The second bay was not for an optical drive though, it was for a ZIP drive. Apple ditched that because by the time the MDDs came along anyone using a ZIP drive was probably using it externally.
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There are a couple of additional differences of note on the 15". On PowerBooks, the battery is in the front right corner and memory acess door is in the center. On MBPs, the memory door and battery are in the center like on a 17" PB.
Internally, the 15" has the hard drive under the left palm rest, like the 17" PB again. The PBs have the hard drive under the trackpad.
I've noticed that the MBP is also a bit thinner than the PB.
Finally, the presence of a MagSafe port is always a dead giveaway.
Yeah, I noticed that too.
On the other hand, from back to front (with the lid closed) the 17" MBP is slightly longer than the 17" PB. That would accommodate the extra half inch or so Apple added to the MBP bezel for the iSight.
I think Apple have could have fit in an iSight with the same bezel dimensions as the 17" PowerBooks however. To me this has always marked the turning point when Apple decided that huge bezels with lots of wasted screen space was the cool thing to do.
I swear sometimes I wish I could tie Jony Ive up and grill him over his design choices. After the G4s/AlBooks he sure went after a whole lot of ugly.
IMO, the tower design of the G3/G4 era was a masterpiece. Not only was it functional with the swing-out door, but also looked great(especially in the G4 era). I know you and I differ on this, but I also like the "cheese grater" look on the G5/Mac Pro.
Both the Titanium and Aluminum PBs are, IMO, masterpieces also. It amazes me how often they still show up in print. I've noticed two examples in the past month-an Al book on a poster at the Post Office(although flipped left to right with the superdrive on the left), and an ad about Medicare at the Kroger pharmacy that showed a couple looking at a TiBook.
Heck, I'll even go so far as to say that I like the unibody MBP styling(said as I stare at the screen of one to type this post). The new Mac Pro and Macbook are, IMO, a classic case of form over function.
I agree with you on most of that, with of course the exception being the G5s and the MBP unibodys.
As a graphic designer I see representations of PowerBooks from both the Titanium and Aluminum eras every day in stock art. Many stock art sites continue to keep these images online and many designers continue to use them. And why not? They still look modern and a lot of stock are sites wipe the Apple logos off them so these become generic computers that could be either a PC or a Mac.
But I also see much less of unibody Intel Macs in stock art precisely because they can be exactly identified as what they are - even if the stock art site has used Photoshop's clone tool to erase the Apple logo. The general public has now been so conditioned by Apple to identify it's MBPs and MBAs that most people know what they look like, even if the logo is missing. It's embarrassing to a customer then, that may be advertising PC services, when their award-winning ad has an easily identifiable Mac as the centerpiece.
That said, I do believe that even our own stuck in the past, slow to update stock art site has finally abandoned the TiBook for it's computer stock art.
PS. Note the utter dominance of the Aluminum PowerBook G4 just by searching for laptop. Yes, there are other results in here, but Apple laptops dominate the stock art.
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With regard to the MBP being thinner, I seem to recall reading somewhere or another that the first generation or two lacked a double layer super drive, as there were none available that would fit within the available space.
Of course, I don't really consider this to be a great loss. The only time I burn a DL DVDs is when my "working copy" of Leopard gets scratched or dinged up. I tend to treat it with as much care as do the original, though, so that rarely is an issue. DL DVDs are so expensive(I think around $2 a piece the last time I bought some, plus the fact that I almost always ruin at least one) that for routine use I'd rather just burn two DVDs.
The last time I burned one, I sat my laptop(unibody MBP) on the dining room table with strict orders that it not be touched or otherwise disturbed. I think it took 45 minutes or so to burn Leopard as I used the lowest speed. I've ruined more than one disk(fortunately usually CD-Rs or single layer DVDs) in this computer by picking it up and inadvertently "squeezing" the optical drive.
I like the DLSD Powerbooks for their better screen resolution primarily and the faster memory. I've never burned a DL DVD in one of mine(I have two 15" and a 17"), and the next time I have the occasion to burn one I'll likely do it in a desktop.
When I get back home, I'm going to check and see if my '08 MBP has a DL drive.
Of course, I don't really consider this to be a great loss. The only time I burn a DL DVDs is when my "working copy" of Leopard gets scratched or dinged up. I tend to treat it with as much care as do the original, though, so that rarely is an issue. DL DVDs are so expensive(I think around $2 a piece the last time I bought some, plus the fact that I almost always ruin at least one) that for routine use I'd rather just burn two DVDs.
