Posted by Nathan Fisher
on 8/12/2001, 9:56 pm
I recently had a problem with my WS power pack crackling and making other evil noises and emiting odors. The WS would sometimes stop charging/powering from it during these times.
I finally cracked (literally, it has no screws) it open and find the jack where the AC line connects has broken solder connections and has really screwed up and discolored the solder around the pins.
2 minutes and a dab of solder later, and it's all fixed. Strange that this happened, as I don't disconnect the AC line ever...
It's currently held together with two strips of scotch tape. Owell, looks aren't everything. I guess this makes it ineligible for the defect replacement. (fire hazard? maybe mine was trying to catch on fire?)
Sidenotes: I have had the "no charge" defect hit my machine already, I pushed the shielding away with a toothpick and it never reoccurred. I also have inquired with apple about replacing the clutches which have not failed yet, and they offered to do the replacement for free out of warranty.
The only other annoyance is that sometimes the battery loses contact and can disturb sleep or running. I'm keeping the contacts clean, but that doesn't entirely prevent the problem.
Ok one more thing. One, the built-in keyboard you can only press down two keys at a time usually. This makes it suck for most video games where you use keyboard for movement and shooting. (run, forward, fire, oops that's three keys) External keyboards plugged into the ADB port don't exhibit this problem.
Best upgrad for a WS: the BlueChip CPU upgrade. You get 200 more mhz, less heat, and more battery life with no side-effects. Well worth $600 to add 1-2 yrs of technological life to the computer. 2nd best upgrade: CDR/RW media bay drive. (too bad it doesn't read DVDs) Biggest limitation to the WS: nic is on the motherboard. (sure would like to be able to replace the 10bt nic with a 100bt nic as easily as changing the modem card)
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