[bfurtado]

Ok people, reassure me that I am too anal about my new (and first mac). I have a 12" Rev B powerbook and today, I finally prought it with me somewhere. Well in bright light and at a lower angle I finally noticed a slight gap in between the grey trim and the bottom portion of the PB. Its in the front and slightly to the right of the latch button. What irks me is that its uneven. The corners are tight and then in the middle its uneven. If I run my finger along the edge I feel a slight bump and looking from straight up, the bottom portion protrudes slightly. I just want to make sure this is OK and that it won't get worse in case I decide to sell it and upgrade in a year. I don't want to send it back or think Apple would take it anyway as its a completely superficial anomaly.

Thanks
Brian

[schk]

The gaps between the grey trim and case are common. I don't think I've seen a AlBook that didn't have some. On the 12" the gap is common above the latch. I actually have a gap completely over both sides of the latch that become flush with the case 3 inches from the the left and right corners. While I can't say if it will get worse over time, judging from posts on Apple's forums, they don't seem to get worse. If you notice, it's extremely hard to press down on the case where the gaps are, or just move any part of the trim itself, so it's not loose and flimsy like the TiBook bottom casing can get.

[Tariq-1]

I have the exact same slight bump and tiny space right above the latch and slightly to the right and left about an inch or so out on both sides where the plastic trim meets the al case. I think it's probably normal and nothing to worry about. The gap is ever so slight and I would guess its caused by the mounting of the latch mechanism internally.

Tariq

Originally posted by bfurtado:
Ok people, reassure me that I am too anal about my new (and first mac). I have a 12" Rev B powerbook and today, I finally prought it with me somewhere. Well in bright light and at a lower angle I finally noticed a slight gap in between the grey trim and the bottom portion of the PB. Its in the front and slightly to the right of the latch button. What irks me is that its uneven. The corners are tight and then in the middle its uneven. If I run my finger along the edge I feel a slight bump and looking from straight up, the bottom portion protrudes slightly. I just want to make sure this is OK and that it won't get worse in case I decide to sell it and upgrade in a year. I don't want to send it back or think Apple would take it anyway as its a completely superficial anomaly.

Thanks
Brian

[shabbasuraj]

Originally posted by Tariq:
I have the exact same slight bump and tiny space right above the latch and slightly to the right and left about an inch or so out on both sides where the plastic trim meets the al case. I think it's probably normal and nothing to worry about. The gap is ever so slight and I would guess its caused by the mounting of the latch mechanism internally.

Tariq

i got the same gaps...

I am carefully watching them and monitoring their progress...

lates...

[Fellow2000]

i also have the same gap right above the latch on my 12.

[bfurtado]

Thanks for the replies. You guys with the gaps: Do you notice that the bottom portion of the case (right where the case meets the trim for the seal) sticks out slightly. Like someone grabbed a screwdriver, wedged it between the case and trim and bent it out? Run your finger along - do you notice a bump. The gap doesn't bother me so much as when I look from the top, I can see the case slightly bump out. A little less than a milimeter but with the sleekness of the PB, it stands out.

Brian

[The Placid Casual]

I had the exact same gap on my Rev A 12"...

Worried me too.

[schk]

Originally posted by bfurtado:
Thanks for the replies. You guys with the gaps: Do you notice that the bottom portion of the case (right where the case meets the trim for the seal) sticks out slightly. Like someone grabbed a screwdriver, wedged it between the case and trim and bent it out? Run your finger along - do you notice a bump. The gap doesn't bother me so much as when I look from the top, I can see the case slightly bump out. A little less than a milimeter but with the sleekness of the PB, it stands out.

Brian

Mine seems to be curved inwards in some parts, but does bump out a miniscule amount around the latch. But keep in mind, the front area of the laptop seems to have very little reinforcement, especially the right half front side because the battery sits right beside it and all it has is a little metal frame supporting it there and with the battery placed in, there is still space between the battery and frame. If you notice theres a slight give when you press on the right half front side or the little casing strip above the latch. It's because the frame itself that is supporting the aluminum is centered in the middle of the casing, so there's more play around the area where the case meets the trim due to little backing behind it. You can view the area by taking the battery out and looking at inside of the case.

I don't think it is of concern really unless you happen to drop your laptop and hit the front area. For normal handling it shouldn't be a problem. Also, with the lowered heat output of the rev B compared to the rev A, I don't think there is any reason for the slight case bulges to get any worse. I've seen no changes so far and I've had the PB heated up a bit doing some disk intensive activities for hours with no change in the casing.

