Well, I'm expecting nothing less than a 15cm diameter puck that holographically emits a monitor and any other interface device imaginable.
I'm not buying until at least 3 of them are unimaginable.
BTW, for the question upthread: "jones" is slang for "hunger" or "desire." It came out during the Titanium PowerBook phase that Steve wasn't happy that it wasn't black. Then, well, it went aluminum. Heh. I guess the combination of great sales and the difficulty of reliably painting or anodizing the metal overruled him. (I'm not sure about aluminum, but titanium only anodizes into iridescent gem tones).
yea i would say no new update in the powerbook design anytime soon. As you can see the upper end (powerbooks, powermacs and the new displays) all have that alluminum look.imacs and ibook have the white and grey look. I think both are pretty sweet. No need for a design change unless one posses has a big problem.. But O how the G5 powerbook will be nice.. someday someday..
I think a lot could be done to make them scratch and dent resistant.
Well, dents and cracks, though esthetically displeasing, are good ways of absorbing energy from a fall, no?
I always thought that making a laptop case extremely rigid would be counter productive. Don't you risk having all the energy (which has to go *somewhere*) end up at a much more sensitive part, like the MB?
Well, dents and cracks, though esthetically displeasing, are good ways of absorbing energy from a fall, no?
I always thought that making a laptop case extremely rigid would be counter productive. Don't you risk having all the energy (which has to go *somewhere*) end up at a much more sensitive part, like the MB?
Um, ok, point taken. I haven't yet dropped my PowerBook, so I guess I should have just said "scratch resistant." I'm not sure what could be done. All I know is that the slightest scuff to an iBook or PowerBook makes a pretty ugly scar.
I'd like them to be like the original IceBook with an outer clear case, and make that case easily (and inexpensively) replaceable. Go ahead and gouge it all to heck, you can replace it next week.
I think too many people here have a processer fetish. I mean yeah processors are important but they are certianly not the only componet that can be improved. In fact people do buy macs for the CPU, lets get realistic here. IF it was the CPU that sold all computer people would try to buy the best most advanced processor for the price. But its not speed that sells its what you can do with it.
My predicitions for new powerbooks...
1. Apple goes to widescreen format on all powerbooks including the 12.1" As this seems to be the market trend. Also might see higher resolutions, though doubtful
2. Firewire 800 on all machines, as well as airport
3. New videocards, lets face it the 5200 is a weak card, we'll probably see 9800's at the top end, if it dosen't suck a lot of battery life, but the 9800 is marginally faster then a 9700. The 9800 is a joke for portabilty.
4. Better built in sound lets face it my ibook is pretty weak in that department.
5. Faster CPU's probably with larger L2 cache and a faster FSB, maybe a bump to DDR400
I think all changes will be minor an incremental. We might see dual core CPU's apple seems to be going that direction with all their computers. I would suspect that apple would like a dual core G4 so they can claim to be first with a dual core notebook.
I expect minor bumps with perhaps a few more options. Prices lowered overall. If G5 PowerBooks are delayed even longer, these models could still be bumped slightly for one more revision.
1. Apple goes to widescreen format on all powerbooks including the 12.1"
Widescreen would greatly help the 12" differentiate itself physically from the iBook. Metal, color, whatever they do; with that 4:3 screen it still screams iBook to me.
Carbon fibre has electrical transmission issues, too. Hence the windows in the later Titanium 'Books for WiFi.
Maybe they could reverse the design - aluminum frame, carbon shell pieces, WiFi in plastic display bezel like AlBooks.
I'd definitely like to see a stronger Powerbook structure, though. When you pick up a TiBook, it always feels like it's flexing so much in the bottom center (hence logic board issues???), so I've become accustomed to picking mine up by the sides. Real gently.
Shouldn't have to be so delicate with something called a "Power" anything.
Widescreen would greatly help the 12" differentiate itself physically from the iBook. Metal, color, whatever they do; with that 4:3 screen it still screams iBook to me.
I agree. I'd only consider the 12" PowerBook if it featured widescreen, but I'd also want the backlit keyboard and other features too. Otherwise, its 15" for me.
I've used a rev A Titanium for over 3 years and couldn't see not keeping widescreen.
No offense, but the backlit keyboard is the most over-sold useless feature I've ever seen. I've got one on my PowerBook and haven't had need for it once, since the screen lights up the silver keys just fine. I think a wide screen (13"?) on the small PowerBook is a good idea and would help differentiate it from the iBook, but skip the lighted keyboard and keep it $100 cheaper than it might be otherwise, thanks.
No offense, but the backlit keyboard is the most over-sold useless feature I've ever seen. I've got one on my PowerBook and haven't had need for it once, since the screen lights up the silver keys just fine. I think a wide screen (13"?) on the small PowerBook is a good idea and would help differentiate it from the iBook, but skip the lighted keyboard and keep it $100 cheaper than it might be otherwise, thanks.
Hell, I use it all the time. Edit in a dark room, to make sure the colors are right, it comes in handy and it doesn't kill your night-vision like those USB led lights do. I would BTO it if it didn't come standard, it's more than worth it to me.
