Inside of a 17" Powerbook

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Take a Inside look (scroll down): http://suyama.co.jp/index.html

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    cyclecycle Posts: 187member
    is the graphics card a removable part?



    can u change it for a better one?
  • Reply 2 of 13
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    No

    (too big to embed into the thread w/o ****ing up formatting...)







    now THAT is a custom Mo Bo if I've ever seen one... what ever happened to UMA?
  • Reply 3 of 13
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    Hey! Check out the dead space beneath the trackpad. It would be nice if there were provisions for adding a second internal hard drive in that spot. They could even make it a BTO option. Of course I'm sure that would help heat up the trackpad quite a bit under load but what the hell! 17" PowerBook RAID.



    edit - Hmmm, after looking a bit closer I think that's where the batery goes. My bad...
  • Reply 4 of 13
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Where do you put the ram??
  • Reply 5 of 13
    chrisgchrisg Posts: 239member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JC

    Where do you put the ram??



    I removable panel on the bottom of the unit.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    hmm... perhaps that rumored long and skinny 970 motherboard is for the 17 inch powerbook. afterall, it's the year of the portable...
  • Reply 7 of 13
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    I love apple



    Look, you can touch every component



    A geek paradise

  • Reply 8 of 13
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Hey, didn't MacWhispers say that the boards they'd heard about were longer and narrower than PowerMac boards?



  • Reply 9 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    Hey, didn't MacWhispers say that the boards they'd heard about were longer and narrower than PowerMac boards?







    This sounds plausible to me. Wasn't the TiBook thought to be too big when it was released? I've always had the suspicion that Apple introduced BIG laptop screens to mask their inability to shrink the internal components (as compared to Intel laptops). And, I seem to recall some discussion that moving the G4 to a laptop at that time required the extra space for cooling or something... and the wider TiBook screen accommodated that need. However, as it turned out -- the wide screen was perceived as benefit by customers.



    PoweBook users/wanters that I've personally talked to (including myself) seem to think that the 17" is perfect EXCEPT for its size. I suspect that Apple IS testing a new form factor that will be required to (initially) support a more powerful logicboard OR that will include a logicboard that can be shared with desktop models and thus save development costs.



    I am staring at a stack of $$$ right now that I've earmarked for a new PowerBook, and am sooo tempted to visit the Apple SoHo store and buy a 17 incher (if they have them in stock). But, the size is more of a drag than a plus for me. I think.. but also confused.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Target Practice

    This sounds plausible to me. Wasn't the TiBook thought to be too big when it was released? I've always had the suspicion that Apple introduced BIG laptop screens to mask their inability to shrink the internal components (as compared to Intel laptops). And, I seem to recall some discussion that moving the G4 to a laptop at that time required the extra space for cooling or something... and the wider TiBook screen accommodated that need. However, as it turned out -- the wide screen was perceived as benefit by customers.



    That seems a bit roundabout, especially since Apple has demonstrated a pretty convincing ability to shrink things at this point.



    The PowerBooks are pitched, in part, as DV workstations, so the closer they get to a 16:10 aspect (16:9 with room for a menu, a few widgets and the Dock) the more attractive they are for that purpose. Also, the widescreens allow for big desktops that still work on airplane tray tables, and they provide lots of room for palettes in applications like Photoshop.



    The only practical consideration would be that if you want to make a notebook less than an inch thick, with an optical drive and a hard drive and a decent battery and a fairly powerful computer all stuffed inside, then it has to expand in another dimension. The PC laptops are either deep or lacking an optical drive, or a good battery, or processing power.



    So I'd say there are no shortage of reasons for the wide aspect, beyond "we can't make it any smaller." The TiBook is a pretty sweet piece of engineering.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    [i]

    I am staring at a stack of $$$ right now that I've earmarked for a new PowerBook, and am sooo tempted to visit the Apple SoHo store and buy a 17 incher (if they have them in stock). But, the size is more of a drag than a plus for me. I think.. but also confused. [/B]



    Get a 12" or a 15" problem solved.



    I think that the idea of yhe 17inch size will take some getting used to. However it still basically takes up the same space on your lap, your desk and you still will have to carry a computer bag. In truth the portability of the puter has not been affected. It is still basically the same amount of worry that you have to carry around. However the functionallity has improved quite a bit. firewire 800, etc, etc. The 17 is a 6.8 pond desktop in your lap.

    you may just have to learn to live with the idea of a couple of extra inches to carry around while maintaining all of the power (or more) than your desktop
  • Reply 12 of 13
    hasapihasapi Posts: 290member
    I too thought the moment I felt a 17" in the flesh, it was just too big to enjoy as a laptop.



    I have a 15" Ti, so I simply dismissed it to wait for the the 970 15.4" Al.



    But if you need or have the spare cash for an external LCD. Then the cost of a LCD and a 15 or even a 12 is about the same price as a 17.



    The difference is that you get to enjoy a 17" all the time, the external screen is only used when you can connect to it. Which appears to be the main reason my reseller friend says that customers are very keen to purchase.



    Still, it depends on what your specific needs are.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Hooking a laptop up to a second display defeats the purpose of portability.

    As a graphic artist/animator the 17 is the first true desktop replacement I have seen. a desktop replacement is not a workstation that you can manage to do your work on, A desktop replacement is a workstation that you prefer to work on, even when you are at home.

    Now all i need is a wireless hook up for my scanner and printer.
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