Over the past few years, many of my family members have been bought clamshell iBooks either new or used through me as an intermediary. I've used them at work, done the occasional repair on them. They never really hit a nerve with me until recently. This week, I managed to snag a 466 mhz iBook SE fw graphite. I've only seen two of these before (one graphite, one key lime) in the five years I've been doing mac work "professionally". After picking it up with intentions of sending it down to a family member, I decided that I don't want to let go of it. There is just an intangible quality to it. I just fell in love with this clamshell. Has anyone else had this happen?
I have a 1.5 ghz 15" PowerBook G4, but I prefer to use this four year old clamshell iBook. (Though this machine doesn't get hot enough to burn my legs through my clothes) I'm going to try and work on making a clamshell-esque enclosure for the dual usb and g4 iBook series machines. These clamshells feel like the finest machines Apple has ever made.
- iantm
(has too many macs at home)
I've only ever had 300MHz clamshells (my wife's Blueberry runs 400MHz), I always wondered 'bout the later 'Books. As yer a tech, you've got the chops to open 'er up and overclock the beast. Whaddya say to seeing how fast that 466'll really go? Come'on! Burn yer lap already!
As for clam-shell-esque enclosure . . . whaddya mean? Put a dual USB MLB into a clamshell shell? That's sure possible, but (as you'll already know), not easy. Heck, if you go that route, why not a 1.5 GHz G4 12" PowerBook MLB into a clamsell . . . ?
dan k (trots off to the workshop to compare AlBooks and clamshells)
I'm a little hesitant to overclock it, as the machine came to me in museum qulaity, despite a hard drive that is grinding nastily. As for making a clamshell esque enclosure, I am thinking of putting together a clamshell style case designed around a dual usb or iBook G4 board. After doing a take apart of the clamshell after dealing with dual usbs and iBook G4 12"s, I can safely say that the the clamshell was more costly to manufacture, which is probably why we never saw the issues with those machines that we do with the dual usb and g4 iBooks.
-iantm
Yeah, for example, look at those clamshell hinges, they're way overbuilt. Or perhaps I should say, properly built. The clamshell case was designed to be totally abused and still survive, not something one can say about the later models.
As for your 466 being museum quality . . . huh?
That's never stopped me from tinkering with the bits inside, what can't be seen and which aren't really part of the "museum" quality description. Heck, you'll have to open 'er up to replace that graunchy HD anyhow . . . mmmmm . . . 600MHz(?!?!) . . . a whopping big new HD . . . DVD burner . . . killer clamshell!
:coolmac:
dan k
I'm in complete agreement with you about these clamshell ibooks. Just wish there were some way to upgrade them! I especially like the keyboards—the best I've ever experienced on a laptop. I like the keyboard so much, I installed one on my G4-upgraded Lombard. Now if only there were some way to get one onto a G4 ibook...
I just love the machine so much. If there were a faster g3 or g4 upgrade for under $250, I'd be more than glad to do it. If some enterprising soul can sell g4 upgrades for slot loading iMacs, this can't be much more involved, well, board wise. Though, getting the logic board out of a clamshell isn't my idea of an easy task. (in my years as an apple portable and desktop tech, have never seen more than a hard or optical drive on a clamshell)
-iantm
Get some plaster of paris, or clay, make a slab with the original Dual USB shell, and use that as the interior. Just build around the mold and add a little here, and a little extra there. When you get done, the shell will be bigger than the Dual Shell.
Take fiberglass mixture, and pour it over the mold and shape it, when you get done, use the fiberglass shell, and glue it onto the dual shell. The dual USB shell will be intact, this will be an overlay that is attached to the dual Shell. You will have to experiment and make stuff up as you go, to fill in the needed parts.
When you get done, you will have a fiberglass shell frame over the original shell.
when you find yourself in the company of a halfling and an ill-tempered dragon, remember, you do not have to outrun the dragon...
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I have an indigo 366 and it works okay as a secondary mac. Only reason I got it is because it was all I could afford at the time. I never saw the attraction to the toilet seat ibooks. Even now there seems to be a lot of hype about them. It's just a laptop, the only thing I did to mine was make the apple logo on the back of the screen glow. If someone wants to trade for mine, gimmie a buzz.
Oh, Hazel, look. The field! It's covered in blood
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