To those considering a new powerbook

[jumpman25]

I know the whole powerbook thing has been done to death a thousand times, but I was just wondering what those of you that were planning on purchasing a supposedly updated powerbook after MWSF are planning on doing or have already done. I have no idea whether or not to wait for potentially new PB updates or to get one now. I know the general consensus is that if you need one get one and if you don't then wait. The problem is, I don't really need one right now, but I don't know how much longer I can wait. I figure seeing what others are doing would most likely help me (and all the other people in my situation) out. I'm assuming there will not be much of a speed difference between the current PB and the rumored 1.67GHz, but the price drop is what would bother me (extra money to spend on RAM). Also, has apple ever done any non-tuesday releases? Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

[AmigoMac]

Also, has apple ever done any non-tuesday releases? Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

The last updates were made on Wednesday... but of course, the new PBs will come the week after you order one... :p ;)

[lupine]

I ordered my first ever mac (a decked-out 17" PB as BTO) on December 21, not having known about the pending update. When I later heard the rumors of powerbook updates, I was pretty upset with myself for not having researched the topic enough. But once I heard that there won't be a significant upgrade, and after a bit of reassurance from a few members here, I was much happier, and now am eagerly looking forward to its arrival.

My needs might be a little more demanding that most people's: I'll mainly be using mine to do real-time image analysis in a hospital environment as part of my masters of engineering, as well as the odd powerpoint presentation, a bit of lounge web surfing, a hint of FCP, and some Java development on the side. And while it's always great to throw as much processing power at problems such as these, I don't feel that this minor improvement would really make much of a difference. I'm not particularly concerned about the pricing either, since it'll all be covered by a grant, so I can spend my money on making the switch at home as well.

In fact, my biggest concern now is time -- I have to learn a whole lot of Quicktime and AltiVec programming as quickly as possible, so I can port my existing application over from it's current DirectShow implementation with minimal fuss. And I haven't heard anything back from my local reseller yet, who I put the order in with (cheaper than Apple.com.au, and free Airport Express), which has me somewhat concerned, although I technically can't get the education discount yet since my application hasn't been processed by the university yet. I just hope it all comes soon... I can't stand the waiting any more :(

Plus, in a somewhat pessimistic view: when your powerbook suddenly dies, you might get lucky and receive the new model as a replacement.

I hope this helps you somewhat. It's certainly helping me to overcome my Product Waiting disorder :eek:

[corywoolf]

I ordered my first ever mac (a decked-out 17" PB as BTO) on December 21, not having known about the pending update. When I later heard the rumors of powerbook updates, I was pretty upset with myself for not having researched the topic enough. But once I heard that there won't be a significant upgrade, and after a bit of reassurance from a few members here, I was much happier, and now am eagerly looking forward to its arrival.

My needs might be a little more demanding that most people's: I'll mainly be using mine to do real-time image analysis in a hospital environment as part of my masters of engineering, as well as the odd powerpoint presentation, a bit of lounge web surfing, a hint of FCP, and some Java development on the side. And while it's always great to throw as much processing power at problems such as these, I don't feel that this minor improvement would really make much of a difference. I'm not particularly concerned about the pricing either, since it'll all be covered by a grant, so I can spend my money on making the switch at home as well.

In fact, my biggest concern now is time -- I have to learn a whole lot of Quicktime and AltiVec programming as quickly as possible, so I can port my existing application over from it's current DirectShow implementation with minimal fuss. And I haven't heard anything back from my local reseller yet, who I put the order in with (cheaper than Apple.com.au, and free Airport Express), which has me somewhat concerned, although I technically can't get the education discount yet since my application hasn't been processed by the university yet. I just hope it all comes soon... I can't stand the waiting any more :(

Plus, in a somewhat pessimistic view: when your powerbook suddenly dies, you might get lucky and receive the new model as a replacement.

I hope this helps you somewhat. It's certainly helping me to overcome my Product Waiting disorder :eek:


i would say that you are fine with that pb, i am into motion graphics and want to use motion, but it says you should use at least a dual 2 ghz g5. ouch, what about portability? oh well.... i hope they don't update the pb's like people think, i'd rather them just wait til june and then release pb g5's
i have a feeling that the 15" and 17" will be g5's while the 12" will be g4 for a while. the 12" will be the one to get 1.6 ghz bumps hopefully. it would make sense though. it would be hard to make a g5 12" pb stay cool at this point. i think delphi is up to something on the pb's though. they might be doing the first ever liquid cooled laptop.

