[tycheung]

So, it's been a month since I got my new iBook 700, and thought I'd post some thoughts. It's a 12.1" with a 40 gb HD BTO'd from the Apple Store, and assembled in Taiwan by Elitegroup computers.

Some comments:

-Lid is kind of crooked - noticeable only when looking from the top, but it is angled in to the right about 1-2 degrees, resulting in the right side of the screen being 2-3 cm closer to the back edge of the computer than the left.

-minor blemishes - a noticeable scratch on the lid, minor dimple (noticeable only when looking at it from an angle) near the edge of the battery bay, some seams not _quite_ flush (although you have to be really looking to notice this).

-plastics curvature - looking from the back of the computer, the lid is kind of curved, so that when it's closed, the edges are lower than the middle. Better than the other way, I guess.

-LCD screen not _quite_ square - top right edge is about 1 mm lower than the top left edge. No dead pixels though! It also flickers a tad when going to sleep or waking up, but this may be normal. Seems a lot whiter than the iBook 500's, and some anti-aliased text look weird around the edges, but I'm guessing this is Jaguar. You have to be pretty near 90 degrees to have things look good, though - I guess this is true of most LCD's, although I'm wondering - what is the max viewing angle for a good LCD screen these days?

-Keyboard's "1" key makes scratching noises.

-Power adapter a bit scratched, and gets hot (I guess all AC to DC adapters get hot, though).

-froze after waking from sleep while on battery and needed the 3 finger reboot...ominous.

-Fan comes on more often...I'm guessing this is Jaguar, tho.

-Takes a bit longer to sleep - also Jaguar, I guess.

QA wise, I'm wondering how the Quanta and Elitegroup and other overseas outsourced producers are performing - you sort of wish Apple could have some of their people there doing QA or something. But maybe Apple is doing the right thing by ignoring cosmetic bugs for a sub $1500 computer with the iBook's feature list and performance. Still, I wonder what I can get fixed under warranty...

Most of these bugs are kind of annoying, rather than serious, I guess, but I was kind of bummed at first because, as it was touted as the perfectly designed computer, I wanted it to be perfect ("dammit!"). But computing wise, it runs fine - really well, in fact - Quake 3 engine games run very smooth and look good on the new Radeon, Jaguar is fast, and the only real dog is Office X, but that's MS's fault. I am thinking of trying to get Mariner, AbiWord, or Okito , but haven't really looked into any of these yet.

Battery life under Jaguar is around 2-2.5 hours, guestimate. I don't usually run it on just battery, though.

Anyway, those are my experiences, and I am wondering how it compares with some other people's with new iBook 700s. Overall, as a computer, I am happy with it, but I wish the lousy lid wasn't crooked....<sigh>

[Sosa]

Well I had my iBook for 6 weeks now and I'm loving every minute of it. Formerly I had to use my University's computer labs, mostly Dulls with horrible keyboards. They have one good mac lab here with G4 and I had to fight to keep it open. It has been closed ever since the Fall semester started. But I digress, the iBook is great with some complaints:

1. The keyboard bulges near the f5 and f6 keys. That entire area leaves marks on my LCD which are visible when the screen is black. I have been using the foam sheet that came with the iBook to separate the screen from the keyboard but it does not seem to have worked. I can only imagine that my books are pressing them together too much.

2. I have not noticed any speed benefits from Jaguar. It does however make the iBook run hotter and forces the fan on more often. I have to position it in a way that it cools for the fan to turn off.

That's it. I have some other complaints about OS X, but my iBook is the envy of PC loving law school students. How sad.

Oops, forgot significant complaint #3: Apple seems to have complicated the ability to connect this iBook to a TV to watch DVD movies. After talking to two guys at the Apple store on separate occasions I still don't understand how this is supposed to work! It probably did not help that one adviced me to buy t he cable needed for the previous generation. Does anyone know where I can find info on this ?! Also, is there a cheaper option than Apples $40 price for the two required cables? Thanks.

[james_squared]

Hello,

I've had my 14" 700 384 30 Combo for a coulple of months now and I like it quite a bit. I haven't gotten Jaguar yet, but I probably will in a couple of months after most of the bugs have been worked out. My thoughts:

1. Sosa is correct, the keyboard does bulge out around the F5 and F6 keys. [Edit: Fixed with the assistance of vvedge. See below.] I haven't noticed any marks, but I don't usually travel with my iBook. It's more of a Desktop PC replacement.

2. Adapter plug-in on right side of machine is a little loose, which sometimes makes the computer unable to realize that the charger is plugged in. I'll send it in for repairs if it gets worse or nearer my end of warranty period or if I move to a town where an authorized repair facility exists.

3. Couldn't get it restarted a couple times after it went to sleep. I don't let it go to sleep on its own anymore. I've always had trouble with waking computers up.

