ibook g4 will lead to all superdrive line up?
Maybe apple will announce an all super drive line up.
Low end consumer models with 2x and high end with 4x.
Imagine:
imacs (emacs must be dead, only product with out USB 2)
15" imac 2x superdrive $1299 (right in line with low end sony's with DVD burning
stopgap: 1.25 g4, 256 RAM, same video and hard drive
g5: 1.6 g5, same specs as above
17" imac
stopgap: 1.42 g4, 512 RAM, 4x superdrive, 160 GB $1799
g5: 1.6-1.8 g5 and same specs
BTO: current 15" imac $899
ibooks
12" BTO current specs, price
12" 2x super, 30gb, 256RAM, $1299 or so
14" 2x super, 60gb, 256RAM, airport extreme, $1599
Bluetooth still built to order
powerbooks
12" current model drops to $1599, BTO
12" new model: same specs except ATI 9600 64MB video, 60GB hard drive $1799
15" combo drive BTO, 64 video only, same price
15" super 128 video, 5400 RPM hard drive same specs for the rest $2599
17" same specs as 15"
and apple could be the first maker with all dvd burning line-up.
Of course in the future all models would use a multi-format drive once availible.
The big differentiator: pro models use dual format 4x, consumer machines use dvd-r until 8x are availible in pro machines.
Low end consumer models with 2x and high end with 4x.
Imagine:
imacs (emacs must be dead, only product with out USB 2)
15" imac 2x superdrive $1299 (right in line with low end sony's with DVD burning
stopgap: 1.25 g4, 256 RAM, same video and hard drive
g5: 1.6 g5, same specs as above
17" imac
stopgap: 1.42 g4, 512 RAM, 4x superdrive, 160 GB $1799
g5: 1.6-1.8 g5 and same specs
BTO: current 15" imac $899
ibooks
12" BTO current specs, price
12" 2x super, 30gb, 256RAM, $1299 or so
14" 2x super, 60gb, 256RAM, airport extreme, $1599
Bluetooth still built to order
powerbooks
12" current model drops to $1599, BTO
12" new model: same specs except ATI 9600 64MB video, 60GB hard drive $1799
15" combo drive BTO, 64 video only, same price
15" super 128 video, 5400 RPM hard drive same specs for the rest $2599
17" same specs as 15"
and apple could be the first maker with all dvd burning line-up.
Of course in the future all models would use a multi-format drive once availible.
The big differentiator: pro models use dual format 4x, consumer machines use dvd-r until 8x are availible in pro machines.
Comments
Barto
Originally posted by Barto
And as far as differentiation from the PowerBook goes (before someone raises that), Apple has never really cared about artifically differentiating products. They, as the underdog, don't have that luxury. The iBook's disabled spanning is about cost of support and VRAM, not differentiation (before anyone raised that).
Having the iBook with spanning would cost no more.
Originally posted by beamso
Having the iBook with spanning would cost no more.
True, but in general most people who do monitor spanning do so with a 64mb+ graphics card. A 32mb card isn't considered "beefy" enough to do that kind of work, correct me if I'm wrong. The danger is that a 32mb card may overheat. So technically, spanning would cost more as it "requires" at least a 64mb card.
Originally posted by DMBand0026
True, but in general most people who do monitor spanning do so with a 64mb+ graphics card. A 32mb card isn't considered "beefy" enough to do that kind of work, correct me if I'm wrong. The danger is that a 32mb card may overheat. So technically, spanning would cost more as it "requires" at least a 64mb card.
The PowerBook G4 (DVI) came with a 32MB graphics cards and managed it successfully. I also think the Gigabit Ethernet models managed it on a 16MB ATI Mobility Radeon (Apple doesn't suggest this themselves, but other websites do).
2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.
Barto
Originally posted by Barto
I'm positive that Apple will have an all superdrive line up in a year or so. I'm pretty sure they won't make a big deal about it, because it's kinda expected. Like they didn't make a big deal about dropping the G3.
Oh wait and see. Steve'll LOVE this!
2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.
Does Quartz Extreme use main memory as VRAM (more practical over
AGP than PCI) ?
Originally posted by Barto
1) Support costs, development costs, quality control costs...
2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.
1. It doesn't cost any more to develop, because the work's already been done (hello PowerBook) and the cards support it. I think Apple's got more to worry about w.r.t. quality control than just the cost, judging by some of the stuff that they've shipped recently.
2. What currently shipping machine doesn't ship with a graphics card with less than 32MB?
Originally posted by Barto
2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.
Barto
On my old 550 Mhz TiBook with 16 MB VRAM Quartz Extreme would just turn off when a second monitor was attached (and, honestly, I didn't notice any huge difference). I used monitor spanning a lot with not problems. The most complex things I did with it was run VPC or a full-screen QuickTime on the 2nd monitor and everything was smooth, except for the speed of VPC on 256 RAM
On the subject of spanning, has anyone tried the spanning hack on the G4 iBook? I know people on other boards say it works but some 1st had comments here would be nice. I'm guessing that the hack kills the warranty?
Originally posted by Stoo
Does Quartz Extreme use main memory as VRAM (more practical over
AGP than PCI) ?
AGP moves data into main memory when the VRAM is full, but Quartz Extreme turns off when this occurs (main memory is just too slow).
Barto