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New PowerBooks tomorrow. - Page 17  

post #641 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Rolo
Maybe all models will have SuperDrives or maybe the prices will be lower.

I think prices right now are about as low as we can hope, especially if we're talking about a new case and new features. Apple knows there's demand for this product and they'll try to get as much as they can, at least for the first few months. I just hope prices don't go UP.

Scary reminder: prices on the 667/800 line went up by $300 and $200 respectively over the 550/667s.
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post #642 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:05pm
$1,999.00
Backlit Keyboard
15.4-inch TFT Display
1Ghz/1.2 GHz PowerPC G4
1MB L3 cache
256MB DDR400 SDRAM
60GB Ultra ATA/133
Combo Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
32MB DDR video memory
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 400
FireWire 800 (if it doesn't add price haha)
USB 2.0
AirPort Extreme Ready
Bluetooth optional
DVI & S-Video out
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post #643 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
... I would rather have a 7457, but at 1.3Ghz you are just getting more power and less battery life it would seem. I'd rather a 1GHz option with a 7457 to add battery life time.

You raise an interesting point. If the processor was running flat out 100% busy then at 1.3GHz it would certainly draw more power than one running at 1GHz. The usual case though is that the processor does something then when it is idle it goes into a low power mode. I don't know the details of this. I'd guess that overall the faster processor might use less power on most tasks because it would spend more time in idle mode. Or it may be a wash.

Powerbooks used to slow down the clock when running on battery. Does this still happen? If so then a 1.3GHz maximum clock would definitely not have an effect on battery life.

I've rarely seen the processor run flat out. The exceptions were
a) poorly written programs that used 90% of CPU time even when they were idling.
b) QT playback of movies. On my G3 Pismo 500 playback of movies full screen chews up a lot of CPU power.
Most of the time there is a burst of activity and then quiet. I gauge this best by watching the CPU temperature. A lot of things which seem very intensive do not drive the CPU temperature up as high as QT playback. I think this is because the CPU is sometimes waiting for the HD or for something to come over the internet so it gets to rest intermittently.
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post #644 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Rolo
Gee, could my cable company have been taken down by that MSBlast worm? Why does anyone put up with that MS carp?

They're shipping software ... and fish now???

less is more
less is more
post #645 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:26pm
God, this is the most promising sign yet... How many green dots left? ...Not many!
You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
post #646 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally posted by DHagan4755
God, this is the most promising sign yet... How many green dots left? ...Not many!

It is interesting that the newest seller, Best Buy, has them both in stock. Are they going to be the dumping ground for obsolete Macs? Or maybe just a problem with their system. I find it hard to believe that Apple would give them a quanity to sell if they were EOL.
post #647 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally posted by DHagan4755
God, this is the most promising sign yet... How many green dots left? ...Not many!

Yes but!, notice the 17" PB is well stocked, wouldnt they update the 17" as well, surely, you wouldnt have a 15" thats faster than a 17"?, stocks for the 12" looks ok as well? \
post #648 of 874
8/12/03 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally posted by DHagan4755
God, this is the most promising sign yet... How many green dots left? ...Not many!

Wow, didn't know about that site! That is an awesome sign, can't wait till I getmy revised 15"
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post #649 of 874
8/12/03 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x

It isn't cool to alter a quote. If you want to copy something someone writes and change it, it's OK as long as the text isn't quoted. By quoting my specs and changing them, you make it look like that's what I said and it isn't. OK?
post #650 of 874
8/12/03 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Rolo
It isn't cool to alter a quote. If you want to copy something someone writes and change it, it's OK as long as the text isn't quoted. By quoting my specs and changing them, you make it look like that's what I said and it isn't. OK?

Yes yes sorry, you are absolutely correct. My apologies as I forgot to get rid of everything besides the quotes. As I have fixed it I hope you will except my apologies.
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post #651 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
Yes yes sorry, you are absolutely correct. My apologies as I forgot to get rid of everything besides the quotes. As I have fixed it I hope you will except my apologies.

No problem.

I like your specs and they seem very likely. I definitely hope for the backlit KB, what I called GITD (glow in the dark) in an earlier post. Larger HD is always welcome.
post #652 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:09pm
Checked MacMall and they still have plenty of 12s, 15s and 17s in stock. I don't know what might be typical but it would seem to me that if these were at the end of their life, MacMall wouldn't still have hundreds of each left.
post #653 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:22pm
FireWire and USB are your most flexible serial I/O ports to the outside world. Haveing the latest revisons assures you of a long and useful life for your laptop.

It really is no differrent than waht was seen with RS232. As capabilities where improved it became very wise to make sure you had the latest. Besides it is a mistake to believe that FW800 is fast enough, the minute you start believing that is the minute the grave diggers start a plot for you.

