15.4" Powerbooks - I'm waiting!

Yes, my fiancé wants a new laptop, she originally wanted the 12" but I talked her into the 15". We're just waiting for the update on the 15" before we buy now. If they don't show a speed advantage or feature advantage we will get the old 15" at a discount at least.

I bought my 1ghz 15 inch Titanium about a month ago, and its absolutely awesome. I had the ti550 before it, and they made so many tiny improvements on the 1Ghz model. I dont regret the purchase whatsoever, and its much mroe fun to actually HAVE a Powerbook than wait for one.

Originally posted by agreenster
I bought my 1ghz 15 inch Titanium about a month ago, and its absolutely awesome. I had the ti550 before it, and they made so many tiny improvements on the 1Ghz model. I dont regret the purchase whatsoever, and its much mroe fun to actually HAVE a Powerbook than wait for one.

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Agreed, but if you already have a Dual/GHz/DDR Powermac it makes it a lot lot easier to wait.

but maybe it will have the PPC 7547

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Nope. Motorola said those chips won't be available in volume until the end of the year.

Hmm, I think both of you are wrong the 7547 will either never be available or not for a long long time. I think you are both referring to the 7457 which I believe went to production in the last couple months.

I'm also waiting to see what kind of advantages new 15" Aluminium PowerBook will have over current one. I'm expecting it will have features similar to 17" PowerBook minus 17" screen and back-lit keyboard. I'm hoping it will get 1+Ghz G4, which means 17" will also get speed upgrade.

The only questionable thing about buying new 15" Aluminium PowerBook is the heat issue, because I've read quite a few posts about heat problem with 12" PowerBook, specifically top left corner as well as left palm rest getting quite hot, more so than current PowerBooks. This could be very well become non-issue if new PowerBooks get newer Motorola G4 processor which is suppose to require less power to run.

Originally posted by macphoria
I'm also waiting to see what kind of advantages new 15" Aluminium PowerBook will have over current one. I'm expecting it will have features similar to 17" PowerBook minus 17" screen and back-lit keyboard. I'm hoping it will get 1+Ghz G4, which means 17" will also get speed upgrade.

The only questionable thing about buying new 15" Aluminium PowerBook is the heat issue, because I've read quite a few posts about heat problem with 12" PowerBook, specifically top left corner as well as left palm rest getting quite hot, more so than current PowerBooks. This could be very well become non-issue if new PowerBooks get newer Motorola G4 processor which is suppose to require less power to run.

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I personally think there is a good chance the 15" will get the backlit keyboard. It sure would be nice if it also got a higher rez screen. I don't think the heat issue will be so great with the 15" and 17" models due to the case size the location of the components causing the heat can be moved away from hand rest and the extra room in the case allows for better cooling.

Re: Free 10 gig Ipod with Powerbook Ti!!!

Originally posted by bentmywookie
Yes, it took a minute for it to settle in, but believe it:

http://shop.efollett.com/htmlroot/computer/ComputerStoreSpecialOffers.jsp

Good lord is that a good deal. $1738 for a 15" 867 Ti + 10 gig Ipod?? Geez.
I wonder if you could convince them to do that for you on the 1 gig model as well.

It seems that deals like these with the Tis are popping up on campuses all over - 15.4s must be coming!

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We have tehs ame thing going on here in UW Wisconsin.
They even have a
Promo PowerBook G4/1GHz 17"/iPod 10GB/AppleCare Enrollment Kit for $3,238.00.
But they finally sold out today of the 17" pb after getting them in on Wednesday!
I took a look at their demo model, it was just to big for my likings.

i just bought the 15" powerbook and its fast as can be. As far as DDR RAM in the new powerbooks, as you can remember when they put it into the Powermac dual 1ghz, the SDR version was faster than the new DDR version...

Originally posted by crazzyeddie
i just bought the 15" powerbook and its fast as can be. As far as DDR RAM in the new powerbooks, as you can remember when they put it into the Powermac dual 1ghz, the SDR version was faster than the new DDR version...

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Actually it wasn't it only looked faster due to the poor assortment of tests that were ran. Also the previous machine had more L3 Cache. Add DDR to the 15" and keep the current level of L3 Cache and you will see a respectable boost in system speed. Later tests of the DDR Powermacs compared to the previous ones of the same speed show the DDR macs to have a 5-10% advantage on heavy multitasking hard drive/video intense tasks. So you know the tests were performed by Macworld and other reputable companys not the sham that is called, "Bare Feats".

Originally posted by bentmywookie
Regarding the heat, I don't think it should be too much of a problem. I've read that the 17" fan barely turns on and that it runs extremely quietly with not too much heat. If the 15" could be like this that would be great - from what I've read about the 15" 1 Ghz Tis, the fan is always on.

I think the 17" is great but I am REALLY hoping it doesn't keep them from really making the 15" as good as can be.

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I think they could easily upgrade the cpu of the 17" at the same time they upgrade the 15" therefore defeating the conflict.

Does anyone know what processor the 17" has for sure? If it's running cooler there is always that possibility that they have a new processor in them. It was rumored that the 7457 was going to make it into the 17" or another laptop around this time of year. It could be why the 17" was delayed for so long.

Argh! Grrr! Doh!

Um...excuse me.

I too am WAITING for the 15" alumabook. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Tibook...may even end up getting one, when all is said and done.

Like has been said many a time before, as cool as they are for some, the 12" & 17" are either too small or too large for most.

The 15" is PERFECT. The Tibook is still in my mind, one of the sweetest most awesome looking laptops on the planet.

But its a given, as GREAT as it is, without the airport extreme, firewire 800, and bluetooth, it just sticks out too much. Apple won't let it stick out from the 12" & 17" for too long. They can't.

So we all are waiting. The big question is for HOW long. Some believe, apple doesn't want it to compete with the 17" and will wait until all the orders are shipped. The 17" delay has frustrated not only those who ordered the 17", but those waiting for the 15" as well!

Many believe apple has the 15" alumabooks in storage and ready to go. Some believe the war is delaying an announcement.

So many theories.

Will it be April? May?? June???........August or later?????

For me, I'm not only waiting for the 15" alumabooks...I'm waiting for the inevitable price drop on the Tibooks once an announcement is made. Because if the alumabooks come out in two versions at the current tibook rates(with and without superdrive) $2799 & $2299...then the Tibooks will surely drop in price...by $500 or there abouts.

Depending on how sweet the 15" alumabooks are...I could go either way. So yeah, I'm waiting...but for an new alumabook or a discounted Tibook? The suspense is killin me.

Anyone else in a similiar predicament?