[cestes]

I'm likely going to be ordering a 12" iBook in the next few days.

I read recently that the G3 iBook's keyboard illuminates in some fashion when in a darkened enviornment. Does the G4 do this as well?

I've seen the G3 iBook in stores, but haven't seen the illumination featured.

Thanks!

[Peter]

I think thats only the 15" and 17" PowerBooks.
At least, it isnt mentioned on the Apple iBook specs.

[-Q-]

That's a powerbook-only feature (and limited to the 15 and 17 inch models). The keyboard on the G3 iBooks never lit up at all.

[Robertk2012]

you can see the white keys well in the dark with just the light from the LCD

[cestes]

Originally posted by Robertk2012:
you can see the white keys well in the dark with just the light from the LCD

I'm hoping that is the case. My PC notebook is hard to use in the dark with black keys.

[One2meny]

at xlr8yourmac.com, they have a hack posted that some guy did in Japan, but you basically have to be an electrical engineer, or really good at soldering to make the iBook keys light up.

[SupahCoolX]

There are small "flashlights" that plug into the USB port that can light up the keys. It's not the same as having the Powerbook's keyboard, but a Kensington FlyLight would be good if you use your laptop in the dark a lot.
http://www.kensington.com/html/1209.html

[dracoleb]

I am posting on a G4 iBook in total darkness right now. I can tell you that while the keys don't light up the screen more than makes up for that. Black on white is much easer to see than the white on black my Dell Latitude has. Don't even bother with a USB light, the screen is good enough.

[d4nth3m4n]

Originally posted by dracoleb:
I am posting on a G4 iBook in total darkness right now. I can tell you that while the keys don't light up the screen more than makes up for that. Black on white is much easer to see than the white on black my Dell Latitude has. Don't even bother with a USB light, the screen is good enough.

i was gonna say that. a funny thought to me is to think that the 17" PB has a lighted keyboard. i do not understand why you might need that with that huge ass floodlight there above the keys.

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
...i do not understand why you might need that with that huge ass floodlight there above the keys.

Agreed. I guess that's so Apple can justify charging folks for the "higher-end" stuff.

[-Q-]

Or it could be for those of us who take notes at presentations. The screen is one of the biggest battery hogs on the laptop. Turn that way down in a darkened room and you have yourself 4-5 hours of battery life to take notes during an all-day presentation.

There are definitely good reasons for it.

[Lew]

I'd be happy if some company would make replacement keycaps using the plastic pellets at the bottom of this page (I have some of their glow powder and it glows quite brightly for up to 10 hours). Unfortunately the company that used to make replacement keycaps (I think it was called Keyborg or something) doesn't seem to be around any more.