Got the new PB 15 on Tuesday(with the superdrive), I asked for 1 Gig of memory instead of the 512. The new memory completely locked up the system. The guy from the store who installed the memory thought it was strange that as soon as he put new memory in the PB wouldn't boot up at all the first time. Well I got another new memory and it hasn't locked up since.......BUT
When I went back to store to put in the new memory, a new PB 15 was sitting on the counter, I guess when Apple shipped the PB it was missing the screw by the right speaker. This PB came from the same shipment as mine came with. HMMMMM conspiracy theory
The only other complaint was that in a month I could have saved another $100 bucks by having Panther installed or at least a coupon the get for free. When they release hardware so close to a update, it should be automatic. But I am a statisfied switcher and the forum really helped on my buying my first mac!
One thing I did notice was someone mentioned that the screws on the top face of their Powerbook were philips-type (the screws above the speakers, perhaps on the bottom corners of the LCD housing also?). They were a little unhappy with those. Well, I'd be unhappy too, especially as my PowerBook has torx screws.
Don't forget, with the original PBG4's, there was a beautiful automatic shutoff feature. It was so easy it couldn't be missed! You just had to pick it up!
No wonder Apple was telling everyone they should shut down their laptop before they moved it.
As a matter of fact, my DVD drive had a problem, I had to get my battery replaced due to the auto-shutoff problem listed above, and my HD went during the keynote at MWNY 2001!
So I'm psyched that my new PB hasn't exhibited any of the issues described by other less-than-satisfied owners.
Ok I kinda don't have a latch problem anymore. If I close it with a small amount of force (not hard at all, just not babying it) it seems to work fine. The only other problem I have is that when I close it the screen doesn't lay flush with the base of the PowerBook. I know there is a supposed to be a gap but it is an uneven gap. Is this how everyone's powerbook is or should I return it because of it?
Also on an unrelated note, not hardware but don't really want to start a new thread, when I try to launch some apps...I guess it has only really happened with StarryNight and DVDBackup so far, but they don't launch. The icons in the dock start to spread out like it is opening but then instantly go back and nothing happens. What can I do about this?
The first thing I did when I got my PowerBook was to reinstall all of the software. I did this because when I got my last PowerBook, it would randomly crash after a couple hours of use. Once I reinstalled the OS, these random crashes went away.
Not the best answer I know, and it reminds me of the 6-month Windows reinstall, but it's the only answer I have for you at the moment. At least you don't have to reinstall because you bone-headedly wiped you /usr/bin directory through promiscuous use of the "rm -rf *" command !
Got my 1.25 today. Love it...and NO DEAD PIXELS. I have one or two of the VERY slight white anomalies, but I barely notice them, if they even exist (it could just be my paranoia) Anyway, great product Apple...two thumbs way up.
I've been thinking about getting the new Al 15", but I've been concerned about two things. Any helpful input would be appreciated.
First, I'm concerned with the issues mentioned here including latch, battery life, etc.
Someone said they were getting battery life of around two hours. Is this a common problem? What kind of battery life are others getting?
Regarding the latch, today I went to the Apple Store in Columbus at the Easton Shopping Mall and the 15" powerbook display model would not latch. I asked the sales rep about this and he said this is the only 15" unit they have on display and that he hadn't heard about this being a common issue with the 15". I tried several times to close the lid and regardless how I tried, it would not close.
OT: I'm continually disappointed by the lack of passion, confidence and product knowlege of most of the sales reps at the Apple Stores. For what it's worth, I've also met some really good sales reps at the stores as well.
Secondly, I'm concerned with performance of Virtual PC with Windows 98.
I had a friend who purchased a 12" 867 Al powerbook about a month ago. He has 256 MB Ram and ran VPC w/win 98. I was really disappointed with the performance. I have another friend who purchased a 1 Mhz eMac with 640 MB Ram and ran VPC - again with Win 98. Both machines were set to run VPC with 128 MB ram assigned to windows 98. The eMac literally blew the doors off the 12" powerbook in terms of running VPC. I can't believe the additional RAM would make that big a difference in performance. Is the architecture between the two machines that different? I think they both have a 133 Mhz system bus. One thing I forgot to mention, both machines were running VPC version 5, but the eMac was running System 9 and the powerbook was running 10.2.8.
