12" inch powerbook deceptive piece of junk

[jefhatfield]

it's not a powerbook

it's not suited for professional use

it's...well, a slightly warmed up ibook!!!:rolleyes:

[daniel77]

am i the only one who thinks the new pb's, the footlong and the porn star are ugly?? they look cheap

[jefhatfield]

and the 12 inch screen is too small to see with its resolution

and the casing is aluminum instead of real titanium...what a ripoff

and they call the thing a powerbook...it's a failure like the cube...that worthless piece of plastic

[bousozoku]

We've been screaming for an iBook with a G4. There's the 12 inch. It's more than iBook prices and it's less than PowerBook prices. It's perfectly placed.

Okay, it's a compromise of iBook and a few PowerBook pieces. Remember the Duo series. They were quite powerful but they were smaller and compromised too.

I'm still trying to see where the name PowerBook has Titanium in it. Alumi scratches less, flexes less, and costs less. It's a good solution to the complaints about the Titanium.

[MacAztec]

I dont see how you think this.

Its not for people who want a mobile desktop. Its for students/adults that want a MOBILE laptop.

The aluminum is stronger (I believe) and does NOT scratch, and gets you better airport reception.

The cube was just ahead of its time. I think a cube would be a perfect addition to a home entertainment setup. Its small, fast, and well....its nice!'

[Freg3000]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
the 12 inch screen is too small to see with its resolution

Well, I infrequently hear many people complain about a screen resolution too high. I suppose you could always lower it to 800 X 600.

Originally posted by jefhatfield
the casing is aluminum instead of real titanium...what a ripoff


I actually prefer aluminum over titanium. It's hard anodized and not painted. I think it will hold up better than with 15 inch Powerbooks.

Originally posted by jefhatfield
they call the thing a powerbook

Well, just think of it as a super iBook, that's basically what it is.

Anyway, i think calling it a worthless piece of plastic is a bit overboard. Whatever-to each his own. :)

[beez7777]

I saw it today at my local Apple store, and it was actually pretty nice. it felt more sturdy than the TiBooks, and was nice and compact. I thought it was cool, but i'm really looking forward to playing with the 17", but it won't be at the store until the end of february. :(

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
...it's a failure like the cube...that worthless piece of plastic

pops, don't make me not want to talk to you anymore.

I'm running the fanless, compact supercomputer and I can't hear it running (I do have Beastie Boys on, and I have a fan in the back of my room running louder than the Cube). The machine performs well. Plus, you can upgrade the processor to dual 1GHz and still pump 1GB of RAM. Tel me that's worthless and be lieing. Chances of that happening are around 100 percent. :rolleyes:

As for the 12 inch Powerbook, this really is the iBook G4 many of us have wanted to see. I think this is the beginning of the end of the iBook (except for educational sales and extreme low-end users). We have the first 12 inch LCD portable supercomputer with PC2100 memory, and you are going to treat it like something you dug out of your ear? I guess it depends on how one defines "professional use", but right now I can't think of one supercomputer iBook made of aluminum casing and has a G4. I can think of one supercomputer Powerbook made of aluminum casing and has a G4, though. :cool:

[lmalave]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
and the 12 inch screen is too small to see with its resolution

and the casing is aluminum instead of real titanium...what a ripoff

and they call the thing a powerbook...it's a failure like the cube...that worthless piece of plastic

Well, to each his own, I guess. I think my 12" screen is fine at 1024x768.

And I haven't seen the AluBooks first hand, but a review from Forbes (or was it Fortune?) was raving about it - saying it had an ultra high quality feel "like that of a fine camera".

I don't think the 12" PowerBook will be a failure. Although bigger desktop replacements are the bulk of the market, smaller 12" notebooks are doing quite well as a niche. Personally, I still think the iBooks are a better deal, but at $1800 the PowerBook is still relatively competitive in the laptop market. I don't know if a G4, Bluetooth, and Airport Extreme are enough to justify the price difference over the iBook, though. I really think they need to figure out how to put a PCMCIA slot back in there. Expandability is part of what the "Power" line is supposed to be about, after all...

I see the 12" AluBook doing quite well, with most purchasers spending the extra 10% to get the SuperDrive option. 12" notebook with SuperDrive - you gotta admit that's pretty sweet!

