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The sturdyness of PowerBooks have now been tested.

J

jevel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 7, 2003
166
0
I´m the happy owner of a 15" 1.25GHz G4 PowerBook, and this weekend I put it up to the ultimate test.

I had a nice evening at a friends house, celebrating his wife´s birthday, and drinking quite a bit of wine. At 4:30 I decided it was time to depart, and went home. As I got home I was a bit hungry, so I went upstairs into the kitchen to make a sandwich. After I had eaten my sandwich I was tired, and I headed downstairs to go to bed.

On my way downstairs, I pass the table by the stairs, I see my PowerBook lying there with the screen closed. I remember that I had used it earlier the day before, and that I had no battery left. So I decided to bring it with me downstairs to use the charger in my bedroom.

As I start the stairs, something goes terribly wrong, and I slip bigtime. I end up shooting straight into thin air, landing on my back and shoulder, PowerBook flying from my grip. With a bang loud enough to wake my neighbours I make impact with the stairs, and start tumbling down the stairs. My precious PowerBook mimics this, only making less noise.

When I regain control on my body and reenter a mode where I recognise up from down, I grab the computer to stop it from racing further down the stairs, but the damage is already done. :( Three dents in the metal on the lower back edge of the chassis. They´re not that visible, but when you know of them, they´re easily spotted.

I limp into my bedroom after convincing my neighbours that there´s no need to order an ambulance, and I hook the PB onto the powerline. With my heart beating heavily I reach for the releasebutton for the sccreen, and half expect the screen to be cracked or the book not to start. To my great relief it does start, and the screen is undamaged. After a close inspection and a stresstest of the system it seems like the only trace of my nightly escapade will be the three dents. Last time I did something like this was with a Dell Laptop. Let´s just say that the PowerBook did far better. ;)

-KJ
 
heh, get's your heart beating, doesn't it? I haven't had similar experiences with my powerbook, but I can only imagine the relief on your face :)
 
i am VERY glad to hear that you and your powerbook are alright...i'm planing on purchasing the next revision of those powerbooks and i am GLAD to hear of their durability tested thoroughly... under the influence;)
 
Somebody had to do it, and I felt compelled to take my part of the responsibility for the Mac society. Let´s just say that the PowerBook wasn´t the only thing getting bumps that night.... ;)

But; looking at the bright side of this, I might just have spared a few of you from having to dent yours testing this out. :D

-KJ
 
Re: The sturdyness of PowerBooks have now been tested.

Originally posted by jevel
Last time I did something like this was with a Dell Laptop. Let´s just say that the PowerBook did far better. ;)

-KJ
Click to expand...

Wow, you're pretty devoted to your durability testing. :D
 
I thought my 15" AlBook would be fragile--it's so thin, and some people said the screen would ripple when you touched the back (an early defect that's been solved perhaps).

Nope. It's like a solid brick of (very light) steel. It's a tank, even MORE so than my trusty, abused Lombard. And that's saying something.

The only damage I've done is lots of scratches. ALL of which rub right out! This thing must be harder than most things--even metals--that scratch against it. So a scratch is like a crayon mark rather than a groove.

And I guess I have squashed it in bags and let it slam flat after balancing it carelessly against a table leg. (Am I a bad person? I won't even SAY what my Lombard went through, and its original screen is still perfect--if somewhat dimming with age.)

Al is THE material for laptops, I'm convinced!

PS... My AlBook's screen is perfect, and even pressing HARD on the back has zero effect.
 
You should post this in eyelikeart's "have you ever been drunk" thread. It's appropriate!

Let's hope that you didn't bang anything loose, that will come apart inside the PowerBook later.

I've heard of people having incidents like this before, and all their PowerBooks have been fine. Here's hoping yours will fair the same!
 
i am VERY glad to hear that you and your powerbook are alright...i'm planing on purchasing the next revision of those powerbooks and i am GLAD to hear of their durability tested thoroughly... under the influence
Click to expand...

umm, i was waiting my 16 year old heart out for a PB update since the Rev A first cam out. I said, okay, the next will be better, and the RevB was. I was expecting a Rev C at MW expo 04, but none were to be found! So a week after the expo I drained my bank account and bought a PB. There isn't a whole lot more that can be done to the G4. I believe the desktop chip tops out at 1.4 GHz, and the current PB chip tops at 1.33, and a G4 any faster would get a lot hotter, and wouldn't get as good batt life. Dude, wait for 65 nm g5 PB chip. The smaller nm produces less heat and is way faster/more powerful. I strongly believe the next PB release will not be an update, but the intro of the PB G5.