No offense, but the backlit keyboard is the most over-sold useless feature I've ever seen. I've got one on my PowerBook and haven't had need for it once, since the screen lights up the silver keys just fine.
Am I the only one to find the screen light inadequate to illuminate the keyboard? In my 12", I have to try to find the keys in the dark, since the light levels of the screen and of the keyboard under the screen light are significantly different and the eye has to adapt. I wish it had the backlit keyboard.
It's been mentioned already, but the one thing that Apple has not yet offered is a better resolution on the PBs. WXGA does not cut it on a professional notebook - way too blocky pixels.
I have a 1.5GHz 15.2" PB with 1280x800. I also have a Compaq 1.6GHz P-M 15.4" with 1680x1050. Features and build quality are otherwise pretty much the same. However, the screen on my Compaq is noticeably nicer than on the more expensive PB; razor-sharp fonts and much larger screen real-estate which translates to much less scrolling around in Excel, web-browsers etc. And no; 1680x1050 is not too small, unless you have impaired vision.
If you can't bump up the processor or the GPU what else is left but the battery or the screen?
I have a 1.5GHz 15.2" PB with 1280x800. I also have a Compaq 1.6GHz P-M 15.4" with 1680x1050. Features and build quality are otherwise pretty much the same. However, the screen on my Compaq is noticeably nicer than on the more expensive PB; razor-sharp fonts and much larger screen real-estate which translates to much less scrolling around in Excel, web-browsers etc. And no; 1680x1050 is not too small, unless you have impaired vision.
Or you do want to work comfortably. My wife's Dell has a 15" screen at 1920 x 1200. While I agree that such displays are much more sharp, there is no way to use it at such resolution without binoculars. Me at least. And I have not impaired vision. Just a personal preference.
Or you do want to work comfortably. My wife's Dell has a 15" screen at 1920 x 1200. While I agree that such displays are much more sharp, there is no way to use it at such resolution without binoculars. Me at least. And I have not impaired vision. Just a personal preference.
So 1920x1200 is the new 1680x1050? ;-) Personally I'd love a slightly higher resolution display on the Powerbooks. Couple that with better color quality and higher brightness.
So 1920x1200 is the new 1680x1050? ;-) Personally I'd love a slightly higher resolution display on the Powerbooks. Couple that with better color quality and higher brightness.
You do realize that higher resolution correlates to lower brightness and narrower viewing angles in LCDs, right?
To the poster who said that high resolutions are only a problem to people whose vision is impaired: The majority of the adult population has impaired vision, not least from years of staring at monitors.
We have a bunch of Dells with 1600x1200 screens. Every last one of them runs at 1024x768. This is the worst of all possible worlds: The screens are darker, blurrier than if we'd just ordered native 1024x768 screens, and more expensive on top of that. High resolution screens are not necessarily a feature. Not yet.
Comments
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Well, I'm expecting nothing less than a 15cm diameter puck that holographically emits a monitor and any other interface device imaginable.
I'm not buying until at least 3 of them are unimaginable.
BTW, for the question upthread: "jones" is slang for "hunger" or "desire." It came out during the Titanium PowerBook phase that Steve wasn't happy that it wasn't black. Then, well, it went aluminum. Heh. I guess the combination of great sales and the difficulty of reliably painting or anodizing the metal overruled him. (I'm not sure about aluminum, but titanium only anodizes into iridescent gem tones).
by the Mac laptops, In shape it looks exatly like the 15inch PowerBook, the bottom part is Aluminum but the top
is in white plastic.
Altough it's a blatant ripoff it will undermine Apples unike design. I think the current Apple designs are fantastic
and don't need an update but they need to respond to state that there one step ahead.
Apple has for a long time now been in the for front of experimenting with materials for there laptops and I think
they should continue to do this since that is the only way to diffretiate a laptop.
Cabon fiber could look great when you do that woven kind of thing, although i would prefer a powerbook in gold (24k)
Viktor
Originally posted by iDave
I think a lot could be done to make them scratch and dent resistant.
Well, dents and cracks, though esthetically displeasing, are good ways of absorbing energy from a fall, no?
I always thought that making a laptop case extremely rigid would be counter productive. Don't you risk having all the energy (which has to go *somewhere*) end up at a much more sensitive part, like the MB?
Originally posted by jouster
Well, dents and cracks, though esthetically displeasing, are good ways of absorbing energy from a fall, no?
I always thought that making a laptop case extremely rigid would be counter productive. Don't you risk having all the energy (which has to go *somewhere*) end up at a much more sensitive part, like the MB?
Um, ok, point taken. I haven't yet dropped my PowerBook, so I guess I should have just said "scratch resistant." I'm not sure what could be done. All I know is that the slightest scuff to an iBook or PowerBook makes a pretty ugly scar.
My predicitions for new powerbooks...