[Chrispy]

If you really want one then buy. If you can wait then hold off till the end of Jan just to be sure. I waited as long as I could (really need to get some serious work done on an external monitor and iBook isn't cutting it) so after MWSF I ordered mine. Of course, it is a BTO with the 5400 RPM HD so who knows when I will actually see it.....

Bottom line, if you can wait just hold out till the 22nd.. if not buy now. You won't miss that much so I would not sweat it too much. ;) :p

[efoto]

Bottom line, if you can wait just hold out till the 22nd.. if not buy now.

What makes you say the 22nd? Is there something happening that weekend that I should know about or did you choose it simply by a nice number? :confused:

[Sir_Giggles]

I'd probably wait for the next update. It should be here soon, wont be a G5 though. Its been almost 9 months since they last did the update, so buying now would be foolish.

[aricher]

I'd wait a few weeks - if they are going to just be a minor bump they will be released on a random weekday (Tuesday?) I wouldn't expect anything major until WWDC. That said, I still am in awe of my PB 17" 1.33 - best purchase I have ever made.

[Chrispy]

What makes you say the 22nd? Is there something happening that weekend that I should know about or did you choose it simply by a nice number? :confused:

The 22nd is the day all the new products introduced at MWSF come out including the software. That is most likey the day apple will make its move. If you really want the updated powerbook wait a few weeks. :rolleyes: :D

[AdmittedPCuser]

What makes you say the 22nd? Is there something happening that weekend that I should know about or did you choose it simply by a nice number? :confused:

The 22nd is when iLife '05 is released (and iLife '04 retired). Since iLife is included free with all new Macs, one would assume that all of the Macs would be updated to include iLife '05. If they are going through all the effort to update the software, it would make sense (or at least I pray every night) to update any minor hardware specs (which we are expecting on the PowerBook, right?) at the same time.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna place my order on the 29th (iLife '05 comes out on the 29th in Canada). I'm not sure I can wait any longer.

[efoto]

Well it would seem to make some good sense to order on/after the 22nd then. The logic stated seems to make sense with the release of iLife'05, so hopefully this all happens and we can all finally lay to rest the
"PBook Update!" threads :p

[jumpman25]

Thanks for all the replies. I've decided to wait until next tuesday as I figure if they are going to release them that is the day they will do it. Next tuesday is the 18th and apple says that delivery on iLife 05 will be by the 22nd, so a release next tuesday will put the powerbook right in line with iLife 05. It makes sense that apple would do this, as if they did release the powerbooks at MWSF then they would not be able to ship them for a week, which is a week without powerbook sales.

[ollie]

i too and awaiting the updates egaly. i want as much as i can get for my money.
22 is my birthday too...i was hoping to get it by my birthday but doesnt look that way... oh well. if they announce them will we have to wait for ages before they start selling them? i want mine before school starts..somewhere around the 29th :( :(

[moejoe]

Do you think they will lower prices on the Powerbook soon, perhaps as the supposedly updated version comes out?

Here in Denmark most of the big PC manufacturers have reduced/ annouced reduction of prices by 25-30% across the range of laptops. I have heard that's happening elsewhere, too. Since the iBook became substantially cheaper in the last revision, I figure Apple may be forced to reduce prices even further in the next update/ revision. I know they already lowered PB prices by about $100 within the last week or so.

[AdmittedPCuser]

I think that $100 decrease in Denmark was only an exchange rate adjustment. Here in Canada they went down $150 as well based only on the changes in the Canadian dollar. I don't think it was an Apple price drop? (I may be mistaken)

I've been thinking about the price drop as well and I'm not sure how much sense they make for Apple. If you look at the Apple store (in USD), the 14" ibook is $1499 (1.33GHz, 256MB, 60GB, Superdrive, AP) and the 15.2" powerbook is $1999 (1.33GHz, 256MB, 60GB, Combodrive, AP+BT). Not going into too much detail about the other differences, the two products are fairly close in specs (as discussed many times on here... sorry) and only have a $500 difference. Knocking $100 or $200 off the price of the PowerBook will really blend these two product lines together and make it very confusing for more customers. If anything, it would make sense to raise the specs (as we discussed before, moving to a 1.5/1.67) and leave the price as is (not that I don't want a price drop) in order to better differentiate the product lines. This would only be a filler until the illusive G5 or Dualcore comes out later this year. But then again, if they are only using this updgrade as a filler for a few months, maybe Apple is not worried about bringing the product lines close together and would rather make customers happy with a price drop based on the long wait... I guess only Apple knows for sure.

