Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

iBook Converts to iTablet

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the modders-capitalizing-on-thier-sk1llz dept.

Samuel Cotterall writes to tell us The Register is reporting that, not content to wait for Apple's mythical tablet PC to ship, ThePlaceforitAll.com is selling converted iBooks on eBay to fill the void. From the article: "ThePlaceforitAll.com is the first to admit the hardware will not be supported by Apple, thanks to the warranty-warping modification work, but the software should still be covered. More worrying is the site's statement that it "will not fix any broken iTablets". It will also ship to US-located buyers only."

7 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Vaporware by chriss · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some remarks:

    • The concept: Take a 12" iBook, flip the display onto its back, attach a Keytec USB touchpanel on top and fix it all together. No further hardware modifications, of course you will not be able to use the keyboard or trackpad afterwards, and one USB port is already used by the touchscreen.
    • None of these have ever been build. From their site: "The iTab is not built yet. We will build them as they are sold." If they intend to sell 100 of them, shouldn't they at least build one prototype? All they have are some photoshopped mockups.
    • Obviously Apples warranty will no longer apply. They will give you no guarantee either. Even more: "We will not fix any broken iTabs." Great service. Should you buy it and it never works, just throw it away. But of course this will never happen, because "we will do extensive tests on the iBook before modifying to catch any problems with it. Any problems with a computer are usually immediately visible after these tests. So the chance of your iTab breaking after purchase is lower." Exactly. The whole warranty stuff is overrated, vendor tested hardware almost never fails.
    • Handwriting does not work. "The touchscreen technology used in iTab is not compatible with InkWell, Apple's handwriting recognition technology". Your only option is to purchase a third party virtual keyboard product.
    • The vendor has a 14 feedbacks from buyers at ebay, five of them since 09/2005, most of which where books about tennis, none hardware.

    Don't touch it

    Auction on ebay
    iTab homepage (already slashdotted)

    Chriss

    --
    memomo.net - brush up your German, French, Spanish or Italian - online and free

    --
    memomo: free web based language trainer DE-EN-ES-FR-IT
  2. Re:really really really old by minus_273 · · Score: 4, Informative

    ugh here is the link

    --
    The war with islam is a war on the beast
    The war on terror is a war for peace
  3. Re:Problems with the iTab by Phroggy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The lack of Inkwell support is an issue, but I more importantly question the screen. As far as I know, there's no way to switch between Portrait and Landscape mode. TFA certainly doesn't mention this capablity, and after playing around with my PowerBook for a few minutes, OSX doesn't seem to naitively support that kind of orientation change. That's a big issue as it removes one of the cornerstones of Tablet fuctionality.

    OSX 10.4 does support rotating an external display, but it won't let me rotate the internal display on my iBook. Also, performance is severely impacted when you rotate a display.

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  4. Trolltouch... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 3, Informative

    Trolltouch already makes a touch screen enabled iBook...

    Super-low-profile, really cool...

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  5. Re:Caveat Emptor by dleifelohcs · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you read the rest of TFA, you would know this is a one-of-a-kind. There's only one person right now who knows what it really looks like, and that's the creator of it.

  6. Power iTablet... by Burning+Plastic · · Score: 3, Informative

    This one is a bit older, but it's a lot more functional.

    http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/

    I wouldn't mind one of these made using more recent components...

    --
    [All Your Fish Are Belong To Us]
  7. Re:Problems with the iTab by wall0159 · · Score: 2, Informative

    In System Preferences, if you click on Displays while holding , apparently it will allow you to rotate (90, 180, 270 deg) the internal monitor.

    I've done this before on my G4 800 iBook with no ill effects, but for some reason that option doesn't appear for me now. Buggered if I know why..

    (do this at your own risk of course! ;-)