I actually saw someone complaining that the new 15"PB is A TENTH OF ONE INCH THICKER!!
That was me, and I wasn't complaining. I ordered my PowerBook 15" SuperDrive model at 6:24 AM ET this morning. I AM HAPPY! And I don't care about the tenth of an inch, I was just pointing it out because it was an interesting thing to note.
Well, cache is RAM. RAM is much, much faster than any hard drive, even over an ATA bus. 8MB of RAM can stash about 8MB of files, which is pretty much anything except for really big projects.
So if you're planning on slinging huge Photoshop files around a lot, or streaming lots of video, it won't help that much and you should spring for the faster HD (or use a desktop hard drive plugged in via FireWire for that kind of work). If you tend to work with smaller files (and applications, which will also get stored in cache when they fit - after all, they're just files) you'll see a significant difference.
Thanks, Amorph. I have a 100G Firewire drive I use for video (iMovie), so I guess if my rendering becomes and issue I can use it for that also. Though rendering has been about 50-50 CPU and disk, at least what I do. I don't do Photoshop.
Been dying to get online? My mama was on the phone?
My first reaction today was one of slight disappointment, though excitement none-the-less. My slight disappointment is not really in relation to the awesome real-world machines that Apple has unveiled today, but rather in relation to my imaginings of the utterly fantastic machines that Apple could have unveiled. I am sure this is true for many Mac-heads.
This ?downcast-ness? ? if I am honest ? is still with me. However, I am sure it will pass when I am introduced to the PBs in this real world to which I have been forced to return...
BTW, when will there be New PBs in shops for people to see and play with (and report on)?
Someone (posted on MacNN) walked into the Costa Mesa Apple Store and got his this morning (pictures, too):
What a roller-coaster. First I wanted to get a rev. B 12" Powerbook to replace my Tangerine iBook (still for sale BTW ). Then I considered getting a 15" AluBook (Combo) because it was only a few hundred more. Then I considered foregoing a G5 PowerMac to replace my Cube and using a SuperDrive 15" AluBook as a desktop replacement. Then I realized I'm clearly insane and not that rich, so I finally settled back down to the 12" Combo.
The driving pressure to buy now were the Keynote and Final Cut Express bundle rebates.
Well, cache is RAM. RAM is much, much faster than any hard drive, even over an ATA bus. 8MB of RAM can stash about 8MB of files, which is pretty much anything except for really big projects.
I think you might be confusing types of cache. Yes, RAM can be used as a cache for drive access, but L2 and L3 cache memory, the kind of RAM in question hear, is fast RAM used as a cache for slower RAM, with L2 being faster than L3, and L3 being faster than main DDR system RAM.
I think you might be confusing types of cache. Yes, RAM can be used as a cache for drive access, but L2 and L3 cache memory, the kind of RAM in question hear, is fast RAM used as a cache for slower RAM, with L2 being faster than L3, and L3 being faster than main DDR system RAM.
We were talking about the 8MB cache on the 4200RPM drives shipping with the new 'books. Is what Amorph said not correct? Made sense to me.
Anyway ? nit-picking aside ? my point is that the pages look(-ed?) so rushed; unpolished. These kinds of mistakes don?t happen if you have time to review and revise?
Is this a rushed product (re-)launch, or am I scaring myself unnecessarily? \
There's probably nobody at Apple to do the proofreading that can be trusted not to leak the specs.
I can't believe I just spent the last minute looking for the "Post Reply" button in the Safari toolbar....ah....it's been a long, yet throughly refreshing and exciting day
Looking at the pics from the poster at the MacNN forums, clearly the new 15-inch PowerBook is going to be a monster hit for Apple.
Thanks Machem. Could do with some more in-depth discussion rather that "congrats on your new PB" though couldn't it?
OK. The negativity of SpyMac and AI have got me feeling that the re-iterated PBs are SLOWER than their predecessors!!!
What does all this 256K L2/1GB L3 cache -v- 167MHz/200MHz bus stuff really mean neway?
Is the architecture so damn fast that the new PBs don?t need L3? Like the G5? Or is no L3 bad, bad, bad??
Well, What I think is the faster bus (167 versus 133 MHZ), coupled with the larger cache (512K versus 256K) should be faster. Adding a L3 would speed things up, but not as much as the other two speedups. At added cost. So at first glance it looks bad, but I think when we all get these things and either run XBench (yeesh) or do real work on them, we'll find out it's not a big deal.
