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videian28 · Mar 3, 2005, 12:44 PM

This was a pretty well known effect when they were brand new. (a slight wobble when sitting on a flat surface) I was looking to sell mine and wanted to get it repaired before hand.

I called the apple store and to try and get an idea what it would cost, they said I would have to bring it in to get that estimate. Well with the traffic around here I would rather not have to make that trip unless it was worth it. Has anyone had this repair done? Without applecare, and what was the charge.

crazeazn · Mar 4, 2005, 05:37 AM

they cant fix the wobble. the battery compt doesnt sit flush.

Simon · Mar 4, 2005, 07:22 AM

You can fix a slight wobble yourself. I've done it twice and it worked fine.

Find out which corner of your PowerBook is not level with the other three, i.e, which one is too high. Put the PowerBook on a table or another flat surface in such a way that this corner is sticking off the table. Make sure the PowerBook lid is open. Put your flat palm on the 'high' corner and apply firm pressure to it. Use the other hand to make sure the PowerBook remains on the table. Don't push like crazy, but apply force carefully. That should get rid of your wobble. It's preferable to try several times and increase the amount of force slowly than to overdo it. Apply force to the corners, not just the sheet metal of the case, that would just dent it.

iREZ · Mar 4, 2005, 10:44 AM

This method did the trick for me. There are a ton of wobble threads in here, why not run a search so that you get a better understanding. Also if you don't like the idea of putting your PB over the edge of a table and pushing down on it, Dr. Michael has a thread about taking out all the screws, placing your PB on a flat surface, and tigthening all the screws without over tightening them. I've done the over the table edge trick once and never had to do it again after that, the screw loosening and tightening procedure might be an alternative, but so is taking the streets when the freeway is traffic free....just doesn't make sense to me.

videian28 · Mar 4, 2005, 10:55 AM

I will give that a try, I finally got some sort of an answer from the local apple store (tysons corner) on what it would cost to fix, they did not have a firm answer, but said minimum of $600!!!

*a bending I will go*

iREZ · Mar 4, 2005, 12:33 PM

Yeah I find supposed genius' at the Apple store are quick to replace the entire top or bottom case depending on your machine. I remember when I took my GF's iBook to see a genius once. She had a slight case warp on the left side of her screen. I thought it might be one of the clips inside wasn't in right, so I thought a genius would open it up and reattach it to see if that would work. All he said was it was going to cost about $500 because they would have to order a whole new screen.......

!!! I quickly threw the iBook in a bag and walked out with her to the local hardware store to find the right screwdriver to unscrew the top case with. Put it back together and all is well now, all I wanted was some effort on his part.....oh well.

mkral · Dec 24, 2005, 12:23 AM

Simon, thanks for the tip. You're right that didn't take much pressure at all. Being complately paranoid of ruining my new 12", I was a bit leary of trying it, but it worked perfectly,. Thanks for saving me the hassle of typing on a wobbly laptop every day.

Simon · Dec 24, 2005, 01:20 AM

Glad it worked out for you.

Jawbone54 · Dec 25, 2005, 07:03 PM

Sounds like a Louisiana fix for a problem. Kind of funny to hear that it worked so easily.

mkral · Dec 25, 2005, 07:27 PM

Yah, it was kind of crazy. I was expecting to have to push a bit, but it really took almost no pressure at all.

JoshuaZ · Dec 26, 2005, 11:48 PM

Wobble be darned! I've had a slight wobble on mine, and just learned to ignore it for the most part. Wobble happens.

Bandit240 · Dec 27, 2005, 12:01 AM

Ive got my 12'' setting on a large mousepad. No wobble on it, but i have noticed it when setting on the table or any flat surface. Doesnt really bother me much since its either on the mousepad, or in my lap. On that note, this sucker runs hot. 125F is common with it.

madmacgames · Dec 27, 2005, 10:14 AM

the 12" has such a small footprint, and with one of the feet on the battery, it is near impossible to achieve a high enough machine precision that when all of the individual parts com together, it will be perfect.

Not to mention humidity, temperature, etc will all effect the metals the powerbook is made from. I've noticed mine wobbles more in cold weather than in warm weather (maybe the other way around, I don't exactly recall as I have it in clamshell now for awhile, but it does wobble more in one than the other).

Plus, the case is strong, but does bend easily, so even if it was "perfect" at the time it was machined, it could be thrown off quite a bit (by precision measurements) by the time it is assembled and shipped to your door.

You'll probably find the wobble may come back or some other corner may start wobbling in the future just because of all the factors than can impact the way the case sits... just do the manual fix again... I've fixed mine about 3 times now over about a 2 year period that I've owned it.

shabbasuraj · Jan 1, 2006, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by videian28

This was a pretty well known effect when they were brand new. (a slight wobble when sitting on a flat surface) I was looking to sell mine and wanted to get it repaired before hand.

I called the apple store and to try and get an idea what it would cost, they said I would have to bring it in to get that estimate. Well with the traffic around here I would rather not have to make that trip unless it was worth it. Has anyone had this repair done? Without applecare, and what was the charge.

it is normal... sux