have some problems with some of them, but I wouldn't expect anything less of any laptop in existence. The one caveat on this might be the new trackpad, but again, we here are more likely to hear about the problematic ones than the ones working just fine.

In short, I would not be stressing over this. You should be fine.
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Why should i know the answer to this? I dont have a powerbook. Also, i was beginning to look at excessive heat and warping as something you have to just accept with the previous 12 inch powerbooks. I wasnt aware that going to Apple and getting a replacement would fix the problem. I thought they all had these problems in the previous models. 😎
 
I have a 12" Rev D PowerBook just like the one that you are looking at Captain, and I have yet to experience any issues with it. I think that you can rest assured that you are getting a solid machine. It is made by Apple, afterall... 🙄
 
Ham_man said:
I have a 12" Rev D PowerBook just like the one that you are looking at Captain, and I have yet to experience any issues with it. I think that you can rest assured that you are getting a solid machine. It is made by Apple, afterall... 🙄
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Well its 1500 dollars. And you cant blame people for having a lot of inquries about them when 90% of what you see on the forums are rants about the problems.
 
I've been hearing there are problems with the trackpads. But thats because they put the new scrolling feature on them. I think your safe though. It doesn't seem to be a big problem, if you happen to get a PB with a trackpad problem, just call apple and they will fix it.
 
JzzTrump22 said:
I've been hearing there are problems with the trackpads. But thats because they put the new scrolling feature on them. I think your safe though. It doesn't seem to be a big problem, if you happen to get a PB with a trackpad problem, just call apple and they will fix it.
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There are problems with the trackpads on the new 12inchers. I am on my second one and am almost ready to send it back. Check out www.pbzone.com for more info.
 
dswoodley said:
There are problems with the trackpads on the new 12inchers. I am on my second one and am almost ready to send it back. Check out www.pbzone.com for more info.
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So basically what im getting from that article, is that some have the trackpad problem and some dont. But if you do have it then covering it with your palm brings a temporary solution. Why would Apple even offer a temporary solution to a hardware defect? What good does that do? Heres Apple: " Every 20 minutes or so cover the trackpad with your palm and this will temporarily solve the erractic pointer problem on your screen." Is this a joke? Why dont they just tell you to hop on 1 leg while your at it. Or spin around 3 times then tap the track pad twice and your good to go for another 20 minutes. Heres a profound thought; how about just recall them and fix it for good. 🙄 😉 Im sorry, but when your spending this kind of money on something why should you have to put up with this kind of stuff? 😕
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Well its 1500 dollars. And you cant blame people for having a lot of inquries about them when 90% of what you see on the forums are rants about the problems.
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Just remember that a person with a computer issue will always post - so they can get a solution. The ones with faultless machines (most of us) do not post as there is no need to. Just remember that people come to these forums for advice, not to inform people that they have just recieved a machine that is perfect!!


aussie_geek
 
the heat and warping issues were mostly gone by rev. B... I would imagine that the fourth revision would be pretty bug-free. The exception, as some have mentioned, would be features new to the rev. D... such as this new trackpad.
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Why should i know the answer to this? I dont have a powerbook.
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You're right. I meant that you too have read a lot about each of these issues and might know as well as I do that they are the exception not the rule, even with the skewed sample we get on this board.

CaptainCaveMann said:
Also, i was beginning to look at excessive heat and warping as something you have to just accept with the previous 12 inch powerbooks. I wasnt aware that going to Apple and getting a replacement would fix the problem. I thought they all had these problems in the previous models. 😎
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You really think every PB has these problems? Man, I'm luckier than I thought! But seriously, "excessive" can be a matter of personal taste. The warmest AlBook I have used is still way cooler than the warmest PC laptop I have used. Even the beloved Thinkpad X-series was uncomfortable to have in my lap for too long-- that thing really cooks-- and I can't say that about a PB. BUT the PBs are warmer than the iBooks, because 1) there's probably more going on to create heat, and more importantly 2) the case is a vent. So "excessive" heat is, to no small extent, relative. But in any case, I personally don't consider it a serious issue.

No one here can assure you 100% that you will buy a computer with 0 issues or problems, be it iBook, PowerBook, Vaio, whatever. But we can say that the later rev. Apple products, including the current PBs, seem to generally do just fine.
 
I have the new PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz 15" and I'd say it runs bloody hot. Other than that I can't fault it at all. It's the perfect notebook imho. Heat just happens to be the by product of such a fast processor in such a small case.
 
aussie_geek said:
Just remember that a person with a computer issue will always post - so they can get a solution. The ones with faultless machines (most of us) do not post as there is no need to. Just remember that people come to these forums for advice, not to inform people that they have just recieved a machine that is perfect!!


aussie_geek
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my pb runs real nice. i wouldn't suggest a beat down on the baby, but if it happened (as it has to mine time and time again) you should not worry.

just wanted to be the guy who inform you - the guy who might need it - that i have a perfectly running rev c 12" pb without any problems almost 1 yr post purchase (trackpad issues non applicable).
 
