Kanga question
From Bob Friede
Charles,
Has anyone come up with an effective way to reduce the incredible
heat levels generated within the P'Book
3500 without resorting to gizmos like PC Card-style fans? The CPU
temp in mine is never lower than 90° C (as read by G3 Strip),
and I can't believe that running apps at 110° C and up can be
good for the machine in the long run. While it never seems to lock up
due to heat problems, nevertheless I worry.
Thanks,
Bob Friede
Hi Bob,
Ouch! 90°-110° C is pretty hot. My WallStreet
runs at about 140°-150 ° F in summer, and it's running at
122° F right now on a chilly winter night in Nova Scotia. My
500 MHz Pismo runs about 20°
F cooler, thanks, I guess, to its copper G3 chip vs. the WallStreet's
aluminum one.
One thing you could try is Road
Tools' CoolPad or Podium CoolPad. Most laptops dissipate some of
their heat through the bottom, and the more air that's allowed to
flow under the bottom, the better chance that heat will dissipate.
Creating open air space under the PowerBook allows more efficient
heat dissipation by convection. The hot air rises, and cooler air
circulates in to replace it.
The CoolPad increases the airspace as well as elevating the back (or,
for better ergonomics, the front) of the laptop. The six small rubber
pads on the bottom of the CoolPad hold the PowerBook in place.
There are two versions of CoolPad, the basic, classic model, and the
Podium CoolPad, which allows you to adjust keyboard tilt using
Lego-like spacer blocks.
The original CoolPad is available online and in all Staples stores,
the Podium CoolPad is only available online, and is available at the
Apple Store as well. The Podium CoolPad's price is $29.95.
Re: TOTT/WallStreet
From Mike Young
Charles,
I enjoyed your Tools of the
Trade piece on your Wallstreet. I, too, have nothing but good
things to say (*) about my WallStreet
250/13.1" that I purchased 5/98. It has been a genuine workhorse
and, although tempted at times, I've never been convinced it needs to
be replaced. Your tips on the shareware you've found useful are
appreciated - I'll check them out. I do share your enthusiasm for
TypeIt4Me!
Thanks,
Mike
(*) I did have to purchase a new battery unfortunately after a
year of bizarro behavior...
SuperMac hard drive startup
From Guy Bartle
Hi there,
Have just read your article about the
startup delays on your SuperMac
S900. I know this article is ancient and has probably been
answered somewhere else on the SuperMac site (I haven't looked around
yet), but I recognised the problem.
I'm sure you'll have a gleaming G4 by now, but I still use my old
S900 and had the same problems with a starting up from a second hard
drive I installed. Went through all the processes you describe and
eventually traced the problem to the external SCSI Zip drive I
had.
Physically remove the Zip drive from your SCSI chain and
everything will run like clockwork!
I only connect up the Zip if I have to read Zip disks from someone
else.
Like I said, I'm sure this has already been answered and won't
matter now anyway but thought I'd mention it in passing...
Cheers,
Guy Bartle
- Hi Guy,
In my case it turned out to be a bad hard drive, a Seagate
Barracuda 2 GB unit. When I replaced that drive with a Quantum 4
GB unit, the problems disappeared. The ZIP Drive seems to have no
ill effect.
Charles
iBook (Dual USB) issues
From Ian Campbell
Greetings,
Back in October, I purchased my first brand new Mac, a shiny new
iBook. The machine has been
stellar in terms of speed and basic computer tasks. However, the
machine is not without it's flaws. When I open the machine up to use
it, the screen hinge makes a loud popping clicking noise accompanied
by it not opening as easily, as if something is broken. I spoke with
my friends at the local Mac shop, and they told me that an iBook had
come in with a similar problem, but the screen casing broke
completely. I was also told that the customer had experienced the
same case symptoms as I am having now. I don't know if anyone knows
anything about this phenomenon, or what I should do. I'll be sending
mine in to Apple within the week, though this seems ridiculous for a
machine that is not even 6 months old.
Ian
- Hi Ian,
It shouldn't happen, but this has been a fairly common complaint
with the dual USB iBook.
I'll be interested to hear whether the repair is satisfactory.
Charles
WordPerfect 3.5
From Gregory Carter
I tried to download the free copy of WordPerfect you mentioned in
your 2.12 article and got the dreaded
4-nought-4. Do you know where I can still get a copy of it?
Thanks.
- Hi Gregory,
You may find it here:
http://db.tt/y4yrQ0M
Charles
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