Just received new 15" Rev. D Powerbook

[Chrispy]

Well I may have spoken too soon about this new 15". I have noticed something strange...the backlight flickers sometimes. It is kinda strange. Has anybody else experienced this with their powerbook?

It is weird, it just pulses slightly. I don't know how to explain it better than that.

-jaromski

Haha. I think I may know your problem because that sounds like exactly what happened to me. Do you have the auto adjust for screen brightness activated (it is on by default). That makes the screen keep adjusting the level of brightness as the light around you changes. It is very sensitive (so much so that the position of your hands make it change) so I turned it off. It is in the display preferences pane under the system preferences. Hope that fixes your problem 🙂

 

[Ryan1524]

quick question, does your power button light up? the piccture on apple site seems to show that the power symbol glows white. is this just the picture or does it actually glow?

i know it's dumb, but if it glows, i think that'd be really cool.

 

[Chrispy]

My power button does not light up. The only thing that lights up is the place where the cord plugs into the computer and then the latch button on the front glows white when the computer is asleep. And no, it was not a dumb question but rather trying to figure out if a pictures was creating an illusion or not. Hope I could help clear up any confusion 🙂

 

[jaromski]

Haha. I think I may know your problem because that sounds like exactly what happened to me. Do you have the auto adjust for screen brightness activated (it is on by default). That makes the screen keep adjusting the level of brightness as the light around you changes. It is very sensitive (so much so that the position of your hands make it change) so I turned it off. It is in the display preferences pane under the system preferences. Hope that fixes your problem 🙂

Dude, you rock. That was pissing me off so bad! I couldn't figure out why it would just jitter like that. Since I turned it off it was worked 100% now.

Good. I was thinking the backlight was going out, they need to put some type of inertial dampener into that auto-screen-brightener code. It changes in a choppy fashion. But I guess it is impossible to make a digital control behave in an analog fashion...

Thanks for your input. It saved me headaches.

-jaromski

 

[Chrispy]

Glad I could help 🙂 Yeah, the way the powerbooks handle the screen fading is horrible. I noticed mine would go dim and bright again on and off like a flicker and it was driving me crazy. The backlit keyboard function is much more smooth at adjusting the brightness and that is a feature that I miss on my 12". Hope you continue to enjoy your 15" powerbook! The displays on those are just plain beautiful!

 

[jaromski]

Glad I could help 🙂 Yeah, the way the powerbooks handle the screen fading is horrible. I noticed mine would go dim and bright again on and off like a flicker and it was driving me crazy. The backlit keyboard function is much more smooth at adjusting the brightness and that is a feature that I miss on my 12". Hope you continue to enjoy your 15" powerbook! The displays on those are just plain beautiful!

Yeah that's just too bad that the 15" series gave you so much hell, and I am always nervous to switch up hardware (especially when my 12" served me flawlessly for the entire 12 months prior)

But I really wanted the extra video memory, 5400 speed hd, plus the other misc. goodies. After using it for a week I would say there isn't a noticeable speed diff between the 1.33ghz G4 and the 1.67ghz G4. I do notice quite a big difference in the 5400rpm drive vs. 4200rpm. And the 15" runs cooler than the 12".

But there is just something remarkable about those 12" machines. Now I am getting misty about selling it...

Man I need another hobby, I am sounding like a huge nerd... 🙂


-jaromski

 

[ibilly]

Battery Clarification

Also, keep in mind what MAYA pointed out earlier in this thread about battery life. You will get longer battery life from a 12" simply because the screen is smaller. How much of a difference exaclty I do not know, but I would bet at least a half an hour or more.

If you look at the 'books, you will notice that the bigger the laptop, the bigger the battery. Physically, of course, but also in terms of energy stored. I don't remember the specifics or the units, but the powerbooks don't use the same sized battery (can you imagine a 17's battery in an 12 or visa versa? Think about it.)

That said, considering the size of the lamps of the widescreen, the keyboard's lighting, and the better graohics card w. more strain all conspire to keep the bigger books from lasting as long as their petite counterpart.