AluBook's removable grafixcard?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Xlr8yourmac.com reports that the grafix cards might be changeable! Can anyone confirm this? Because then we have a new gamer-mac in sight..



OT: *Grr* Why/when did flood-control change from 60 seconds to 90?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    I believe it was Oct 2002.



    heh heh
  • Reply 2 of 20
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Whoa. If this thing has a removable/upgradeable graphics card, I would find a way to buy it.



    This could just be the icing on the cake excuse I need to get one.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    Interesting if true. Hope it would also apply to the 12".



    <a href="http://xlr8yourmac.com/archives/jan03/010803.html#S14921"; target="_blank">http://xlr8yourmac.com/archives/jan03/010803.html#S14921</a>;
  • Reply 4 of 20
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    "I guess the 17" models must be selling well - as of last night the Apple Store est. delivery date was "7-10 weeks". (2 1/2 months? Yikes...) Right after the keynote I saw 5-7 weeks and I noted yesterday in the PB G4 17" features after the keynote shipping was to start in Feb.

    "



    holy buckets, seems that this was a popular item. i'll have to stop by and Apple Store and take a look at one.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    [quote]Originally posted by alcimedes:

    <strong>"I guess the 17" models must be selling well - as of last night the Apple Store est. delivery date was "7-10 weeks". (2 1/2 months? Yikes...) Right after the keynote I saw 5-7 weeks and I noted yesterday in the PB G4 17" features after the keynote shipping was to start in Feb.

    "



    holy buckets, seems that this was a popular item. i'll have to stop by and Apple Store and take a look at one.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I asked my dealer if he could swing by and show me the new PowerBooks when he got them and he said that one customer just ordered 8 (eight) 17" PowerBooks.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    So is the graphics card in the 12" MiniPB removable? If so I won't hesitate to get one!
  • Reply 7 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by JLL:

    <strong>



    I asked my dealer if he could swing by and show me the new PowerBooks when he got them and he said that one customer just ordered 8 (eight) 17" PowerBooks.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Hvem hulen har brug for SÅ mange? :confused:

    DR Derude, eller hvad? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>So is the graphics card in the 12" MiniPB removable? If so I won't hesitate to get one!</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Im tempted on the 17" due to its clearly superior OpenGL, since im a gamer but also in the need of something portable for my studies.

    The 12" performes to bad compared to the iBook to be worth the price..



    [ 01-09-2003: Message edited by: T'hain Esh Kelch ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 20
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Don't put too much stock in the fact that the GPU's on a daughtercard.



    What that tells me is that Apple rejiggered things so as to be able to easily drop in GPUs that are not pin-compatible - if nothing else, to be able to offer both ATi and nVIDIA solutions without having to make two motherboards.



    I'm sure some enterprising aftermarket company will reverse engineer the connector and offer upgrades - they always do - but expect it to void your warranty, and don't be too surprised if they ask you to mail them your PowerBook so that a trained technician can make the replacement. I would be shocked and amazed if Apple intended the daughtercard to be replaced by the end user.



    For better or for worse, they just don't do things that way.



    [ edits: I appear to have forgotten English ]



    [ 01-09-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 20
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    [quote]I'm sure some enterprising aftermarket company will reverse engineer the connector and offer upgrades - they always do - but expect it to void your warranty, and don't be too surprised if they ask you to mail them your PowerBook so that a trained technician can make the replacement. I would be shocked and amazed if Apple intended the daughtercard to be replaced by the end user.<hr></blockquote>



    But that's actually besides the point. If I had the ability to upgrade the graphics card in my Pismo, I would upgrade the system to a G4 or G3/800, throw in some more RAM, buy a larger hard drive, and get the new graphics card installed instead of buying a new machine.



    There is no such upgrade for the Pismo- I'm stuck with the same ATi Rage Pro with 8 MB of VRAM. There's no use for me in upgrading the processor or doing other upgrades if the graphics card's limitations is what's holding me back.



    If I thought there was a better chance of the graphics card being upgradeable in the new PowerBooks, it would be a major selling point to me.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    Dell's 8200 (a diferent concept of the desktop replacement) can do it, so why not Lapzilla?
  • Reply 11 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by Jet Powers:

    <strong>Dell's 8200 (a diferent concept of the desktop replacement) can do it, so why not Lapzilla?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    When you make a laptop with a heat tempered Alloy carapace that's torx screwed together to form a .75" thick body, you're going to have to make serious efforts to squeeze everything in there as minally as possible while maintaining good structural and stable properties.



    If you've ever taken apart a powerbook, it's not easy. It can't be easy. It's not that they want to make it hard for you. Apple was the first company to come out with a fold-open box, after all, (8600) and has generally been the design leader in the field of easy-to-open machines.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    icruiseicruise Posts: 127member
    [quote]Originally posted by Fran441:

    <strong>



    But that's actually besides the point. If I had the ability to upgrade the graphics card in my Pismo, I would upgrade the system to a G4 or G3/800, throw in some more RAM, buy a larger hard drive, and get the new graphics card installed instead of buying a new machine.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Which is exactly why Apple isn't likely to do this -- they want to force you to buy a new machine, not allow you to upgrade your years-old Powerbook.



    Incidentally, I am pretty much in the same boat as you -- the Pismo's graphics chip is the one thing about it that really annoys me, and is one of the main reasons I want a new machine.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    [quote]Originally posted by T'hain Esh Kelch:

    <strong>

    Hvem hulen har brug for SÅ mange?

    DR Derude, eller hvad?

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Ja, der er nok nogen, som bliver glade et eller andet sted
  • Reply 14 of 20
    what is there preventing me form upgrading my graphics card ti867- it must be possible
  • Reply 15 of 20
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by ottdog:

    <strong>what is there preventing me form upgrading my graphics card ti867- it must be possible</strong><hr></blockquote>



    1. its integrated into the motherboard (soldered in)

    2. what would you put in its place if it was removable?
  • Reply 16 of 20
    akacakac Posts: 512member
    Because its sodered to the motherboard and probably has specific pinouts that the newer graphics chips don't match with.



    A daughtercard lets you put in a brand new chipset that has no relation to the current one.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    At the very least wouldn't we be able to replace the 420 Go in the 12" with the 440 Go in the 17"? This new info is really making me happy about buying the 12". Maybe even the 4400? I wish I could pry open a 12" now and see if there's a lot of space for the daughtercard or if it's cramped and thereby restricting the kinds of graphics cards we could replace it with.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    jante99jante99 Posts: 539member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aquatic:

    <strong>At the very least wouldn't we be able to replace the 420 Go in the 12" with the 440 Go in the 17"? This new info is really making me happy about buying the 12". Maybe even the 4400? I wish I could pry open a 12" now and see if there's a lot of space for the daughtercard or if it's cramped and thereby restricting the kinds of graphics cards we could replace it with.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Who would buy a 17" Powerbook simply to take out the 440 Go and put it in a 12". that would be the most expensive labtop graphics card ever!



    Of course some one with money to burn is likely to try to do this and then resell it on ebay for an absurd price.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    No I mean perhaps we might be able to buy OEM 440 Go's online somewhere. Or upgrade comanies like PowerLogix will take care of it. If it really is upgradeable PowerLogix and Sonnet will come through.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by icruise:

    <strong>Incidentally, I am pretty much in the same boat as you -- the Pismo's graphics chip is the one thing about it that really annoys me, and is one of the main reasons I want a new machine.</strong><hr></blockquote>I own a Rev A Ti .. same graphics card .. same issue
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