Apple Australia is shipping my custom Powerbook

[oingoboingo]

Well its less than an hour to go to the time they said I could pick it up...

Back soon.

Oh, and can anyone think of anything else I need to do with a new PB?

That's a pretty impressive checklist you have there. I suppose you've had long enough to think about it I would add to it (as part of the initial machine setup) a battery calibration. This is mentioned in the manual also, so there's nothing too mysterious about it. After OS X is all installed and set up, run the PowerBook off battery power until it gives you the warning message, and eventually puts itself to sleep. Then connect the AC adapter, and charge it up (you can be using it at the same time) until the battery is 100% full. This will calibrate the battery and let OS X give you a more accurate indication of how much battery life is actually there.

It's in the manual somewhere. You can do it whenever you want (and you can do it as much as is necessary), but if you're trying to get everything started on the right foot, you might as well do it when the PB is brand new.

Speaking of new laptops, one of my friends at work just had his new Dell Inspiro 9100 delivered today. Sure...the specifications on that machine are pretty impressive (3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 Mobility, 7200rpm hard drive, 1680x1200 15.4" screen, dual channel DDR SDRAM), but DAMN!!! I've never seen a notebook as thick as that one!!! It actually looks like three whole notebooks stacked on top of each other when the lid is closed!! Anyway, this friend of mine is a total gaming freak, and knew exactly what the 9100 was like before he ordered it...he wanted something that performed close to a desktop system that he could occasionally lug around, so it suits him perfectly. I hope Dell bundles coupons for the chiropractor with it!

Needless to say, you shouldn't have that problem with your 17" PB when it arrives

 

[oingoboingo]

The fact that they give you a 3 year warranty for free with your PB isnt just a random amount of years plucked outta the sky. Its a highly developed equation that statisticians or consultants would have got for apple. So you can bet that it should last that long, cos apple wouldnt provide it for free.They know that this warranty period is most profitable for them and probabyl the least costly.

Are you talking about an extra warranty that some resellers bundle with PowerBooks they sell? The standard Apple warranty is only 1 year, and can be extended out to 3 years if you pay through the nose for AppleCare.

If you are talking about a reseller provided warranty, who has one of these? I've just lined up someone to buy my current 12" PowerBook and I'm scoping around the dealers for the best price on a new 1.33GHz 12" PowerBook. If someone bundles an extended warranty, I'm there!

Of course I could have completely misunderstood your post also.

 

[abc123]

edu purchases get three years too

 

[Ozi]

yup.

oh and in answer to a question about 3 pages ago :O my dad is an academic (works at monash uni) so he gets the edu discount through that. Im sooooooo impatient, waiting for this comp!

~ozi

 

[oingoboingo]

edu purchases get three years too

Really!?! I didn't know that. My new 12" PowerBook is going to be bought using my University of New South Wales student card. Wow that's quite a bonus. Do you have a link or anything to Apple's web site where they mention that? A friend of mine also bought a G5 last year using his student card for an educational discount and I don't think he knows about that either.

 

[oingoboingo]

yup.

oh and in answer to a question about 3 pages ago :O my dad is an academic (works at monash uni) so he gets the edu discount through that. Im sooooooo impatient, waiting for this comp!

~ozi

I think it was me that asked the question That's good then...I was trying to think of how you were going to pull off an .edu discount as well as a salary packaging deal through your dad if your dad wasn't in the educational system somehow. Now it's all clear to me...

 

[oingoboingo]

edu purchases get three years too

Just read the Terms and Conditions page linked off the Apple Educational store site. It confirms the three year warranty. Thanks for the tip! I really didn't know that .edu customers got the extra 2 years. Sure as hell beats paying over $500 for AppleCare to get much the same thing

 

[Ozi]

yep, and you get a big discount on RRP too... edu discount is a beautiful thing.

Oh and I was about to get the webmaster of Apple Australia to email you when you posted that reply... but you dont list an email address.

~ozi

 

[oingoboingo]

yep, and you get a big discount on RRP too... edu discount is a beautiful thing.

Oh and I was about to get the webmaster of Apple Australia to email you when you posted that reply... but you dont list an email address.

~ozi

I knew about the discount off the RRP...it certainly is a beautiful thing Like I said, a friend bought a G5 last year and got a nice discount off it, as he used his Macquarie Uni student card (right before he handed in his PhD thesis). The extra warranty thing was the surprise bonus to me. Thanks for the offer, but I just called Apple and spoke with one of their educational salespeople and he confirmed the extra warranty also.

Well that's just about made my day

 

[locopano]

You get a 3 year warranty with educational discount... and its fully transferrable if you re-sell it.. I bought a second hand 1GHZ superdrive TiBooka while back and when i called apple care they said that all EDU purchses come with a 3 year waranty! When i bought my first PB ages ago, the tosser of a re-seller said he would "THROW IN" apple care for free cos i was a student.

 

[Ozi]

yup many things can be said of Apple Australia, but them not looking after students isnt one of them.

They do good by us. And im pleased it "made your day." What would make my day would be for my computer to arrive! LOL

~ozi

 

[aswitcher]

...new powerbook plugged in and on charge.