Dave


Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
Why is FW800 important to everyone? FW400 isn't fast enough for you? I don't see a reason for FW800 on a laptop...yet.
post #654 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally posted by wizard69
FireWire and USB are your most flexible serial I/O ports to the outside world. Haveing the latest revisons assures you of a long and useful life for your laptop.

It really is no differrent than waht was seen with RS232. As capabilities where improved it became very wise to make sure you had the latest. Besides it is a mistake to believe that FW800 is fast enough, the minute you start believing that is the minute the grave diggers start a plot for you.

Dave

I just don't see a need for this in a laptop yet...can you give me some practical uses?
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post #655 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:40pm
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
I just don't see a need for this in a laptop yet...can you give me some practical uses?

You could 'future-proof' yourself and plan on getting high RPM drives on a FW800 bus to supplement your mobile A/V workstation. How many RPMs do the current drives in the Powerbooks have? 5400? Can you imagine a 40GB or more drive runninga 7200RPM or higher on a FW800 bus? That's one more bottleneck out of the way.

I guess that's the only thing right now, besides bragging rights.
j00u = twh funnay.
j00u = twh funnay.
post #656 of 874
8/12/03 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally posted by job
You could 'future-proof' yourself and plan on getting high RPM drives on a FW800 bus to supplement your mobile A/V workstation. How many RPMs do the current drives in the Powerbooks have? 5400? Can you imagine a 40GB or more drive runninga 7200RPM or higher on a FW800 bus? That's one more bottleneck out of the way.

I guess that's the only thing right now, besides bragging rights.

How fast do drives send information, I thought it was in the 40MB/s or so. Even with four external drives I would think the bottle neck is the system bus and controllers rather then the FW400. I think FW800 would be very nice, but for an extra price I don't think its practical. Especially because you aren't carrying 4 external HD's around with you if you want to be mobile. Again it would be very nice though.
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post #657 of 874
8/12/03 at 10:04pm
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
...I think FW800 would be very nice, but for an extra price I don't think its practical. Especially because you aren't carrying 4 external HD's around with you if you want to be mobile.

Keep in mind that many of us use PowerBooks as desktop replacements and don't have anything else. While we may be on the go sometimes, we want/need the most modern high speed ports for peripherals that any desktop or tower would have. Since buying my first PowerBook last year, I will never use a tower (at home) again. I wonder why anyone would.
post #658 of 874
8/13/03 at 3:53am
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
I think FW800 would be very nice, but for an extra price I don't think its practical.

I remember reading somewhere that FW800 is less expensive to implement than FW400. If so, then why not.
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Registered: Dec. 98
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post #659 of 874
8/13/03 at 4:21am
Quote:
Originally posted by iDave
Keep in mind that many of us use PowerBooks as desktop replacements and don't have anything else. While we may be on the go sometimes, we want/need the most modern high speed ports for peripherals that any desktop or tower would have. Since buying my first PowerBook last year, I will never use a tower (at home) again. I wonder why anyone would.

But what devices do you use?


Haha I don't want to argue about this, I was just saying for an added price I don't really think its needed. If its the same or cheaper...or even a LITTLE extra it would be fine. But majority of users aren't going to have a need for it so I doubt it would be implemented if it costs more.

After hearing that statement I am glad I'm getting a 15" after they update. Now next year I have to decide if I would want to get a PBook G5 or Tower
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post #660 of 874
8/13/03 at 5:09am
this might be a stupid question, if pricing of the powerbooks based on cpu speed, is the g4+(57) at 1ghz faster than the g4(old cpu) at 1ghz. see if that is the case maybe i will save some bucks and use the extra $$$ for other upgrades. also would the superdrive and bluetooth only be available on the faster configuration is that the usual priceing policy. i would hope the superdrive is comparable to emac at 4x
i want superdrive and bluetooth (peripherals that use it will grow and i don't want dangle off connectors and adapters) i want as much built in as possible
this all assumes the g5pb wont be here for a while. my preference would be to wait for the g5 pb if it comes out in a reasonable time fram say jan-march
I may need to see a post on people real life use of the 12 and 15 do get some insight of the 12 vs 15 usability thin and light is nice, this will be for my wife, i'll get mine when my company allows internet access to there server, i'll be talking tom management this week about teleradiology upgrade to web based
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post #661 of 874
8/13/03 at 5:17am
If I was Apple, I'd be pretty pissed off by now. It is definately not their fault that the new PBs arn't ready.

I can only assume reports that Moto is responsable are accurate.

Barto
Self Indulgent Experiments keep me occupied.

rotate zmze pe vizspygmsr minus four
Self Indulgent Experiments keep me occupied.

rotate zmze pe vizspygmsr minus four
post #662 of 874
8/13/03 at 5:52am
Quote:
Originally posted by Barto
If I was Apple, I'd be pretty pissed off by now. It is definately not their fault that the new PBs arn't ready.

