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3G iPhone and $1500 'Super Laptop' in 2008
- Thread starter IlliniDude
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No HD and with a price of only $1500 means 32GB or smaller SSD. Seems a lot like a glorified ipod touch at that point...
What are the largest sizes of Flash drives available for a sub-notebook like this? I think these things are gonna be awesome and I'd love to get one but I don't want to have to lug around extra HD space just to make it feasible.
Oh well, I'll probably buy one anyway. Macworld sounds like it's gonna be pretty exciting this year. Here's hoping for some Canadian announcements along the way as well! (Iphone and video at ITMS)
Oh well, I'll probably buy one anyway. Macworld sounds like it's gonna be pretty exciting this year. Here's hoping for some Canadian announcements along the way as well! (Iphone and video at ITMS)
Mac Pad or Mac Book
Sounds like a neat device, but if it's going to be:
- 12" Mac
- half the thickness of MacBook
- half the weight of MacBook
- no hard drive
- 8 or 16 Gig flash storage
- $400-500 more than current MacBook
... then I'm afraid to say I'll take the MacBook. And I'd bet this machine will quickly go the way of the G4 Cube.
Now if it was $400 *less* than the cheapest MacBook, I might buy one.
Sounds like a neat device, but if it's going to be:
- 12" Mac
- half the thickness of MacBook
- half the weight of MacBook
- no hard drive
- 8 or 16 Gig flash storage
- $400-500 more than current MacBook
... then I'm afraid to say I'll take the MacBook. And I'd bet this machine will quickly go the way of the G4 Cube.
Now if it was $400 *less* than the cheapest MacBook, I might buy one.
I would have to agree with you on that....it can't be any bigger than 32GB.....I guess it would be alright if you didn't work with many pictures or video...you for sure would have to have a small external HD to carry around....by the time you carry another HD and Optical drive around isn't that more of a problem then just having a 15 inch MBP??
As long as it has a higher resolution widescreen screen than the MB I'm in. I have an external backup drive for mass storage anyway.
Thats true but EDGE is outdated technology. How many people you see now a days with 8 track tapes?
Yes...
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/
They really are quite good. I almost bought one, but got a (more expensive) iPhone instead.
For corporate users with VPN, the need to carry every file on a portable machine isn't there, synch up the ones you need and leave the others behind. Anyway, the more data you carry the more issues you have if the machine is stolen. Anyone seen a laptop with a few million SSNs on it? 
To me the iPhone is nice, but a $40 phone is just as useful for me as a $400 iPhone.
If i was travelling every week and could carry a smaller, lighter, more power friendly (flash vs hdd & no cd/dvd drive) then I would be jumping on that quick smart. Lots of fun lugging laptops around when you don't really need all the features.
I think the ultra portable will do well.
To me the iPhone is nice, but a $40 phone is just as useful for me as a $400 iPhone.
If i was travelling every week and could carry a smaller, lighter, more power friendly (flash vs hdd & no cd/dvd drive) then I would be jumping on that quick smart. Lots of fun lugging laptops around when you don't really need all the features.
I think the ultra portable will do well.
Maybe we're limiting our imaginations too much. Solid state memory only... really thin & light... other rumors and patents floating around (tablets, touchpads, etc.). Sometimes the raw data of rumors are correct, but the conclusions miss the target.
Could this be something besides a laptop? A tablet pc or something new we haven't thought of yet... some sort of ipod touch / laptop hybrid?
Could this be something besides a laptop? A tablet pc or something new we haven't thought of yet... some sort of ipod touch / laptop hybrid?
With the tiny size of hard drives these days that have decent capacity, such as the 80/160 GB drives used in the iPod Classics, I really doubt Apple would saddle their ultraportable with a paltry 16, 32, or at best, 64 GB of disk space. I predict a hybrid, with NAND for the OS and programs, but an extra magnetic hard drive for documents and files.
Apple won't release a 32gb laptop, I imagine they have something up their sleeve to make it worth our while. Hell, many people have iTunes libraries larger than that.