The last time I burned one, I sat my laptop(unibody MBP) on the dining room table with strict orders that it not be touched or otherwise disturbed. I think it took 45 minutes or so to burn Leopard as I used the lowest speed. I've ruined more than one disk(fortunately usually CD-Rs or single layer DVDs) in this computer by picking it up and inadvertently "squeezing" the optical drive.
I like the DLSD Powerbooks for their better screen resolution primarily and the faster memory. I've never burned a DL DVD in one of mine(I have two 15" and a 17"), and the next time I have the occasion to burn one I'll likely do it in a desktop.
When I get back home, I'm going to check and see if my '08 MBP has a DL drive.
Thanks-I didn't know when the change-over occurred, but assumed it had. After all, the pre-retina Unibody models are a lot thinner, and all of those are DL to my knowledge.
It's just another oddity of the early CD models. I suspect they got rushed out and are a bit "bodgy" on the engineering front. There were various single wires draped across the logic board to fix things, the Bluetooth module was shoved down the side of the HDD and attached with a sticky pad. Early ones suffered audio interference with the Bluetooth module, so mine ended up getting a new logic board under warranty to fix it.
The later revision board it came back with was somewhat tidier in appearance.
The later revision board it came back with was somewhat tidier in appearance.
Does all of this include the 17" MBP, in my case the A1151?
I ask because my MBP seems to have a DLSD. I'll confirm that when I get home tonight.
But I've opened it to replace a hard drive and keyboard and didn't see anything that would smack of rushed or shoddy design/execution.
I ask because my MBP seems to have a DLSD. I'll confirm that when I get home tonight.
But I've opened it to replace a hard drive and keyboard and didn't see anything that would smack of rushed or shoddy design/execution.
I have to say that the inside of my early '08 is fairly neat. The only thing I don't really like is the ribbon stuck to the top of the hard drive-it connects to the LED in the catch and the IR sensor.
I've had it pretty much completely apart(it was filthy and I also wanted to repaste the GPU) and I have to say it wasn't that bad. I'd almost say that it was easier to take apart completely than my Pismo(which I still need to take apart again to replace a fried cap).
With the first model MBP, it sounds almost like they were throwing them together to get them out the door.
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The first 15" came out January 10th, 2006. The first 17" was April 24th, 2006.
At least as per everymac.com, the 17" had a DLSD from the start.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook_pro_2.16_17.html
I know that the default bracket was for a ZIP drive but I thought the graphite cases had a full size opening behind the door on the lower bay. I think you are right though...
It's a 3.5" bay. It was designed for a ZIP drive, although I have put a hard drive in it(the screw holes don't line up for hard drives).
The Quicksilver uses a very similar set-up, although it's inserted and removed from inside the case rather than out the front as on G3/graphite G4 cases.
I attempted to post a picture, but once again am finding myself bottlenecked by the painfully slow internet at the hotel where I'm staying.
I just looked at my older G4s and you both are indeed right. Apologies for the mis-information.
Just finished outfitting my new G5 Quad this week with a second HDD, 12GB Ram, and two fully functioning Nvidia 7800 GT graphics cards. It's hooked up to a 23" Cinema display and runs HD Video, Civ IV and Battlefield 1942 brilliantly. Couldn't be happier with this rig. What a work of art. Had to put all 4 core temp monitors on display to show off of course.
![Picture 1.png]( "Picture 1.png")
@tevion5 Care to upload that wallpaper?
Sure thing mate! Only just found it by accident in my wallpaper folder a few minutes ago. Was about to post my desktop with Leopard Aurora...how original.
New wallpaper from today's El Capitan beta 6. Dual-core 2 GHz G5.
![G5 Desktop.png]( "G5 Desktop.png")
Just finished outfitting my new G5 Quad this week with a second HDD, 12GB Ram, and two fully functioning Nvidia 7800 GT graphics cards. It's hooked up to a 23" Cinema display and runs HD Video, Civ IV and Battlefield 1942 brilliantly. Couldn't be happier with this rig. What a work of art. Had to put all 4 core temp monitors on display to show off of course.
View attachment 572813
Is that the Mountain Leopard dock theme?
Nice to see that I'm not the only user of WakeOnLAN.Here it is
I have an Apple logo desktop wallpaper on our 2012 Windows server at work. My boss sighs every time he sees it.