Very nice girl at the store said to charge it for 5 hours before playing with it...

 

[locopano]

...new powerbook plugged in and on charge.

Very nice girl at the store said to charge it for 5 hours before playing with it...

YOU GOT IT!!!!!!!!!! Awesome! SO when did you put your order through? how many days you been waiting?????

I need to have mine before the 2nd of June! FINGERS CROSSED

But the later it comes the more study (theoretically) i will get done.. except for the fact that i check this post every half hour to see whats happeiong with the 17"BTO's......

you are a lucky bastard... can you post a pic so i can drool.......

Also did you get apple to put in !GIG (1 sicj or 2 sticks of 512MB????

 

[aswitcher]

YOU GOT IT!!!!!!!!!! Awesome! SO when did you put your order through? how many days you been waiting?????

Saturday of the Anzac day long weekend...order probably went through the last Tuesday in April.

But the later it comes the more study (theoretically) i will get done.. except for the fact that i check this post every half hour to see whats happeiong with the 17"BTO's......

you are a lucky bastard... can you post a pic so i can drool.......

Also did you get apple to put in !GIG (1 sicj or 2 sticks of 512MB????

I can post a pic if someone can tell me how

I just got the extra 512MB. I really dont need more than a gig, and not at the cost that a single 1 gig stick comes in at.

 

[locopano]

you have to upload it onto the net... have it hosted somewhere...

i think you iDisk should do? Then you just paste the link in the post and insert image there...

Hmmm not to clear direction but you shoudl get it in time....

 

[aswitcher]

you have to upload it onto the net... have it hosted somewhere...

i think you iDisk should do? Then you just paste the link in the post and insert image there...

Hmmm not to clear direction but you shoudl get it in time....

Thanks. It may not be for several more hours, because I have a lot todo tonight

 

[oingoboingo]

...new powerbook plugged in and on charge.

Very nice girl at the store said to charge it for 5 hours before playing with it...

Hmmm...what was she referring to? Not the PowerBook?

I don't think there should be a problem using it while it charges (the PowerBook, that is). The only thing is that the charging will occur more slowly is the machine is being used than if it is switched off. I just checked my 12" PowerBook manual and it doesn't say anything about needing to switch the machine off while charging for the first time, or going through the battery calibration routine.

One small clarification about the battery calibration...I forgot to mention that the battery should first be fully charged before fully running it down, and then fully recharging it. Sorry. You've probably found and read that section in the manual by now anyway.

 

[mateybob]

got mine today...
one dead pixel
im going to hassle DJs to the death about this...

 

[eni]

So glad to hear you got it aswitcher. Especially because that 'should' mean everyone waiting should be getting theirs. Nobody should be without their PBs! (said by the guy laying in bed typing on his )

 

[aussie_geek]

DON'T USE FOR 5 HOURS????????

...new powerbook plugged in and on charge.

Very nice girl at the store said to charge it for 5 hours before playing with it...

aswitcher,

The girl at the store is having a lend of you. Just plug the adaptor in and fire it up man!! The manual doesn't say anything about pluging it in and not using it for 5 hours

Just calibrate the battery - the method has been discussed in this forum before..

aussie_geek

 

[aswitcher]

One small clarification about the battery calibration...I forgot to mention that the battery should first be fully charged before fully running it down, and then fully recharging it. Sorry. You've probably found and read that section in the manual by now anyway.

Well I now have a green light on the charger so any minute now it goes on!

Yeah I have read that section. Just taking my time enjoying putting it all together properly.

 

[aswitcher]

got mine today...
one dead pixel
im going to hassle DJs to the death about this...

Go the massage with that pixel with a clean hankey or glasses cloth and see if with "gentle" manipulation it resets itself.

 

[mateybob]

Go the massage with that pixel with a clean hankey or glasses cloth and see if with "gentle" manipulation it resets itself.

not sure what gentle means exactly but i gave it a try and it didnt do a thing... its not "stuck", the red transistor just doesnt work.. fullstop..

i wasnt annoyed when my old laptop got a dead pixel after 3 years but having one the minute you open the box is just infuriating...

other than that its great so far...

 

[locopano]

ASWITCHER

Hows the 17"PB? Is it super fast with the GB ram?

Also does the 128VRAM make games better? DVD's better? Final Cut playback better? cos i dont play games but to tell you the TRUTH, inm not 100% what the upgrade will do for me, i just got it as i practically free with my 5400RP< upgrade.... both upgrades cost me $70 AUD

Before you all ask its a long story.

I just worked out tho that if you were so inclined, a new POWERBOOK 17" w/5400rpm + 128VRAM upgrade could cost you only $1900. Assumptions you were on highest tax bracket, you own your own business and you could get a EDU price with a receipt that had your business name on it without mention of the edu price. That is if you were so inclined.

PS i'm not in this situation..

 

[aswitcher]

Hows the 17"PB? Is it super fast with the GB ram?

Just got off the phone with Apple. Appears my PB is DOA. It might be the ram that my reseller installed (here's hoping) but Apple think its a DOA.