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Possible to 17" keyboard in 12" PB?
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NN, VA, 23602
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According to the tech specs the 12" and 17" Powerbook both have the same size keyboard.
Will it be possible to ge the ambient light sensing keyboard in a 12" aftermarket or is there a separate piece of hardware aside from the keyboard?
Any help would be appreciated.
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iMac Core 2 Duo 20" 2.16 Ghz //1.5 GB RAM // 250 GB HD
Powerbook G4 1.25 Ghz // 1 GB RAM // 80 GB HD // Backlit Keyboard
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2000
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Are you sure the 12" doesn't already have this feature? At the Apple Store they said it was the exact same keyboard.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Iowa City
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I wish someone could confirm this. It's my present understanding that the 12" DOES NOT have this feature. The specs for the 17" at apple.com seem to imply that the keyboard is special to the 17".
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NN, VA, 23602
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The keyboard is exclusive to the 17" right now. If you look on the tech specs page you'll see it says "Ambient Light Sensors" is for the 17" model only.
My question is whether it will be possible to swap keyboards aftermarket BECAUSE they are the same size.
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iMac Core 2 Duo 20" 2.16 Ghz //1.5 GB RAM // 250 GB HD
Powerbook G4 1.25 Ghz // 1 GB RAM // 80 GB HD // Backlit Keyboard
iPod Video 30 GB / White
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Feb 2000
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Originally posted by palmberg:
I wish someone could confirm this. It's my present understanding that the 12" DOES NOT have this feature. The specs for the 17" at apple.com seem to imply that the keyboard is special to the 17".
the keyboard on the 12" is NOT lighted. I'm at expo, have seen them and used them. the reps i talked to said that although the keyboads appear identical from the outside the added technology takes space inside and it could not be accommodated. The project manager had already left apple's booth when i was there tuesday, however, so she's my first stop this morning: I'm going to order the 12" only after confirming there's no chance of the lighted keyboard showing up as a BTO option on it!
Steve intro'd the 12" as having all the features of tahe 17" (that's not an exact quote) but here are the diff's i'm aware of, and my assessment:
12" lacks lighted keyboard (important usabililty feature for me)
12" lacks firewire 2 (existing firewire exceeds video capture throughput requirements so what's the diff, other than a few seconds on some transfers)
12" lacks PC card slot (sounds significant until i ask myself how often i've used the slot on my 15"--mainly as an adapter for mem flash readers, and there are compact external usb or firewire devices to accomplish that)
12" lacks DVI out (unfortunant usability shortcoming)
12" lacks gigabit ethernet (see "lacks firewire"...)
Also:
compared to 15" (won't even bother comparing to 17")
12" lacks about a pound in weight 
12" lacks an inch in depth and a couple inches in width
12" lacks the difficulty is use on a plane meal tray, especially when the person in front of you reclines his/her seat
12" lacks rear ports, puts them all on the side where they belong, imho, on a portable
peace
terry
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Moderator Emeritus  Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Illinois
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My guess is no. But the real problem would probably finding a 17" keyboard to use even if they were compatible.
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Europe
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more important  : could it be done on a 15" ?
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2001
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man if i can buy a lighted keyboard for my tibook i will be happy =}
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-Athlon XP 1500+, 256 PC2700 DDR RAM, 30 + 60 gig HD.
-Powermac G4 "Digital Audio", 384mb ram, 40gig HD, 16mb rage pro 128
-original iPod 5gig =]
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey, USA
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Can't switch 'em. As they look the same on the inside, internally, the hardware communicates with the LoBo to make everything happen. Also, as they are different size Lobos, the ribbon cable is in a different position so the connections won't align properly. Just like on a 12 and 14" iBook.
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Dual 2.0 G5/2.5GB/ATI 9800 Pro | MacBook Pro 2.16 Gore Duo/2GB/ATI X1600
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2000
Location: new york, ny
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i bet the 12" will eventually have the ambient light and firewire 2 by the year end.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Tempe, AZ
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I think that we would all love to have that keyboard built into the 15" TiBooks.
Engineer this Apple!
t
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Belgium
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Originally posted by rtdunham:
(...)
Steve intro'd the 12" as having all the features of tahe 17" (that's not an exact quote) but here are the diff's i'm aware of, and my assessment:
12" lacks lighted keyboard (important usabililty feature for me)
12" lacks firewire 2 (existing firewire exceeds video capture throughput requirements so what's the diff, other than a few seconds on some transfers)
12" lacks PC card slot (sounds significant until i ask myself how often i've used the slot on my 15"--mainly as an adapter for mem flash readers, and there are compact external usb or firewire devices to accomplish that)
12" lacks DVI out (unfortunant usability shortcoming)
12" lacks gigabit ethernet (see "lacks firewire"...)