[bentmywookie]

I still can't get over the fact that they only put 256 Kb of cache in there! Of all the places where they cut back on the 12" powerbook, that was truly a poor decision in my book. Second is the fact that memory only goes up to 640 megs - it really should be a gig (at least).

The lack of PCMCIA slot I can personally live with. The GeForce 420 - I think there are smarter choices out there, but still not a major gripe in my book.

The decision to cut the cache was really not smart.

[jefhatfield]

great to hear the pros and cons on this machine...thank you guys!

i especially want to hear the "cons" because i am seriously considering getting the 12" inch alubook/powerbook

for the money, i think it is one of the best products apple has ever put out and i just want to play devil's advocate and have you guys play devil's advocate and point out any weaknesses of this machine at this price

the way i see it, the machine, for the money, is flawless

the last time i felt this good about a computer was with the cube, which i tongue and cheek badmouthed

the cube is great due to the small size, quiet operation, and g4 chip

when the cube came out, even if it had a g3 chip in it, would have still made it one of the coolest machines around

but back to the 12 inch powerbook....strong, light, inexpensive, good for graphics with decent card and g4, and osx works better with g4's altivec...this machine has everything and for $200 dollars more, one can get superdrive

:D :D :D

[Freg3000]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
for the money, i think it is one of the best products apple has ever put out and i just want to play devil's advocate and have you guys play devil's advocate and point out any weaknesses of this machine at this price

I was confused before, because I was reading some other 12" Powerbook threads and your comments were very positive. So when I read this thread I was surprised. But you were just playing around with us. :)

Hope you like your new Powerbook if you decide to get it.

P.S. I would say the only draw back to the 12" AlBook is the small L2 cache. But hopefully the new G4 will resolve that.

[Tommy!]

12 " Powerbook through a higher education discount are very affordable. The 12" ComboDrive model is just $1499 from Dartmouth, that's 300$ off Apple's price. That's why I am seriously considering one for school. Personally, I view the 12" PowerBook as a 4.6 pound desktop replacement, as far as power is concerned.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Tommy!


I view the 12" PowerBook as a 4.6 pound desktop replacement, as far as power is concerned.



it is that and it would fill all desires

in reality, the ibook would fill my needs and do what i needed, just somewhat slower

the 700/800 mhz g3 sahara chip with the very generous 512k of L2 cache has made the current ibook an acceptable osx machine

[iJon]

luckily i get to play with one of these everytime i go to work. the new material is much more sturdy than the old ti's. it makes you feel like you can be a litte more rough with it. the heat is now redirected towards to top so now you palms get hot and the bottom doesnt even get warm. they put rubber grips at the top of the screen so the screen no longer touches the keyboard. there are two things i dont like about it, but they arent a big deal. first, the lockdown is near the bottom of the side, this is very annoying when you try to plug other things in, but most people dont lock down their laptop so its no that big of a deal. the second thing i dont like is that you cant swap out the battery when the computer is a sleep. they say you get 5 hours, but you are lucky to get 2 hours out of it when you are watching a movie, this means when you are on the plane your gonna have to shut down, swap batteries, and then boot back up and get back to the part in your movie. these of course are two very minor things. People who are thinking getting a powerbook, you may want to take a look at the barefeats comparisons, the powerbook barely beats the ibook. the ibook is cheaper, plus you can so spanning across monitors with a firmware hack on the ibook. just depends how much a dollar is worth to someone. im still getting a new powebook as soon as i sell my old one. if you guys have any more questions about the computer just let me know, i can probably answer it.

iJon

[rainman::|:|]

jefhatfield, don't ever scare me like that again.

*bitchslaps you with a trout*

:D
pnw

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
jefhatfield, don't ever scare me like that again.

*bitchslaps you with a trout*

:D
pnw

i just needed to make sure i didn't overlook something in the 12 inch powerbook

i can't wait to get my hands on one of those marvels:D

[Gelfin]

The one shortcoming I can think of right off is no PCMICA slot. I actually use mine, so that's important to me.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Gelfin
The one shortcoming I can think of right off is no PCMICA slot. I actually use mine, so that's important to me.

funny thing, with my pc laptop with a pcmcia on it, i have never once used the thing in the three years

but since i don't have an rj-45 port on the laptop, the pcmcia would be my only way to network the machine if i had to, but for home and small business use...i go with stand alones...one pc laptop and one ibook...and it has served my wife and me

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by lmalave
I really think they need to figure out how to put a PCMCIA slot back in there. Expandability is part of what the "Power" line is supposed to be about, after all... Take a look at this...

http://deafchurch.net/hdswap/

Maybe you can figure of how to squeeze in a PCMCIA slot into this thing when Apple engineers couldn't.