4. Games run pretty well. I can't imagine how they would've been with 8MB of VRAM, though.

5. Like the bigger size of the 14" than the 12", but that's another thread.

6. Get about 4 hours of battery. More if screen is dimmed.

7. Had no problems with internal hardware (i.e., modem, ethernet, keyboard, trackpad) or with connecting USB devices like mice and gamepads.

General Mac comments, as this is my first ever Mac!

1. Like OSX quite a bit. It's been very stable and I think I've only crashed it once. I've crashed some programs a few times, but that's pretty normal with computers. Wish it had Input Sprockets like 9. GamePad companion just isn't the same. I wonder if this is fixed in Jag?

2. Like the iApps a lot, too! iTunes is cool!

3. Lots of cool Aqua software available.

4. Classic loads pretty slow, but I think that's supposed to be improved with 10.2. Or is it supposed to be improved with X only booting? Or is it both? I just can't remember.

5. Love how simple it is to install/uninstall software. Why can't Windoze make it this easy? (Again, that's another thread.)

6. Connecting to a router was incredibly easy. Just plugged it in and the iBook found the server address all by itself. I remember adding a PC to the network. It was a lot more work! I didn't have to find my O/S disk, install drivers/protocols, restart, or any of the other hassels I can't think of at the moment. Easy as pie, although I can't make a pie. Easy as toast, then.

James

[vvedge]

Originally posted by Sosa:
The keyboard bulges near the f5 and f6 keys. That entire area leaves marks on my LCD which are visible when the screen is black.

Sounds like your keyboard lock is jamming the keys up. You see the small square key between F5 & F6... the thing that lights up when you hit numlock.

Take a tiny flathead screwdriver or your fingernail and turn that. You should see a little plastic square move in or out of from under that.

Hope that helps

[Sosa]

Oh I will like to add that I have yet to have my iBook freeze on me! This is the first computer that has never failed me! The IT manager for the law school lab here, who mocks my iBook, was impressed when I told him this. Tells me his labtop crashes once a week. Ha.

In fact, the only progam that has crashed a few times is Internet Explorer, but that's microsoft for you.

[Sosa]

Originally posted by vvedge:


Sounds like your keyboard lock is jamming the keys up. You see the small square key between F5 & F6... the thing that lights up when you hit numlock.

Take a tiny flathead screwdriver or your fingernail and turn that. You should see a little plastic square move in or out of from under that.

Hope that helps

Nope, that's not it. Part of the problem was the wireless card, which when I installed had the black cable connecting it to the antenna wedged at the bottom, raising it a little. I corrected this and it still bulges slightly. I think Apple should add another little lock to the little num lock light, just like the ones between esc and f1 and f11/f12. I am able to press the area down but it does not stay down.

[james_squared]

Originally posted by vvedge:


Sounds like your keyboard lock is jamming the keys up. You see the small square key between F5 & F6... the thing that lights up when you hit numlock.

Take a tiny flathead screwdriver or your fingernail and turn that. You should see a little plastic square move in or out of from under that.

Hope that helps

Wow! That was exactly my problem. Totally awesome, dude!

I would have never have seen that! Thanks vvedge!

James

[nelliott]

Originally posted by tycheung:
So, it's been a month since I got my new iBook 700, and thought I'd post some thoughts. It's a 12.1" with a 40 gb HD BTO'd from the Apple Store, and assembled in Taiwan by Elitegroup computers.

Some comments:

-Lid is kind of crooked - noticeable only when looking from the top, but it is angled in to the right about 1-2 degrees, resulting in the right side of the screen being 2-3 cm closer to the back edge of the computer than the left.

-minor blemishes - a noticeable scratch on the lid, minor dimple (noticeable only when looking at it from an angle) near the edge of the battery bay, some seams not _quite_ flush (although you have to be really looking to notice this).

-plastics curvature - looking from the back of the computer, the lid is kind of curved, so that when it's closed, the edges are lower than the middle. Better than the other way, I guess.

-LCD screen not _quite_ square - top right edge is about 1 mm lower than the top left edge. No dead pixels though! It also flickers a tad when going to sleep or waking up, but this may be normal. Seems a lot whiter than the iBook 500's, and some anti-aliased text look weird around the edges, but I'm guessing this is Jaguar. You have to be pretty near 90 degrees to have things look good, though - I guess this is true of most LCD's, although I'm wondering - what is the max viewing angle for a good LCD screen these days?

-Keyboard's "1" key makes scratching noises.

-Power adapter a bit scratched, and gets hot (I guess all AC to DC adapters get hot, though).

-froze after waking from sleep while on battery and needed the 3 finger reboot...ominous.

-Fan comes on more often...I'm guessing this is Jaguar, tho.

-Takes a bit longer to sleep - also Jaguar, I guess.

