PCMacUser said:
Hi there,
I'm interested in finding out how robust and reliable the 12" 1.33GHz iBook is.
Does the screen flex when you close it? And if you press the screen from behind (as if to close it), does the LCD go beserk?
Does the entire chassis twist when it's picked up from one corner?
Also, do they break easily? Are there known hardware problems that tend to occur with a lot of these machines, eg, dead logic boards, broken LCDs, keyboard fading, etc.
How about the battery life? Apple claims 6 hours, but I've seen reports of only 2.5hours (DVD playback).
Temperature... does this thing heat up like the Powerbooks do? Or does it stay cool all of the time?
Cheers!
I have that exact model. It's durable. It'll scratch, but unlike the powerbook, it wont dent. I think the biggest issue people have w/ the current ibooks is that the little latch that keeps them closed can sometimes stop locking as tightly as it should. I speak from previous experience with 12" ibooks.
It gets hot, but not half as hot as my recently ebayed 15" powerbook. If you set your setttings to "better battery life" the processor will scale down and the machine seems to stay cool enough to comfortably work with on your lap.
I haven't watched any movies on the new ibook, but based on past experience with ibooks, I would say that you get somewhere between 3 and 4 hours of playback, depending on how bright you have the screen.
The machine feels solid, but i would agree with what I've read in other threads that the powerbooks
feel more solid. Powerbooks don't flex at all and the keyboards are higher quality. iBook LCDs do not go wacky when you move them around. If you make a concerted effort to push the back of the LCD then you will notice distortion, but i can move the screen around roughly and the display looks fine the whole time.
I am very abusive of my computers. I have now owned 3 ibooks and one powerbook. My first iBook was Clamshell SE 466mhz. I owned that for about 26 months before it developed a loose connection inside the computer where the power supply connects. After that I had an 800mhz G3 ibook. I had hte logic board replaced in it once, then after about 20 months of ownership, I was driving to my dad's house and somebody on the highway stopped short in front of me and the ibook was on the passenger seat. I slammed on the brakes and it slammed into the dashboard. Shattered the LCD. So i ebayed that and bought a powerbook 15" 1.5ghz. I kept that for about 9 months before i did any serious damage to it. I was at my girl's house and she has one of those futon frames that rolls up and down. She had it in bed form, and I thought if there's any safe place for my laptop, it's under the futon. She rolled up the futon thing and it put a huge groove in the aluminum - a crease all along the back of the LCD. It did no damage to the LCD and the computer still worked fine, but that sucked. Sold that on ebay a few months later cuz i just got sick of the heat.
So yeah, I've already dropped my new ibook a few times and it's still looking decent and working fine. We'll see how it holds up after my 1 month visit to china...
Oh and to conclude, yes I think the ibook is quite reliable and durable. The logicboard issues seem to be in the past, so outside of those problems, the only issues I've had with my ibooks have been due to my irresponsible abuse of them - abuse that no laptop could be expected to withstand.
