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Apple Releases New iBooks
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Probable ripple effects? 
it is piped down version of 9600 ... probably you can!!!
"Originally aimed at the Far Eastern market, the Radeon 9550 has started to appear across the globe due to AIB vendors offering models using the chip, to target the budget end of the market. The name suggests that it somewhere in between a 9500 and 9600 but it is essentially the latter but with reduced clock speeds or lower specification. One such vendor is GeCube - a brand name of InfoTek Taiwan - producing three Radeon 9550 variants; the top being the 9550GU Extreme"
mad jew said:Do we know about the ripple effect yet? Also, it's a 12 inch screen but you hedged your bets with a 13 inch widescreen, sorry no points.
it is piped down version of 9600 ... probably you can!!!
"Originally aimed at the Far Eastern market, the Radeon 9550 has started to appear across the globe due to AIB vendors offering models using the chip, to target the budget end of the market. The name suggests that it somewhere in between a 9500 and 9600 but it is essentially the latter but with reduced clock speeds or lower specification. One such vendor is GeCube - a brand name of InfoTek Taiwan - producing three Radeon 9550 variants; the top being the 9550GU Extreme"
It's really just a case of everyone whipping everyone else up into a frenzy again about amazing updates. If nothing else it's fantastic for those of us not buying systems to sit back and have a good chuckle !
Seriously though, sure the update isn't great - but for what those iBooks are they are still a darn fine deal. I'm really considering getting the Finance one when the Aus edu store gets back online.
The one thing that sucks which Apple could do is update them with a DVI port. I'm not sure they'd eat up too many powerbook sales. Even if they do I'm sure they'd up their ACD screen sales which probably have a larger margin on them.
!Seriously though, sure the update isn't great - but for what those iBooks are they are still a darn fine deal. I'm really considering getting the Finance one when the Aus edu store gets back online.
The one thing that sucks which Apple could do is update them with a DVI port. I'm not sure they'd eat up too many powerbook sales. Even if they do I'm sure they'd up their ACD screen sales which probably have a larger margin on them.
i didn't think it would be a huge change, but this is pretty minor. o well, still happy with what i got.
Porshuh944turbo said:
There's a simple software hack to allow dual-monitors on iBooks. Just google for it.
Go DigiTimes
All Macs start at 512 now--cool. OS X can use it. SMS in iBooks? Cool More iBook than ever for your money.
I could whine because it isn't different-looking and exciting, like many others who weren't actually going to BUY one either way, but I won't
A new design--even screen shape--would have been odd before the Intel change. That's when I'd expect a major redesign if any.
Why still 1024x768 in the 14"? Because there's demand for it! I'm surprised at how popular the 14" has always been. People actually LIKE how readable 10x7 is at that size. (And plenty of desktop LCDs run that at 15" after all.) Need other screen choices? Apple has them--PowerBooks.
All Macs start at 512 now--cool. OS X can use it. SMS in iBooks? Cool
More iBook than ever for your money.I could whine because it isn't different-looking and exciting, like many others who weren't actually going to BUY one either way, but I won't
A new design--even screen shape--would have been odd before the Intel change. That's when I'd expect a major redesign if any.
Why still 1024x768 in the 14"? Because there's demand for it! I'm surprised at how popular the 14" has always been. People actually LIKE how readable 10x7 is at that size. (And plenty of desktop LCDs run that at 15" after all.) Need other screen choices? Apple has them--PowerBooks.
budugu said:Common ...i said a crippled 9600 .... which is labeled 9550 ... that was close?
Ati site is totally silent on this ! 9550!
Which means that the 9550 may be a special part for Apple and possibly increasing cost over a standard GPU. Not saying this is true, but ...well... at this point I wouldn't put it past Apple.
Almost every one understands Apples woes with their cpu suppliers, but they still could increase the price/performance in other areas, most notably the friggin GPU, come on, 9550. As Cliff Clavin would say,"What's up with that?".
Anyway, off to the Apple store to buy my daughter a laptop for starting her college career.
