[kennedy]

New PB12 owner here... with newbie questions...

1 ) The power button appears to be designed to light up... but I've never seen it illuminated...

Is it supposed to light up?
If so, when should it be lit up?

2) I hear the fan come on, but I can never feel it blowing. Where does it blow out?

3) Never in the store did I feel it get hot (as oft-reported here)... while installing stuff, I could've fried eggs on it... What is under the left palm that gets so darn hot?

4) Is it safe to place the PB12 directly on a nice lacquered wood desk? I'm wondering if my surface is going to get cooked off by the PB?

5) The superdrive makes a lot of noise as it pulls in or ejects a disk. Is that normal?

6) Anyone use an external keypad with their PB? I got the Targus keypad/calculator... it doesn't seem to be fully "in sync" with the PB.


Thanks!

[I Me Mine]

The power light should pulse when the PB is asleep

[darren h]

Originally posted by kennedy:
New PB12 owner here... with newbie questions...

1 ) The power button appears to be designed to light up... but I've never seen it illuminated...

Is it supposed to light up?
If so, when should it be lit up?

Looks like it should, would be nice if it did, but no is the answer.

2) I hear the fan come on, but I can never feel it blowing. Where does it blow out?

No idea, but it works

3) Never in the store did I feel it get hot (as oft-reported here)... while installing stuff, I could've fried eggs on it... What is under the left palm that gets so darn hot?

My guess is the HD coupled with the heat pipe that seems to route up the left side. Heat has been covered soooo many times in this forum

4) Is it safe to place the PB12 directly on a nice lacquered wood desk? I'm wondering if my surface is going to get cooked off by the PB?

No problem, when on it's feet there is a bit of air under there. Again there are references all over this forum to cool pads and alike.

5) The superdrive makes a lot of noise as it pulls in or ejects a disk. Is that normal?

It does seem loud and a bit 'clunky', makes a whole lot of noise when spinning up as well.

6) Anyone use an external keypad with their PB? I got the Targus keypad/calculator... it doesn't seem to be fully "in sync" with the PB.

Cant help with that one, sorry

Thanks!

No probs

[jsnyder]

Originally posted by kennedy:
New PB12 owner here... with newbie questions...

1 ) The power button appears to be designed to light up... but I've never seen it illuminated...

Is it supposed to light up?
If so, when should it be lit up?

The power button near the top right of the keyboard doesn't light up but the little LED on the latch will when the machine is asleep.

2) I hear the fan come on, but I can never feel it blowing. Where does it blow out?

I believe it blows through the vents near the "PowerBook G4" on the main chassis. The other vents are below and to the right of the ports on the right side of the unit

3) Never in the store did I feel it get hot (as oft-reported here)... while installing stuff, I could've fried eggs on it... What is under the left palm that gets so darn hot?

Hard Disk, I believe.

4) Is it safe to place the PB12 directly on a nice lacquered wood desk? I'm wondering if my surface is going to get cooked off by the PB?

I've used it on wooden desks with clear finishes as well as particleboard w/ veneer, no problems.

5) The superdrive makes a lot of noise as it pulls in or ejects a disk. Is that normal?

Happens on mine, no problems so far in the month I've owned it.

6) Anyone use an external keypad with their PB? I got the Targus keypad/calculator... it doesn't seem to be fully "in sync" with the PB.

No, but you can turn on num lock and use the right size of your keyboard as a numeric keypad. See the numbers/symbols on the bottom right of the keys.

Thanks!