Anyway, back to my concern: I definitely need a new powerbook, but I'd like to be sure it runs VPC at least as fast as my friend's eMac. Does anyone have ideas on this? Also, VPC is not loaded on any of the machines at the Apple Store anymore. At least not the powerbooks, ibooks, emacs or imacs. The sales rep says they're not allowed to install it. So I couldn't try it out on their demo machine. Hmmm.....Maybe, I could go back to the store with my own copy of VPC and try it on the Powerbook. Wonder if they'd let me do that?
Any thoughts on these issues would be helpful. Regardless, I may wait a few weeks while they work out the bugs on the assembly line.\
I've been thinking about getting the new Al 15", but I've been concerned about two things. Any helpful input would be appreciated.
I personally wouldn't buy a Rev. A product. That would especially apply to the portable lineup. Portables are expensive to fix, and while Apple will take care of you for the first year ... it's really the years after warrantee that count - unless you can afford the Applecare.
Obviously, these are sexy machines, and most lust worthy. However if you are concerned about the above issues - just wait and save your money.
I personally wouldn't buy a Rev. A product. That would especially apply to the portable lineup. Portables are expensive to fix, and while Apple will take care of you for the first year ... it's really the years after warrantee that count - unless you can afford the Applecare.
Obviously, these are sexy machines, and most lust worthy. However if you are concerned about the above issues - just wait and save your money.
Aren't they really Rev. B? I really don't think that the latch and white spots are BIG problems. I think it was an early batch that was having some problems. I think just the early adopters and people who got them right away got some bad ones. Mine is great besides the latch. But it isn't really a problem, it closes fine as long as I don't close it with a babies touch.
OS X alone needs about 256MB RAM to run without paging. Throw VPC on top of that and you're talking pageout to virtual memory city.
So, to keep things short, it's the RAM that makes all the difference. You'd want at the very MINIMUM 512MB RAM to run VPC and probably 768 or more. RAM is quite cheap these days.
I've been thinking about getting the new Al 15", but I've been concerned about two things. Any helpful input would be appreciated.
Any thoughts on these issues would be helpful. Regardless, I may wait a few weeks while they work out the bugs on the assembly line.\
My business partner and I have a new AL 17 inch and new AL 15 inch 1.25. Both machines are silky smooth hardware wise.
No latch problem.
No dead pixels.
No white spots.
Battery can run about 3.5 hours on the 17 and 3 on the 15 with wifi and bluetooth off.
On the software side, however, we have a problem that none of you guys would need to worry about and that is with MS Office Chinese version. MS did not complete the localization of the Office. They only converted Word to Chinese enabled but for years have not worked on getting PP and Excel to Chinese enabled. Local rumours have it that Dell, HP etc have pressured MS not to do it as they won't be able to sell any machines if people were able to use the Macs in Chinese!
I ordered his and hers 15" SD AlBooks the evening of Paris Expo and we got to play with them on Monday the 22nd. We love them. Bright, quick, sturdy; everything I expected when I ordered from MacConnection.
Both are upgraded to 1 GB of memory with two 512 modules. Airport was instantly connected via Rendezvous search to a Belkin Router which is downstairs. Star Wars Episode II DVD rocks. The backlit keyboard is elegant. I have Altec Lansing speakers connected and playing my iTunes music.
I installed VPC 6.1 running Windows 98. I able able to run a Windows stock charts program called TC2000. It's not going to win many races, but the scans and the chart flipping draws are usable(if the CDROM is spun up and the whole program is in memory.) I set the windows PC memory to 512 (possible with 1024 Mbs). iTunes also invariably is running in the background!
My wife's experience mirrors my own. She is absolutely ecstatic with her purchase.
I don't mind being a later purchaser (another month or so). I don't think that this is "how it's going to be". I think these things will be addressed and the line with smooth into a really sharp, reliable thing. I believe it's just more an issue of "an early batch has some gremlins" than anything else.
By the time I get mine (Halloween, give or take), I'd expect these types of stories to have died down. I'm sure Apple is aware and are going to correct them. They have in the past, right?
Well in a month or so I want to see someone who got a new AlBook and see if it looks likes mine. If theirs doesn't have a gap then I an returning mine.
Can someone else check their backlit keyboard to see if your top row of F-keys and arrow keys light up as well as the other keys, as mine do not.
