The iBook 12-inch does dominate, but the Powerbook hasn't been updates in ages.
I think its safe to say a lot more 12-inch Powerbooks are sold than 17-inch.
I don't doubt that. But the 12-inch iBook has really blurred the lines. It has almost single-handedly put the PowerBook out of business. If the 12-inch iBook accommodated the SuperDrive, what then would be the point of the 12-inch PowerBook? After all, a lot notebooks in the 12-inch iBook's price category from PC manufacturers are starting to offer DVD burners.
To start selling more 17-inch PowerBooks, Apple has to make them less expensive. They are also more of a desktop replacement and less easy to tote around. I have a 17-inch PowerBook and there are days when I wish I had a 15-inch PowerBook, but I don't like the backlight and the flat panel they use in the 15-inch. There's something off with the display that drives me fucking crazy.
I'm amazed that Apple has yet to spiral down the widescreen displays to the lower-end notebook tiers like their competitors have (Toshiba, Sony, HP). The rumored 14-inch widescreen iBook is due in October according to a few sources, even cited in an A.I. front page story awhile back.
I can only hope that Apple does something aggressive. I would actually like to downsize, and I don't know if I can wait for Intel. I don't see the value in a 12-inch PowerBook when I can get essentially the same thing in a 12-inch iBook. The displays in both 12-inch portables are horrible. And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
I'm amazed that Apple has yet to spiral down the widescreen displays to the lower-end notebook tiers like their competitors have (Toshiba, Sony, HP). The rumored 14-inch widescreen iBook is due in October according to a few sources, even cited in an A.I. front page story awhile back.
I can only hope that Apple does something aggressive. I would actually like to downsize, and I don't know if I can wait for Intel. I don't see the value in a 12-inch PowerBook when I can get essentially the same thing in a 12-inch iBook. The displays in both 12-inch portables are horrible. And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
- Dave
Bang on Dave. I've been waiting for Apple to come out with a laptop that fills that sweet spot between usability and portability. I've seen PC laptops from HP and Compaq with 14" widescreens and they look great. (BTW, I like the Vivid? moniker).
If it weren't for me getting a 15" from work in the next few weeks, I would be first in line for a 14"WS Powerbook.
And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
- Dave
Well, you may very well be accurate with this prediction. I can only hope you're wrong. I'd have no idea what Mac I'd buy, if this were to happen. I want a small notebook, but I also need to use my cinema display at my desktop, so the 12-inch works perfect, for me.
We shall see. I'd accept a 13 or 14-inch widescreen, but I don't see that until Intel.
The guy who runs "Your Mac Life" (which I'd never read before so I have no idea how reliable he is) says he got a sneak peek of the Apple stand in Paris, with all the current products on display *except* the notebooks, and a curtained-off area:
Originally posted by The One to Rescue Re: my post on 64-bit Powerbooks
Well, only if Apple sticks enough RAM connectors on the mother board to support more than 4GB of memory (--> unlikely!!)
The higher RAM capacity allowed by 64-bit addressing is only ONE benifit of 64-bit computing. I myself have no current interest in packing in more than 4GB of RAM in a powerbook.
64-bit cpu's include other major features than 64-bit addressing, the most important of which is that the registers are twice as wide! This means the cpu can crunch numbers that are 2^32 times larger than those handled by 32-bit cpus. So when you have a 64-bit optimized OS and / or application, you're going to see a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE improvement in speed. It's practically like having two cores.
All things constant a dual core 64-bit cpu would effectively have 4x the performance of a single core 32-bit cpu under a well optimized OS like OS X(roughly). Why Intel would release another 32-bit chip this late in the game (Yonah) completely boggles my mind. They'll have their press releases and pretty stickers associated with it and hype it like's the most revolutionary thing of the century, but when it comes down to the specs and benchmarks it'll be lucky to come anywhere near a 970MP or even a 970FX, or anything from AMD for that matter.
I think you are missing the point ngmapple; 64 bit integer instructions provide no benefit unless you actually have a need to do so; more often than not the OS doesn't, and in the cases where it would find use would be negligible since they are cases that arise because of 64 bitness. Often times for your average task 64 bit CPUs are actually slower. as well.
the 64 bit benefits are largely in the realm of scientific calculation and certain types of rendering; the benefits people are seeing on the PC side are largely due to the instructional house cleaning the transition allowed.
A lot of this confusion stems from the fact that we label CPUs "32" "64" bit, whatever, when in fact their data pipes and even certain instructions are not so limited.
If they don't come out with one this month, I might have to get a G5 instead, which is not really what I want to do.
But I'm not sacrificing my screen res. I'm a designer. I need those pixels!
In Jan i explored all possibilities for running Motion and having a laptop including getting two computers etc. I have the top-of-the-range PowerBook 15" and it's blown away by a two year old 1.8GHz G5 with less VRAM and RAM. Get a G5 and an iBook. You can get a 2GHz G5 with 256 MB Graphics and 250 GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, wireless etc. with 20" display for only £2,000
My guess now is that any "minor" PB upgrades will finally come once this whole Student Union thing ends after tomorrow.