(...)
You forgot some important things:
The 12" lacks the L3 Cache, the 1Ghz CPU, and the 64MB of video ram.
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PB 1Ghz 1024 Combo
G4 400 AGP
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Naperville, IL
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I can't wait for my 12" PB.. for light...
Kensington FlyLight Platinum
I have one and it works great! The light is a really nice white light (maybe a tint of blue??). Sorta like those xenon lights on some cars (but not that bright that it blinds you!)
But let me guess, "it's not the same..."
Next thing you know, apple will have beverage fridges built into their powermacs and people without them will be complaining that the smaller tower doesn't have one... and having it separate (like the FlyLight above) just "isn't the same..."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: South Detroit
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MacNN says on the Macworld page that....
* Apple today introduced new 12" PowerBooks and 17" PowerBooks with new aluminum alloy enclosures. Both notebooks feature a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, and built-in Bluetooth, while the larger one additionally offers built-in AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g wireless networking and new high-speed FireWire 800.
Both of them.
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I love the U.S., but we need some time apart.
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Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Illinois
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MacNN, in the great tradition of sloppy jounalism, is wrong.
Quote from the apple tech specs sheet:
Ambient light sensor
Measures ambient light and works with integrated software to adjust keyboard illumination and screen brightness based on user preferences (17-inch model)
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: London, UK
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Yeah, if apple could engineer the keyboard replacement for the 15", I'd buy one in a heartbeat. It's the only feature from the new books that I'd really like.
J.
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By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out - Richard Dawkins
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: You don't care.
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Okay guys, most people know this, but I'll make it official (Read it from MY spec sheet, which is never wrong)
THE 12" Al Book DOES NOT HAVE A BACKLIGHT ON THE KEYBOARD. The 12" cannot have a 17" keyboard put in due to the electronics and ambient light sensors. Sorry, its a physical impossibility
Hope that clears something up....
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Am I still here?
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: CT
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Also the keyboard is not removable on the 17" Powerbook.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Osaka, Japan
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Originally posted by Chris Grande:
Also the keyboard is not removable on the 17" Powerbook.
This makes sense, of course - but my question then becomes how do you get to the guts of the machine? Panels on the bottom like a PC Laptop? I've always been very impressed with that feature of PowerBook design - I don't know when it was first incorporated but I first saw it when my girlfriend got a Pismo and I was a PC guy at the time - it blew me away!
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: CT
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I understand the technology required for the ambient sensonrs, and that fitting that in the 12" would have been a hassle- but I think that they could have somehow left the lighting sytem in there. I wouldn't have minded a "always on" or "always off" solution.. When you think of the LED's in cell phones, that light up the keypads blue, green, or whatever, they are merely the size of match head- but the thickness of a hair, placed in different locations under the keys. Oh well.. maybe next time around.
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Banned
Join Date: Jan 2003
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guys don't you get it...
the tiBook 15.2 is DEAD....
it's old tech.....
just wait for the alloy 15 or 16 incher....
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: CT
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Originally posted by Vond:
This makes sense, of course - but my question then becomes how do you get to the guts of the machine?
There is a panel on the bottom that allows you to get at the memory. This is also a better solution because the keyboard is reported to no longer have any type of give to it. Its now rock solid.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: the netherlands
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Originally posted by hippy3:
guys don't you get it...
the tiBook 15.2 is DEAD....
it's old tech.....
just wait for the alloy 15 or 16 incher....
or the 14,5 inche, that would be even better than the 12" with backlight!
and they have to make it possible in the next 12" revision to put a gig of ram in there!!
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Oakland, CA
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Originally posted by hippy3:
guys don't you get it...
the tiBook 15.2 is DEAD....
it's old tech.....
just wait for the alloy 15 or 16 incher....
Ummm...I don't think so...of course they'll upgrade it like mid-year, but I don't think the 15.2 is dead. In fact I think it is far from dead.
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Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Originally posted by hippy3:
guys don't you get it...
the tiBook 15.2 is DEAD....
it's old tech.....
just wait for the alloy 15 or 16 incher....
=[ *looks at his tibook* *hugs*
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-Athlon XP 1500+, 256 PC2700 DDR RAM, 30 + 60 gig HD.
-Powermac G4 "Digital Audio", 384mb ram, 40gig HD, 16mb rage pro 128
-original iPod 5gig =]
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
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Originally posted by JayTi:
Okay guys, most people know this, but I'll make it official (Read it from MY spec sheet, which is never wrong)
THE 12" Al Book DOES NOT HAVE A BACKLIGHT ON THE KEYBOARD. The 12" cannot have a 17" keyboard put in due to the electronics and ambient light sensors. Sorry, its a physical impossibility
Hope that clears something up....
So did you trade in your TiBook 15" GHz for the 17"?
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