Right now I'm looking at an XBench of about 23 on my Pismo (my wife's iBook is 45, for pete's sake!), so I'm happy to find out what the Tonkabook will give me.
A quesiton on a completely different note... what is the difference between a normal keyboard and an "int'l English" one (That costs +£1.09 in the Education store - why f'king bother? Just makes Apple look cheap). It's an option in the BTO page for the 15" SuperDrive.
OK. The negativity of SpyMac and AI have got me feeling that the re-iterated PBs are SLOWER than their predecessors!!!
What does all this 256K L2/1GB L3 cache -v- 167MHz/200MHz bus stuff really mean neway?
I know what you mean. I was beaming with joy to order it this morning and then people pick it apart and point out mundane details that probably won't matter that much and I almost regret purchasing it! Oh well I'm sure I will have no doubts at all once it gets here!
I don?t mean to hog the thread, but if no-one else has much to say, I?ll continue with my questions?
I just had a peek at macosrumors.com? (I know, I know)? But this seems to be a factual observation that I am very happy about:
"Notably, Aluminum(sic) is now used without paint, whereas the Titanium models were known for having problems with their coating of pain flaking off in spots."
And I may have found my answer as to why the new 15" is 0.3" wider than the old TiBook?
"?in a major surprise when compared with "rumorological" predictions, the midrange model retained its 15.2-inch display rather than the higher-quality, higher-resolution 15.4-inch panel that virtually everyone in the know was expecting. Why the absence of the new panel that countless sources had presented compelling evidence for? We don't have clear answers yet, but suspicions are rising on the grapevine that this panel may have been partly responsible in some fashion for the considerable delays in releasing these new laptops...."
Maybe they built the chassis for the 15.4?, but ended up having to plug it with a 15.2?
Knowing Apple and the fact that they give away sand at the beach, that prediction was a given. A 15.4" display would have been dreadful at the current resolution. However, I am sure the one button mouse clickers would be jumping for joy!
I agree that the 5400 RPM drives are overpriced... they are extremely expensive pro laptops, they should be standard equipment.
I'd be interested to see what the sales are like on the bluetooth mouse vs. bluetooth keyboard. I bet the keyboard FAR outsells the mouse because nobody wants 1-button mice (except Apple apologists who think it's somehow "wrong" to use a 2-button mouse). I really want Apple to get the hint sometime, I'm sure if they made a 2-button mouse I'd want it and I'd certainly buy it.
As far as the L3 cache issue, I'd say look here once they have the new specs up to find a final answer.
5400 RPM should be the standard on 17", 15" SuperDrv., and 12" SuperDrv! Get the point companies! They now make 7200rpm drives for laptops, so the "Pro"? laptops should hav 5400rpm - at least.
a) DVI out, and they crammed it into a mini plug, so you dont have to have a huge DVI connector hangin off of the side off your machine.
b) 256 onboard, now you can buy the base RAM and get your own upgrade without chucking out bits.
c) Geforce FX. thank you. when QE gets upgraded to render using pixel shaders and vertex shaders this machine wont get left behind.
There are more features that Id like in it, like the backlit keyboard, and 64mb of vram, but I love it. Ill be going down to compusa as soon as they get them to take advantage of their same as cash credit deal.
I would say "NO MORE IBOOKS", but the refurb deal for the 700 is great. Perfect for users who dont really know what a computer is and want something cheap.
You should get the 12pb because it has a g4 in it. Alot of posts on this site will tell you that OSX runs great on a g3. Trust me, it doesn't!
Also worth mentioning are the 12pb's better graphics, memory, DVI ability, etc.
And besides,the 14" iBook only saves you just $100!! It's really a no brainer.
Trust me, it does. And you might as well get the 12" iBook instead (in which case it saves you $300.) OS X runs good on a G3, I know, because I have an 14" iBook 900, which runs well.
Comments
Originally posted by Kabeyun
I actually saw someone complaining that the new 15"PB is A TENTH OF ONE INCH THICKER!!
That was me, and I wasn't complaining. I ordered my PowerBook 15" SuperDrive model at 6:24 AM ET this morning. I AM HAPPY! And I don't care about the tenth of an inch, I was just pointing it out because it was an interesting thing to note.
