it's not a powerbook
it's not suited for professional use
it's...well, a slightly warmed up ibook!!!🙄
it's not suited for professional use
it's...well, a slightly warmed up ibook!!!🙄
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12" inch powerbook deceptive piece of junk
- Thread starter jefhatfield
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am i the only one who thinks the new pb's, the footlong and the porn star are ugly?? they look cheap
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
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
Moderator emeritus
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.
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
macrumors 68040
Hmmmm
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!'
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
macrumors 68000
Well, I infrequently hear many people complain about a screen resolution too high. I suppose you could always lower it to 800 X 600.
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.
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
macrumors 6502a
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. 🙁
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. 🙄
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. 😎
lmalave
macrumors 68000
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!
Poor memory decisions
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.
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.
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
😀 😀 😀
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
😀 😀 😀
Freg3000
macrumors 68000
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.
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.
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
macrumors 604
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
iJon
rainman::|:|
macrumors 603
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😀
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
macrumors G5
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. 😉
No scratches but fingerprints.
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
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
macrumors 68010
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...) 😉
(Of course, if you say a-LOO'-mac someone might think it's perfect whilst sitting down on the job...) 😉
Interesting facts about anodised aluminium
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
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
you mean you want paint chips? I'd call the chipping tibooks that apple won't repair under warranty a ripoff....