I didn't expect anything that jaw dropping with the updates to the iBook and Mac Mini. I mean with the (in)famous Intel switch coming, why would Apple throw in the best PPC mobile chip they have and make it widescreen when in a couple of months (or really who knows) an Intel based iBook will come out. I would say they are going to have the big update (widescreen, faster, maybe even HD who the heck knows) when the Intel iBook comes out. Another thing, if they updated the iBook with the suggested specs as some of you were hoping then the Powerbook would look less and less appealing to most consumers. Don't get down on Apple just because their current iBook's specs don't match up to a RUMOR sites. I mean I was hoping that the iBook would be widescreen and get a speed bump and I'm not even on the market of getting one! As "lame" as this update is, it still bumps the RAM to 512 standard, better video card and the trackpad technology that is in the Powerbook's, which will save parent's/student's some money.
Breath people, IMHO the big updates will come with the Intel switch
Breath people, IMHO the big updates will come with the Intel switch
budugu said:
Good work-- I googled for half an hour trying to find that much info about the 9550. Interestingly, some of the message boards on PC hardware sites say that you can overclock the 9550 to get a 9600. Hmmm...
got it - thanks.. now maybe this will be a nice portable after all.. did the price drop on these as well? $999 for a combodrive 12" with 512MB RAM is not bad. Might be a nice portable for MediaShout when they finally release a Mac version.
...So the screens are the same? I know the resolution is. At CompUSA they look dull compared to some of the newer x86 laptops
iBook vs PowerBook
Hey, don't forget the advantages of both non-mirroring dual screens and digital video in the 12" PB!
M@netic said:
Hey, don't forget the advantages of both non-mirroring dual screens and digital video in the 12" PB!
Jay42 said:
Whatever. You just want Apple to sell you a Powerbook at a $200 loss. I'm going to use the Student Union discount to buy the new iBook for an effective price of $800. I'd like to see you find an $800 PC laptop that has even 70% of these features, all of which I appreciate:
(1) sub 5 lbs
(2) scrolling trackpad
(3) built in Bluetooth
(4) sudden motion sensor
(5) DX9 capable video card (*not* a shared memory solution!)
(6) slot loading drive
The only thing that is clearly sub-par about the iBook is the processor (more precisely, the front side bus), which Apple can do very little about. Motorola decides what they do and do not want to offer in the G4, and the only thing Apple can do if they don't like is something really extreme like switching to Intel. Oh, wait, that's what they're doing...
I'm going to soup mine up with a 1 GB DIMM (3rd party, of course) and put in a 60 GB 5400 rpm drive (CompUSA will do the install for only 30 bucks!). That will be a very nice laptop for the next year until the Macintel 'books come out. And when they do come out, I guarantee you I will still be able to resell my iBook for only one to two hundred dollars less than I bought it for (whereas if I wasted my money on a PC notebook, it could easily depreciate by 40-50% in the same timeframe).
NVIDIA 5200 vs Radeon 9550
Somebody posted this in another thread. The ATI 9550 destroys the NVidia 5200 that is in the Powerbook. This article though compares the desktop version but you get the idea. Now time for the 12" Powerbook to be updated.
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/955055005200/
BTW. When they update the Powerbooks they should make the 12" feature 512MB of soldered on RAM instead of the current configuration where they have 256MB soldered on + 256MB taking up the one and only RAM slot.
Somebody posted this in another thread. The ATI 9550 destroys the NVidia 5200 that is in the Powerbook. This article though compares the desktop version but you get the idea. Now time for the 12" Powerbook to be updated.
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/955055005200/
BTW. When they update the Powerbooks they should make the 12" feature 512MB of soldered on RAM instead of the current configuration where they have 256MB soldered on + 256MB taking up the one and only RAM slot.
Cooknn said:...So the screens are the same? I know the resolution is. At CompUSA they look dull compared to some of the newer x86 laptops
The x86 laptops you're looking at have the high glare screens. They are certainly brighter, which I agree does make them look kind of cool, but the glare they throw off is horrendous (I can clearly see my reflection in them at any angle, any time). In terms of actual usability, I don't want my screen to be a mirror, so for the time being I would prefer that Apple stick with what works best, rather than what looks coolest.
lelereb said:
If the 12" had SD, then who would buy the 14"?
They should have just added a SD to the 12" and ditched the 14" altogether.
JMTC.
Superleccy
budugu said:
Yeah, it's definitely DirectX 9 capable (ATI's website says so), so it should support CoreImage/Quartz 2D Extreme/ripple effect. Or, more precisely, it should support ARB_fragment_program in OpenGL. That is what really matters, not whether it has 32 vs 64 MB of VRAM.