Originally posted by Amorph
Well, cache is RAM. RAM is much, much faster than any hard drive, even over an ATA bus. 8MB of RAM can stash about 8MB of files, which is pretty much anything except for really big projects.
So if you're planning on slinging huge Photoshop files around a lot, or streaming lots of video, it won't help that much and you should spring for the faster HD (or use a desktop hard drive plugged in via FireWire for that kind of work). If you tend to work with smaller files (and applications, which will also get stored in cache when they fit - after all, they're just files) you'll see a significant difference.
Thanks, Amorph. I have a 100G Firewire drive I use for video (iMovie), so I guess if my rendering becomes and issue I can use it for that also. Though rendering has been about 50-50 CPU and disk, at least what I do. I don't do Photoshop.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
Been dying to get online? My mama was on the phone?
My first reaction today was one of slight disappointment, though excitement none-the-less. My slight disappointment is not really in relation to the awesome real-world machines that Apple has unveiled today, but rather in relation to my imaginings of the utterly fantastic machines that Apple could have unveiled. I am sure this is true for many Mac-heads.
This ?downcast-ness? ? if I am honest ? is still with me. However, I am sure it will pass when I am introduced to the PBs in this real world to which I have been forced to return...
BTW, when will there be New PBs in shops for people to see and play with (and report on)?
Someone (posted on MacNN) walked into the Costa Mesa Apple Store and got his this morning (pictures, too):
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...0&pagenumber=1
[edit: i kin tipe reel gud.]
The driving pressure to buy now were the Keynote and Final Cut Express bundle rebates.
Screed
Originally posted by Amorph
Well, cache is RAM. RAM is much, much faster than any hard drive, even over an ATA bus. 8MB of RAM can stash about 8MB of files, which is pretty much anything except for really big projects.
I think you might be confusing types of cache. Yes, RAM can be used as a cache for drive access, but L2 and L3 cache memory, the kind of RAM in question hear, is fast RAM used as a cache for slower RAM, with L2 being faster than L3, and L3 being faster than main DDR system RAM.
OK. The negativity of SpyMac and AI have got me feeling that the re-iterated PBs are SLOWER than their predecessors!!!
What does all this 256K L2/1GB L3 cache -v- 167MHz/200MHz bus stuff really mean neway?
Is the architecture so damn fast that the new PBs don?t need L3? Like the G5? Or is no L3 bad, bad, bad??
Originally posted by shetline
I think you might be confusing types of cache. Yes, RAM can be used as a cache for drive access, but L2 and L3 cache memory, the kind of RAM in question hear, is fast RAM used as a cache for slower RAM, with L2 being faster than L3, and L3 being faster than main DDR system RAM.
We were talking about the 8MB cache on the 4200RPM drives shipping with the new 'books. Is what Amorph said not correct? Made sense to me.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
Anyway ? nit-picking aside ? my point is that the pages look(-ed?) so rushed; unpolished. These kinds of mistakes don?t happen if you have time to review and revise?
Is this a rushed product (re-)launch, or am I scaring myself unnecessarily?
There's probably nobody at Apple to do the proofreading that can be trusted not to leak the specs.
Looking at the pics from the poster at the MacNN forums, clearly the new 15-inch PowerBook is going to be a monster hit for Apple.
It's orgasmically beautiful
Originally posted by DHagan4755
It's orgasmically beautiful
OMG OMG OMG...
Ive got that page open, but I hadn't actually enlarged any pictures (u learn not to when your 800MHZ Athlon is this SLOW)...
Amazing
Or is this another Typo?
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
While we're all gorping at the photo why is the 15" 13.7? wide instead of 13.4? with no increase in screen size?
Or is this another Typo?
It looks like the border around the screen may be a touch bigger than the old one.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
Thanks Machem. Could do with some more in-depth discussion rather that "congrats on your new PB" though couldn't it?
OK. The negativity of SpyMac and AI have got me feeling that the re-iterated PBs are SLOWER than their predecessors!!!
What does all this 256K L2/1GB L3 cache -v- 167MHz/200MHz bus stuff really mean neway?
Is the architecture so damn fast that the new PBs don?t need L3? Like the G5? Or is no L3 bad, bad, bad??
