is it possible? would it be too hard to make? i guess it wouldn't have to be completely waterproof, but at least enough to survive the beach or the rain. that would definitly be the coolest mac around my house, at least for a while. i could get a airport base station, and go surfing in the yard. in the rain. and i wouldnt have to worry about getting it dirty. so, any ideas?

[Ca$h68]

1. clear silicone
2. the balls to take it apart.

Go nuts, take it apart and seal everything

Here's the only con I see.... laptops NEED AIR!!!

What you could do is glue on a rubber flap around all the vents, or maybe rig something up so if water did splash on it it wouldtn get ruined.

Ca$h

Why would u want to go outside to compute (while its raining) that makes no sense at all for you to take a computer in the rain

[The Godfather]

SHRINKWRAP IT!*

Open the iBook the widest (comfortably) and wrap it with plastic foil (that one used to wrap your turkey sandwiches) several times, making sure the keyboard and screen are still visible.

HOSE-LOOP THE AIR CONDUCTION ORIFICES

As for the air vents, locate the air in-take and exhaust and loop-connect them with a small hose before plastic wrapping the computer.

AN EXTRA HEAT SINK

You could also design some sort of heat exchanger for the bottom of the iBook that will get rid of the heat in the circulating air.

ALCOHOLIC IBOOK

You could also "drown" your iBook in pure rubbing alcohol and make sure no air is left inside. When totally inmersed, wrap it.
Alcohol is insulating (no ions), anti-rust (no oxigen) and a better cooler. As well, RF waves are less far-reaching in alcohol than in air (bus overclocking possible!)**. With a cooling liquid inside, there is no point in having a fan: take it out.

TAKE IT UNDERSEAS***

Your alcohol "breathing" iBook will now withstand much, much higher pressures than it would with air. You could take your iBook underwater: your iBook will have a much better heat flow than in air: much cooler CPU. Take it with you for your next scuba dive and make what could be the world's first underwater produced iMovie****! Or just play Tombraider.



* Why don't you test it first with a cheap electronic device? Say, a four-function calculator.
** I don't know by how much, but pretty much everything non-metallic has a worse RF propagation coefficient than air.
*** Does the End User Agreement mention this sort of stuff?
**** Secure the DV Camera with plastic wrap and seal all the connections.

Things to remember:
You can't plug anything to the iBook while underwater. Rely on your battery, Airport, GPS card. Instead of "plug-and-play," you could say "plug-and-die."
Your airtank could last less than your battery, watch your O2 level.
It will be a heavy notebook when you take it off shore.
It won't float. It will sink very bad unless you tie it to a buoyant. Warned.



[This message has been edited by The Godfather (edited 06-12-2000).]

thanks, everyone who replied. i dont have an ibook yet, but if this was possible, i was thinking of getting one to try this on.

SHRINKWRAP IT! - i was thinking of something like that, but i was wondering how effective it would be.

ALCOHOLIC IBOOK - that sounds good if i was gonna heavily use it underwater. but, im not nuts enough to do that. maybe ill try it with something small first.

questions -
if i sealed it completely, how would i plug it in to recharge the battery? and usb?
if i filled it with alcohol, would i ever be able to plug anything in?
wouldnt the alcohol affect the paper cone in the speaker?

dabradda

[Zwilnik]

Shrinkwrapping an iBook would just give you an iBook full of condensation. The alchoholic iBook idea would work in theory, but it would do very nasty things to the screen.
I think you'd have to do the same as they do for underwater cameras and effectively replace the casing with a totally sealed case. You might have to be novel about cooling though. Possibly extending the heatsink up to multiple contact plates in the surface of the case.

[The Godfather]

I have just reconsidered the "Alcoholic iBook" part. It would be better if your used Johnsonn's Baby Oil instead.

I am going to do the experiment with a 4-function calculator.

godfather-what makes you think to use baby oil? i was just wondering what it is about baby oil that would make it good for sealing something.

dabradda

[Zwilnik]

There used to be a gizmo called a Trans-mitt for radio controlled aircraft transmitters. It was basically a bag, with 2 hand holes that you put the transmitter in and wore like a pair of mittens. kept the transmitter dry and your hands warm. In theory, they're still making them, but type 'trans-mitt' into yahoo and all you get is a lot of links to sexually transmitted diseases.
Logically, you could get a waterproof bag made up, with a transparent panel (to see the screen and keyboard) in the same way, with holes to put your arms in. Ideally, it would be loose enough to let warm air circulate away from the iBook.

[The Godfather]

Oil is a very good insulator .It is used by the circuit breakers in power substations to interrupt the thousands of amps that could be originated by a power failure in a transmission line (we are talking about Megawatts here).

Oil is also a water repellent. Ducks keep dry inside their feathers because they are "oil sealed."

Baby oil is clear and neutral. I might be the most noble of oils. It wouldn't attack the rubber that makes your keyboard work.

[iYouth]

I really want a waterproof ibook...so heres a few more ideas

Wacky wax!
Remove the screen and fill it with the kind of wax they use at wacky wax(wax that doesn't have to be warm to mold). Don't know about the screen. doubt that would work...

Maybe making like a rubber bag or case type thing for it. You could still use the keys, and with a little work you could put shrinkwrap over the actual screen and have the rubber seal it off. It would work...cept for tempature problems, and you'd never be able to close it again...

ok, so dream on...

___________________________

iYouth™
iYouth@trickx.com Http://www.trickx.com


[This message has been edited by iYouth (edited 05-23-2001).]

[Thebaddog]

Melted rubber :-D

[Cosmo]

Am i missing something here?
Why do we need a waterproof iBook?

And for those of you who are going to mess up their iBooks by trying this stuff...y not just give it to me instead of rendering it useless for all?

Also i wonder what the AppleCare people would say if u brought them a broken baby oil soaked ibook for warrenty repairs?

[Cosmo]

Am i missing something here?
Why do we need a waterproof iBook?

And for those of you who are going to mess up their iBooks by trying this stuff...y not just give it to me instead of rendering it useless for all?

Also i wonder what the AppleCare people would say if u brought them a broken baby oil soaked ibook for warrenty repairs?

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
<STRONG>SHRINKWRAP IT!*</STRONG>

...then you realise you left your favourite CD in the car...

Hm. Who remembers the rumours about "Dolphin", the Apple waterproof G3 notebook?

It was probably an iBook and someone saw it and thought "waterproof!"

But nonetheless...

[scaught]

Originally posted by Cosmo:
<STRONG>Am i missing something here?
Why do we need a waterproof iBook?

And for those of you who are going to mess up their iBooks by trying this stuff...y not just give it to me instead of rendering it useless for all?

Also i wonder what the AppleCare people would say if u brought them a broken baby oil soaked ibook for warrenty repairs?</STRONG>

i think the appropriate question here is why WOULDNT you want a waterproof ibook? when i first came to the macnn forums and peered inside the modification forum and saw them talking about all sorts of weird things like G4 cubes inside of mac classics and hooking up a powerbook to a toyota sentra, i was like "why would you want to do that?". soon after i realized the answer.

because you can. and even if you cant, why not try?

[l008com]

A Toyota Sentra huh?