I've always wondered about the timing of that promo running right through the Paris expo. I suppose it only makes using the promo as a last ditch incentive to clear out older stock such as the mini iPod and existing PB's before perhaps announcing a new PB in October.
But who knows these days. Apple's been pretty good at keeping us on our toes.
My guess now is that any "minor" PB upgrades will finally come once this whole Student Union thing ends after tomorrow.
I've always wondered about the timing of that promo running right through the Paris expo. I suppose it only makes using the promo as a last ditch incentive to clear out older stock such as the mini iPod and existing PB's before perhaps announcing a new PB in October.
But who knows these days. Apple's been pretty good at keeping us on our toes.
No new PowerBook will be what we're looking for until they go Intel. Some people have even specualted that Apple will drop the line (yeah, right!). A HD resolution and minor upgrade in processor is all we can expect but the system bus speed is still awful. Oh well, we can see why Apple switched!
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
Dropped my Ti 2 feet on to a concrete floor, landed on it's little rubber feet (10, 10, 10) with no scratch and no problems. Do not want to try again.
Mine too TenDi! Pulled off a libarary table when someone pulled the power cord to see where it came from-- just bad luck on the angle. Not a think wrong AND it was open at the time!
The only trouble I've had with two of the Al books is the range of the Airport net because of the all metal shell.
Anecdotal evidence on my part, but my friend, whose family isn't that wealthy at all, thought the $600 difference between the SuperDrive PB 12" and the iBook was worth the cost, so she went with the slightly better model. She thought the iBook's plastic looked cheap.
So I think people underestimate the allure of the silver on the PBs. That said, a speed bump should only help that (probably tiny) audience.
Anecdotal evidence on my part, but my friend, whose family isn't that wealthy at all, thought the $600 difference between the SuperDrive PB 12" and the iBook was worth the cost, so she went with the slightly better model. She thought the iBook's plastic looked cheap.
So I think people underestimate the allure of the silver on the PBs. That said, a speed bump should only help that (probably tiny) audience.
If it was the superdrive that made the difference she should have bought an external drive. I'm sure the iBooks are more durable - the graphics is the only reason to pay more - being able to run motion.
Comments
Originally posted by ibook911
The iBook 12-inch does dominate, but the Powerbook hasn't been updates in ages.
I think its safe to say a lot more 12-inch Powerbooks are sold than 17-inch.
I don't doubt that. But the 12-inch iBook has really blurred the lines. It has almost single-handedly put the PowerBook out of business. If the 12-inch iBook accommodated the SuperDrive, what then would be the point of the 12-inch PowerBook? After all, a lot notebooks in the 12-inch iBook's price category from PC manufacturers are starting to offer DVD burners.
To start selling more 17-inch PowerBooks, Apple has to make them less expensive. They are also more of a desktop replacement and less easy to tote around. I have a 17-inch PowerBook and there are days when I wish I had a 15-inch PowerBook, but I don't like the backlight and the flat panel they use in the 15-inch. There's something off with the display that drives me fucking crazy.
I'm amazed that Apple has yet to spiral down the widescreen displays to the lower-end notebook tiers like their competitors have (Toshiba, Sony, HP). The rumored 14-inch widescreen iBook is due in October according to a few sources, even cited in an A.I. front page story awhile back.
I can only hope that Apple does something aggressive. I would actually like to downsize, and I don't know if I can wait for Intel. I don't see the value in a 12-inch PowerBook when I can get essentially the same thing in a 12-inch iBook. The displays in both 12-inch portables are horrible. And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
- Dave
Originally posted by DHagan4755
I'm amazed that Apple has yet to spiral down the widescreen displays to the lower-end notebook tiers like their competitors have (Toshiba, Sony, HP). The rumored 14-inch widescreen iBook is due in October according to a few sources, even cited in an A.I. front page story awhile back.
I can only hope that Apple does something aggressive. I would actually like to downsize, and I don't know if I can wait for Intel. I don't see the value in a 12-inch PowerBook when I can get essentially the same thing in a 12-inch iBook. The displays in both 12-inch portables are horrible. And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
- Dave
Bang on Dave. I've been waiting for Apple to come out with a laptop that fills that sweet spot between usability and portability. I've seen PC laptops from HP and Compaq with 14" widescreens and they look great. (BTW, I like the Vivid? moniker).
If it weren't for me getting a 15" from work in the next few weeks, I would be first in line for a 14"WS Powerbook.
Originally posted by hardeeharhar
That is debatable...
They don't survive 4 ft drops that is for sure...
Mine did.
Dented a bit but runs fine.
Originally posted by DHagan4755
And monitor spanning, DVI, and line-in isn't saving the 12-inch PowerBook. The rumors of the 12-inch PowerBooks demise seem only logical to me.
- Dave
Well, you may very well be accurate with this prediction. I can only hope you're wrong. I'd have no idea what Mac I'd buy, if this were to happen. I want a small notebook, but I also need to use my cinema display at my desktop, so the 12-inch works perfect, for me.