[pinkjelly]

i also have a very tiny gap between the top frame and the hinge, and the gap is larger on the right side of the hinge. nothing wrong with operation though. is this normal? or am i being too picky?

[acadian]

It's common on the Al powerbooks, I use these small foam bumpers which keep the lid even when closed and ensure that the keyboard does does come into contact with it.

[LeeG]

I have the EXACT same gaps and bumps, and I was also wondering if I was being too anal - mine is off to the right above the latch, and you can squeeze it closed if you press the case together. And yes, looking from above, the case does bump out over the latch area less than a millimeter.

I was monitoring them to see what happens, also since I am going to the apple store this friday for panther, I will have them look at it and see what they think - I will report back-


Lee

[bfurtado]

Originally posted by LeeG:
I have the EXACT same gaps and bumps, and I was also wondering if I was being too anal - mine is off to the right above the latch, and you can squeeze it closed if you press the case together. And yes, looking from above, the case does bump out over the latch area less than a millimeter.

I was monitoring them to see what happens, also since I am going to the apple store this friday for panther, I will have them look at it and see what they think - I will report back-


Lee

Yes, please do. There are no Apple stores in Canada are there? And if there are, it would be in Toronto which is 4 hours away from me. I called Customer Care today and they said I can take it to the closest Apple authorized repair center which is two hours away. As far as it being covered by warranty - well - the rep advised me to call customer relations.

Brian

[Wiskedjak]

This is also found on iBooks, which makes sense since the current PowerBook design is obviously borrowed from the current iBook design.

Issues like pieces not lining up perfectly are common in any plastic injection moulded products. To have parts manufactured to line up perfectly is EXTREMELY expensive. Usually, plastic products are designed to hide these issues, which often results in a compromised designed. Apple, however, refuses to make those compromises, resulting in some models that are slightly out of alignment, though nicely designed

... that, and we're a very anal bunch to begin with

[bfurtado]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:


... that, and we're a very anal bunch to begin with

So true. If we weren't anal to begin with, then we might have never chosen Apple.

[schk]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:

... that, and we're a very anal bunch to begin with

That pretty much sums it up regarding this gap issue. It's purely cosmetic. If it turned into a problem over time, we'd have already heard about it. Pretty much the main complaint with the 12" PB was the heat and now that issue is fixed, so we must nitpick with details like this Go ahead and go to an Apple Store to ask about it. Better yet, just look at the models on display and you will see the gaps. You can pretty much see them in photos that people take of their 12" if they manage to take a close up of the front at the right angle. I was just looking at a photo of a 12" at Macworld when they were first announced and saw the same exact gap.

A much worse gap was on the TiBook and barely any one complained about those (some had ones that flapped up and down easily). I know people called me anal when I talked about that and the 12" gap is nowhere near as bad. My TiBook case would literally sag down less than an 1/8 of an inch whenever I picked it up and if I wanted to, I could easily pull down further and look into the insides. All that held the bottom case from slipping off were flimsy plastic clips which were glued onto the case.

Apple cares heavily about aesthetics to such a degree where slight "flaws" like this are to be expected. They could have used screws like the ones on the left/right sides of the case to provide a secure and flush front case, but I know people would be whining about ruining the look of the laptop. Also, these are mass manufactured machines. The fact that Apple makes their laptops stand out amongst ugly plastic PC laptops is also what inevitably causes users like us to pore over every detail of the case (I'm guilty of it).

Anyways, the only time where the gaps and bulges might be of concern was with rev. A units which got so hot that they would cause the case to change shape, but the rev. B run warm at most and I don't see it as a problem.

[LeeG]

Honestly I don't think its a problem, and I agree, I have learned to stop being SO anal, and just enjoy the machine. But, since I will be at an apple store friday, can't hurt to have them look at it - if they gasp in horror and quickly remove the unit for emergent repair, then I'm glad I showed it to them

They will probably say - 'yeah a lot of them have it - it's part of the manufacturing process', just like you said. If so, I do not want to lose use of my machine for some time waiting for a new one that may or may not have the same problem. I waited forever for the damn thing as it is...

Lee

[shabbasuraj]

how exactly did Apple fix the heat problem in the RevB's?

lates...

[Simon]

Originally posted by shabbasuraj:
how exactly did Apple fix the heat problem in the RevB's?

Mainly, in that they chose to use a PowerPC 7457/7447 (instead of the 7455/7445) which dissipates about half the heat and nevertheless performs better.