When just browsing the internet it stays within 120F and I only got the fan to go on when I created a 100x100 inch files at 300dpi and applied a gradient.
As for the keyboard...it is the quietest I've ever heard, but have yet to like it more then the pro keyboard.
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.
Probably not a bad idea to wait (if you can!). I didn't, but I was only transiently unhappy; now I'm as thrilled as can be. As far as insurance goes, only Apple's repairs are covered for a year; support expires after 3 months. "Only an idiot" would shell out >$2500 for a computer and not invest in the extra 12% for the ACP. Consider it tipping your computer. Based on my experience (and with an iMac!) it's worth every penny just to be able to call up Apple and have someone help you solve the problem.
By the by, after 2 weeks my 15" AlBook is still doing great. Latch and screen are 100%, and I'm getting about 3 hours out of a full charge with moderate, not miserly, usage - about what I expected. Want more, and you should get a spare battery or bring the handy-dandy charger that comes with the computer. Trans-Pacific flight? Take a break and watch the movie. The AirPort antenna may actually be TOO good. Last night I began picking up what must've been a neighbor's wireless network, and it drowned out my own (I have an old graphite base station, too). I couldn't even get into the base station via Admin Utility to change the channel! Probably not a PB problem per se. I do dig this machine.
I was hoping to not consider this 15" a true "first generation" machine, seeing how it's pretty much an offshoot of the 12" and 17" when it comes to hinge, enclosure, materials, I/O, latch, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth, etc.
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
It's almost as though the 15" was designed and created in a vacuum, completely unaware of the other two models.
Maybe by some interns in the ID division?
If anything, I really expected the 15" model to benefit from the 8 months or so of the others being in existence and that it would come out of the gate about as flawless and gremlin-free as any product Apple has ever released.
If I go and get the 15" SD model, I'm forced to pay the infamous $100 'Apple RAM Tax' to get 1 512 instead of 2 256s (which irritates me to no end ). In doing that, it brings the price up to a mere $300 difference to just go ahead and get the 17" (which has only 1 512 BTW).
The extra screen real estate would be nice...but damn they're big.
I was hoping to not consider this 15" a true "first generation" machine, seeing how it's pretty much an offshoot of the 12" and 17" when it comes to hinge, enclosure, materials, I/O, latch, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth, etc.
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
It's almost as though the 15" was designed and created in a vacuum, completely unaware of the other two models.
Maybe by some interns in the ID division?
If anything, I really expected the 15" model to benefit from the 8 months or so of the others being in existence and that it would come out of the gate about as flawless and gremlin-free as any product Apple has ever released.
Guess not.
Am I gonna have to buy the 17" dammit?
Paul:
I have just finished working on a TI 667 (one of my clients), and the hinge on that thing does not work half the time. Very similar to the Aluminum ones.
I think that the hinge design is simply flawed because it is so delicate. The reason you are hearing so much about the problems is two-fold: a) you are actively trying to hear something good or bad about the computer, since you are planning to buy it, and b) this thing is selling like crazy, much faster than the 17-incher (I don't even understand why Apple is manufacturing it; according to my friends in the business, the 17s are hardly selling) and definitely faster than the 12s.
I've been chewing on this for almost two days now...
I even had a dream that I had a 17" PowerBook last night.
Hmmm...
A few more MHz, quite a few more pixels, 1 512MB stick, etc. for only a few hundred more bucks...
The "17 is an unwieldy monster. Its brobdingnagian aesthetics do not appeal to me at all. Add a strap to the bottom and it can be used as a tower shield. And they are not selling all that well, according to the local dealer, while the demand for the 15-incher is approaching mass hysteria levels.
I really don't think the 17" is unwieldy... I mean, come on, it's only 1.7" wider & 0.7" deeper (and 0.1' thinner) than the 15"! I guess the 1.3 pound difference in weight might be a backbreaker for some, but honestly... for me, the gasping difference is in the amount of screen real estate available once I pop it open. I fully intended to buy a second display (I'm a graphic designer burdened with the usual array of palette-intensive apps), but after using it for a while I'm wondering if that's necessary at all. Every "holy cow that's big!" comment from people so far has been directed at the screen when it's open, not when it's closed & sitting or being carried around. Differences between the 12" and the 17", however, is a wholly different matter, but that I think goes beyond just size & weight...
..."Only an idiot" would shell out >$2500 for a computer and not invest in the extra 12% for the ACP.
Are you calling me an idiot? Can someone tell me how long I have till I can't purchase the ACP plan for my 15" anymore? Am I correct that I can until the one year point of when I bought it?
Also the 15" is beautiful, I have no problems, well besides the latch, but as long as I don't close it like a baby it is perfect.
What does the free 1 year support cover? I mean I guess if I drop it they won't replace broken parts for me, but would I get it any cheaper? They only replace faulty parts the mysteriously stop working right?