Though, there does seem to be enough space if you remove the logic board, or the battery. ;)

[moby1]

Did anyone else notice fingerprints all over the new 12" PowerBooks?

I saw one last night at my local Apple Store. It looked very well put together - very solid.

I tried to scratch it with my fingernail (sorry Steve) but it seemed to withstand it. Man, it looks like it really collects dirt though. Does aluminium have some property that makes oil & dirt stick to it?

I think the Apple Store employees will need to start carrying Windex.


moby1

[pimentoLoaf]

Maybe it's just my mouth and tongue, but it's easier to say AL'-oo-mac than AL'-oo-book.

(Of course, if you say a-LOO'-mac someone might think it's perfect whilst sitting down on the job...) ;)

[zoetropeuk]

The process is electrochemical which thickens and toughens the naturally-occurring protective oxide. The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to diamond. The anodic coating is part of the metal, but has a porous structure which allows secondary infusions, (i.e. organic and inorganic colouring, lubricity aids, etc.

check out the link. I know its not Apple but apparently it is very easy to add cool colours to the production process

http://www.beoworld.co.uk/anodising.htm

[Choppaface]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
and the casing is aluminum instead of real titanium...what a ripoff

you mean you want paint chips? I'd call the chipping tibooks that apple won't repair under warranty a ripoff....

[benixau]

hmmm decisions:

pbook that has paint chips or one that records every touch.

[Rajj]

Originally posted by Choppaface


you mean you want paint chips? I'd call the chipping tibooks that apple won't repair under warranty a ripoff.... Apple repainted my TiBook a couple of times!!!
All you have to say is: I didn’t spend $2700 for a Goddamn chipped (paint) PowerBook!! ;) :p :D

[vincentmeanie]

so in the pics of the alu book harddrive swap... I cant find the airport extreem card.... the apple site has it featured in all its mathcing grey glory, but in the torn down alu book, its no where to be seen..

are these cards no longer user installable?

[iJon]

Originally posted by vincentmeanie
so in the pics of the alu book harddrive swap... I cant find the airport extreem card.... the apple site has it featured in all its mathcing grey glory, but in the torn down alu book, its no where to be seen..

are these cards no longer user installable?
there is a door for it. If you remove the battery from the bottom you will see a little side door, i meant to take a picture of it but my battery went dead. next time i go to work i will take one. all i can say is the aiport extreme card is WAY smaller than the regular airport card. there is also a little rectangle on the bottom that you unscrew to put ram in. also on another note, you can no longer take off the keyboard from the top of the computer.

iJon

[pyrotoaster]

I've used the 12" AlBook at my Apple Store, and I like it. Even the employees at the store liked it. Mac people were flocking to it.
The Aluminum really is better than the Titanium, and the whole thing has a good feel to it.
An all around well designed notebook.
Originally posted by MacAztec
Its not for people who want a mobile desktop. Its for students/adults that want a MOBILE laptop.
I totally agree with you there. The 15" and (especially) 17" models are more mobile desktops. That doesn't mean you couldn't use the 12" as a desktop, I just see it as one awe-inspiring laptop (despite the lack of FW800 and the Memory limitations).
BTW, I liked to Cube! ;)

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Sun Baked
Take a look at this...

http://deafchurch.net/hdswap/

Maybe you can figure of how to squeeze in a PCMCIA slot into this thing when Apple engineers couldn't.

Though, there does seem to be enough space if you remove the logic board, or the battery. ;)
Two questions. Fist, is the IBM drive larger? Second, is the IBM drive faster? There's not much info. Any the home page only boasts about Jesus, which I haven't found, but still searching for.

[RowdyFROG]

Re: scratches

Not too sure about Al-oxide being the second hardest substance known to man, but I guess I'll take your word for it. Apple may as well make the shell out of diamond, with Aus prices on the current powerbooks it would probably be just as affordable - but that is another matter.

In any case, pardon the pun, anodised Al will still scratch, as will any metal. I have a few Al products with anodised coatings, even colours, and the surface does wear through handling, and any scratches are quite visible.

What I would like to see is how it stands up to the acidic nature of sweat and skin oils from hands and fingertips over time. I'd reckon other metals would be superior to Al in this regard - but they won't be as light.

