Casing swap from a 500 Mhz iBook to a 700Mhz

nvmnvm
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi, a friend of mine just bought a 700Mhz dual USB iBook, 12". The track pad and mouse button are really dirty/used/ineffective (trackpad), and I was wondering if I get a 12" 500 mhz iBook casing with trackpad and mouse button, will I be able to swap over the internals? Or atleast the trackpad and button, or are those pieces custom for each model of computer made?



I can post e-bay links to the computer and the part I'm looking at.



thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Umm, maybe.



    Hope you know what you're doing. I'm a pretty savvy computer user and I wouldn't do what you're considering.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    nvmnvm Posts: 24member
    lol, nope! I am good with little screws, wires, and stuff like that. I love to take old stereo recievers apart and clean them up, but that's quite different, I know.



    I mainly want a new trackpad and button. Is that going to be really hard? I assumed it would be easy enough since there are so many casings on E-bay. So, let's say I'm good at fixing things in general, electronics included, but I am not particularly computer-internals experienced. Should I just not attempt it?



    thanks again
  • Reply 3 of 6
    yoseyose Posts: 62member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NVM

    lol, nope! I am good with little screws, wires, and stuff like that. I love to take old stereo recievers apart and clean them up, but that's quite different, I know.



    I mainly want a new trackpad and button. Is that going to be really hard? I assumed it would be easy enough since there are so many casings on E-bay. So, let's say I'm good at fixing things in general, electronics included, but I am not particularly computer-internals experienced. Should I just not attempt it?



    thanks again



    It's been a while since I worked on Apple machines, but I think the track pad comes as part of the whole topcase. If that's the case you have to swap the whole top panel of the laptop.



    Cheers,
  • Reply 4 of 6
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NVM

    lol, nope! I am good with little screws, wires, and stuff like that. I love to take old stereo recievers apart and clean them up, but that's quite different, I know.



    I mainly want a new trackpad and button. Is that going to be really hard? I assumed it would be easy enough since there are so many casings on E-bay. So, let's say I'm good at fixing things in general, electronics included, but I am not particularly computer-internals experienced. Should I just not attempt it?



    thanks again



    Probably could find some info online about the procedure. Based on your experiences with the A/V gear I bet you could handle it, just be sure to ground yourself and take a little extra care.



    The only reason I'd say not to do it is that we're not talking about cutting edge machines. I don't know if you're prepared to sink more $$ in to it or buy another machine if something goes wrong.



    But either way I'm curious how it turns out if you decide to go for it!
  • Reply 5 of 6
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    I've torn both a 500 and 700 ibook apart before and replaced cd drives. The internals are mostly the same except the 700 seemed a bit more cramped...the main problem I can think of is the optical drive sizes vary and the length of the wires around it might not fit too great, but I think it should work



    oh wait, you want to put the 500's trackpad on the 700? That shouldn't be too bad, although my 500 and 700 were different in that respect, but the 500's latch was broken so I can't be sure



    here's the fantastic take-apart guides I use

    http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/
  • Reply 6 of 6
    nvmnvm Posts: 24member
    Wow, that website is awesome. I'm probably not going to do it for the time being, but maybe within the next few months. Thanks for all the advice/hints.
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