I picked up my PowerBook from the repair shop just yesterday, Tuesday. The PowerBook hasn't yet been repaired but I'm typing this on it by using an external USB keyboard. Everything is functioning as normal except for the built-in keyboard but as it turns out, keyboard-related circuitry on the logic board has been damaged. So the repair will cost HK$3000 for a new logic board and HK$700 for a new keyboard. We already paid a HK$600 inspection-only charge as well. Although unrelated to damage caused by the coffee spill, I'm also going to try and get a crack in the headphone jack area of the "top case" (the titanium and plastic top enclosure that includes the palm rest, trackpad, power button, and slots for the DVD drive and PC-card) fixed. Well, to fix that means replacing the entire top case which costs a whopping HK$2000+! Our company's insurance covers anything over HK$3000 but the insurance company will have to approve the claim first, of course. Tomorrow I'll need to take a photo of the cracked top case and submit that to them. So just to get the built-in keyboard working again (excluding the cracked case) will cost a total of HK$4300 (~US$550) — ouch! Yes, it kind of doesn't seem worth it for a 2-year old machine and considering prices and performance advantages of the latest PowerBook models. Still, given the insurance, our company shells out only HK$3000 out of the HK$6000+ repair bill.

To avoid future coffee spills on my PowerBook, I have already purchased a new, spill-proof vacuum flask for my coffee and I am going to purchase and install a "keyboard skin" — a protective latex membrane that waterproofs the keyboard. I saw one of those on another customer's PowerBook G4 at the repair shop. Hmmm... I wonder how it affects heat dissipation.