Motorola phones only from AT&T
February 18, 2003 7:15 AM PST
Odds and Ends: Walkie-Talkies interfere with Apple LCDs; USB fans for PowerBooks
Walkie-Talkies interfere with Apple LCDs We've heard of this phenomenon with other small, high-range transmitter devices before. Bryan Canning reports that a set of walkie-talkies activate the touch-sensitive power panel on his 15 inch Apple Studio Display:
"Just bought a pair of Motorola Talkabout T5420 handsets to use with a neighbor of mine. Turns out that when I use it in front of my Mac with a 15" Apple ADC LCD it activates the touch switch button on the front. From what I can tell, when the walkie-talkies are set on even channels, it opens the Monitor preferences and odd channels turns the computer on and off."
Kensington USB fan for PowerBooks Responding to our coverage of cooling and reducing the fan usage of various PowerBook models, Luther Golledge suggests using a Kensington USB fan, or some other small desktop blowing device:
"My personal solution, if I'm running something processor-intensive like Final Cut Pro, is to take my Kensington USB fan, plug it in, and aim it at the back of the laptop, where the central vent on the back is. The difference is impressive - even the top of the laptop, just by the Powerbook G4 label, is cold to the touch."Resources
http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=5804-TOTE
I've been using it for a few weeks now and love it. It's a handle you can carry the TiBook by, but when lowered, it becomes a support that raises the back of the powerbook by about an inch - high enough to keep it cool. The great thing about it is that you have your stand with you wherever you go. The downsides: (1) costs almost $50, (2) you do have remove the original screws holding the lid - don't know if this voids the warranty or not, but you can always put the original screws back before taking it in for repair and I doubt Apple could tell...
The Kensington USB fan is certainly a good solution but: 1/ it's extremely noisy, 2/ (going with 1) the speed cannot be software-controlled to somewhat reduce the noise and 3/ it does not have an On/Off switch, which means it's always on unless you unplug it or turn the computer down. Even putting the computer to sleep does not stop it (if my memory's well because I don't have mine to replug right away).
So, it's a not-so-bad product, but definitely needs improvement, starting with a kind of driver to software-control the fan speed.
batspray
- by r0d3nt February 18, 2003 7:22 PM PST
- I have had this happen with one of our users with a 15" Apple LCD. Here is what you can do to disable this power on button feature:
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(4 Comments)1. Boot into OS 9.
2. Hold down the Option key and either press the preference button on the display or open the "Monitors" control panel.
3. There should be an extra tab at the top of the "Monitors" control panel. In this tab there should be a check box to disable the power button.
Unfortunately, the display that I was troubleshooting was made previous to this functionality, so it needed to be sent to Apple to have the wire that is sensitive to the radio waves from Walkie-Talkie's replaced or shielded. The did the work for free, but it might have also been that the system was still under AppleCare. Your mileage may vary.....