We shall see. I'd accept a 13 or 14-inch widescreen, but I don't see that until Intel.
http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/Web...y?newsID=14907
Originally posted by DHagan4755
Typical O'Grady fare. I will believe it when I see it.
Me too, but otherwise it does not contradict the evidence we have today.
http://www.yourmaclife.com/forum/vie....php?p=932#932
Plus Apple's refurb prices on the 15" 1.67 SuperDrive are down $100, to $1,899.
Sigh. This is the stuff that makes it hard to break the crippling rumor addiction...
Originally posted by The One to Rescue Re: my post on 64-bit Powerbooks
Well, only if Apple sticks enough RAM connectors on the mother board to support more than 4GB of memory (--> unlikely!!)
The higher RAM capacity allowed by 64-bit addressing is only ONE benifit of 64-bit computing. I myself have no current interest in packing in more than 4GB of RAM in a powerbook.
64-bit cpu's include other major features than 64-bit addressing, the most important of which is that the registers are twice as wide! This means the cpu can crunch numbers that are 2^32 times larger than those handled by 32-bit cpus. So when you have a 64-bit optimized OS and / or application, you're going to see a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE improvement in speed. It's practically like having two cores.
All things constant a dual core 64-bit cpu would effectively have 4x the performance of a single core 32-bit cpu under a well optimized OS like OS X(roughly). Why Intel would release another 32-bit chip this late in the game (Yonah) completely boggles my mind. They'll have their press releases and pretty stickers associated with it and hype it like's the most revolutionary thing of the century, but when it comes down to the specs and benchmarks it'll be lucky to come anywhere near a 970MP or even a 970FX, or anything from AMD for that matter.
the 64 bit benefits are largely in the realm of scientific calculation and certain types of rendering; the benefits people are seeing on the PC side are largely due to the instructional house cleaning the transition allowed.
A lot of this confusion stems from the fact that we label CPUs "32" "64" bit, whatever, when in fact their data pipes and even certain instructions are not so limited.
Originally posted by cinder
I am also looking to buy a new Powerbook
but only if they push it to 1920x1200 resolution.
I do not want to go down in resolution.
If they don't come out with one this month, I might have to get a G5 instead, which is not really what I want to do.
But I'm not sacrificing my screen res. I'm a designer. I need those pixels!
In Jan i explored all possibilities for running Motion and having a laptop including getting two computers etc. I have the top-of-the-range PowerBook 15" and it's blown away by a two year old 1.8GHz G5 with less VRAM and RAM. Get a G5 and an iBook. You can get a 2GHz G5 with 256 MB Graphics and 250 GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, wireless etc. with 20" display for only £2,000
I've always wondered about the timing of that promo running right through the Paris expo. I suppose it only makes using the promo as a last ditch incentive to clear out older stock such as the mini iPod and existing PB's before perhaps announcing a new PB in October.
But who knows these days. Apple's been pretty good at keeping us on our toes.
Originally posted by satchmo
My guess now is that any "minor" PB upgrades will finally come once this whole Student Union thing ends after tomorrow.
I've always wondered about the timing of that promo running right through the Paris expo. I suppose it only makes using the promo as a last ditch incentive to clear out older stock such as the mini iPod and existing PB's before perhaps announcing a new PB in October.
But who knows these days. Apple's been pretty good at keeping us on our toes.
No new PowerBook will be what we're looking for until they go Intel. Some people have even specualted that Apple will drop the line (yeah, right!). A HD resolution and minor upgrade in processor is all we can expect but the system bus speed is still awful. Oh well, we can see why Apple switched!
Originally posted by hardeeharhar
That is debatable...
They don't survive 4 ft drops that is for sure...
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
Originally posted by spyder
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
how can you drop a laptop so many times?
Originally posted by spyder
I witnessed my friend knock our bosses brand new Alumbook off about a 4 foot high desk and it dropped onto a marble floor. Worked great and didn't have a scratch on it. I've dropped mine at least 3 times from about a 3 foot height, and it's still good to go. So no, it's not for sure.
On the other hand, the TiBooks are flimsy pieces of crap.
Dropped my Ti 2 feet on to a concrete floor, landed on it's little rubber feet (10, 10, 10) with no scratch and no problems. Do not want to try again.
Originally posted by TednDi
Mine did.
Dented a bit but runs fine.
Mine too TenDi! Pulled off a libarary table when someone pulled the power cord to see where it came from-- just bad luck on the angle. Not a think wrong AND it was open at the time!
The only trouble I've had with two of the Al books is the range of the Airport net because of the all metal shell.
So I think people underestimate the allure of the silver on the PBs. That said, a speed bump should only help that (probably tiny) audience.
Originally posted by FireEmblemPride
Anecdotal evidence on my part, but my friend, whose family isn't that wealthy at all, thought the $600 difference between the SuperDrive PB 12" and the iBook was worth the cost, so she went with the slightly better model. She thought the iBook's plastic looked cheap.
So I think people underestimate the allure of the silver on the PBs. That said, a speed bump should only help that (probably tiny) audience.
If it was the superdrive that made the difference she should have bought an external drive. I'm sure the iBooks are more durable - the graphics is the only reason to pay more - being able to run motion.