Oh, you said _portable_! Well, I'd like a portable running OS X with a form factor of the Newton 2100. It should have a built-in tiny keyboard, bluetooth, firewire, USB, 40GB drive, compactcard slot capable of supporting an IBM MicroDrive. Oh, and it must have a color screen dammit!
Now I can connect my firewire camera or camcorder into this device and capture directly to it. I can then use Photoshop or other utils and e-mail photos via wireless internet to clients, while I get a tan at some great beach where women line up to give me BJ's!
Can you say "superdrive"? This is the only thing missing from the TiBook that will make the ultimate "desktop-replacement" notebook. With an 800 mhz G4, your pick of Hard Drive sizes, A great video card, Nutty ammounts of Ram expansion, the ability to add external monitors... Seriously, what more could you possibly want?
To answer your question based on your particular situation, I'd say get yourself a low-end iBook or even a used machine for your first year of university (or just stick with what you've got right now). Until you know for sure what you'll be majoring in (assuming you don't right now), I wouldn't make your decision yet. Certain disciplines will lend themselves better to deskop machines and others to laptops. Some, unfortunately, don't lend themselves well to Macs at all. :-(
In your position, I'd get a low-end iBook, then if you find that you still want/need a laptop, sell the iBook and get a Ti. If you find you need a tower, buy that and if you can afford it, keep the iBook and use it for library research, travelling, class notetaking (if you want/can), etc.
The new iBook 700 12.1" with the IBM 750FX G3 is damn near perfect for me. I bought an iBook 600 last year, so I won't be upgrading right away, but it sure is tempting. I'll just have to see what's out there this time next year (and I'm thinking of a 1 Ghz iBook G3 on a 200 Mhz system bus, with a Radeon 7500 or comparable GPU). A 13" or so screen in the current 12.1" case would be perfect, especially at the ppi of the 12.1 incher, and it would be nice if Apple soldered in at least a 256 MB RAM chip. This should be possible in 12 or so months.
Have a clip on keyboard with hand rests, leaving a hole to the screen about 2x the size of the current touchpad. The hidden area of the screen turns off to preserve power.
The keyboard snaps off and the hand rests fold underneath to provide support. Place the powerbook on a desk like an open book and you've got a killer dual display workstation
Bump the resolution to 1920x1200 for each display
Add a superdrive
Integrate a FPGA based radio that can auto configure to be a 802.11a/b/g/x, GSM/GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/1xCDMA/3G, and Bluetooth. (the FPGA would make the radio upgradable with software)
Make it weigh 1KG
Instant on, instant sleep/wake.
backlit keyboard
microturbine based 100 hour fuel cell.
Don't laugh.
Do you think someone carrying one of those early 90's portable computers (detachable dektop keyboard and 5" amber CRT!!) would have belived your Ti Powerbook?
The ultimate desktop replacement. 17" LCD. Dual 800 G4s with 2Meg L3 each DDR. Superdrive. Weights 9 pounds (part of that is the big battery) but since it will spend most of its life on a desk plugged into an outlet that's not a big deal. It's a portable, not a laptop. When you want the space for something else you shut it off, fold it, put it away. Have to do some work at the library or taking work home for a big project? take it along (it'll be on a table there too). I came up with it as a joke, but the more I've thought about it that's how I use a notebook. Haul it someplace and plug it in put it on a desk or table and work. Since this isn't trying to be a laptop, you can build in a little extra sturdiness (and hence mass). Sure it has a battery, but that's just for those odd moments where you need to use it and don't want to mess with finding an outlet (you got to the class late and all the handy outlets are taken)
The ultimate desktop replacement. 17" LCD. Dual 800 G4s with 2Meg L3 each DDR. Superdrive. Weights 9 pounds (part of that is the big battery) but since it will spend most of its life on a desk plugged into an outlet that's not a big deal. It's a portable, not a laptop. When you want the space for something else you shut it off, fold it, put it away. Have to do some work at the library or taking work home for a big project? take it along (it'll be on a table there too). I came up with it as a joke, but the more I've thought about it that's how I use a notebook. Haul it someplace and plug it in put it on a desk or table and work. Since this isn't trying to be a laptop, you can build in a little extra sturdiness (and hence mass). Sure it has a battery, but that's just for those odd moments where you need to use it and don't want to mess with finding an outlet (you got to the class late and all the handy outlets are taken)</strong><hr></blockquote>
BobtheTomato, that's almost the PowerBook of my dreams. I know the trend is for smaller and smaller computers, but I've always wanted an oversized PowerBook.
