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Apple's Wall Street and Lombard power adapter recall continues to remain something of a mystery. Apple says that the recall resulted from six reports of the M4402 power brick that shipped with the first two G3 Series PowerBook models overheating, but anecdotally, I have heard and read of dozens of reports of the yo-yo shaped power adapter that they are replacing the M4402 units with under the recall shorting out and/or melting down. Some have suggested that Apple recalled the wrong adaptor.

I received my yo-yo replacement adapter for my WallStreet about 10 days ago, and it seems fine. Some recipients of the replacement units have reported that the plug that inserts in the PowerBook is excessively tight to insert or remove, but mine seems to insert with about the same force as the regional M4402's plug. However, on close observation, there appears to be a split in the cylinderical outer contact of the plug connector, and if you are brave, and have one of the units that is too snug, you might try prying the split open a bit -- at your own risk, of course.

It appears that there are several versions of the yo-yo unit. Mine was manufactured by Delta Electronics in Thailand, while others are from Dongguan Samsung in China. A rough consensus appears to indicate that the Delta unit is preferable, but that is not unanimous.

Personally, I wish Apple had replaced my M4402 with a non-defective (presuming my original unit is defective -- it's been plugged in 24/7 for more than 2 1/2 years without a hint of a problem) rectangular unit, rather than the bulky yo-yo, which I have never liked. Makes you wonder - -did they have a surplus of the yo-yo units with the now-superceded larger connection plug on hand? There has been no recall, or even undertaking to repair without charge, the much more crippling WallStreet screen hinge defect.

You can always pick up a new (Apple or third-party) power adapter for well under $100. The reported median repair cost for a broken WallStreet's screen hinge at Apple's PowerBook repair facility is $406.

To find out more about the recall or sign up for a new adapter, visit Apple's PowerBook G3 AC Adapter Exchange Program page here:
http://exchange.info.apple.com/exchange/

New iBook blues

A friend of mine has just purchased a new iBook to replace his faithful PowerBook 3400, that has served him well since 1997. I had counseled him to wait for a while until early production glitches were hired out, but 2 1/2 months and 182,000 units sold seemed enough of the run-up, and he ordered his new iBook from MacMall last week.

The new machine arrived, and my friend says he likes the speed, although it's not as fast as he had hoped (he uses a Cube at work), and the screen and keyboard are great.

Unfortunately, the trackpad is not, and the cursor is so skittish and squirrelly that he is finding the iBook unusable. This is NOT the phenomenon of unintended finger contact with the trackpad.

My friend is of course very bummed out at the prospect of having to send his brand new iBook to Texas for repair, and I don't blame him. This is not the sort of experience you want or expect with your first Mac system upgrade in four years.

I'm wondering how widespread this problem is, and what causes it. Obviously, given the overwhelmingly positive reception the new iBook is receiving from reviewers, it can't be a universal bug.

The MacNightOwl's Gene Steinberg took a review iBook to Macworld Expo, and notes in his latest http://www.azcentral.com/computing/steinberg/ Arizona Central column:

"The best way to describe the new iBook is to ask that you forget the previous one ever existed, says Gene, who also liked the iBook's screen and keyboard, the former of which he says is just right for OS X's oversized Finder icons.

One the downside is what Gene calls the iBook's "tepid performance under Mac OS X. Even though 128MB of RAM ought to be enough, I feel I'm trudging through quicksand, especially when switching applications. The cursor just spins and spins." Ouch! This may be fixed with OS 10.1.

Charles W. Moore

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