Well, What I think is the faster bus (167 versus 133 MHZ), coupled with the larger cache (512K versus 256K) should be faster. Adding a L3 would speed things up, but not as much as the other two speedups. At added cost. So at first glance it looks bad, but I think when we all get these things and either run XBench (yeesh) or do real work on them, we'll find out it's not a big deal.
Right now I'm looking at an XBench of about 23 on my Pismo (my wife's iBook is 45, for pete's sake!), so I'm happy to find out what the Tonkabook will give me.
A quesiton on a completely different note... what is the difference between a normal keyboard and an "int'l English" one (That costs +£1.09 in the Education store - why f'king bother? Just makes Apple look cheap). It's an option in the BTO page for the 15" SuperDrive.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
OK. The negativity of SpyMac and AI have got me feeling that the re-iterated PBs are SLOWER than their predecessors!!!
What does all this 256K L2/1GB L3 cache -v- 167MHz/200MHz bus stuff really mean neway?
I know what you mean. I was beaming with joy to order it this morning and then people pick it apart and point out mundane details that probably won't matter that much and I almost regret purchasing it! Oh well I'm sure I will have no doubts at all once it gets here!
I just had a peek at macosrumors.com? (I know, I know)? But this seems to be a factual observation that I am very happy about:
"Notably, Aluminum(sic) is now used without paint, whereas the Titanium models were known for having problems with their coating of pain flaking off in spots."
And I may have found my answer as to why the new 15" is 0.3" wider than the old TiBook?
"?in a major surprise when compared with "rumorological" predictions, the midrange model retained its 15.2-inch display rather than the higher-quality, higher-resolution 15.4-inch panel that virtually everyone in the know was expecting. Why the absence of the new panel that countless sources had presented compelling evidence for? We don't have clear answers yet, but suspicions are rising on the grapevine that this panel may have been partly responsible in some fashion for the considerable delays in releasing these new laptops...."
Maybe they built the chassis for the 15.4?, but ended up having to plug it with a 15.2?
Originally posted by Patchouli
Knowing Apple and the fact that they give away sand at the beach, that prediction was a given. A 15.4" display would have been dreadful at the current resolution. However, I am sure the one button mouse clickers would be jumping for joy!
I'm a "one-button mouse clicker".
12" 1024x768, 14" 1120x768, 15.2": 1280x854, 15.4": 1350x872, 17", 1480x930.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
I agree that the 5400 RPM drives are overpriced... they are extremely expensive pro laptops, they should be standard equipment.
I'd be interested to see what the sales are like on the bluetooth mouse vs. bluetooth keyboard. I bet the keyboard FAR outsells the mouse because nobody wants 1-button mice (except Apple apologists who think it's somehow "wrong" to use a 2-button mouse). I really want Apple to get the hint sometime, I'm sure if they made a 2-button mouse I'd want it and I'd certainly buy it.
As far as the L3 cache issue, I'd say look here once they have the new specs up to find a final answer.
5400 RPM should be the standard on 17", 15" SuperDrv., and 12" SuperDrv! Get the point companies! They now make 7200rpm drives for laptops, so the "Pro"? laptops should hav 5400rpm - at least.
a) DVI out, and they crammed it into a mini plug, so you dont have to have a huge DVI connector hangin off of the side off your machine.
b) 256 onboard, now you can buy the base RAM and get your own upgrade without chucking out bits.
c) Geforce FX. thank you. when QE gets upgraded to render using pixel shaders and vertex shaders this machine wont get left behind.
There are more features that Id like in it, like the backlit keyboard, and 64mb of vram, but I love it. Ill be going down to compusa as soon as they get them to take advantage of their same as cash credit deal.
I would say "NO MORE IBOOKS", but the refurb deal for the 700 is great. Perfect for users who dont really know what a computer is and want something cheap.
Originally posted by neurokid
You should get the 12pb because it has a g4 in it. Alot of posts on this site will tell you that OSX runs great on a g3. Trust me, it doesn't!
Also worth mentioning are the 12pb's better graphics, memory, DVI ability, etc.
And besides,the 14" iBook only saves you just $100!! It's really a no brainer.
Trust me, it does. And you might as well get the 12" iBook instead (in which case it saves you $300.) OS X runs good on a G3, I know, because I have an 14" iBook 900, which runs well.