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White macbook - do keys get dirty?

K

kodiak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 21, 2005
29
0
had a good look at the MB and MBP, and decided for me, MB is enough...

so next question is black or white, both in the shop look good - if same price would be black, but for me, they were just different, not better/worst.

so think it will be white for me BUT...

i have sometimes seen white keyboard, get rather dirty/discolored with use,
is this a problem with white MB?

if it is a problem, then this might sway be back to black, as that would keep cleaner (and didnt see any evidence of the oily marks either when i played with it)


so if you have a white macbook for a bit, how clean has it kept?
anyone with an g4 ibook, did you have any issues with those?

thxs
mark
 
i can't speak about the macbook itself, but i do have the white pro keyboard and while i prefer the old black one, the white one is not too bad. the keys don't really get dirty, although the general dust and grime of use will obviously be more visible. as long as you don't have horribly dirty hands when using it, i'm sure you'll be fine.
 
My mum has owned an iBook for about a year and the letters on the key started to fade, however just last week she got herself a MacBook and it looks better quality, the keys seems pretty resistant.
 
JimmyB248 said:
My mum has owned an iBook for about a year and the letters on the key started to fade, however just last week she got herself a MacBook and it looks better quality, the keys seems pretty resistant.
Click to expand...

I agree the quality of the MB keyboard is far superior to the iBook's as for the original question, I have never managed to get any of my white keyboards get dirty....I am just careful as to wash my hands if they are dirty, seems to do the job.....

ShadoW
 
My iBooks keyboard is still very clean. Every few days I wipe the whole thing down with a microfiber cloth and Clean Dr (similar to iKlear).
 
bodeh6 said:
My iBooks keyboard is still very clean. Every few days I wipe the whole thing down with a microfiber cloth and Clean Dr (similar to iKlear).
Click to expand...

I do the same thing with all my laptops, too. iKlear Apple Polish once per week. I have both a MacBook and an external, white Apple keyboard and they seem to stay pretty clean. But, just as shadowmoses says, I make sure my hands are clean before using either of them.

Dust is one thing, dirt/grime is completely different...and probably more difficult to remove if it should find its way to the MB keyboard. The keys seem to have a fair bit of surface texture, giving them a pretty decent ability to pick up nastiness if you let them...:)
 
iHeartTheApple said:
I do the same thing with all my laptops, too. iKlear Apple Polish once per week. I have both a MacBook and an external, white Apple keyboard and they seem to stay pretty clean. But, just as shadowmoses says, I make sure my hands are clean before using either of them.

Dust is one thing, dirt/grime is completely different...and probably more difficult to remove if it should find its way to the MB keyboard. The keys seem to have a fair bit of surface texture, giving them a pretty decent ability to pick up nastiness if you let them...:)
Click to expand...

so do you use iKlear on everything? case, keyboard, trackpad, screen..
 
no, and it's much easier to clean too, you can just hoover it or run a brush through it.
 
iBeard said:
so do you use iKlear on everything? case, keyboard, trackpad, screen..
Click to expand...


I use it on everything. Top, Bottom, Screen, Keypad, trackpad. Just spray it on the microfiber and go.
 
I've only had my Macbook for a week so I can't tell you what the keys will look like over time but I can tell you one thing to avoid - don't use the computer after reading a newspaper without washing the ink off your fingers first! Made that mistake on day two of ownership. All the ink came off but it sure looked rough until I got around to cleaning it.
 
In the case of both white ibook G4s i used the palm rest was of a bigger issue than the KB itself. the white palm rests become dirty soon and the all the groves it had were also clearly dirty. my black thinkpad and silver powerbook seem to do a better job at keeping the stains off. For this alone the black one is worth another 50$ if you ask me.
 
thanks, seems like nothing to worry about then

im not planning on using directly after ive been working on the car.
and i dont think im overly mucky, just didnt want to have to sterilise my hands everytime before use :)

but the tip about the newspaper is worth remembering!


so looks like white then, pleased about that, as they just seem more mac (to me), than black ... but that could all change i suppose... black mac pros?
 
BlizzardBomb said:
So spills can't damage the keyboard, remember you can't replace this keyboard.
Click to expand...


it's very hard to damage a keyboard from spillage i'd be far more worried about whats inside, and you can replace the keyboard just replace the top case, which in a few months will be a fairly cheap ebay part.

i've just never split anything on any of my laptops, and i used a PB100 then a 1400CS then a 600MHz ibook and now this macbook, i just cant imagine being that clumsy and even if i was it would not be worth having a rubberized keyboard.
 
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