Ok cool. Thanks for the responses everyone. Im gonna get it and ill post pics if you guys want. Anyone know the return policy from the Apple store? If one even exists.
 
risc said:
I have the new PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz 15" and I'd say it runs bloody hot. Other than that I can't fault it at all. It's the perfect notebook imho. Heat just happens to be the by product of such a fast processor in such a small case.
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This guy says his 15 inch runs "bloody hot".
 
minesgeek said:
my pb runs real nice. i wouldn't suggest a beat down on the baby, but if it happened (as it has to mine time and time again) you should not worry.

just wanted to be the guy who inform you - the guy who might need it - that i have a perfectly running rev c 12" pb without any problems almost 1 yr post purchase (trackpad issues non applicable).
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And this guy has a 12 inch that "runs fine". Shouldnt the 12 inch be running hotter than the 15 inch? None of this makes any sense. 🙄 😕
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
And this guy has a 12 inch that "runs fine". Shouldnt the 12 inch be running hotter than the 15 inch? None of this makes any sense. 🙄 😕
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If I may suggest ... it doesn't make sense because "hot" is difficult to quantify in this context. Who knows what risc meant by "bloody hot," besides risc, really. One man's "bloody hot" could be another's "pleasantly warm." You're soliciting opinions that are hard to compare, since few people own both 12" and 15" at the same time, doing the same things, etc. It can really all be relative.

If you are super-interested in this, you could ask people to install/run Temperature Monitor, and report temp measurements back to you. Still, even that doesn't have an external case measurement. But really, I think this is not a big deal and I personally don't see it as an issue worth worry. Laptops generate heat, some more, some less. The PBs run cooler than most PCs I've encountered.

In my own limited experience, the only computers I have used that run cooler than my own 12" rev. c are iBooks and my father's old Lombard (G3 PB). But I haven't tried every computer, nor do I expect everyone else to share my personal definitions of what's hot and what's not.
 
No I mean BLOODY HOT.

On the botton (it's actually at the bottom near the back of the notebook) of the PowerBook if I've been doing anything CPU intensive the thing is HOT, I can have my hand 1" away from it and feel the heat radiating off it. It gets hot on the bottom of the chassis and also under the LCD. Don't get me wrong here I mean hot like I would burn myself if I kept my hand there!

I just put the heat down to Apple pushing as much power out of the G4 as they could, and needing to get rid of the heat somewhere.

EDIT:

I should add this is only when I've got it plugged in to AC and running the processor at the highest speed, it's not nearly as bad if I have it on automatic running on batteries.
 
I moved from my 12" RevC combo to a 12" RevD superdrive on the week of released and I'm now onto my fourth model!
The first one had a warped keyboard (as if there were bubbles in the top left and bottom right corners) - I exchanged that the same day.

The second had a similar problem on the top right corner only to a very small exstend - something I was willing to overlook, but it did have the trackpad problems. then I dropped it 😡 and despite the not overwhelming damage I sold it on (at only a small loss 😀 ) and bought a combo model instead.

This one didn't have any trackpad issues (it did have a small "chip" just above the lid release button) but after two weeks refused to got to sleep when you put the lid down, and when awake would every now and then have a hissy fit of going to sleeep, coming back on, going to sleep, coming back on & turning the backlight off. Took it to the Apple Store were they tested it (gotta love the genius bar!!) checked it wasn;t a software issue, and as they were stumped gave me a new one on the spot.

This fourth one feels by far the most solid. No cosmetic flaws, and no quirks. Trackpad works wonderfully. I think I was just unlucky/unlucky & clumsy/unlucky again with the first three, and in no way has it put me off them thanks to Apples stella service.
 
Question...I'm gonna buy a new PB soon and I'm always travelling, so let's say I buy a PB in one countru and then discover a problem - can I get it exchanged in another country or do I have to return to the point of purchase?
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
And this guy has a 12 inch that "runs fine". Shouldnt the 12 inch be running hotter than the 15 inch? None of this makes any sense. 🙄 😕
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yeah, what the mcgarry said...

also, i do like things a little hot. i really don't mind the lap warmer laptop that i have. it is never too hot to touch or anything. my sister's dell does not get this hot but aluminum does conduct heat a lot better than plastic which is probably why it is hotter and quiter...

but again, rev c. without problems x almost 1 yr.
 
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