...I still want one!

[AnotherMortal]

I just looked at the service manual (I work for an apple service center) and yes, like iJon said, the airport extreme slot is right inside the battery compartment.

Can't post the pics and such, but it looks more more accessible than it was on the iBooks, or the TiBooks. I also like the new location for memory on the Powerbook 12". .... "Just like my Dell" :rolleyes:

[alex_ant]

Originally posted by benixau
pbook that has paint chips or one that records every touch.
Hmm, well, if the Albook gets stolen and recovered, the police can do a fingerprint analysis to find out whose it is. :)

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by alex_ant
Hmm, well, if the Albook gets stolen and recovered, the police can do a fingerprint analysis to find out whose it is. :)

One problem with that...if a lot of PC users suddenly attract their fingers to the Al surface, there is going to be more than one person standing in front of a big, brown desk and someone in a black cloak. :D :D

[Mal]

My Dad's 12" PowerBook jsut arrived today, and I can now say with certainty that this is an amazing laptop. I used it for a presentation with iPhoto, and my friends, all PC users, were obsessed with it. I had to chase them away from the laptop because I needed to run the slides. It is awesome!!!

Jonathan

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by pyrotoaster


That doesn't mean you couldn't use the 12" as a desktop, I just see it as one awe-inspiring laptop (despite the lack of FW800 and the Memory limitations).



i got to finally try out the 12 inch albook today and i was impressed...while it was a little lighter and smaller than the 12 inch ibook, it felt more solid and durable

the 12 inch has the tibook credentials and with the monitor out , you've got a real desktop replacement for most of us...it would go good with 17 inch external lcd

dollar for dollar, it's just as good a bargain as the imac and the $999 ibook

value for the dollar is geting better and better with apple and at this rate, one day no one will accuse apple of being overpriced:D

[lmalave]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


i got to finally try out the 12 inch albook today and i was impressed...while it was a little lighter and smaller than the 12 inch ibook, it felt more solid and durable

the 12 inch has the tibook credentials and with the monitor out , you've got a real desktop replacement for most of us...it would go good with 17 inch external lcd

dollar for dollar, it's just as good a bargain as the imac and the $999 ibook

value for the dollar is geting better and better with apple and at this rate, one day no one will accuse apple of being overpriced:D

Yeah, man - the one thing missing is the CRT iMac upgraded to maybe the low-end iBook specs (700 MHz, 16MB VRAM ATI Radeon 7500, 20 GB drive), along with a price drop to $599. And the current $799 price point would have 800 MHz, 32MB VRAM, 30 GB Drive, and combo drive! And of course the low-end eMac, to stay competitive, would have to get a speed bump to 800 MHz along with a price drop to $999. So basically, for $200 more you get a G4, 17" screen, and 10GB more hard drive space, which I think sounds about right.

Man, oh, man, MAJOR switcherama if Apple were to surprise us all and announce that along with the upcoming FP iMac and eMac speed bumps /price drops. Can you imagine how those CRT iMacs would sell bundled with iLife? And if Apple REALLY wants to get saucy, they could even offer a Superdrive CRT iMac for $999. Can you IMAGINE the ruckus a sub-$1000 Mac with Superdrive would cause (of course the Superdrive eMac would have to be lowerd to $1299 and the Superdrive FP iMac to $1499). Man, if Apple can pull off those prices and still be profitable, they should do it! Their market share would double!

[markomarko]

Originally posted by iJon
People who are thinking getting a powerbook, you may want to take a look at the barefeats comparisons, the powerbook barely beats the ibook. the ibook is cheaper, plus you can so spanning across monitors with a firmware hack on the ibook.

iJon

OK, Just to clear something up and save a few people from themselves---

Only attempt the monitor spanning hack if you are willing to toast your ibook. Read up on it at www.xlr8yourmac.com and think hard about the risk before attempting it.

Second, If you are doing any G4 related activity, then the powerbook will be much faster, period. Just compare some imovie render benchmarks between and Ibook and anything with a G4. The difference is obvious. iJon is talking about an Xbench benchmark and from what I can see xbench doesn't represent the power and advantage of altivec adequately. Finder copies and render tests are key for me.

[vniow]

Originally posted by markomarko



Only attempt the monitor spanning hack if you are willing to toast your ibook. Read up on it at www.xlr8yourmac.com and think hard about the risk before attempting it.