[kdawg]

Well, I am getting my powerbook this weekend.... I have a Wheelbarrow of a laptop (P4 3.0 Ghz 800 MHZ FSB... Desktop Board) that has about 5 minutes of battery life... The sound card went out, and the NIC... Luckly I have wireless... but unfortunately due to circumstances out of my control I had to reset my wireless setup in my house... so I am just broadcasting unencrypted information all over my neighborhood.

Needless to say I want to do my banking again, plan my trip to Australia, and hook the bloody thing up to my decks... I don't think 1.67 vs 1.5 GHZ is much of a difference, but I will be extremely Urked if they lower the price after I buy....

[AdmittedPCuser]

Don't quote me on this... but doesn't Apple have a 10 day price protection policy? I thought I read that somewhere?

[maya]

Look on the bright side of things, this is good news since all this means is that when a PowerBook G5 is released it will be released at no less than 1.8Ghz. :)

If the updated PBG4 line will bring in 1.6X GHz at the top end there is no point of then introducing a TOP end PowerBook G5 at 1.6GHz when it is released. :)

[mfacey]

I've been waiting to buy a new pb since may last year (when I stood on the screen of my tibook). I VOWED that irrespective of what happened at MWSF I would order immediatly after the show. And have I? .... No.
A friend of mine talked me out of it. Blowing 2500+ euros on a 7 month old computer is ridiculous. It would be silly to spend that kind of money on something that is ancient as far as computers go. So I'm holding out till the next pb update. That was my original plan and I'm sticking to it! :D

[Patmian212]

I say if there isnt an update in the next couple of weeks, just go out and buy one, you will feel so much better when u have it in your possesion ;) . . . Apple releases usually occur on tuesdays unless there is an event like MWSF.

[kotovasii]

That was my original plan and I'm sticking to it! :D

U have a very wise friend! ;-) I need one of those sometimes when my flicky fingers search for ORDER button on an Apple web site. I had the same plan - order regardless of the outcome of January SF show... but I just cannot afford to blow so much money on something which may be updated soon. But on the other note - what if the update is just about 1.65 MHz processor increase as they say - would not still be an obsolete laptop? :confused:

[TheSith]

Am thinking the exact same thing as you guys are.

The twenty second is the first day of my four day weekend - what a perfect time for the Powerbooks to come out!

Am hoping that they are how I like them, non-BTO so I can rush out and get one at the store! I don't want to order and wait more time...

Am hoping they come out Tuesday, of course, but I will try and be patient. I want..

1.67GHZ
15.2 inch screen
512 (2x256 is fine.. whatever, lol)
128MB Video Card
100GB 5400RPM drive (rumored)

Am hoping ThinkSecret is not predicting BTO models - if this is the "top of the line" one just standard, that would be excellent! Oh, and a price drop would be excellent too.

Here's hoping! Any rumors as well, please post. :)

[mfacey]

U have a very wise friend! ;-) I need one of those sometimes when my flicky fingers search for ORDER button on an Apple web site. I had the same plan - order regardless of the outcome of January SF show... but I just cannot afford to blow so much money on something which may be updated soon. But on the other note - what if the update is just about 1.65 MHz processor increase as they say - would not still be an obsolete laptop? :confused:

Well no I don't really think so. I don't really have a problem with the current performance of the powerbooks @ 1.5GHz I however to have a problem with the fact that they are 7 months old. Its kind of like buying a 2004 model car a few weeks before the 2005 models are released just because you're obsessed and have to have it NOW!!! :rolleyes: The difference between the two will surely be tiny but the feeling that comes with buying a brand new top of the line powerbook will then be EVEN better.

[kotovasii]

The difference between the two will surely be tiny but the feeling that comes with buying a brand new top of the line powerbook will then be EVEN better.

Yes the feeling is different and actually i have been comparing PB to other machines: Toshiba - nothing near in specs; Acer - close in specs but not exactly, and their customer service is awful in UK; DELL - well dell is dell they are always ahead of Apple but I would rather buy a sac full of bricks than a Dell laptop. The only "competitor" is IBM they have T41p model which is identical to Apple’s PB, but since I have spent the last 10 years on IBM ThinkPads I want to move on to something less Windows :) :p :p
So anyway, let us all do voodoo stuff to put this upgrade into Apple’s head and go for it when it comes out!

[deebster]

ThinkSecret say here (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0501expo5.html) that speed bumps to 1.5 / 1.67 Ghz are 'confirmed', although of course they did not appear at the Expo this week.

What is more interesting than another few % of speed is the suggestion that stock hard drives for all PBs will be 5400rpm in the next update, so that I would say is worth waiting for. As are the rumoured 128MB standard graphics cards.

How long you have to wait to see these is another question though.