This thread seems to think thickness and weight are the primary considerations in a sub-note. I think screen size (and thus overall size) is critical.
An ultra-thin 13.3 inch notebook is OK, but I agree it ain't sub. Sub would put it at a smaller form factor than the MacBook, which is considered a notebook.
Sub is less than 12 inches. The smaller the better!
Lots of guests are looking at this thread; shows a lot of interest in a sub-notebook. Hello, Guests! (167 of you right now)
I'd agree with that. Otherwise the definition of sub-notebook based on thickness is just silly. Where does it stop...?
Is a 3mm thick laptop that has a 30" screen an ultra-compact-nano-sub-notebook ?
If this comes in at 2.5lbs and .5 inches thick, that is pretty portable. With a 13 inch widescreen, that is really a 12inch normal screen in terms of viable space. Any smaller is just not usable to most users. I have a 12inch ibook, a 12inch widescreen ultraportable, a 10 inch ultraportable from another maker.
Most users need a minimum of 12inch normal or 13inch widescreen.
With all due respect though, it's not for 'most users'. Ultraportables just aren't for 'most users'. If 'Most users' need a 13" screen then there's a MacBook already for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCMacFan
Please also note that SSD drive, plus no optical drive will mean much more battery life, especially depending on processor configuration. So you'd have a paperthin computer that might last 6 hours... Alternatively, they can adopt smaller battery and save more weight.
Finally, less power consumption will allow a smaller power converter and not a brick...
So perhaps they can called it the MacBook Econoline or MacBook 'Al Gore Edition'.
Much of the work being done on the company's multi-touch technology, which made its debut in June on the iPhone, is believed to draw from resources and engineers garnered through the quiet 2005 acquisition of Fingerworks.
Those are the most Gawd Awful finger combinations imaginable. If that represents the future, then let it pass. Surely they will work off of one and two finger gestures...
a subnotebook with a docking station that includes an optical drive and a HDD would be excellent.
great use of time machine to backup the SSD onto HDD, and save your movies to.
i don't know the exact definition of subnotebook, but the major tradeoff is and will always be to create a smallest, lightest computer possible, while giving it the largest screen possible.
i'm GUESSING it comes in at 13" / .66" thick, 2.5 lbs, SSD, and of course enough vRAM to run a 30" screen [HDMI OUT?]. it will have one usb, one FW, bluetooth, wifi, ethernet [wish not], headphone jack.
it will include one of three external optical/HDD units with additional USB/FW ports, depending on how much you wanna spend. [120 gb, superdrive / 250 gb, hd dvd / 500 gb, hd dvd+blu ray]
If this comes in at 2.5lbs and .5 inches thick, that is pretty portable. With a 13 inch widescreen, that is really a 12inch normal screen in terms of viable space. Any smaller is just not usable to most users. I have a 12inch ibook, a 12inch widescreen ultraportable, a 10 inch ultraportable from another maker.
Most users need a minimum of 12inch normal or 13inch widescreen.
Please also note that SSD drive, plus no optical drive will mean much more battery life, especially depending on processor configuration. So you'd have a paperthin computer that might last 6 hours... Alternatively, they can adopt smaller battery and save more weight.
Finally, less power consumption will allow a smaller power converter and not a brick...
If this is a notebook with a physical keyboard, and clamshell design, I don't think .5" is possible yet. .75" is possible, if no optical drive is used.
You can choose any maker you like, but the Apple one would have an extra enticement (and price tag).
They may make it so you only have to connect to your home computer once by cable (FW) and then can operate completely by WiFi, Blue Tooth.
So, if you do not have a main computer, you need a drive. If you have a computer (a Mac), you can always boot the computer in target mode.
Last year, Steve suggested in pretty direct language that the days of the DVD are numbered, which would lead me to think that something is up. They may go for a dongle for OS installation.
You missed the point. Apple gives you everything out of the box to start working. Why would Apple charge more later on or afterwards. Everyone would order the external drive when going to store.apple.com. It makes more sense to bundle it. Having a necessity for a computer without an optional external drive doesn't make business sense. Find me a car dealership that sells you a car without tires. "No tires included on this bad boy. We'll put some of our tires on for $400 more, or you can drive it to someone else and pay less." Tell me why would Apple force consumers to buy something that should be included.
You missed the point. Apple gives you everything out of the box to start working. Why would Apple charge more later on or afterwards. Everyone would order the external drive when going to store.apple.com. It makes more sense to bundle it. Having a necessity for a computer without an optional external drive doesn't make business sense. Find me a car dealership that sells you a car without tires. "No tires included on this bad boy. We'll put some of our tires on for $400 more, or you can drive it to someone else and pay less." Tell me why would Apple force consumers to buy something that should be included.