If not a G5, then they'll just put 1.33 GHz in all the PB models, and make AirPort Extreme and SuperDrives standard. (hey, one can dream, right?)
 
I've never owned a laptop computer, but I dropped my first (gen 1) iPod several times. The worst was last spring while doing yard work. I had the iPod in my inside jacket pocket with no kind of case or sleeve on it. The headphone cord got hung on my weedeater. I actually saw the headphone jack come out right about the same instant the iPod left my pocket. So, it fell directly onto the sidewalk without the cord slowing the fall any. It scratched the hell out of the chrome on the back, but it continued working until it was stolen in the fall. Not exactly a Powerbook, but I do trust the durability of Apple's products now.
 
Re: Re: The sturdyness of PowerBooks have now been tested.

Originally posted by topicolo
Wow, you're pretty devoted to your durability testing. :D
Click to expand...

A man´s gotta do what a man´s gotta do! :D

I´ve been OUI (operating under the influence) since I bought my first computer, and this is actually the first time ever I´ve done damage to anything while in that state. I´ll go out and buy a pair of rubber socks to wear for my next nightly escapade. :D

Thank you for all your concern. I hope my PB didn´t get any lifethreatening internal injuries from the fall, but only time will show I guess...

-KJ
 
My TiBook was kicked off a 2.5' table by my cat. It was closed but survived without a single dent. The fall actually resealed the bottom panel which was coming a little loose.
 
Wow. This was a thrill to read!
Glad you are ok.
I sometimes think about such possible outcome, when I am running around with my PB.
I hope it won't happen. After reading I just shivered.
 
Every time I go up and down the stairs in my house with my Power Book, images of tripping and falling race through my brain.

I'd wager that if it happens to me, I won't fare as well as you did.

D
 
off topic? Reminds me of my iBook drop. Slid off a pile of books I was carrying; tried to catch it and ended up hurling it higher into the air. It bounced off an iron radiator onto the floor. A willow-design sleeve probably helped limit damage to a few corner scratches and a wobbly DVD drive.

I take greater care of my Albook!
 
Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
Every time I go up and down the stairs in my house with my Power Book, images of tripping and falling race through my brain.

I'd wager that if it happens to me, I won't fare as well as you did.
Click to expand...

hehe.. that always happens to me too. I run images through m had of my iBook falling down the stairs and cracking open. Whenever I think of this will caryring the Book, my fingers start to sweat and it comes lose. Thats is why I avoid carrying it if it is not in the case. :p
 
i had this one nightmare where this computer terrorist came up to me in a WiFi cafe, grasped my open powerbook by where the latch peices are, and forced the lid open til the powerbook was open 180*, breaking the hinge. I'm serious, this was a real nightmare.
 
I know this terrorist. Hes a PC zealot at my high school. Can you imagine, spending you life maintaining a few hundred Compaqs.

Misery and its company.
 
Re: The sturdyness of PowerBooks have now been tested.

Originally posted by jevel
As I got home I was a bit hungry, so I went upstairs into the kitchen to make a sandwich. After I had eaten my sandwich I was tired, and I headed downstairs to go to bed.
-KJ
Click to expand...

Just curious why your kitchen is upstairs and your bedroom is downsrairs, Isn't it usually the other way around??
 
Not here in Norway. You´ll want to keep most of the hot air in the rooms you use during the day, and as hot air goes up both livingrooms and kitchens tend to be upstairs. Bedrooms and bathrooms are usually downstairs.

-KJ
 
Re: The sturdyness of PowerBooks have now been tested.

Originally posted by jevel
I´m the happy owner of a 15" 1.25GHz G4 PowerBook, and this weekend I put it up to the ultimate test.

As I got home I was a bit hungry, so I went upstairs into the kitchen to make a sandwich. After I had eaten my sandwich I was tired, and I headed downstairs to go to bed.-KJ
Click to expand...

as an architect, i just have to ask the obvious....your kitchen is upstairs and your bedroom is downstairs?



edit: i see macnut beat me to it
 
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