We have no proof that Apple ever intended to ship new PowerBooks before now. Remember, the TiBooks that were first introduced in January were not revised until October. It may have always been Apple's intention to leave the Ti alone until they revised the whole line later in the year. Apple likes to get as much mileage as they can out of new products, and the 17 was not shipping in quantity until March or so.

I said back in January Apple had two ways to go: revise the Ti alone, which almost certainly meant giving it a faster processor than the 17 (problematic from a sales perspective), or wait to revise all of them at once (also problematic). My guess is they went with the latter.

And here I have to defend Moto again . Moto's literature said 7457 in the fourth quarter. There were RUMORS that production had been moved up to the third quarter. In the grand scheme of things, of course, the damn chip is about two YEARS late, but don't blame Moto for not delivering on a rumor site's timetable.
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post #663 of 874
8/13/03 at 6:36am
Well, you kinda say it yourself...two years late.



There is no defending Motorola.

I fully blame them and Apple's piss-poor marketing as the two reasons why we - after the unveiling of a stellar operating system like OS X, after the whole "Switch" thing, after years of gorgeous hardware, after the kick-ass iApps, etc. - we're still clawing at 4-5%.



Actually, truth be known, I blame Apple more that Motorola. Most people really don't give a damn about chips, and to the average consumer 1GHz, give or take, is more than enough to do the things they do.

But Apple's limp marketing is another thread altogether...
post #664 of 874
8/13/03 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
But what devices do you use?

Haha I don't want to argue about this, I was just saying for an added price I don't really think [FW800] its needed. If its the same or cheaper...or even a LITTLE extra it would be fine. But majority of users aren't going to have a need for it so I doubt it would be implemented if it costs more.

Nothing right now of course. In a year or so I might get a nice fast FW800 drive for backups. Backing up 40-50 GB of data takes quite awhile, even with (fast) standard Firewire. If I can get a boost with FW800, it would be nice. From what I understand, that boost is really only about 20% so who knows if the expense is worth it, if indeed there is any additional expense.
post #665 of 874
8/13/03 at 7:03am
They are coming very very very soon !

http://www.macprices.com/g4tracker.shtml

(Either that or Apple has decided to stop selling PowerBooks)
post #666 of 874
8/13/03 at 7:18am
15" aren't anywhere and the Apple Store is out of both 12" and 15" models!
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post #667 of 874
8/13/03 at 8:02am
Quote:
Originally posted by ast3r3x
15" aren't anywhere and the Apple Store is out of both 12" and 15" models!

According to their website, MacMall still has 762 12s and 264 15s. I bet I know where you can get a good deal on one next week.
post #668 of 874
8/13/03 at 8:12am
Quote:
Originally posted by iDave
According to their website, MacMall still has 762 12s and 264 15s. I bet I know where you can get a good deal on one next week.

Let's hope so! I have no intention of taking advantage of any "good deals" on old PowerBooks after new ones are announced. But I'll wait until I have a choice between the two generations to decide. I certainly hope the "good deals" will not look so good when compared to the awesome new 7457-based PowerBooks... next week.

Cold Turkey
post #669 of 874
8/13/03 at 8:48am
Don't want to come off as a dick, but NONE of you have been right about ANY of this stuff over the past 2-3 months.



I'll believe it when I see it.



If new PowerBooks DO come next week, I will - after I pick myself up off the floor - treat everyone to a round of drinks.

post #670 of 874
8/13/03 at 8:49am
Good luck Best Buy.

Both 15" models at the standard price with no promotions to go with them.

Hopefully Apple sold them these laptops instead of just placing them in stores.







MSKR
"Just tell them that Ben Franklin said it, and everyone will believe the sentiment."
"Just tell them that Ben Franklin said it, and everyone will believe the sentiment."
post #671 of 874
8/13/03 at 8:59am
Call me a crackhead, but I just went to the Apple Store and added the 12" Combo drive PB and a 15" Combo drive PB. The 12" ships in 3-5 days and the 15" ships 5-7 days.

What am I missing?? Sure, the other online stores stocks have been depleted but the Apple Store has not changed availability in weeks...

Screed ...Must. Have. Rev. B 12"!!!...
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post #672 of 874
8/13/03 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally posted by pscates

If new PowerBooks DO come next week, I will - after I pick myself up off the floor - treat everyone to a round of drinks.


What, you can't treat everyone to a round of PowerBooks? We're all your friends!
What the problem is?
What the problem is?
post #673 of 874
8/13/03 at 9:40am
Quote:
Originally posted by Masker
Good luck Best Buy.

