Annoying Gap in 17" Powerbook when screen closed - my solution

Hey all,

I have seen this discussed here and on other Mac boards and wanted to share...

When you close a 15" or 17" Powerbook G4 there is an 1/8th inch gap. This allows the top to press down 1/8" further than where the latch keeps it. When carrying the laptop, this is annoying because it bounces up and down and I feel that pressing it together may push the keyboard onto the screen's surface.

I recently had a small rubber foot come off the bottom of my Powerbook 17". I went to the Genius Bar at our Mac store and they gave me a small bag with about 8 feet and a small tube of superglue. I replaced the foot with no problem but started looking at the tiny rubber feet. I placed them in the corners of the lid and closed it. It seemed so much more secure and did not affect latching or unlatching.

So, I got some VERY THIN 3M double sided tape (used for mounting car trim) and put some on the back of 3 of the spare feet. I then affixed them to the 2 top corners of the top LCD lid (see the 12" for placement as they comes standard with these spacer/bumpers). I also put one between the 2 latches on the 17" powerbook. (All 3 are on the screen casing 1/2 way between the edge of the screen and the edge of the lid.

There is now very little play in the closed lid and it has zero problems latching or unlatching.

Enjoy!

Jerry

Or you could just slip the PowerBook in to a Neoprene jacket... this will protect your machine from dust, scratches, accidental spillage etc.

Already have a jacket for it but that doesn't prevent the lid from being compressed in the jacket allowing the keyboard to contact the screen.

Besides, when I want to pick up my laptop and walk down a few offices, there is no desire to take the time to put it in a jacket for 15 seconds.

The smaller laptops have these spacers, I don't know why Apple didn't put them on the larger ones.

Jerry

GLJones said:

Already have a jacket for it but that doesn't prevent the lid from being compressed in the jacket allowing the keyboard to contact the screen.

Besides, when I want to pick up my laptop and walk down a few offices, there is no desire to take the time to put it in a jacket for 15 seconds.

The smaller laptops have these spacers, I don't know why Apple didn't put them on the larger ones.

Jerry

Click to expand...

My Albook seems to have spacers. I have four small grey spacers on the outer edge of my 15" PB's screen. One in each of the upper corners, one each on either side of the lid's latch well. Although i also have the righthand side spacing issue when the PB lid is closed the grey spacers on the screen seem to keep it from touching the keyboard. I tested this by closing the lid in a dark room and shining a light from one end of my closed powerbook to the other. Even while pressing firmly on the top of the closed lid I could still see the light at the other end.