Do you wait for the new generation 15" PowerBook?
I find myself tempted to buy one of the now cheap last generation(?) 15" PowerBooks ... almost pressed the submit button, but then again I'm asking myself, will there be a speed-deamon just around the corner?
What about you?
(Sorry for the typo in the poll title, maybe a mod can step in and ...)
What about you?
(Sorry for the typo in the poll title, maybe a mod can step in and ...)
Comments
Then I started to rethink this. The specs on the 15 inch Ti-book look quite nice compared to my existing tower and it can drive the cinema display. I finally decided that the way to go is to replace the tower with the 15 inch Al PB. This upgrades the computer power, maintains support for the cinema display and cuts the noise from the tower. Plus there is only one computer to deal with - no syncing issues, just backup.
The 15 inch Al PB should be better for customer presentations than the 12 inch mini-P. There is still the weight issue, but I'll have to deal with that. It is only a little heavier than the mini-P and weight involves accessories as well as the 'Book itself. You have to get a light bag that is small enough that you don't stuff it with all sorts of other stuff that drives the total weight up to 20 lbs.
As I am not time constrained I'll wait till the next 15 'book comes out and get that with an extreme card and a base station.
A kick-ass PowerBook with graphics, speed, hard drive space, optical drive, I/O, etc. that's basically equal to that of recent (or even current) PowerMacs and high-end iMacs is a sweet machine! AND you can always use it to drive a bigger display, keyboard and mouse for home use.
Best of all worlds, really. Desktop power that goes where you do.
A tower - 970 or otherwise - holds NO appeal for me whatsoever. Just big and bulky and shit hanging all out the back and you're chained to your desk, 24/7, while using it.
No thanks!
I bought a 12" PB and love it. Very nice machine.
Apple, please don't let me down.
Seriously though, a tricked out 15" AlBook is going to be hard to turn down...
Then I go "$@% it...get an iBook and wait for a 970 PowerBook next year...".
Sigh...
I see a big coin toss in my near future.
perhaps....
nahhhh, but it is fun to think of it
g
Originally posted by neutrino23
I finally decided that the way to go is to replace the tower with the 15 inch Al PB.... There is still the weight issue, but I'll have to deal with that.
You and I have talked about subnotebooks and desktops before, and it's amazing how similar our thought processes are. I'm starting to like the logic behind your decision.
I have an iMac/233 that I absolutely need to replace. It's starting to act weird, which is especially bothersome because my wife uses it. Personally, I've been using only my iBook/500, because it's faster, runs OS X, and is portable. Even though a new low-end PowerMac G5 is going to be very tempting, I think I'm going to replace the iMac with an inexpensive Wintel (or WinAMD) box. My wife is the main desktop user and she would prefer to have Windows, like she does at work.
For myself, I've been planning on getting a Rev.B 12-inch PowerBook and sharing the Wintel box's larger monitor when I need the screen real estate. But if the 970 hits only the 15-inch PowerBook, there's no way I'm going to buy a last-generation, passé G4. Under that scenario, I'll either get a 15-inch PowerBook G5 or wait for Apple to make a 12-inch PowerBook G5.
Escher
(suffering from insomnia tonight)
Originally posted by MacGregor
Depends upon what happens for a rev B 12"er.
My decision definitely hinges on the Rev.B 12-inch PowerBook. As stated above, there's no way I will buy any G4-based system at this point. Assuming the 15-inch PowerBook is the first to ship with a G5, it will be a tempting buy. However, waiting for a 970-based 12-inch PowerBook will also be an option for me, even if that means waiting for Rev.C in early 2004. My iBook is not fast, but it's still perfectly useable.
BTW: MacWhispers is now reporting that PPC 970-based 15.4-inch PowerBooks have entered production. I hope that's not a bad omen.
I can't wait for June 23!
Escher
Originally posted by Algol
I just bought a 1Ghz Tibook for cheap. I got tired of waiting for the new PowerBooks, and I started to wonder if they would really be that much better. So, I saved myself a lot of money and got a kick arss computer. It really is amazing how fast this thing is. I can't even imagine what a dual 1.8Ghz 970 would be like. I bet I'll be kicking myself in a few months, but I have always lucked out with computer buys before. Maybe I will this time too.
I'm sure you'll find that to be a great purchase for a long time to come. I like the look and feel (though not the flex) of the Tibook better than the Albooks anyway.
Escher: That MacWhisper article sure seemed to be realistic in its claims. I can't honestly remember what their track record has been like, they don't seem to make as much of a splash as some of the others.
Also I have always thought of the desire to have a desktop and the smallest laptop as my ideal setup, thus the 12" or a subnotebook with a PM. But like others I have truly begun thinking that a laptop is all I need. I just need to span at least two monitors and the TiBook does that beautifully now....so I may be joining pscates' party soon.
If the 15" is going to have a G4 processor, nothing will be said about it at WWDC.
Think press release then.
Just a tingly hunch. Wouldn't that be very, very cool?
Engineering/tech-wise, is there something that would keep the PowerBook (any or all of them) getting this new chip?
Heat? Space? Power consumption? Size? Cost?
I don't know...I'm asking.
Originally posted by pscates
Engineering/tech-wise, is there something that would keep the PowerBook (any or all of them) getting this new chip?
Heat? Space? Power consumption? Size? Cost?
Yes, No, Yes, No, No.
Space, size, and cost aren't a problem outside of the subnotebooks and the iBooks on cost. Once you hit the 15", you have some room to work. Er, Apple will make room if it needs. We're not talking about a bit issue.
Heat and power generally go hand-in-hand. This is the real killer for space to make room for heatsinks, fans, etc. Plus, Apple has always sold well on the basis of battery life. Cost is a non-issue once you hit the higher end PBs. When you're dropping $3k for a 17" PB, you can afford an extra $100 on the CPU.
What really needs to restated is that we know NOTHING about power savings in the 970. The 970 need not be the power sipper that previous chips were if the .09s or the 980 can fill that role in the near future, but then again, a clocked back 1.2GHz 970 would be vastly faster than anything Apple is shipping in a laptop today, so Apple probably has some room to work. As long as Apple can get about 3hrs in a laptop and the heat and cost aren't that much higher than a 1GHz G4, then I don't see why it couldn't work in a 15" and 17" PB.
It is odd that Apple is blowing 12" PBs out to employees at $1300, though. Seems a bit unusual for a machine not 6 months old, don't you think?