Notebook Updates Soon?
I know there is an educational promotion that is up on the 25th of September and I also know about the ATI Radeon 9000 picture...by the way im not so sure about that one...but I was curious if anyone knew or had an idea of what new powerbooks could entail. New cases? Faster Airport? Faster Processer? The list goes on. Thanks for your ideas!
Comments
PowerBook - MHz bump (1GHz? 933MHz? 867MHz? 800MHz?), graphics card bump (Radeon 9000, of course), HD bump (and hopefully the 120GB notebook drives will be available for BTO by then), possibly RAM bump, and if the new DVD-R slot-load drive is thin enough, perhaps a SuperDrive. Maybe even AirPort standard on every model. Of course, that's just the logical upgrades... it's been almost two years for the PowerBook, and I'm thinking a slight design revamp might be in order. Fix the flimsiness, the heat, the paint scratching off, perhaps rubber-mount the drives ala iBook, and hopefully add a nice, shiny chrome Apple, if not more chrome and a more updated look, maybe even a differently-colored keyboard. Maybe an eraser pointer in the center of the keyboard, in addition to the trackpad?so people don't have to choose, but Apple will still give us the option which MANY people desire. Bluetooth might be an option to integrate, but nothing standard yet.
iBook - MHz bump (700, 800MHz G3s), graphics card bump (radeon 7500?), HD bump. Price drops, I'd hope. Maybe DVI, now that the graphics can handle it? That's my only guess for an improvement, really. We're not due for a revamp just yet. 2003 for that... Q1 or early Q2, I'm thinking.
It would be nice if Apple took a long, hard look at their battery situation. What is the point of extra batteries, if there is no way to charge them outside of the machine? There is no charger, and there is no way to plug the batteries directly in or in to the AC adapters. On the iBook things are worse, there being no internal battery, the only way to switch batteries is to shut the thing down! The PB has had the internal buffer battery for a while, and it's far more packed with electronics than the iBook, surely they could shove one in there even for us consumers. I know I won't buy any extra batteries or AC adapters until they take care of these stupid problems. I would also like to see some more different grades of batteries, even if they're experimental; I want something to upgrade to in terms of battery. Or even a battery bottom, that covers the whole bottom of the case, perhaps 1/4"-1/2" thick, fully battery. One could conceivably triple or quadruple battery life... and NOBODY will notice the difference if your iBook sits in a case all day long anyway! Come on, Apple, you can engineer these solutions.
Giant batteries may give longer battery life, but reduce portability, increase weight, increase thickness and just ain't (IMHO) cool. Also, few people use their laptop for 4+ hours on battery power.
I have a plan for may Duo: Replace cells with 50% greater capacity ones, buy some solar cells and enjoy 8hours battery life.
And yes, fix how the powerbook is so flimsy! I'm afraid to handle it in any other way but from the bottom.
Oh, does anyone know the resale value of a recently purchased TiBook 667 with AirPort when new models arrive? It retails for $2600.
<strong>Whaaat? You can't plug the iBook into the mains and swap batteries?
Giant batteries may give longer battery life, but reduce portability, increase weight, increase thickness and just ain't (IMHO) cool. Also, few people use their laptop for 4+ hours on battery power.
I have a plan for may Duo: Replace cells with 50% greater capacity ones, buy some solar cells and enjoy 8hours battery life.
Of course I can. but who WANTS to? I want to be able to carry a little ac adapter and an extra battery or two in my laptop bag, and be able to stop anywhere, charge them, and then when I'm on the road or whereever not have to fumble for an outlet or essentially turn off my computer just to swap out the batteries, especially when there is technology so that I shouldn't have to!
And yeah, that may be true, for SOME people. That's why I was talking about Apple fleshing out the options so that some of us who don't mind another 1/4" battery layer/dock-type-thing snapped on the bottom of our laptops can have that sort of thing.
It's so STUPID to have only a few hours of electricity for your COMPUTER! There should be 12-hour batteries, or 24 hour batteries, or batteries that last weeks at a time. There aren't yet, obviously, but Apple could do a few more things to make three/four/five-hour battery changes more palatable to all of us.
I think it would be cool if someone developed a pedal-powered generator for laptops that would charge a battery and keep the laptop powered. It would consist of a floor unit that you pedaled like a bicycle. This would run a generator and the electricity would be used to recharge your laptop's batter while you worked. It wouldn't need to be pedaled all the time, only occasionally, and since the power would be stored in a battery, you could pedal when you felt like it and not have to do so when power ran low.
Such a system would also be great for excercise.
Yay or nay?
<strong>Dude, battery technology isn't there yet. Yeah, Apple could sell a Powerbook with 12 hours of battery life, but it would be one heavy mutha.
I think it would be cool if someone developed a pedal-powered generator for laptops that would charge a battery and keep the laptop powered. It would consist of a floor unit that you pedaled like a bicycle. This would run a generator and the electricity would be used to recharge your laptop's batter while you worked. It wouldn't need to be pedaled all the time, only occasionally, and since the power would be stored in a battery, you could pedal when you felt like it and not have to do so when power ran low.
Such a system would also be great for excercise.
Yay or nay?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, I know battery technology isn't there yet. I said that.
There's something slightly like that for PCs, it's like a mini-bike-pedalling-thing that goes under your desk, and if you don't do so much every hour or few hours your monitor shuts off.