That's only for the iBook models that have an unsupported video card (Rage chip), the ones built after that will be fine. (just so long as you follow the instructions to the letter)

[Kid Red]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
and the 12 inch screen is too small to see with its resolution

and the casing is aluminum instead of real titanium...what a ripoff


NO **** MORON, why do you think they call it ALUMINUM POWERBOOK? :rolleyes:

This is the bumbest thread I've read on this site. Steve said on stage at the show, IT's MADE OF ALUMINUM BECAUSE IT'S STRONGER, AND WON'T HAVE THE CHIPPED PAINT ISSUE.

move on people, sorry for yelling.

[Kid Red]

Oh, you were trolling to get people to defend or attack the 12" powerbook for your sick personal pleasure. My bad for the post above.

[Das]

What most people don't seem to realize is that this is an ultraportable, not a laptop. When I was looking for a smaller PC ultraportable, the best I could find was a 1.13mhz PIII and a lot less options for about 2000 (Circuit City has them for 1799 or so now). So when you put things in proper comparison, the AI 12" is a pretty sweet deal. I need something that can fit in a backpack or brought to lunch, then go home and plug it into my 19” CRT for home use.

I am currently waiting for the student store to ship some of the AIbooks in. They are only $1569, which makes this a great deal. Mainly all I need it for is some light Photoshop (100 mb), Director, and Illustrator work so I was wondering how exactly it stacks up to the 867 mhz 15" pb. I was considering the 15" for the 9000 card, but the fact that it has all of the old features, skin, and that it costs 500 more put me off and I'm waaaaaaaaay too impatient to wait for the new 15's. Anyhoo, if anyone has some benchmarks could you please pretty please with marmalade on top, give me the link?

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by Kid Red
Oh, you were trolling to get people to defend or attack the 12" powerbook for your sick personal pleasure. My bad for the post above.

mmmmkay then...

see kiddies, this is why one reads a forum's posts before adding one's own gems of wisdom.

pnw

[King Cobra]

>see kiddies, this is why one reads a forum's posts before adding one's own gems of wisdom.

I feel for those poor sap newbies, who have to read the entire Poop thread to reply, then wake up the following morning after a horrible nightmare...and something in their pants. :p :eek:

My dream desktop replacement would be the 17 inch model, because my family and myself travel very often, and my iBook 466 is a little iffy in some areas (320MB memory max., that one red stuck pixel on the side of the screen which is as hard to avoid as trying to not look at someone wearing a pink shirt to work), and also because I do not have a great deal of desk space to work with. I was barely able to manage fitting my iMac 233 in the very corner of my wall-edged desk for about two years.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by King Cobra
>see kiddies, this is why one reads a forum's posts before adding one's own gems of wisdom.

I feel for those poor sap newbies, who have to read the entire Poop thread to reply, then wake up the following morning after a horrible nightmare...and something in their pants. :p :eek:

My dream desktop replacement would be the 17 inch model, because my family and myself travel very often, and my iBook 466 is a little iffy in some areas (320MB memory max., that one red stuck pixel on the side of the screen which is as hard to avoid as trying to not look at someone wearing a pink shirt to work), and also because I do not have a great deal of desk space to work with. I was barely able to manage fitting my iMac 233 in the very corner of my wall-edged desk for about two years.

that 17 inch will do quite well from the stats...i can't wait to actually see one, but the apple store here will get one, maybe, in a couple of weeks

for my purposes, my wife and i have been laptop only for three years (mostly), so if i go for the 12 inch powerbook, it will be a laptop replacement...or a main computer replacement in my case

for my sick pleasure, i sometimes use pcs or listen to the band disturbed;)

[Das]

Oh and does anyone know if the same keyboard imprint problem will exist with the 12 that did with the older 15's?

[iJon]

Originally posted by Das
Oh and does anyone know if the same keyboard imprint problem will exist with the 12 that did with the older 15's?
nope that is a thing of the past. apple put rubber grips at top of the screen, the top of the laptop really never touches the computer.

iJon

[King Cobra]

>does anyone know if the same keyboard imprint problem will exist with the 12 that did with the older 15's?

This has been discussed already. You can keep that fingerprint issue off your computer by keeping the keyboard protectant, which came with your computer from the box, and placing it between the keyboard and the lid when you close the Powerbook for portability.