Both 15" models at the standard price with no promotions to go with them.

Hopefully Apple sold them these laptops instead of just placing them in stores.



MSKR

I assume Apple just made the deal with BestBuy so they would buy them and Apple could clear themselves of their inventory. They had inventory to clear and wanted to screw BB like BB screws Apple.


Quote:
Originally posted by MCQ
What, you can't treat everyone to a round of PowerBooks? We're all your friends!

Apparently you have to be friends with him for a LONG time to get that kind of treatment!
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post #674 of 874
8/13/03 at 10:30am
I'm a PC computer systems engineer, and I'm about 2 seconds from buying a mac because I'd like to come home and enjoy being on a computer after fixing windows all day long. I've been reading this thread and I have a couple comments and questions.

I was reading online somewhere else that one of the goals of Apple when releasing the new Pbooks would be to make them all equal with the "cool" stuff... like FW800, backlit keyboard, etc. One reason I haven't bought the 15" model yet is because if you look at the specs on it, it's actually at the bottom of the pack. Both the 12" and the 17" have ATA/100 4200 RPM hard drives while the 15" has ATA/66 4200 RPM hard drives. It does have a pc card slot that the 12 doesn't have, but the ATA speed difference is definitely a drawback, since that's where the actual throughput happens. It also is the only one that is still only set for the basic airport card and not the 802.11g extreme card.

I want one of things so bad, but I really want to wait for the new one's to come out unless someone can convince me now would be just as good as later. I just wish someone new time frame for it. Does anyone have any advice on what I should get and from where? Best Buy or maybe Amazon? Do you think the prices of the new models will be a lot higher than where the models are now? Thanks! 8)
post #675 of 874
8/13/03 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally posted by pc-to-mac

I was reading online somewhere else that one of the goals of Apple when releasing the new Pbooks would be to make them all equal with the "cool" stuff... like FW800, backlit keyboard, etc. One reason I haven't bought the 15" model yet is because if you look at the specs on it, it's actually at the bottom of the pack. Both the 12" and the 17" have ATA/100 4200 RPM hard drives while the 15" has ATA/66 4200 RPM hard drives. It does have a pc card slot that the 12 doesn't have, but the ATA speed difference is definitely a drawback, since that's where the actual throughput happens.

laptop hard drives dont come close to approaching ATA/66's max throughput. At least 4200RPM models. if you were going to replace the drive with a new 7200 RPM one then yes, ATA/100 would be better.

But as of now ATA/100 in the powerbook is just a marketing number as none of the drives apple ships are limited by ATA/66
post #676 of 874
8/13/03 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally posted by pc-to-mac
Does anyone have any advice on what I should get and from where? Best Buy or maybe Amazon?

www.macmall.com , www.macwarehouse.com , www.macconnection.com , etc... places that usually have free ram deals
post #677 of 874
8/13/03 at 10:50am
Quote:
Originally posted by pc-to-mac
I want one of things so bad, but I really want to wait for the new one's to come out unless someone can convince me now would be just as good as later. I just wish someone new time frame for it. Does anyone have any advice on what I should get and from where? Best Buy or maybe Amazon? Do you think the prices of the new models will be a lot higher than where the models are now? Thanks! 8)

I'd wait a bit since new PowerBooks could be out as early as next week. A Mac is a good way to hide from the dreaded MSBlast (LoveSan) worm.

Don't be fooled by specs, though. A 4200 rpm drive isn't going to saturate an ATA/66 bus, let alone an ATA/100 bus. The current TiBook is an excellent portable but if you want the cool new features, a 15" AlBook will be worth the wait.

Before buying, be sure to check out the resources others have provided.
post #678 of 874
8/13/03 at 11:17am
pc-to-mac

FWIW - If either you or your spouse(if married) are on any PTA board, either elected OR appointed, you are eligble for Apple's education discount. And until late September the bundle deals(re: $200 off an iPod and $100 off qualifying printers)

I note the bundle deals since this mitigates the fact that Apple charges sales tax and some online stores don't.

Good Luck
just waiting to be included in one of Apple's target markets.
Don't get me wrong, I like the flat panel iMac, actually own an iMac, and I like the Mac mini, but...........
just waiting to be included in one of Apple's target markets.
Don't get me wrong, I like the flat panel iMac, actually own an iMac, and I like the Mac mini, but...........
post #679 of 874
8/13/03 at 12:49pm
It certainly seems a good omen that the wait for a 15" BP is 5-7 bus. days, and the 12" and 17" are immediate. Apple Store.

Dr. L
post #680 of 874
8/13/03 at 1:17pm
On a kinda related note, does anyone know who did the music for this powerbook promotional video and what the songs called?

http://www.apple.com/hardware/video/...g4_012003.html
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