Are you calling me an idiot? Can someone tell me how long I have till I can't purchase the ACP plan for my 15" anymore? Am I correct that I can until the one year point of when I bought it?
Also the 15" is beautiful, I have no problems, well besides the latch, but as long as I don't close it like a baby it is perfect.
What does the free 1 year support cover? I mean I guess if I drop it they won't replace broken parts for me, but would I get it any cheaper? They only replace faulty parts the mysteriously stop working right?
Who cares? I just got my 15"PB this morning. The minute they announce a new version... this one will be gone. It does not pay to purchase ACP if you change computers as often as I do.
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
The heat in the 12" was an initial issue under 10.2.3, less of an issue under the next 10.2.x, x>3. Also, you seem to forget that the 12" powerbook 867 MHz, suffered from a number of other issues, apart heat: (1) case warping (2) non-uniform gap between display and computer when the display is closed (3) latch problem, to the same extend as in the 15" model, perhaps worse (4) battery not properly aligned with the bottom surface of the computer. I remember reading about such problems for one or two months after the first 12" shipped. Then silence... I don't know, I have the feeling that after 1-2 months and after receiving many units for replacement, Apple finally improves its fabrication process to reduce or eliminate such problems. Something like quiet revision. The 17" model had much less problems, but that's what appears to happen (don't forget that MUCH less people choose the 17" over the 12", so there is indeed a bias of statistical origin here; simply I don't know in what extend).
That said, I am a bit surpised to see the history to repeat itself in the 15". I would say, if you can, wait for a month or so and then buy.
PS: Oh, I forgot the sticky trackpad button in many of the original 12" powerbooks!
I have just finished working on a TI 667 (one of my clients), and the hinge on that thing does not work half the time. Very similar to the Aluminum ones.
I bet you talk about the latch mechanism. The hinge of the aluminium models is far superior compared the one of the titanium models.
Yesterday I posted that after I initially checked out my new 1.25Ghz 15" model that there were no problems....wrong! I knew I jinxed myself!
The latch worked fine (the 1st time). Then went I went to work, I tried to close it and guess what? It just popped up again?! I was like "oh for f*cks sake"..$4000.00 w/tax and it won't close? But, thanks to the link provided about the "latch fix"...I did (very gingerly I might add) and it now latches just fine.
Other than that...VERY pleased with my new Powerbook. Oh yea, the backlit keyboard is simply AWESOME. Happy Computing!
Who cares? I just got my 15"PB this morning. The minute they announce a new version... this one will be gone. It does not pay to purchase ACP if you change computers as often as I do.
Thanks for answering my question. Not everyone exchanges models so quickly
Thanks for answering my question. Not everyone exchanges models so quickly
Oh, I know. I did not mean to sound like a snob. My work is always making me test the newest models. I am so thankful for iSync. I don't know what I would do without it???
Comments
Originally posted by jasonfj
I just left mine at the Apple store SoHo for repair. Another 1 or 2 weeks wait.
If it makes you feel any better, TNT have lost my Powerbook and there's no sign of it being found
As for the keyboard...it is the quietest I've ever heard, but have yet to like it more then the pro keyboard.
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.
Probably not a bad idea to wait (if you can!). I didn't, but I was only transiently unhappy; now I'm as thrilled as can be. As far as insurance goes, only Apple's repairs are covered for a year; support expires after 3 months. "Only an idiot" would shell out >$2500 for a computer and not invest in the extra 12% for the ACP.
By the by, after 2 weeks my 15" AlBook is still doing great. Latch and screen are 100%, and I'm getting about 3 hours out of a full charge with moderate, not miserly, usage - about what I expected. Want more, and you should get a spare battery or bring the handy-dandy charger that comes with the computer. Trans-Pacific flight? Take a break and watch the movie.
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
It's almost as though the 15" was designed and created in a vacuum, completely unaware of the other two models.
Maybe by some interns in the ID division?
If anything, I really expected the 15" model to benefit from the 8 months or so of the others being in existence and that it would come out of the gate about as flawless and gremlin-free as any product Apple has ever released.
Guess not.
Am I gonna have to buy the 17" dammit?
Originally posted by pscates
Am I gonna have to buy the 17" dammit?
Exactly my predicament.
If I go and get the 15" SD model, I'm forced to pay the infamous $100 'Apple RAM Tax' to get 1 512 instead of 2 256s (which irritates me to no end
The extra screen real estate would be nice...but damn they're big.
I even had a dream that I had a 17" PowerBook last night.
Hmmm...
A few more MHz, quite a few more pixels, 1 512MB stick, etc. for only a few hundred more bucks...
Originally posted by pscates
I was hoping to not consider this 15" a true "first generation" machine, seeing how it's pretty much an offshoot of the 12" and 17" when it comes to hinge, enclosure, materials, I/O, latch, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth, etc.
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
It's almost as though the 15" was designed and created in a vacuum, completely unaware of the other two models.
Maybe by some interns in the ID division?