If it's included, you're buying it. I'd rather have the option to NOT buy it, and I'm not sure why someone wouldn't want that option.
I'm just hoping for something that will satisfy most users. That's what it's all about, right? What's the point of making a notebook for 5% of users?
I'm hoping for a slimmer MacBook which is so slim that can be considered a sub. \
LED screen, of course... Lit MacBook's keyboard? (as in not MBP's)
External optical drive is fine with me as log as it comes bundled in. But Apple's always had it's own phyosophies that don't make sense. It's been a while since the last one and I'm not too sure they'll resist of making another one on the 15th! \ Fingers crossed!
Rather than wonder if the optical drive will or will not be included with the ultra-portable, I am wondering if the optical drive will be sold as a stand-alone product that can connect to the AppleTV.
Personally, I like the fact that the optical drive is standard on MBPs. I understand there's a smaller market for sub-notes, but I think Apple would have been better off investing the engineering effort into an elegant dock for their Pro laptop line.
Not being able to seamlessly dock my MacBook Pro with a monitor, keyboard, mouse and Time Machine-enabled backup drive will be the worst part of the Mac laptop experience in 2008.
You know, I really would like an Apple laptop with a proper docking station. I use my machine at home and at work and being able to dock it at work would be truly useful. The dock could house the optical drive and perhaps even another hard disk (or not). This rumored ultra portable seems like an ideal candidate.
edit: Frank777 snuck in ahead of me and touted an "elegant dock" as an appealing feature. I must say I agree with him 100%.
Why don't they just put a bootable SD slot in it and give everyone OS X on some kind of Secure Digital ROM card? Anyone make ROMs in that size these days, ~4GB? I wonder what the cost would be like. DVDs are obviously quite cheap.
The "sub notebook" will probably be roughly 10% thinner than the Macbook, almost 10% lighter and include an external drive (prohibitably priced) and of course this will come with with the well versed proprietory adapter... wait and see.
This is the company which expects UK customers to shell out nearly £300 for a phone and pay out £360 more a year to use it.
The "sub notebook" will probably be roughly 10% thinner than the Macbook, almost 10% lighter and include an external drive (prohibitably priced) and of course this will come with with the well versed proprietory adapter... wait and see.
This is the company which expects UK customers to shell out nearly £300 for a phone and pay out £360 more a year to use it.
What reason would there possibly be (other than unbridled pessimism) for Apple to use something other than USB or Firewire for the drive connection? If they do, then what's to keep people from just buying drives that *do* use USB or Firewire? In a pessimistic world I guess you'll suggest that they don't include either of those interfaces on the machine.
What reason would there possibly be (other than unbridled pessimism) for Apple to use something other than USB or Firewire for the drive connection? If they do, then what's to keep people from just buying drives that *do* use USB or Firewire? In a pessimistic world I guess you'll suggest that they don't include either of those interfaces on the machine.
No reason. He's rehashing the 90s. The iPhone to support his hypothesis is a Red Herring. He'd have some basis for complaining if Apple were both the phone maker and telephone carrier.
In all honesty, I do not use the optical drive in my macbook on a daily, or even weekly basis. I'd be happy with some elegant form of dock with a built-in optical drive, or a small bus powered portable one (that I could take along, or not, if I wanted).
What would be really cool is, if this external drive could be connected to @TV (through its USB port) for CD/DVD playback.... that alone would make me want to reconsider @TV......
Quote:
Originally Posted by troberts
Rather than wonder if the optical drive will or will not be included with the ultra-portable, I am wondering if the optical drive will be sold as a stand-alone product that can connect to the AppleTV.
This seems a much nicer way of allowing DVD playback on the AppleTV. I wonder if Apple would consider this, and how much a simple DVD drive would cost?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nofear1az
Anyway, I hope the external drive doesn't require a proprietary adapter and uses Firewire/USB connection so you can use it along with other computers.
As above, that'd be interesting in a few ways. I hope they do this, but they may go an entirely different route with an external drive.
ie: The DVD drive could also act as a hub for all the cables the ultra portable requires.
Just plug the ultraportable into the DVD drive for power, a USB hub (external hard disks, or keyboard, mouse), gigabit ethernet, and 2nd screen.
Still... I'd prefer a separate external hub for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pk22901
Apple will ship a USB optical drive which will connect to it's Airport Extreme and thus, support full playback of DVD and CD media on any 'n' wifi'd device: MacBooks, iPhone, touch, or even Windows!
Interesting idea. I have no idea if it's plausible. I'd like to share a DVD between devices just like I share movies though....
I just can't believe that there is a market for optical-less (sub-) notebooks.
I just won't believe. Apple proves me wrong anyway, I guess.
One question springs into my mind immediately . How the heck they gonna distribute
their very own software? On USB sticks? Online only? Please enlighten me.
