[ivan84]

hi, i liked the backlit keyboard on the 15" and 17" pbs alot and they were not available for th 12".. i'm thinking of modifying but i don't know macs or anytype of computer that much.. can anybody help me? thanks alot!!

[bimmerphile]

theres an extensive electroluminescent film behind them, not to mention all the keys have translucent letters.

You have opaque keys with painted letters.

[COmie JOe]

quite the contrary, the keys on the 12, 15, 17 are all the same (Al series PB)
The laptops that come equipped with backlit keys use fiber optics and Two LEDs. All of theses parts are in the top case assembly.


perhaps I will just have to write an article on how this is laid out, sine so many people are confused as to how the backlit keys are illuminated

[gbarill]

please do!

[COmie JOe]

It may be a while I need get pictures (sine some folk I know are going to try to argue with me how it works) so in a month or so, unless I forget to do stuff when in town

[ivan84]

thx everyone.. joe, thanks for considering writing the article,

[rag on a muffin]

yeah i would have to disagree on the non-transparent 12" keys. it is indeed transparent. i pressed the caps-lock in the night, and the green light lit through the caps lock letters. it also comes through the num lock. since i am a very curious person, wanting to know how everything works, i took off one of the keys looking for the fiberoptics. i couldnt find them, but assume they are under the rubber button part of the key. i would love to read this article and see some pictures very much!

[COmie JOe]

Originally posted by rag on a muffin:
yeah i would have to disagree on the non-transparent 12" keys. it is indeed transparent. i pressed the caps-lock in the night, and the green light lit through the caps lock letters. it also comes through the num lock. since i am a very curious person, wanting to know how everything works, i took off one of the keys looking for the fiberoptics. i couldnt find them, but assume they are under the rubber button part of the key. i would love to read this article and see some pictures very much!

The 12 does not have the optics for the back lighting the keyboard. Only models that are equipped with backlit keyboards have them. The point of my previous post was that the keys and perhaps the keyboards are the very same (side note: I am not 100% sure they keyboards are the same because the cable length difference

[rag on a muffin]

Originally posted by COmie JOe:
The 12 does not have the optics for the back lighting the keyboard. Only models that are equipped with backlit keyboards have them. The point of my previous post was that the keys and perhaps the keyboards are the very same (side note: I am not 100% sure they keyboards are the same because the cable length difference

so would it be possible to make the powerbook backlit? that would be pretty useful. can anyone tell me where to find a guide on this if there is one??

[tooki]

The fundamental key mechanism and keycap design is the same on the 12", but the fiber-optic (NOT Electroluminescent!!) backlighting comes in from the side of the keyboard, so it could not be installed in a 12" PowerBook. The fiber optics form a fabric (see www.lumitex.com for examples) which glows as a sheet. Just like this:

You can see the dark spots in the fiber-optic fabric where holes have been made in it. The backlighting in the PowerBook keyboards looks just like that. The clear keycap plastic gathers the light, and where the key lettering has been laser-etched away (yes, SJ said that when the 17"er was released) the light shines through.

In any case, forget about backlighting a 12" -- it's just not gonna happen, at least not with Apple parts.

tooki

[Lateralus]

Just tape a whole bunch of glo sticks to your PowerBook.

[COmie JOe]

Yea, you obviously can�t just slap a magical apple backlight assembly into the 12 and go. As much as I hate to say this I just don't see it easily happening. I mean if you look at the take apart diagram for the 12in it is just absurd, 20 something screws (most of which are aluminum so you can't use a magnetic screwdriver) and all of them are different lengths.

My article is going to be about the apple back lighting system, not how to make your keyboard backlit. Just to clear up the confusion over how and what is used in the apple backlit keyboard system.

[rag on a muffin]

Originally posted by COmie JOe:
Yea, you obviously can�t just slap a magical apple backlight assembly into the 12 and go. As much as I hate to say this I just don't see it easily happening. I mean if you look at the take apart diagram for the 12in it is just absurd, 20 something screws (most of which are aluminum so you can't use a magnetic screwdriver) and all of them are different lengths.

My article is going to be about the apple back lighting system, not how to make your keyboard backlit. Just to clear up the confusion over how and what is used in the apple backlit keyboard system.

but with the info about how its lit can this help you make your own?

[tooki]

Could it be done? Yes. Nothing's impossible.

Would it be easy to do, or remotely feasible? Highly unlikely.

tooki

[ender2002]

I saw a long time ago on some japanese site an ibook with a lighted blue/white keyoard using fibre optics.

[Tenacious Dyl]

Yes... he ran a small (just one strand) fiber optic under each row of keys, so he had a few rows of optics going from left to right, under the keys. he they glue-gunned the optics to an led, which he soldered to a small transisitor, and then soldered to the monitor power. So that if the monitor was on, so was the led. So that way you never wasted much battery life (eventhough it is just one led and very very little power is consumed by it).

It is a very good idea, but you have to find a spot somwhere in the case that you can fit the led and the transistor, the wires and optics are easy to run along parts of the alubook. I plan on doing this myself sometime,.... im just nervous about tapping into my display's power, maybe i'll do it sometime after my warrenty is over.