1. Apple goes to widescreen format on all powerbooks including the 12.1" As this seems to be the market trend. Also might see higher resolutions, though doubtful
2. Firewire 800 on all machines, as well as airport
3. New videocards, lets face it the 5200 is a weak card, we'll probably see 9800's at the top end, if it dosen't suck a lot of battery life, but the 9800 is marginally faster then a 9700. The 9800 is a joke for portabilty.
4. Better built in sound lets face it my ibook is pretty weak in that department.
5. Faster CPU's probably with larger L2 cache and a faster FSB, maybe a bump to DDR400
I think all changes will be minor an incremental. We might see dual core CPU's apple seems to be going that direction with all their computers. I would suspect that apple would like a dual core G4 so they can claim to be first with a dual core notebook.
Originally posted by rottenspam
1. Apple goes to widescreen format on all powerbooks including the 12.1"
Widescreen would greatly help the 12" differentiate itself physically from the iBook. Metal, color, whatever they do; with that 4:3 screen it still screams iBook to me.
Maybe they could reverse the design - aluminum frame, carbon shell pieces, WiFi in plastic display bezel like AlBooks.
I'd definitely like to see a stronger Powerbook structure, though. When you pick up a TiBook, it always feels like it's flexing so much in the bottom center (hence logic board issues???), so I've become accustomed to picking mine up by the sides. Real gently.
Shouldn't have to be so delicate with something called a "Power" anything.
Originally posted by IonYz
Widescreen would greatly help the 12" differentiate itself physically from the iBook. Metal, color, whatever they do; with that 4:3 screen it still screams iBook to me.
I agree. I'd only consider the 12" PowerBook if it featured widescreen, but I'd also want the backlit keyboard and other features too. Otherwise, its 15" for me.
I've used a rev A Titanium for over 3 years and couldn't see not keeping widescreen.
BTO is fine
Originally posted by iDave
No offense, but the backlit keyboard is the most over-sold useless feature I've ever seen. I've got one on my PowerBook and haven't had need for it once, since the screen lights up the silver keys just fine. I think a wide screen (13"?) on the small PowerBook is a good idea and would help differentiate it from the iBook, but skip the lighted keyboard and keep it $100 cheaper than it might be otherwise, thanks.
Hell, I use it all the time. Edit in a dark room, to make sure the colors are right, it comes in handy and it doesn't kill your night-vision like those USB led lights do. I would BTO it if it didn't come standard, it's more than worth it to me.
Originally posted by iDave
No offense, but the backlit keyboard is the most over-sold useless feature I've ever seen. I've got one on my PowerBook and haven't had need for it once, since the screen lights up the silver keys just fine.
Am I the only one to find the screen light inadequate to illuminate the keyboard? In my 12", I have to try to find the keys in the dark, since the light levels of the screen and of the keyboard under the screen light are significantly different and the eye has to adapt. I wish it had the backlit keyboard.
I have a 1.5GHz 15.2" PB with 1280x800. I also have a Compaq 1.6GHz P-M 15.4" with 1680x1050. Features and build quality are otherwise pretty much the same. However, the screen on my Compaq is noticeably nicer than on the more expensive PB; razor-sharp fonts and much larger screen real-estate which translates to much less scrolling around in Excel, web-browsers etc. And no; 1680x1050 is not too small, unless you have impaired vision.
If you can't bump up the processor or the GPU what else is left but the battery or the screen?
Originally posted by versu
I have a 1.5GHz 15.2" PB with 1280x800. I also have a Compaq 1.6GHz P-M 15.4" with 1680x1050. Features and build quality are otherwise pretty much the same. However, the screen on my Compaq is noticeably nicer than on the more expensive PB; razor-sharp fonts and much larger screen real-estate which translates to much less scrolling around in Excel, web-browsers etc. And no; 1680x1050 is not too small, unless you have impaired vision.
Or you do want to work comfortably. My wife's Dell has a 15" screen at 1920 x 1200. While I agree that such displays are much more sharp, there is no way to use it at such resolution without binoculars. Me at least. And I have not impaired vision. Just a personal preference.
Originally posted by PB
Or you do want to work comfortably. My wife's Dell has a 15" screen at 1920 x 1200. While I agree that such displays are much more sharp, there is no way to use it at such resolution without binoculars. Me at least. And I have not impaired vision. Just a personal preference.
So 1920x1200 is the new 1680x1050? ;-) Personally I'd love a slightly higher resolution display on the Powerbooks. Couple that with better color quality and higher brightness.
Originally posted by Gavriel
So 1920x1200 is the new 1680x1050? ;-) Personally I'd love a slightly higher resolution display on the Powerbooks. Couple that with better color quality and higher brightness.
You do realize that higher resolution correlates to lower brightness and narrower viewing angles in LCDs, right?
To the poster who said that high resolutions are only a problem to people whose vision is impaired: The majority of the adult population has impaired vision, not least from years of staring at monitors.
We have a bunch of Dells with 1600x1200 screens. Every last one of them runs at 1024x768. This is the worst of all possible worlds: The screens are darker, blurrier than if we'd just ordered native 1024x768 screens, and more expensive on top of that. High resolution screens are not necessarily a feature. Not yet.