Carrying a second device (ext. optical) around you is plain silly. IMHO.
(Maybe this is just me)
It is just you. Well, you and a few others.
Battery power, weight, it's all affected by the optical drive. This won't be people's main computer, for the most part. People travel a lot. They can have the external drive at their hotel or wherever they're staying. Usually people are at home when they need to install something. It's not that hard to imagine. I'm all for it.
Comments
They were pretty thick and heavy.
This thread seems to think thickness and weight are the primary considerations in a sub-note. I think screen size (and thus overall size) is critical.
An ultra-thin 13.3 inch notebook is OK, but I agree it ain't sub. Sub would put it at a smaller form factor than the MacBook, which is considered a notebook.
Sub is less than 12 inches. The smaller the better!
Lots of guests are looking at this thread; shows a lot of interest in a sub-notebook. Hello, Guests! (167 of you right now)
I'd agree with that. Otherwise the definition of sub-notebook based on thickness is just silly. Where does it stop...?
Is a 3mm thick laptop that has a 30" screen an ultra-compact-nano-sub-notebook ?
If this comes in at 2.5lbs and .5 inches thick, that is pretty portable. With a 13 inch widescreen, that is really a 12inch normal screen in terms of viable space. Any smaller is just not usable to most users. I have a 12inch ibook, a 12inch widescreen ultraportable, a 10 inch ultraportable from another maker.
Most users need a minimum of 12inch normal or 13inch widescreen.
With all due respect though, it's not for 'most users'. Ultraportables just aren't for 'most users'. If 'Most users' need a 13" screen then there's a MacBook already for them.
Please also note that SSD drive, plus no optical drive will mean much more battery life, especially depending on processor configuration. So you'd have a paperthin computer that might last 6 hours... Alternatively, they can adopt smaller battery and save more weight.
Finally, less power consumption will allow a smaller power converter and not a brick...
So perhaps they can called it the MacBook Econoline or MacBook 'Al Gore Edition'.
Much of the work being done on the company's multi-touch technology, which made its debut in June on the iPhone, is believed to draw from resources and engineers garnered through the quiet 2005 acquisition of Fingerworks.
Those are the most Gawd Awful finger combinations imaginable. If that represents the future, then let it pass. Surely they will work off of one and two finger gestures...
great use of time machine to backup the SSD onto HDD, and save your movies to.
i don't know the exact definition of subnotebook, but the major tradeoff is and will always be to create a smallest, lightest computer possible, while giving it the largest screen possible.
i'm GUESSING it comes in at 13" / .66" thick, 2.5 lbs, SSD, and of course enough vRAM to run a 30" screen [HDMI OUT?]. it will have one usb, one FW, bluetooth, wifi, ethernet [wish not], headphone jack.
it will include one of three external optical/HDD units with additional USB/FW ports, depending on how much you wanna spend. [120 gb, superdrive / 250 gb, hd dvd / 500 gb, hd dvd+blu ray]
ok, maybe not, but it would be nice.
If this comes in at 2.5lbs and .5 inches thick, that is pretty portable. With a 13 inch widescreen, that is really a 12inch normal screen in terms of viable space. Any smaller is just not usable to most users. I have a 12inch ibook, a 12inch widescreen ultraportable, a 10 inch ultraportable from another maker.
Most users need a minimum of 12inch normal or 13inch widescreen.
Please also note that SSD drive, plus no optical drive will mean much more battery life, especially depending on processor configuration. So you'd have a paperthin computer that might last 6 hours... Alternatively, they can adopt smaller battery and save more weight.
Finally, less power consumption will allow a smaller power converter and not a brick...
If this is a notebook with a physical keyboard, and clamshell design, I don't think .5" is possible yet. .75" is possible, if no optical drive is used.
You can choose any maker you like, but the Apple one would have an extra enticement (and price tag).
They may make it so you only have to connect to your home computer once by cable (FW) and then can operate completely by WiFi, Blue Tooth.
So, if you do not have a main computer, you need a drive. If you have a computer (a Mac), you can always boot the computer in target mode.
Last year, Steve suggested in pretty direct language that the days of the DVD are numbered, which would lead me to think that something is up. They may go for a dongle for OS installation.
You missed the point. Apple gives you everything out of the box to start working. Why would Apple charge more later on or afterwards. Everyone would order the external drive when going to store.apple.com. It makes more sense to bundle it. Having a necessity for a computer without an optional external drive doesn't make business sense. Find me a car dealership that sells you a car without tires. "No tires included on this bad boy. We'll put some of our tires on for $400 more, or you can drive it to someone else and pay less." Tell me why would Apple force consumers to buy something that should be included.
