powerbook issues, no answers.

[brent0saurus]

so i've been having problems with my powerbook for a long time and apple has been no help because i cannot recreate them. These are my issues:

Using the trackpad after an extended period of time (over a half hour) of not using it, the trackpad behaves erraticly and sluggish. it won't respond, or will skip around and i'll have to place my palm on the trackpad for a few seconds to reset it and then it works.

Typing on the keyboard after an extended perioid of time of not using it will make the trackpad not recognize the first letter i hit. it's like the computer forgets the keyboard exists and then is like, "oh yeah, i'll start paying attention to that now" and then works fine.

Expose is also kinda rough and slow. it used to move the windows smoothly and now it's usually really "steppy" and rough. Same with the dock hiding and icons jumping. none of those motions are very smooth.

These are all pretty small issues but there's definitely something wrong and apple keeps telling me that it's fine. They're really bugging me. I've never had a mac that had so many problems. I bought it 2 years ago. it shouldn't be acting so weird. i have friends with ibook g4s that seem more responsive and smooth than my powerbook. i have 2 gb of ram and have swapped them out, put in original apple ram, makes no difference.

 

[dartzorichalcos]

What software do you have? How much hard drive space do you have left? Try to create a new user account and see if the problem still persists.

 

[aaron.lee2006]

Most of the things you just described have a good chance at only being software issues. I think it is time for you to do a nice clean sweep of OSX. I mean everything do not archive and install, do a full erase and install. before you do this verify that disk permissions and that the disk not need a repair. I'm sure you know how to do this. Just spotlight disk utility. If that doesn't work then yes it is time to start bugging Apple. Sometimes they will be nicer to you at an authorized service center instead of just the Apple Store. Take it to an authorized service center and see what they say. It probably won't bug a third party store they just have to say it is warranty work and then Apple gives them the money back on the repair. so if it turns out not to be a software issue take it to a service center and see what they have to say. I find Apple can be very helpful but in some cases they can be jerks.

Good Luck,
Aaron Lee

 

[brent0saurus]

i'm running 10.4, with 7 gb of space left out of an 80 gb hard drive.
i just tried making a test user and tried it and it didn't seem to have the same trackpad/typing issue, but still had the rough expose motions etc.
i tried an archive/install a while ago and that didn't help but i guess i should try a clean install. It's just a pain to do. and i completely agree with you about apple. sometimes they can be helpful and other times they can be jerks. I wish they would just believe me that my computer is having issues and try to work on it instead of just running disk utility and telling me everything looks fine. i'll eventually get around to doing a clean install. thanks for your answers.

 

[iSaint]

I think 7g of space left on an 80g harddrive is getting to the limits of a smooth running computer. You might start looking for some things (apps, docs, music, movies) you can do without.

 

[MacDann]

I think 7g of space left on an 80g harddrive is getting to the limits of a smooth running computer. You might start looking for some things (apps, docs, music, movies) you can do without.

I would agree. You've got less than 10% free space left, meaning OS X is going to get pretty hinky unless you've got a ton of RAM - and even if that's the case, you're still at the ragged edge.

I would try a clean install, along with cleaning off some of the stuff on the drive so you have at least 15% free space.

MD