If anything, I really expected the 15" model to benefit from the 8 months or so of the others being in existence and that it would come out of the gate about as flawless and gremlin-free as any product Apple has ever released.
Guess not.
Am I gonna have to buy the 17" dammit?
Paul:
I have just finished working on a TI 667 (one of my clients), and the hinge on that thing does not work half the time. Very similar to the Aluminum ones.
I think that the hinge design is simply flawed because it is so delicate. The reason you are hearing so much about the problems is two-fold: a) you are actively trying to hear something good or bad about the computer, since you are planning to buy it, and b) this thing is selling like crazy, much faster than the 17-incher (I don't even understand why Apple is manufacturing it; according to my friends in the business, the 17s are hardly selling) and definitely faster than the 12s.
Best
Originally posted by pscates
I've been chewing on this for almost two days now...
I even had a dream that I had a 17" PowerBook last night.
Hmmm...
A few more MHz, quite a few more pixels, 1 512MB stick, etc. for only a few hundred more bucks...
The "17 is an unwieldy monster. Its brobdingnagian aesthetics do not appeal to me at all. Add a strap to the bottom and it can be used as a tower shield. And they are not selling all that well, according to the local dealer, while the demand for the 15-incher is approaching mass hysteria levels.
Originally posted by Kabeyun
..."Only an idiot" would shell out >$2500 for a computer and not invest in the extra 12% for the ACP.
Are you calling me an idiot? Can someone tell me how long I have till I can't purchase the ACP plan for my 15" anymore? Am I correct that I can until the one year point of when I bought it?
Also the 15" is beautiful, I have no problems, well besides the latch, but as long as I don't close it like a baby it is perfect.
What does the free 1 year support cover? I mean I guess if I drop it they won't replace broken parts for me, but would I get it any cheaper? They only replace faulty parts the mysteriously stop working right?
Originally posted by ast3r3x
Are you calling me an idiot? Can someone tell me how long I have till I can't purchase the ACP plan for my 15" anymore? Am I correct that I can until the one year point of when I bought it?
Also the 15" is beautiful, I have no problems, well besides the latch, but as long as I don't close it like a baby it is perfect.
What does the free 1 year support cover? I mean I guess if I drop it they won't replace broken parts for me, but would I get it any cheaper? They only replace faulty parts the mysteriously stop working right?
Who cares? I just got my 15"PB this morning. The minute they announce a new version... this one will be gone. It does not pay to purchase ACP if you change computers as often as I do.
Originally posted by pscates
It's not as though this is a brand new design and all three PowerBooks were just released last week for the first time in this design/enclosure. I don't recall hearing ANYTHING like this with the 12" and 17" models (the only bad thing I've ever heard about either was the heat generated from the 12").
The heat in the 12" was an initial issue under 10.2.3, less of an issue under the next 10.2.x, x>3. Also, you seem to forget that the 12" powerbook 867 MHz, suffered from a number of other issues, apart heat: (1) case warping (2) non-uniform gap between display and computer when the display is closed (3) latch problem, to the same extend as in the 15" model, perhaps worse (4) battery not properly aligned with the bottom surface of the computer. I remember reading about such problems for one or two months after the first 12" shipped. Then silence... I don't know, I have the feeling that after 1-2 months and after receiving many units for replacement, Apple finally improves its fabrication process to reduce or eliminate such problems. Something like quiet revision. The 17" model had much less problems, but that's what appears to happen (don't forget that MUCH less people choose the 17" over the 12", so there is indeed a bias of statistical origin here; simply I don't know in what extend).
That said, I am a bit surpised to see the history to repeat itself in the 15". I would say, if you can, wait for a month or so and then buy.
PS: Oh, I forgot the sticky trackpad button in many of the original 12" powerbooks!
Originally posted by EDS66
Paul:
I have just finished working on a TI 667 (one of my clients), and the hinge on that thing does not work half the time. Very similar to the Aluminum ones.
I bet you talk about the latch mechanism. The hinge of the aluminium models is far superior compared the one of the titanium models.
The latch worked fine (the 1st time). Then went I went to work, I tried to close it and guess what? It just popped up again?! I was like "oh for f*cks sake"..$4000.00 w/tax and it won't close? But, thanks to the link provided about the "latch fix"...I did (very gingerly I might add) and it now latches just fine.
Other than that...VERY pleased with my new Powerbook. Oh yea, the backlit keyboard is simply AWESOME. Happy Computing!
Originally posted by lsngctrl
Who cares? I just got my 15"PB this morning. The minute they announce a new version... this one will be gone. It does not pay to purchase ACP if you change computers as often as I do.
Thanks for answering my question. Not everyone exchanges models so quickly
Originally posted by ast3r3x
Thanks for answering my question. Not everyone exchanges models so quickly
Oh, I know. I did not mean to sound like a snob. My work is always making me test the newest models. I am so thankful for iSync. I don't know what I would do without it???