Give me a PowerBook with an 18 inch wide aspect screen, a full sized extended keyboard, dual G4s, a 64 mb graphic card, a superdrive, and the usual USB, firewire and audio ports. Battery life should be at least 2 hours. The weight should be as light as possible, but I know that it will be heavy.
Call it the Portfolio -- the perfect computer for presentations.
I would buy a PowerBook like this the day it came out. I think that there is a market for oversized portables, I just don't know if the market is large enough for Apple to bother making one.
Enough said BobtheTomato. That is awesome! That it prettymuch in my words a true desktop replacement, lots of viewing space, plenty of storage onboard, full media writing capabilities (DVD-R/W), and plenty of processing power.
For my ideal specs it would be pretty close but look like this:
-Dual 1+GHz with SOI on .13 micron w/2MB L3 per CPU
-2GB DDR SDRAM
-ATI Fire GL 7800 AGP 4x w/ 64MB and Dual DVI-Out
-18" UXGA Widescreen (16:10 aspect) LCD
-Superdrive (DVD-RW function usable with OS X) in Removable Optical Bay
-Capable of 4, 2.5" 60GB hard drives with hardware RAID 0, 0+1, 1, 5
-4, Firewire Ports
-4, USB Ports
-Gigabit Ethernet
-1 Battery from bottom, 2nd battery optional in Removable Optical Bay
-Oh yes, and a partridge in a pear tree!!!
Truly this would be awesome for DV, crunching engineering dynamics in complex models (which I will soon be doing) or really just about anything, if I didn't have a use I'd find one or two or more! The weight isn't as much of an issue, but if Apple could pack this for under 8Lbs I don't think too many people would whine other than the critics, they're never satisfied. I wouldn't care because you have everything you truly need in one box with the option of all the extras. Also can I get a nice aluminum case like those for the Canon XL1? That would truly be the desktop replacement and ultimate machine in my opinion and yes it's portable. I wish that pic wasn't a mirage.
[ 05-27-2002: Message edited by: The Power of X ]</p>
Comments
Oh, you said _portable_! Well, I'd like a portable running OS X with a form factor of the Newton 2100. It should have a built-in tiny keyboard, bluetooth, firewire, USB, 40GB drive, compactcard slot capable of supporting an IBM MicroDrive. Oh, and it must have a color screen dammit!
Now I can connect my firewire camera or camcorder into this device and capture directly to it. I can then use Photoshop or other utils and e-mail photos via wireless internet to clients, while I get a tan at some great beach where women line up to give me BJ's!
YEAH!!
In your position, I'd get a low-end iBook, then if you find that you still want/need a laptop, sell the iBook and get a Ti. If you find you need a tower, buy that and if you can afford it, keep the iBook and use it for library research, travelling, class notetaking (if you want/can), etc.
Add a second LCD where the keyboard is now.
Have a clip on keyboard with hand rests, leaving a hole to the screen about 2x the size of the current touchpad. The hidden area of the screen turns off to preserve power.
The keyboard snaps off and the hand rests fold underneath to provide support. Place the powerbook on a desk like an open book and you've got a killer dual display workstation
Bump the resolution to 1920x1200 for each display
Add a superdrive
Integrate a FPGA based radio that can auto configure to be a 802.11a/b/g/x, GSM/GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/1xCDMA/3G, and Bluetooth. (the FPGA would make the radio upgradable with software)
Make it weigh 1KG
Instant on, instant sleep/wake.
backlit keyboard
microturbine based 100 hour fuel cell.
Don't laugh.
Do you think someone carrying one of those early 90's portable computers (detachable dektop keyboard and 5" amber CRT!!) would have belived your Ti Powerbook?
Ideal notebook?
12.1" screen, optical drive, G4, Toshiba's cPad technology, combo drive, under 2.5 lbs. TiBook style enclosure but more durable.
