Looking to refurb/refresh/clean up powerbook for law school.

[bigevilalien]

I've been using my powerbook g4 12" 1.5ghz (late 2005 revision) for the past three years now as my main computer and now I am planning on demoting it to my portable to take to class (law school). Does anybody have any tips on what I can do to refurbish/refresh/clean it up to make it usable and new-like again?

It already has max ram, but I figure I could give it a good cleaning and perhaps even upgrade the hard drive? What kind of hard drive does it have in it now? Would it benefit from a 5400 rpm or even a 7200 rpm? I should definitely replace the ****** worn-out battery too. Any suggestions for brand/type?

What else could I do to make it run a little smoother?

Also, is there a place I could send it to get cleaned thoroughly or at least a guide I could look at to do it myself?

Any general tips for me?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Eddyisgreat]

You could replace the hard drive, but if it will just be a mobile machine, the stock might do fine since you won't be running anything too intense (I assume). A fresh leo install would probably do the most good, unless you think the drive may fail soon (then I would definately replace it).

I don't know where you could get a battery, but i'd try ebay, or perhaps your battery hasn't replaced by the recall and you could get a brand new one? OEM for sure though. I don't trust things that can explode to random chinese suppliers ~.~

As far as cleaning it goes, i'd just buy one of the iKlear kits from the Apple Store and work from that. There is plenty of solution and various cloths to get the job done (chassis, screen, keyboard, trackpad). Don't listen to the idiots who douse their machines in nail polish remover and dry it off in the dishwasher. Alternatively, you could purchase a ProCare subscription which will let you bring in your machine, and Apple do the aforementioned cleaning for you (they actually use the same product too).


If you have to open your machine, ifixit's guides should help you accomplish whatever you need.

 

[clyde2801]

I'd also go online to look at a couple of guides to maximizing performance under osx. Besides basic stuff like running maintenance scripts, etc., they also tell you how to turn off processor sucking, eye candy applications that you can easily live without.

 

[Gerri Shin]

Have a look over at SunvalleyTek, they seem to be a reliable battery source for Powerbooks.

 

[Finlandboy]

i HIGHLY recommend getting the battery from apple, it may be more expensive but its your best bet...

i know from experience with 3 batteries from 2 different sites for my powerbook g4... all 3 had a different type of metal exterior, they all didn't lay flat on the back of my comp, and 2 of them broke within 30 minutes of opening the package...

maybe i was just really really unlucky, but just thought you should know