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Powerbook surface wear.

J

Jamnabot

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 10, 2005
28
16
UK
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Powerbook's tendency get develop holes in the paint/surface due to wear over time, but does anyone have any info on the new revisions and if there's any difference in the matterial used now than the first generation aluminium books?

These pics are from my 2-year old 17"




 
Dang, I have had my powerbook a little over a year with no sign of wear...I didn't even know this could happen!! Gonna wash my hands more often from now on or palm hover! :)
 
yeah, this is a known issue. most people describe it as a "pitting". my friend who had a rev. a 12" pb had this same exact problem.

i make sure to keep my hands clean before i use my pb. i also wipe it down weekly with iklean.
 
Heh, are you calling me dirty!

The patch effected is the area my hand rests when I'm in the WSAD possition for playing games. Clearly too many heated battles have had their toll.
 
Guess what - sweat from the wrist area eventually corrodes the finish of the lovely metal PBs.
This is why most laptops are made from plastic, with more plastic.
Just make sure your hands are clean and wipe it down every now and again.
 
I certainly won't deny it, but I'm not going to start obsessively cleaning my macs like people clean their cars. They're workhorses, not for display in a showroom.

Similarly, I don't use iPod cases either. Go figure.
 
I am sorry to hear that. I have a first gen al powerbook and the outside is still flawless. It has been using it as my main computer for the last 2+ years.
 
my dad's Rev A PowerBook 15in 1Ghz has some pretty heavy 'pitting' on the right palm rest area. But that might have to do with the fact that he doenst take really good care of his PB :rolleyes:

my friends Rev B PowerBook 17in 1Ghz is perfect.

and my Rev C PowerBook 15in 1Ghz is perfect also.

from what I see, its just a problem with the Rev A, just like the 'white spots' were only a Rev A problem.
 
Jamnabot said:
Heh, are you calling me dirty!

The patch effected is the area my hand rests when I'm in the WSAD possition for playing games. Clearly too many heated battles have had their toll.
Click to expand...
You might want to look into a Nostromo n50 or n52 (from Belkin). It really made playing games more comfortable for me on my 15" PB.

Also, sweat (salt, low-ish pH, moisture) + aluminum = corrosion.
 
Taking off one's watch would also be advised. It will only scuff/scratch the surface and allow the moisture in. Salty warm water (aka sweat) has a pretty bad effect on most metals.
James Philp MEng.
 
I use external keyboard/mouse with all my PBs. So, even my 15" Ti PB is in the mint condition (I mean it is mint; no scratch, no blemish, no dent....) I am very anal about keeping my computer equipment clean. Those rusting problem on Al PB's palm rests look nasty, thought (tetanus shots may be needed). I use Palm screen protector on the palm rest areas for my 12" PB and 12" iBook to keep them clean. They work. My $0.02.
 
I use an iLap with my PowerBook, which has a nice velvet cushion at the front - this is really comfortable for typing and also means you're not resting your palms directly on the aluminium surface. I highly recommend investing in one.
 
I guess the best solution to this problem would indeed be using an external keyboard, mouse and possibly display too. In many ways that defeats the object of haing a laptop, but it can be quite nice seeing a 30" ACD, a BT keyboard and BT mouse, (or hopefully soon BT Mighty Mouse), all running off a 15" PB. Add in an external Hard Drive, maybe iPod and it soon ceases to be a laptop anyway.

That case rot does look bad though. Does anyone know how ofter iKlear is safe to use? I heard some bad things about using products like brasso on apple products. I assume iKlear has no problems and cleaning once a week/month may be fairly expensive, but also safe.
 
YS2003 said:
I use Palm screen protector on the palm rest areas for my 12" PB and 12" iBook to keep them clean. They work. My $0.02.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I guess cheap sticky back plastic would also work. It might leave sticky patches there when removed, but again, some iKlear would clean that up a treat.
 
I have a rev A 15" that has seen at least 10 hours of daily use since 11/03 &, aside from several keys losing their lovely aluminum luster, has no pitting or surface wear on the deck or case.

It will be passed along to one of my staff sometime next year when the new machines make their appearance, & I am certain it will undoubtedly still look the same & be running as steady as it does now when I see rev D macintels making the scene! :cool:
 
Just did the full size closeup of the original pics, (at about 5-7MP it appears), and it does look very bad close up. What exactly is that under the silver surface anyway? It looks like black rubber, but I know it isn't.
 
I've heard of people colouring in the holes witha silver marker...

Now, my baby PB is starting to show signs of this! I attacked it with a silver sharpie and.. no, just no. I had to rub it with iKlear for 20 minutes to get the sharpie off, so no go!

Has anyone been successful with covering up the pits, so they aren't all... ugly under my (future) clear plastic wrist protectors?

Oh, my poor baby PB! You're so young to be pitting already!

/I'M A SWEATY WOMAN
//I AM SO SWEATY!
///SWEATY!!
 
clayj said:
Let the innuendo begin. ;)
Click to expand...

About my sweaty, sweaty hands that are eating away at my PowerBook? :(

check this out

sweat dissolves aluminum
aluminum enters bloodstream
aluminum can cause alzheimer's disease
I forget my username and password to MR
and y'all never EVER see me EVER again!

now, wouldn't that be sad?

How do I cover it up???

/SWEATY!
//Because I was dancing at lunch
///dood, I should post a video of my dancing
////I'm soooo bad.
/////not like Michael Jackson "BAD" but like... Windows as an operating system bad.
 
katie ta achoo said:
sweat dissolves aluminum
aluminum enters bloodstream
aluminum can cause alzheimer's disease
Click to expand...

You are going to have to inject a ton of aluminum straight into your bloodstream....either that or your licking everyone's powerbooks and their sweaty aluminum covered hands! :D

Hmmm...theinvisibleshield for the powerbook...maybe that would be a good prevention step.
 
If I had an ALbook with that kind of pitting from normal wear, I would have Apple send me a new top case.

Aluminum doesn't "rust" but it does get pitted. Weird.
 
steve_hill4 said:
Hmm, I guess cheap sticky back plastic would also work. It might leave sticky patches there when removed, but again, some iKlear would clean that up a treat.
Click to expand...
No sticky stuff with Palm screen protector. It is made for the touch screen on the PDA. So, the beauty of this is it does not leave anything and it is not too noticeable. I don't recommend any sticky tape for this as it defeats the whole purpose of this.
 
Hmmm...

Wow, I hadn't noticed this before, but after reading this thread, I just noticed the SLIGHTEST bit of sounds of "pitting" (never heard of that term before :eek: ) on my 17" PB.

Luckily, I finally bought an iCurve + bluetooth Apple keyboard, so I won't have to wear down that area as much. It's just on the left side of the trackpad, and a scatter of miniscule black dots (the size of a point of a pen)

I'm kind of bummed that it's already started to "pitt", and I've been using iKlear every month! :mad:
 
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