A few nights ago I was so tired I fell asleep with my PowerBook G4 on my lap…in bed. During the night, the PB fell on the floor and got dented. Ouch! A beautiful Titanium work of art, with a pucker in the front bezel on the left side, near the corner.
I only noticed it last night as I picked up my laptop for a late night email session. Dang it, and I had just bought this PB used a couple of months prior.
Tonight I found it was deceptively simple to fix. You remove 7 T8 Torx screws from the bottom, and the entire lower cover comes off. This was the part that was dented. A few minutes later with my Panavise, the world’s best hobbyist vise (completely smooth vise walls, separate heads for general purpose, large clamping and PCB holding) and the dent was virtually invisible. In fact, the case seems to fit together better now than it did before!
Now if I could only find replacement rubber feet for the machine, as well as the little rubber bits that hold the display a mm or two away from the main body when closed…
I think the oddest/coolest thing about all this is that you have Torx screwdrivers to begin with. :)
(Then again, I have a stock of unusual tamper-resistant bits too, so look who’s talking…)
I think we need to get together sometime! I haven’t seen you in forever and I don’t have your new home number, e-mail me.
Because I am getting really, really tired of b0wing to your superior nerdity. ;]
Seen felt pads of diff sizes an’ thicknesses at places like Walmart. They have ’em in the home supplies sections an’ can be used to pad things like cabinet doors, the bottoms of table lamps, legs of furniture to prevent scratching hardwood floors, etc. I don’t specifically recall but there may’ve been similar things that were rubber and might suit your purposes.
I’ve opened my PB with torx many many times now… it took forever to find the T8, though. Most sets only went down to T10. I’m missing one of the rubber feet as well, though I think I remember hearing they have replacements at the Apple Store repair section. And my little rubber nubs that hold the display up are so worn down, too….
Time to put some pillows down near the side of the bed, or very padded floor rugs. :)
Or perhaps Fluke could make one of those bright yellow rubber cases for Wolly’s powerbook to snap into, would probably match her multimeter… :-)
You are such a geek.
Which is why we’re such friends :)
Rock on, in the name of all that’s kewl.