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hkriffraff

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 6, 2003
185
1
I'm trying to advise a potential switcher on the timing of a laptop purchase. When I bought my own 15" PB, the G4 & battery life specs seemed dated compared to the Centrino laptops coming out. Now, a year and a half later, the powerbooks are still running on G4s. Are G5 powerbooks anywhere on the horizon?
 

hhlee

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2005
255
1
hkriffraff said:
I'm trying to advise a potential switcher on the timing of a laptop purchase. When I bought my own 15" PB, the G4 & battery life specs seemed dated compared to the Centrino laptops coming out. Now, a year and a half later, the powerbooks are still running on G4s. Are G5 powerbooks anywhere on the horizon?

I think there are two types of people when it comes to G5 powerbooks:
1. Those who are completely skeptical saying that G5's are nowhere near (within another year at least) of coming out, if ever.
2. Those who are really hopeful.

I've seen a review and some comments floating around the forums about how the 1.67 processor is comparable to one of the G5 processors (probably 1.8 or lower? I can't recall now).

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe G5 powerbooks don't really matter. The speed is not drastically different. Even if the G4 powerbook isn't as snappy as the "G5 powerbook", hopefully you're not actually forced to do the majority of your work on a portable platform.
 

hkriffraff

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 6, 2003
185
1
My issue is not so much with processing ability... It's that the 2 hour (much less on mine) PB battery life is really inadequate when compared to Thinkpads that can run for 5 hours.
 

Duff-Man

Contributor
Dec 26, 2002
2,984
17
Albuquerque, NM
hkriffraff said:
My issue is not so much with processing ability... It's that the 2 hour (much less on mine) PB battery life is really inadequate when compared to Thinkpads that can run for 5 hours.
Duff-Man says...if you are only getting 2 hours on your battery it is either time to recalibrate it, time for a new one, or you are doing some very intensive stuff that is draining it quicker than "normal" usage...oh yeah!
 

trailblazer

macrumors member
Aug 27, 2004
60
0
have to agree with duffman there...
my 12" pb is now a year old, and i still get 4.5hours out of it while i am at uni.
i havent seen a centrino last 5 hours at all. most of my mates have them, and they're lucky to last 2.5-3 hours, if that...
 

asanchezm

macrumors member
May 12, 2005
30
0
The lack of credible rumors is kind of disapointing being this close to WWDC.

Hopefuly they will update them soon with something worthwile. I abhor windows and honestly do not want to buy a VoodooPC powered with a AMD 64bit low power processor, but its nice to know there are alternatives and buying it in a unique color is a plus.
 

Xtremehkr

macrumors 68000
Jul 4, 2004
1,897
0
The G5 Powerbook is an inevitability. I truly believe that the hardware is the only thing holding Apple back.

The G4 Powerbook is not bad though, it depends on how long you are willing to wait I guess. It shouldn't entirely depend on the processor (IMO), there are other advantages to consider.
 

buryyourbrideau

macrumors 65816
Mar 1, 2005
1,212
0
Chicago
supposedly test of the g5 pb are showing that heating is still a HUGE problem

i have heard they are still catching fire regularly

so i am thinking its gonna be a while
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
Xtremehkr said:
The G5 Powerbook is an inevitability. I truly believe that the hardware is the only thing holding Apple back.

The G4 Powerbook is not bad though, it depends on how long you are willing to wait I guess. It shouldn't entirely depend on the processor (IMO), there are other advantages to consider.

i dont think the G5 PowerBook is inevitable. it just may never happen. the G4 may very well likely stay in the notebook lines for quite sime time, especially if Freescale gets its butt in gear, the most hopefull for the PBs are probably the dual core chips that are supposed to ship eventually, eventually though so who knows. i think the current PB are pretty strong, although they do need a revamp, especially in video cards
 

shadowmoses

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2005
1,821
0
WHy do you think apple are so desperate to strike a deal with intel?? its because IBM are just not good at maiing mobile processors, whereas Intel are, therefore i would imagine if a deal is struck with intel we will see in a few months a new processor designed by intel possibly G5m, if not and apple are forced to stay with IBM for notebooks we will see a duel core G4 very soon......Rest assured if apple strike a deal with intel there processors will only be used in lower end macs and laptops, the powermacs will keep the IBM Power PC architecture.

Shadow
 

dmw007

macrumors G4
May 26, 2005
10,635
0
Working for MI-6
buryyourbrideau said:
supposedly test of the g5 pb are showing that heating is still a HUGE problem

i have heard they are still catching fire regularly

so i am thinking its gonna be a while

Wouldnt that be spiffy-sitting in an internet cafe surfing the net wirelessly and all of a sudden your powerbook erupts in flames...not good. ;)
 

wide

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2004
746
0
NYC
G5s in powerbook = never. apple could keep milking the G4 and it would be faster, more efficient, and cooler than a similarly clocked G5. it's going to be dual core at wwdc, with HD displays in the 15 and 17 inch models (and a new widescreen 13.3 inch possibly HD to replace the 12 inch)
 

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
dmw007 said:
Wouldnt that be spiffy-sitting in an internet cafe surfing the net wirelessly and all of a sudden your powerbook erupts in flames...not good. ;)
Well, it would be a good opportunity to imitate Jim Carrey in The Mask with a mean rendition of "S-s-s-MOK-in!" ;)
 
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