The ultimate desktop replacement. 17" LCD. Dual 800 G4s with 2Meg L3 each DDR. Superdrive. Weights 9 pounds (part of that is the big battery) but since it will spend most of its life on a desk plugged into an outlet that's not a big deal. It's a portable, not a laptop. When you want the space for something else you shut it off, fold it, put it away. Have to do some work at the library or taking work home for a big project? take it along (it'll be on a table there too). I came up with it as a joke, but the more I've thought about it that's how I use a notebook. Haul it someplace and plug it in put it on a desk or table and work. Since this isn't trying to be a laptop, you can build in a little extra sturdiness (and hence mass). Sure it has a battery, but that's just for those odd moments where you need to use it and don't want to mess with finding an outlet (you got to the class late and all the handy outlets are taken)
<strong>
The ultimate desktop replacement. 17" LCD. Dual 800 G4s with 2Meg L3 each DDR. Superdrive. </strong><hr></blockquote>
And 4 ATA 4200 RPM notebook drives, for non-sucky HDD performance in a portable!
<strong>
And 4 ATA 4200 RPM notebook drives, for non-sucky HDD performance in a portable!
'bout time, says I
<strong>
The ultimate desktop replacement. 17" LCD. Dual 800 G4s with 2Meg L3 each DDR. Superdrive. Weights 9 pounds (part of that is the big battery) but since it will spend most of its life on a desk plugged into an outlet that's not a big deal. It's a portable, not a laptop. When you want the space for something else you shut it off, fold it, put it away. Have to do some work at the library or taking work home for a big project? take it along (it'll be on a table there too). I came up with it as a joke, but the more I've thought about it that's how I use a notebook. Haul it someplace and plug it in put it on a desk or table and work. Since this isn't trying to be a laptop, you can build in a little extra sturdiness (and hence mass). Sure it has a battery, but that's just for those odd moments where you need to use it and don't want to mess with finding an outlet (you got to the class late and all the handy outlets are taken)</strong><hr></blockquote>
BobtheTomato, that's almost the PowerBook of my dreams. I know the trend is for smaller and smaller computers, but I've always wanted an oversized PowerBook.
Give me a PowerBook with an 18 inch wide aspect screen, a full sized extended keyboard, dual G4s, a 64 mb graphic card, a superdrive, and the usual USB, firewire and audio ports. Battery life should be at least 2 hours. The weight should be as light as possible, but I know that it will be heavy.
Call it the Portfolio -- the perfect computer for presentations.
I would buy a PowerBook like this the day it came out. I think that there is a market for oversized portables, I just don't know if the market is large enough for Apple to bother making one.
The screen and components of the current PowerBook G4 800 MHz in an iBook-style enclosure.
For my ideal specs it would be pretty close but look like this:
-Dual 1+GHz with SOI on .13 micron w/2MB L3 per CPU
-2GB DDR SDRAM
-ATI Fire GL 7800 AGP 4x w/ 64MB and Dual DVI-Out
-18" UXGA Widescreen (16:10 aspect) LCD
-Superdrive (DVD-RW function usable with OS X) in Removable Optical Bay
-Capable of 4, 2.5" 60GB hard drives with hardware RAID 0, 0+1, 1, 5
-4, Firewire Ports
-4, USB Ports
-Gigabit Ethernet
-1 Battery from bottom, 2nd battery optional in Removable Optical Bay
-Oh yes, and a partridge in a pear tree!!!
Truly this would be awesome for DV, crunching engineering dynamics in complex models (which I will soon be doing) or really just about anything, if I didn't have a use I'd find one or two or more! The weight isn't as much of an issue, but if Apple could pack this for under 8Lbs I don't think too many people would whine other than the critics, they're never satisfied. I wouldn't care because you have everything you truly need in one box with the option of all the extras. Also can I get a nice aluminum case like those for the Canon XL1? That would truly be the desktop replacement and ultimate machine in my opinion and yes it's portable. I wish that pic wasn't a mirage.
[ 05-27-2002: Message edited by: The Power of X ]</p>
Maybe if the iBook had a G4, I'd go for it.
13.3" widescreen, case size of 12.1" iBook
32mb radeon (need not be radeon 7500)
s-vid out (without an adapter needed)
G4 (do not care what speed, just want G4)
loose white color (silvers, metalics are nice)
rugged. not so scratch prone
make optical drive slot load like Ti
trackpad that includes handwriting recognition
improved audio output
bluetooth and airport (802.11g spec) built-in
OS X- Jaguar
$1500-1600