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jmatero · Feb 3, 2003, 09:11 PM

Well, I just returned my 12" because of what I thought was a defect in my unit.... the plastic base (bottom of keyboard) in front of the space bar was warped and pulled away from the bottom of where it is supposed to sit. It was obvious... just looking at the entire front edge of the space bar revealed this wavy plastic. To my shock, both units at the Palisades Plaza AppleStore in West Nyack had developed the "warp"... it was NOT on THOSE units when I purchased MY PowerBook. So I drove home to White Plains to return mine and sure enough, the two THERE had developed the problem as well. This is an obvious design flaw.... a problem I assume will be eliminated in REV B. Keep an eye out for this on yours. The replacement I picked up tonight looks fine and I'll keep an eye out this week for any warping. I can only assume it's a molding issue or the heat is causing the problem.

tycheung · Feb 3, 2003, 09:13 PM

whoa...it's melting its keyboard?

elvis2000 · Feb 3, 2003, 09:21 PM

Originally posted by tycheung:
whoa...it's melting its keyboard?

Wait for the Rev B....

You would think Apple would test these things. I'm envisioning a company full of very stressed Product Managers.

TheBum · Feb 3, 2003, 09:22 PM

I think I see what you're seeing, but it doesn't seem to be a real problem. If you take a flat screwdriver blade and gently poke it along that edge, you'll notice that it's very flexible...I'd even call it rubbery. It appears to be a gasket of some sort, possibly as insulation against heat coming up straight through the keyboard.

Dan-the-Man · Feb 4, 2003, 11:00 PM

I agree with TheBum,

The keyboard has a very thin layer of rubber/plastic, that insulates the circuitry from the keys themselves. If you look between the keys you will see the material. It is very flexible and is not adhered to anything at the front, hence it tends to have a wavy effect. Our Titaniums and iBooks all have this in the store, as well as the 12" PowerBook. This is not a hardware fault.

Regards,

Dan-the-Man

jmatero · Feb 5, 2003, 09:06 AM

I'm sorry but this IS an issue that needs to be corrected. Our techs here showed me how that "layer" is designed to go under the lip of the case in front of it. Apparently it is not simply warping but shrinking as you can push it down and it JUST misses the casing. Also, not to be trivial, but Apple brags about the beauty of this system and I agree, it is stunning... but with the front of the 12" PowerBook keyboard OPEN... as part of the DESIGN... ANYONE who looks at it can see that curvy plastic part that OUT OF THE BOX is perfectly flat.

I agree, this is one of those 'wait for revision B issues' Honestly, I don't see this issue on our ice-books and if i IS there, it's hidden... but the front of that 12" PB.....? With that wide open front.....? That's going to turn people away... it turned me away and I'm an apple FREAK. (hehehehe) I hope they fix this soon. I have a tone of home movies to burn to DVD!

macgeekjay · Feb 5, 2003, 10:31 AM

You're kidding me, right?

Rolnif · Feb 5, 2003, 10:43 AM

I got my 12" two days ago. I don't feel the heat complaints nor have any problems with my keyboard. Let's see what time tells...

kcmac · Feb 5, 2003, 11:29 AM

So far so good here. I really love this keyboard.

Is the layer you are talking about white? I can see it and it is totally flat on mine. It is not attached to the keys so I don't know how this affects the keyboard.

duckfighter · Feb 5, 2003, 12:18 PM

Weren't there problems with previous powerbooks that overheat ? As i remember to have read, apple fixed it with a update.. maybe they will do some tricks in the next update of OSX ?

stilltron · Feb 5, 2003, 12:33 PM

jmatero - how many gigs is the Hard Drive in your 12" powerbook. Maybe the heating problems are related to the size of the drive.

StiZeven · Feb 5, 2003, 03:53 PM

Originally posted by stilltron:
jmatero - how many gigs is the Hard Drive in your 12" powerbook. Maybe the heating problems are related to the size of the drive.

The size (in GB) of a hard drive is irrelevant, it's the speed of the drive and the overall design of that particular drive that would contribute most to the heat generated. For example, I've got a new 200GB Western Digital hard drive in my PC and it runs cooler than my older 80GB Seagate IV.

Thought · Feb 5, 2003, 04:03 PM

Is there a way to turn on the fans manually or set an other baseline when they kick in? Perhaps this would cool down the PB before it gets uncomfortably hot ...

stilltron · Feb 5, 2003, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by StiZeven:
The size (in GB) of a hard drive is irrelevant, it's the speed of the drive and the overall design of that particular drive that would contribute most to the heat generated. For example, I've got a new 200GB Western Digital hard drive in my PC and it runs cooler than my older 80GB Seagate IV.

That's not my point... maybe the design of the 60 gig HDs is different than the design on the 40 gig HDs. I'm merely speculating. Something has to account for the fact that some people's 12" PowerBooks are running ultra hot and others are merely warm. As an interested buyer I'd like to know how much of it is related to HD useage vs. HD design. I think we can rule out difference in user tolerance for heat.

icruise · 04:54 PM

I doubt there is any appreciable difference between the two sizes. Besides, he said he walked in and bought them in the store -- doesn't that mean he got the 40GB model?

As for the different reports we are hearing with regard to the heat of the 12" model, I do think that individual differences in what one perceives as uncomfortably hot are a factor. Beyond that, I'm sure there are also differences in the way the machines are used (what programs they are running, for how long, in what environment, etc).

I am inclined not to attribute these differing reports to actual differences in the computers (although that is also possible) but rather to these factors

skyman · Feb 5, 2003, 04:51 PM

Originally posted by jmatero:
Well, I just returned my 12" because of what I thought was a defect in my unit.... the plastic base (bottom of keyboard) in front of the space bar was warped and pulled away from the bottom of where it is supposed to sit. It was obvious... just looking at the entire front edge of the space bar revealed this wavy plastic. To my shock, both units at the Palisades Plaza AppleStore in West Nyack had developed the "warp"... it was NOT on THOSE units when I purchased MY PowerBook. So I drove home to White Plains to return mine and sure enough, the two THERE had developed the problem as well. This is an obvious design flaw.... a problem I assume will be eliminated in REV B. Keep an eye out for this on yours. The replacement I picked up tonight looks fine and I'll keep an eye out this week for any warping. I can only assume it's a molding issue or the heat is causing the problem.

Let's see some pictures of this "warp"

Mac Zealot · Feb 5, 2003, 05:31 PM

I wouldn't mind a hot laptop but warm ones drive me nuts because they're always a sub-warm temperature that's not comfortable.

hot laptops are actually cool. metal ones must be awesome

tamaroy · Dec 30, 2003, 06:52 PM

I got rev.b a month ago and I have developed this exact problem and now my space key is even screwed.
IT'S GOING BACK! :-(