For corporate users with VPN, the need to carry every file on a portable machine isn't there, synch up the ones you need and leave the others behind. Anyway, the more data you carry the more issues you have if the machine is stolen. Anyone seen a laptop with a few million SSNs on it?
To me the iPhone is nice, but a $40 phone is just as useful for me as a $400 iPhone.
If i was travelling every week and could carry a smaller, lighter, more power friendly (flash vs hdd & no cd/dvd drive) then I would be jumping on that quick smart. Lots of fun lugging laptops around when you don't really need all the features.
I think the ultra portable will do well.
Sounds like this is for you...
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/
Yeah the more I think about this the more I come to the same conclusion....they just can't make a HD that is less then about 80 GB....
The hard drive capacity just got a smaller footprint and cheaper so this is possible.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/04/stec-announces-cheap-32gb-to-512gb-mlc-nand-based-ssds/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/04/stec-announces-cheap-32gb-to-512gb-mlc-nand-based-ssds/
If you can manage to tether your iPhone (current or 3G) to the ultra portable and roam wherever you get cell coverage and still browse the net. Take pictures with the phone and edit on the ultra portable. Hmmm sounds like fun. Might dip more into my student loan leftovers.... pay later!
There are some 64GB laptop SSDs just on the market. When you go over than the size tends to go beyond what Apple would want to do. I guess they could hardwire the stuff - that could get them up to 128GB perhaps. Problem is, the cost would get a little out of hand.
I guess Apple could make a dinky little 6 to 8 inch pad that can WiFi to your MacBook Pro or even a home machine
$1500 seems kind of cheap. Dell's 12 inch laptop with solid state drive starts around $2000 (with 32gb drive.) Add $400 if you want a 64gb drive. And the thing is only a 1.2Ghz Core2 Duo. However, it does include an optical drive.
eeepc is just what I was thinking of .....
I know there was huge initial demand for eeepc's too. (Everyone is sold out, basically.) But beyond the initial "cool" factor of a little tiny portable with solid state flash memory, I don't see the big deal for most people?
This subnotebook from Apple sounds like it'll fill a similar niche market. Despite all the talk about "huge pent up demand" for a small notebook from Apple, I'm not really convinced it's true.
The thing is, you can ask the "average user" if they'd like to own a thin, light and tiny notebook and they almost always say "Yeah! That'd be great!" But once they sit down and use such a thing for a while, the complaints start pouring in. "The screen is giving me eye-strain!" "I wish the keyboard wasn't so cramped for space!" "This thing is too slow!" "I have to carry around external devices all the time to plug into it!" "I wish I had more drive space in it!" "Such and such broke on it, and nobody can do service work on it but the manufacturer, and the parts are back-ordered for weeks!"
Sure, it will be ideal for a few people. But I wager MOST people will find more usability in something like a 15" Macbook Pro or current Macbook -- even though the styling and "hype" will make a lot of people WANT to own it, at first.
I know there was huge initial demand for eeepc's too. (Everyone is sold out, basically.) But beyond the initial "cool" factor of a little tiny portable with solid state flash memory, I don't see the big deal for most people?
This subnotebook from Apple sounds like it'll fill a similar niche market. Despite all the talk about "huge pent up demand" for a small notebook from Apple, I'm not really convinced it's true.
The thing is, you can ask the "average user" if they'd like to own a thin, light and tiny notebook and they almost always say "Yeah! That'd be great!" But once they sit down and use such a thing for a while, the complaints start pouring in. "The screen is giving me eye-strain!" "I wish the keyboard wasn't so cramped for space!" "This thing is too slow!" "I have to carry around external devices all the time to plug into it!" "I wish I had more drive space in it!" "Such and such broke on it, and nobody can do service work on it but the manufacturer, and the parts are back-ordered for weeks!"
Sure, it will be ideal for a few people. But I wager MOST people will find more usability in something like a 15" Macbook Pro or current Macbook -- even though the styling and "hype" will make a lot of people WANT to own it, at first.