And although I guess I knew that it would be white I would have loved the blue backlit keyboard that was on the 17"
On the software side, however, we have a problem that none of you guys would need to worry about and that is with MS Office Chinese version. MS did not complete the localization of the Office. They only converted Word to Chinese enabled but for years have not worked on getting PP and Excel to Chinese enabled. Local rumours have it that Dell, HP etc have pressured MS not to do it as they won't be able to sell any machines if people were able to use the Macs in Chinese!
All I can say is when is Apple going to update AppleWorks along the lines of keynote. I want to never buy another MS product again!!!
Well in a month or so I want to see someone who got a new AlBook and see if it looks likes mine. If theirs doesn't have a gap then I an returning mine.
Can someone else check their backlit keyboard to see if your top row of F-keys and arrow keys light up as well as the other keys, as mine do not.
And although I guess I knew that it would be white I would have loved the blue backlit keyboard that was on the 17"
ast3r3x,
My F-key row doesn't light up as well as the rest of the keys, if that's any consolation to you. Also, I have a gap between the screen and the body of my PB, but if that takes care of the keyboard marks on the screen, I'm all for it.
If you think about it, that's probably the added .1 inch. Also, the new 15" PBs I've seen on display at both Westfarms and Chestnut Hill had this gap. I think it may have to do with the "springiness" of the screen. Notice when you unlatch the screen, it springs up a bit, making it easy to open it? I think the gap is related to that.
Got my PB15 1.25 SD on Thursday, 9/25. It's perfect! No problems, no blemishes, no dead pixels. Just simply the way it should be. Screen looks great, even backlight illumination, just wonderful. Didn't notice much heat right off. I sure did when I pushed it. Set ES processor to Highest, plug in to recharge, run X-Plane 7.10 and watch the temp shoot up to 145°. I'm using Temperature Monitor for the reading and you can get it here.
I love so many things about this new PB. The keys feel really nice but take just a bit of getting used to as with any new KB. The speaker system is quite good for a PB and the 3-way speakers sound much better than I expected. The trackpad and mouse button feel just right. The hinge glides very smoothly back and forth.
AirPort performance seems excellent. Of course, APX has a shorter range than standard AP but as range increases, speed decreases to standard anyway so it works as expected.
The screws above the speakers are hex while below the hinge on the bottom are philips. I ordered this PB with the faster 5400 rpm drive (Hitachi) and one 512MB DIMM so I can add another 3rd party 512 for $107 from 18004MEMORY. I haven't installed it yet because I don't have a small enough philips.
BTW, the fan only kicks in at temps above 140°. I found a way to get the temp lower while charging and running a demanding app. Instead of Processor Perf set to Automatic, setting to Reduced lowers the temp quite a bit while maintaining decent performance.
About the best I can do when it comes to battery life is about 2.5 hrs. I wish it were a bit better but it's OK.
When I read through most of these posts, battery life seems far less than what Apple posts (actually most of the time seemingly just about 60-65%). Has anyone, I mean anyone, even got more than 4 hours out his / hers PB battery?
Not that I really need 4.5 hours, but it seems seriously misleading to state you can get double battery life with an Apple PB while actually you end up having about as much as a PC laptop, not?
seems like I have the loose latch problem. I ordered my 15" Albook with 5400rpm HD from the AppleStore online. The problem is very intermittant - not staying shut if I close it with my left hand , or if it stays shut and you pick it up it usually springs open again. It generally feels really delicate.
Can I return it to the Apple store here in Manhattan and have it swapped out on the spot, or do I have to ship it?
Comments
When I went back to store to put in the new memory, a new PB 15 was sitting on the counter, I guess when Apple shipped the PB it was missing the screw by the right speaker. This PB came from the same shipment as mine came with. HMMMMM conspiracy theory
The only other complaint was that in a month I could have saved another $100 bucks by having Panther installed or at least a coupon the get for free. When they release hardware so close to a update, it should be automatic. But I am a statisfied switcher and the forum really helped on my buying my first mac!
Anyone else have philips screws there?
No wonder Apple was telling everyone they should shut down their laptop before they moved it.
As a matter of fact, my DVD drive had a problem, I had to get my battery replaced due to the auto-shutoff problem listed above, and my HD went during the keynote at MWNY 2001!
So I'm psyched that my new PB hasn't exhibited any of the issues described by other less-than-satisfied owners.
Also on an unrelated note, not hardware but don't really want to start a new thread, when I try to launch some apps...I guess it has only really happened with StarryNight and DVDBackup so far, but they don't launch. The icons in the dock start to spread out like it is opening but then instantly go back and nothing happens. What can I do about this?