You missed the point. Apple gives you everything out of the box to start working. Why would Apple charge more later on or afterwards. Everyone would order the external drive when going to store.apple.com. It makes more sense to bundle it. Having a necessity for a computer without an optional external drive doesn't make business sense. Find me a car dealership that sells you a car without tires. "No tires included on this bad boy. We'll put some of our tires on for $400 more, or you can drive it to someone else and pay less." Tell me why would Apple force consumers to buy something that should be included.
If it's included, you're buying it. I'd rather have the option to NOT buy it, and I'm not sure why someone wouldn't want that option.
I'm hoping for a slimmer MacBook which is so slim that can be considered a sub.
LED screen, of course... Lit MacBook's keyboard? (as in not MBP's)
External optical drive is fine with me as log as it comes bundled in. But Apple's always had it's own phyosophies that don't make sense. It's been a while since the last one and I'm not too sure they'll resist of making another one on the 15th!
Not being able to seamlessly dock my MacBook Pro with a monitor, keyboard, mouse and Time Machine-enabled backup drive will be the worst part of the Mac laptop experience in 2008.
edit: Frank777 snuck in ahead of me and touted an "elegant dock" as an appealing feature. I must say I agree with him 100%.
This is the company which expects UK customers to shell out nearly £300 for a phone and pay out £360 more a year to use it.
The "sub notebook" will probably be roughly 10% thinner than the Macbook, almost 10% lighter and include an external drive (prohibitably priced) and of course this will come with with the well versed proprietory adapter... wait and see.
This is the company which expects UK customers to shell out nearly £300 for a phone and pay out £360 more a year to use it.
What reason would there possibly be (other than unbridled pessimism) for Apple to use something other than USB or Firewire for the drive connection? If they do, then what's to keep people from just buying drives that *do* use USB or Firewire? In a pessimistic world I guess you'll suggest that they don't include either of those interfaces on the machine.
If it's included, you're buying it. I'd rather have the option to NOT buy it, and I'm not sure why someone wouldn't want that option.
So when you need to reinstall your operating system, how do you plan to do this?
I just won't believe. Apple proves me wrong anyway, I guess.
One question springs into my mind immediately . How the heck they gonna distribute
their very own software? On USB sticks? Online only? Please enlighten me.
Carrying a second device (ext. optical) around you is plain silly. IMHO.
(Maybe this is just me)
What reason would there possibly be (other than unbridled pessimism) for Apple to use something other than USB or Firewire for the drive connection? If they do, then what's to keep people from just buying drives that *do* use USB or Firewire? In a pessimistic world I guess you'll suggest that they don't include either of those interfaces on the machine.
No reason. He's rehashing the 90s. The iPhone to support his hypothesis is a Red Herring. He'd have some basis for complaining if Apple were both the phone maker and telephone carrier.
I just can't believe ...
In all honesty, I do not use the optical drive in my macbook on a daily, or even weekly basis. I'd be happy with some elegant form of dock with a built-in optical drive, or a small bus powered portable one (that I could take along, or not, if I wanted).
What would be really cool is, if this external drive could be connected to @TV (through its USB port) for CD/DVD playback.... that alone would make me want to reconsider @TV......
Rather than wonder if the optical drive will or will not be included with the ultra-portable, I am wondering if the optical drive will be sold as a stand-alone product that can connect to the AppleTV.
This seems a much nicer way of allowing DVD playback on the AppleTV. I wonder if Apple would consider this, and how much a simple DVD drive would cost?
Anyway, I hope the external drive doesn't require a proprietary adapter and uses Firewire/USB connection so you can use it along with other computers.
As above, that'd be interesting in a few ways. I hope they do this, but they may go an entirely different route with an external drive.
ie: The DVD drive could also act as a hub for all the cables the ultra portable requires.
Just plug the ultraportable into the DVD drive for power, a USB hub (external hard disks, or keyboard, mouse), gigabit ethernet, and 2nd screen.
Still... I'd prefer a separate external hub for that.
Apple will ship a USB optical drive which will connect to it's Airport Extreme and thus, support full playback of DVD and CD media on any 'n' wifi'd device: MacBooks, iPhone, touch, or even Windows!
Interesting idea. I have no idea if it's plausible. I'd like to share a DVD between devices just like I share movies though....
I just can't believe that there is a market for optical-less (sub-) notebooks.
I just won't believe. Apple proves me wrong anyway, I guess.
One question springs into my mind immediately . How the heck they gonna distribute
their very own software? On USB sticks? Online only? Please enlighten me.
Carrying a second device (ext. optical) around you is plain silly. IMHO.
(Maybe this is just me)
It is just you. Well, you and a few others.
Battery power, weight, it's all affected by the optical drive. This won't be people's main computer, for the most part. People travel a lot. They can have the external drive at their hotel or wherever they're staying. Usually people are at home when they need to install something. It's not that hard to imagine. I'm all for it.