QA wise, I'm wondering how the Quanta and Elitegroup and other overseas outsourced producers are performing - you sort of wish Apple could have some of their people there doing QA or something. But maybe Apple is doing the right thing by ignoring cosmetic bugs for a sub $1500 computer with the iBook's feature list and performance. Still, I wonder what I can get fixed under warranty...

Most of these bugs are kind of annoying, rather than serious, I guess, but I was kind of bummed at first because, as it was touted as the perfectly designed computer, I wanted it to be perfect ("dammit!"). But computing wise, it runs fine - really well, in fact - Quake 3 engine games run very smooth and look good on the new Radeon, Jaguar is fast, and the only real dog is Office X, but that's MS's fault. I am thinking of trying to get Mariner, AbiWord, or Okito , but haven't really looked into any of these yet.

Battery life under Jaguar is around 2-2.5 hours, guestimate. I don't usually run it on just battery, though.

Anyway, those are my experiences, and I am wondering how it compares with some other people's with new iBook 700s. Overall, as a computer, I am happy with it, but I wish the lousy lid wasn't crooked....<sigh>

You pretty much summed up my experiences of my new iBook 700, 1 month on.

This happens to be my second iBook dual usb, and so I guess I am fortunate to be able to compare the two. My main gripe is the fan comes on alot, whereas it only came on once in the whole year I had my other iBook, and that was when I was using it on my bed with no ventilation at all.

Also, the screen doesn't seem as sharp as the old iBook, but maybe its just my eyes .

Haven't tried any games on the new book yet so can't compare the graphics card.

The screws to get the memory shield open are still little mofo's to get out - why apple didn't change this I don't know. Don't think I'll be installing an airport card anytime soon, as the screws are pretty much stripped bare.

My tv-out lead from the old iBook doesn't work with the new one, so that's another �30 to pay out. The good news though is that the dongle now supports s-video rather than crappy composite.

Overall though I am pretty happy with it, especially seeing as it was a free upgrade (see my 'me, my iBook and Steve Jobs' thread).

[Kapmandu]

I'm really happy with my purchase.

However...

I received my decked out iBook 700 from Taiwan around the same time as tycheung. The lower-right corner of the LCD frame is about 3mm closer to the right-rear side of the iBook than the left-rear corner when the screen is open a 90 degrees. It doesn't sound like a really big difference but it is noticeable when viewing the iBook from the top-down. My only concern was that the lower-right corner of the LCD frame might be coming in contact with the iBook base as I open and close the screen. So far, I have not been able to detect any physical contact. I purchased the AppleCare warranty so I'm not really up-in-arms over what is basically a warped LCD frame.

Th upside is that LCD is perfect and not one dead pixel.

[Sosa]

I correct my earlier response to the bulge between f5 and f6 keys, vvedge had the right answer afterall. I don't think Apple notes that you can twist the number lock light to reveal a little plastic piece to similar to the other two on the keyboard. I didn't notice this in their manual instructions on how to remove the keyboard. Now my keyboard is flat. Thanks vvedge! Alas, it comes too late for my screen.

[tycheung]

Hmm...I thought my own LCD frame warp was a random thing, but if other people are having issues, maybe it's a problem with the molds at Elitegroup? Kapmandu, Nelliot - do you know where your machine was assembled?

As to the screws - I bought a screwdriver set at Radio Shack for $4, includes #0 and #1 philips heads and some torque heads. It's a lot easier if you use those - normal screwdrivers are too large and will definitely strip the screws.

[pjosborne]

I too have had my iBook (700, 12.1, combo) for about a month now. It seems a pretty-well put together machine and I also seem to have escasped having any dead pixels.

The only thing that bugs me is it is much more noticeably slower than my G4 desktop (2001 Quicksilver 867) than I had hoped it would be. I've maxed out the RAM and installed Jag on to a completely reformatted disk, but I still see a lot od the spinning rainbow....

Oh yeah - it also seems you've got to be at 90� to the screen to get the best image (even more so than with the 300Mhz blueberry iBook this machine replaced)

However, all in all it's a great little machine and Airport absolutely rocks!

Peter (UK)

[Kapmandu]

I'm not 100 percent on which company made my iBook but I do know that it shipped from Taiwan on 15 August 2002 (this comes from Nippon Air which was the carrier selected to process the order for customs clearance here in Toronto, Canada.)

Is there anyway I can find out for sure where my iBook wad manufactured?

Perhaps there was a bad batch of iBook LCD frames.

[tycheung]

I think it should list the manufacturer on the label on the box - either on the outside shipping box or the iBook box. Something like "Assembled in Taiwan by Elitegroup Computers, Inc" or Quanta, if it was assembled by that.

[nelliott]

Just had a look on the box, and it says it was manufactured in Taiwan - but doesn't say who by.

I don't have a warped LCD frame on mine though.