The first thing I did when I got my PowerBook was to reinstall all of the software. I did this because when I got my last PowerBook, it would randomly crash after a couple hours of use. Once I reinstalled the OS, these random crashes went away.
Not the best answer I know, and it reminds me of the 6-month Windows reinstall, but it's the only answer I have for you at the moment. At least you don't have to reinstall because you bone-headedly wiped you /usr/bin directory through promiscuous use of the "rm -rf *" command
First, I'm concerned with the issues mentioned here including latch, battery life, etc.
Someone said they were getting battery life of around two hours. Is this a common problem? What kind of battery life are others getting?
Regarding the latch, today I went to the Apple Store in Columbus at the Easton Shopping Mall and the 15" powerbook display model would not latch. I asked the sales rep about this and he said this is the only 15" unit they have on display and that he hadn't heard about this being a common issue with the 15". I tried several times to close the lid and regardless how I tried, it would not close.
OT: I'm continually disappointed by the lack of passion, confidence and product knowlege of most of the sales reps at the Apple Stores. For what it's worth, I've also met some really good sales reps at the stores as well.
Secondly, I'm concerned with performance of Virtual PC with Windows 98.
I had a friend who purchased a 12" 867 Al powerbook about a month ago. He has 256 MB Ram and ran VPC w/win 98. I was really disappointed with the performance. I have another friend who purchased a 1 Mhz eMac with 640 MB Ram and ran VPC - again with Win 98. Both machines were set to run VPC with 128 MB ram assigned to windows 98. The eMac literally blew the doors off the 12" powerbook in terms of running VPC. I can't believe the additional RAM would make that big a difference in performance. Is the architecture between the two machines that different? I think they both have a 133 Mhz system bus. One thing I forgot to mention, both machines were running VPC version 5, but the eMac was running System 9 and the powerbook was running 10.2.8.
Anyway, back to my concern: I definitely need a new powerbook, but I'd like to be sure it runs VPC at least as fast as my friend's eMac. Does anyone have ideas on this? Also, VPC is not loaded on any of the machines at the Apple Store anymore. At least not the powerbooks, ibooks, emacs or imacs. The sales rep says they're not allowed to install it. So I couldn't try it out on their demo machine. Hmmm.....Maybe, I could go back to the store with my own copy of VPC and try it on the Powerbook. Wonder if they'd let me do that?
Any thoughts on these issues would be helpful. Regardless, I may wait a few weeks while they work out the bugs on the assembly line.
Originally posted by MacRealtor
I've been thinking about getting the new Al 15", but I've been concerned about two things. Any helpful input would be appreciated.
I personally wouldn't buy a Rev. A product. That would especially apply to the portable lineup. Portables are expensive to fix, and while Apple will take care of you for the first year ... it's really the years after warrantee that count - unless you can afford the Applecare.
Obviously, these are sexy machines, and most lust worthy. However if you are concerned about the above issues - just wait and save your money.
Originally posted by the cool gut
I personally wouldn't buy a Rev. A product. That would especially apply to the portable lineup. Portables are expensive to fix, and while Apple will take care of you for the first year ... it's really the years after warrantee that count - unless you can afford the Applecare.
Obviously, these are sexy machines, and most lust worthy. However if you are concerned about the above issues - just wait and save your money.
Aren't they really Rev. B? I really don't think that the latch and white spots are BIG problems. I think it was an early batch that was having some problems. I think just the early adopters and people who got them right away got some bad ones. Mine is great besides the latch. But it isn't really a problem, it closes fine as long as I don't close it with a babies touch.
OS X alone needs about 256MB RAM to run without paging. Throw VPC on top of that and you're talking pageout to virtual memory city.
So, to keep things short, it's the RAM that makes all the difference. You'd want at the very MINIMUM 512MB RAM to run VPC and probably 768 or more. RAM is quite cheap these days.
Originally posted by MacRealtor
I've been thinking about getting the new Al 15", but I've been concerned about two things. Any helpful input would be appreciated.
Any thoughts on these issues would be helpful. Regardless, I may wait a few weeks while they work out the bugs on the assembly line.
My business partner and I have a new AL 17 inch and new AL 15 inch 1.25. Both machines are silky smooth hardware wise.
No latch problem.
No dead pixels.
No white spots.
