[T. Diddy]

i recently acquired this from someone at work. it needs some TLC. the problems:
1. battery appears dead. it shows up in the finder as 'x' as in no battery.
2. clock resets to 1976 when unplugged. (it did this in OS9, i haven't tested it in Panther yet.)
3. no screen calibration--MAJOR BUMMER! the screen looks horrible. way too contrasty, a lot gets washed out and makes it impossible to read. i tried calibrating but there is no existing profile; SuperCal did not work, probably for the same reason.

at this point i'd rather not put any money into this as i don't really need to use it (it is slowwwww, now i remember how bad my iMac 333 was). my current short term solution is to leave it plugged in all the time and keep it at home and reinstall OS9 as there are less gradients so the screen is easier to read. it's almost unusable as is but it would be nice if it were more than a mac museum piece.

any opinions/advice would be welcome. (thanks in advance!)

lastly: are there any cool clamshell websites?

[discotronic]

There isn't an internal clock battery on the clamshell iBooks. The clock keeps time from the battery. Since your battery is dead when you unplug from power it will loose time.

Not sure about the screen calibration. I had seen where people had the problem with Panther when it first came out. I don't know if there was ever a fix.

You could always send it my way I love the clamshell iBooks.

[baglunch]

my g/f's clamshell had the same battery problem, replaced it with an even higher capacity one (from owc i think), and now it serves for viewing email and light web browsing in the living room.

[T. Diddy]

thanks guys. i'm pretty sure the battery is dead, i'm just trying to avoid not having to buy a new or even a used one. i know there is no internal battery and found out there is a circuit or something that holds a charge just so it can maintain the clock for a few seconds. so, given that it won't hold time when momentarily unplugged, i'm inclined to think something may be fried.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by T. Diddy:
thanks guys. i'm pretty sure the battery is dead, i'm just trying to avoid not having to buy a new or even a used one. i know there is no internal battery and found out there is a circuit or something that holds a charge just so it can maintain the clock for a few seconds. so, given that it won't hold time when momentarily unplugged, i'm inclined to think something may be fried.

Something isn't right if the charge isn't held for at least a minute. Have you tried resetting the PMU? I don't think it will do anything to help but it is always worth a shot.

Is the top from a Tangerine model and the bottom from a Graphite?

[T. Diddy]

i tried pmu reset.

no orange, it is all graphite.

[T. Diddy]

i'm still looking for clamshell resource websites/fansites if anyone out there knows of any.

i did find out it holds the clock for a few seconds when unplugged. i also solved the calibration issue (thanks to discotronic): i installed Jaguar and set up calibration, then upgraded to Panther and the color profile carried over.

[Randman]

Clamshells batteries went out pretty quickly.

[T. Diddy]

Originally posted by Randman:
Clamshells batteries went out pretty quickly.

you mean like completely dead or 5-15% life? do you think it would be a waste to buy a new/used/nos battery? i plan to leave it plugged in, in sleep mode just like i do with my other 'books and take it on the road just to basically show to people.

[Randman]

Dead as JFK. Loved my old graphite but the battery gave up the ghost after less than 3 years, sooner than your model.
If you can find a battery for a fair price, it gives you flexibility as well as increasing resale value.
But if you're never going to move it around or upgrade it, it depends on how much you're willing to spend on a battery.

Also, I'd get a new one, if you do. No sense paying less for an older one that will have a shorter lifespan.

[T. Diddy]

thanks!