In response to some issues I uncovered in my first look at the iBook Dual USB, namely keyboard bulge and OS X not waking from display sleep, Vic Orly writes about some other issues he has uncovered:
In response to some issues I uncovered in my first look at the iBook Dual USB, namely keyboard bulge and OS X not waking from display sleep, Vic Orly writes about some other issues he has uncovered:
I’ve had my iBook Dual USB since the second week of May, with a DVD-ROMdrive. I ordered it from a local small Apple reseller, and was surprisedwhen they called me 2 days after I ordered it and said, “It’s here!”.
About the issues you mentioned, and a few you didn’t:
1. Raising of keyboard after Airport install: That’s caused by the plasticflap on the Airport card interfering with the keyboard positioning. Thereare two ways to fix that – you can either fight with it, disassembling andre-assembling until it no longer interferes, or you can simply use thekeyboard lock between the F5 and F6 keys. I used the key lock, since it doesa better job and will prevent the keyboard from snapping off if I evershould drop the iBook (pray it never happens).
[Ed: true enough, locking the keyboard fixes the minor bulge in the center of the top row of function keys]
2. MacOS X 10.0.3 display sleep: The problem is that Classic is doing something to prevent sleep. If you shut down Classic before closing the iBook, it will sleep normally. Apple will most likely fix that soon.
[Ed: agreed, it appears to only occur when Classic is running]
3. Scary hard drive noise: Once in a while the 10 GB hard drive will make aloud CLUNK in the middle of a disk read or write. It doesn’t cause a readlag (I tested for that), so it’s not an error. All Toshiba hard drives dothat, it’s simply the head returning to the center track after reading outon the fringes.
4. Static shock: The lexan covering on the iBook generates a LOT of staticelectricity. If you carry it around in a fabric or cloth bag, you’ll get anasty shock upon removing it. It’s NOT an electrical shock (though it mightseem like one), it’s static electricity.
5. iBook 2.0 sound problem: Alert sounds in MacOS 9.1 is choppy, andoccasionally the sound system freaks out totally, distorting all sound orgenerating white noise. It’s a software problem in MacOS 9.1, as it doesn’thappen in MacOS X. Apple released an iBook Sound Update, but it doesn’ttotally solve the choppy system alert sounds.
6. Another MacOS X small bug: Volume buttons just don’t work. Like allPowerbooks, the brightness doesn’t work unless you open Displays first. Nosolution available yet (except for Volume dockling).
7. Fit and finish: On mine (and a few others, I’ve heard) the displaydoesn’t sit flush when closed, and the latch is a little stiff. But hey,it’s only a $1500 machine.
8. Fake titanium scratches easily: I’ve noticed, in only a few weeks, thatthe trackpad button left a permanent impression near the latch slot on thedisplay, and that inserting and removing the iBook from my bag is graduallyputting small scratches along the sides.
9. Keys: Keys are full-sized, but very shallow. Fast typers like me tendto graze the bottom of nearby keys, leading to finger scratches (until Ilearn to be more careful). And contrary to popular belief, there *IS* anEnter key. The second command key didn’t replace it, it just moved to wherethe second “option” used to be.