Battery can run about 3.5 hours on the 17 and 3 on the 15 with wifi and bluetooth off.
On the software side, however, we have a problem that none of you guys would need to worry about and that is with MS Office Chinese version. MS did not complete the localization of the Office. They only converted Word to Chinese enabled but for years have not worked on getting PP and Excel to Chinese enabled. Local rumours have it that Dell, HP etc have pressured MS not to do it as they won't be able to sell any machines if people were able to use the Macs in Chinese!
I ordered his and hers 15" SD AlBooks the evening of Paris Expo and we got to play with them on Monday the 22nd. We love them. Bright, quick, sturdy; everything I expected when I ordered from MacConnection.
Both are upgraded to 1 GB of memory with two 512 modules. Airport was instantly connected via Rendezvous search to a Belkin Router which is downstairs. Star Wars Episode II DVD rocks. The backlit keyboard is elegant. I have Altec Lansing speakers connected and playing my iTunes music.
I installed VPC 6.1 running Windows 98. I able able to run a Windows stock charts program called TC2000. It's not going to win many races, but the scans and the chart flipping draws are usable(if the CDROM is spun up and the whole program is in memory.) I set the windows PC memory to 512 (possible with 1024 Mbs). iTunes also invariably is running in the background!
My wife's experience mirrors my own. She is absolutely ecstatic with her purchase.
Hope this helps!
Tom
By the time I get mine (Halloween, give or take), I'd expect these types of stories to have died down. I'm sure Apple is aware and are going to correct them. They have in the past, right?
Can someone else check their backlit keyboard to see if your top row of F-keys and arrow keys light up as well as the other keys, as mine do not.
And although I guess I knew that it would be white I would have loved the blue backlit keyboard that was on the 17"
Originally posted by BJer
On the software side, however, we have a problem that none of you guys would need to worry about and that is with MS Office Chinese version. MS did not complete the localization of the Office. They only converted Word to Chinese enabled but for years have not worked on getting PP and Excel to Chinese enabled. Local rumours have it that Dell, HP etc have pressured MS not to do it as they won't be able to sell any machines if people were able to use the Macs in Chinese!
All I can say is when is Apple going to update AppleWorks along the lines of keynote. I want to never buy another MS product again!!!
Originally posted by ast3r3x
Well in a month or so I want to see someone who got a new AlBook and see if it looks likes mine. If theirs doesn't have a gap then I an returning mine.
Can someone else check their backlit keyboard to see if your top row of F-keys and arrow keys light up as well as the other keys, as mine do not.
And although I guess I knew that it would be white I would have loved the blue backlit keyboard that was on the 17"
ast3r3x,
My F-key row doesn't light up as well as the rest of the keys, if that's any consolation to you. Also, I have a gap between the screen and the body of my PB, but if that takes care of the keyboard marks on the screen, I'm all for it.
If you think about it, that's probably the added .1 inch. Also, the new 15" PBs I've seen on display at both Westfarms and Chestnut Hill had this gap. I think it may have to do with the "springiness" of the screen. Notice when you unlatch the screen, it springs up a bit, making it easy to open it? I think the gap is related to that.
I love so many things about this new PB. The keys feel really nice but take just a bit of getting used to as with any new KB. The speaker system is quite good for a PB and the 3-way speakers sound much better than I expected. The trackpad and mouse button feel just right. The hinge glides very smoothly back and forth.
AirPort performance seems excellent. Of course, APX has a shorter range than standard AP but as range increases, speed decreases to standard anyway so it works as expected.
The screws above the speakers are hex while below the hinge on the bottom are philips. I ordered this PB with the faster 5400 rpm drive (Hitachi) and one 512MB DIMM so I can add another 3rd party 512 for $107 from 18004MEMORY. I haven't installed it yet because I don't have a small enough philips.
BTW, the fan only kicks in at temps above 140°. I found a way to get the temp lower while charging and running a demanding app. Instead of Processor Perf set to Automatic, setting to Reduced lowers the temp quite a bit while maintaining decent performance.
About the best I can do when it comes to battery life is about 2.5 hrs. I wish it were a bit better but it's OK.
Not that I really need 4.5 hours, but it seems seriously misleading to state you can get double battery life with an Apple PB while actually you end up having about as much as a PC laptop, not?
Sure like to know what you guys think of this...
Can I return it to the Apple store here in Manhattan and have it swapped out on the spot, or do I have to ship it?