evilernie said:
No. Not even the new powerbook with dual link can. It can only drive a 30in and lower size monitor and show the display on its 15in screen.
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Apple Releases New PowerBooks
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No. Not even the new powerbook with dual link can. It can only drive a 30in and lower size monitor and show the display on its 15in screen.
i'm really dissapointed with the FSB. They should have at least upgraded this to at least 400mhz
MacTruck said:
Ok, thanks. I'll sure as hell never have a 30" monitor, so I'll skip that.
Another question, if I were to buy ram somewhere other than Apple, is it fairly easy to add yourself? Does it void the warranty?
I've done it plenty of times with desktops, but not laptops.
Iroganai said:
That's one reason that I said "for the 64-bitness". The bus has nothing to do with whether the chip is 32-bit or 64-bit.
And, by the way, the new Freescale "G4" chips from Moto have either faster FSBs or no FSBs (that is, on-chip memory controllers a la the Opteron). Those might be much faster at memory than the PPC970's down-clocked FSB.
apple track pads and ibook screen
Apple track pads have always been a joke. Where others are smooth and snappy, apple's trackpads on both ibooks and powerbooks are sticky and slow. I hope these new powerbooks exhibit some finesse and finally catch up with ever other manufactuer's track pads.
BTW, when did the ibooks start using such crappy screens? In my city we didn't even see the last iteration with the defective motherboards, and when we finally got in a single 12" ibook in my local comp store, i noticed the screen had changed. Honestly, it is just about the worst quality screen in the entire computer department. Can only be viewed straight on, lacks sharpness, and there is very little contrast.
Apple track pads have always been a joke. Where others are smooth and snappy, apple's trackpads on both ibooks and powerbooks are sticky and slow. I hope these new powerbooks exhibit some finesse and finally catch up with ever other manufactuer's track pads.
BTW, when did the ibooks start using such crappy screens? In my city we didn't even see the last iteration with the defective motherboards, and when we finally got in a single 12" ibook in my local comp store, i noticed the screen had changed. Honestly, it is just about the worst quality screen in the entire computer department. Can only be viewed straight on, lacks sharpness, and there is very little contrast.
evilernie said:
You can do this if you count the built-in screen as one of the monitors. That is, you connect an external monitor to your PB, and the PB screen displays one thing and the external monitor another. On Apple's PB site go to the graphics tab and read...
evilernie said:
Absolutely. Go to crucial.com and follow the steps for your system. Its the best memory out there. Does not void warranty.
I'm hardly glad to see Apple still has enough silver paint to turn 12" iBooks into "Powerbooks". I realize it's not a big deal to most, but more than a few of us do have real need for uber-portable but capable systems. The 12" seems so "neither this, neither that". With G5s around the corner, they should kill the 12" (since the 12-er probably will not go there anyway) and opt for a true portable, 10" or smaller, SoC design.
PB Mini?
PB Mini?
wdlove said:
I sold fully upgraded 15" 1.5ghz powerbook on eBay in an auction that ended this past Saturday. I basically got back what I paid for it (purchased w/ an Apple employee discount) - $2600. I bet that guy is kicking himself right now. Money is already in the bank on my end.
iSee said:
Whoa, looks like your right! That's exactly what I was talking about. I swear I read this page earlier today, but I didn't see it the first time...
<<For even more display options, every PowerBook G4 model supports five different ways to connect to video: DVI, ADC, VGA, S-video and composite. And all PowerBooks support dual display mode to extend your work area and video mirroring to display your projects and share your ideas through an external display or projector.>>
Ok, here is what we need.
Dual Core CPU capable of running dual oses at the same time. One runs Windows and one runs OS X. Its totally possible. If apple just used the new dual core Pentium Ms being released Q1 2006 it could do it just by releasing that OS X version they make for x86. They have it they just won't sell it. Now that would be a kick ass computer period. I would buy 2 just for the hell of it. Next would be a quad core that runs dual cores per OS. YES!
Apple don't be selfish. Release the cool stuff NOW!
Dual Core CPU capable of running dual oses at the same time. One runs Windows and one runs OS X. Its totally possible. If apple just used the new dual core Pentium Ms being released Q1 2006 it could do it just by releasing that OS X version they make for x86. They have it they just won't sell it. Now that would be a kick ass computer period. I would buy 2 just for the hell of it. Next would be a quad core that runs dual cores per OS. YES!
Apple don't be selfish. Release the cool stuff NOW!
Why the new PBs aren't so bad.
So many people are disappointed with the new PBs, some even think they're pathetic. Are they really? I don't think so, here's why. Let's go back in time to early 2003 when Intel introduced the Pentium M and its Centrino technology. The Pentium M was a great improvement in the Windows world because it performed better than the Pentium 4 mobile and unlike the desktop Pentium 4, that was used in lower cost notebooks, it was a CPU that was suitable for portables, batteries lasted longer and the notebooks became thiner and lighter. Just to remind you, two years ago the fastest PB available (the newly released 17" AlBook and the high-end TiBook had a 1 GHz G4). So Pentium M based portables were really much faster back then than the PBs. Fast forward to 2005. Intel has improved the Pentium M, which now clocks up to 2.13 GHz, utilises a 533 MHz FSB coupled with DDR2 RAM (old DDR RAM can still be used, tough). The new Pentium Ms even perform better at the same speed than the old ones. New technology even allows the use of Serial ATA HDs and PEG (PCI Express for Graphics) 3D Chips such as the X800 or the 6800 Go. Needless to say that any portable using those components would run circles around the fastest PB available today. However, how many notebooks do you find using the 2.13 GHz chip? I didn't do a search but rest assured, you won't find many because those chips are so expensive that there only used in a few configurations. Today, a standard notebook comes with 1.6-1.8 GHz Pentium M and integrated Intel Graphics. Now if you compare the performance of such notebooks with the latest PBs, the Pentium Ms will still be faster. But the difference won't be as big as it was two years ago, when the Pentium M based notebooks were introduced. So the gap has narrowed. While it would be nice to have PCI Express graphics, how many notebook users really need them? Serial ATA HDs would be nice, but are they really that much faster? I doubt it because we're talking about 2.5" drives. The only thing Apple and Freescale should really work on is the FSB which is a bottleneck. Even a 7448 with a 200 MHz bus would be a step forward. A 1.8/1.9 G4 with a 200 MHz bus would make a decent PB. If we're lucky, we might even see a 2 GHz PB G4 by year's end. I'd prefer such a PB over a 1.2/1.3 GHz G5.
So many people are disappointed with the new PBs, some even think they're pathetic. Are they really? I don't think so, here's why. Let's go back in time to early 2003 when Intel introduced the Pentium M and its Centrino technology. The Pentium M was a great improvement in the Windows world because it performed better than the Pentium 4 mobile and unlike the desktop Pentium 4, that was used in lower cost notebooks, it was a CPU that was suitable for portables, batteries lasted longer and the notebooks became thiner and lighter. Just to remind you, two years ago the fastest PB available (the newly released 17" AlBook and the high-end TiBook had a 1 GHz G4). So Pentium M based portables were really much faster back then than the PBs. Fast forward to 2005. Intel has improved the Pentium M, which now clocks up to 2.13 GHz, utilises a 533 MHz FSB coupled with DDR2 RAM (old DDR RAM can still be used, tough). The new Pentium Ms even perform better at the same speed than the old ones. New technology even allows the use of Serial ATA HDs and PEG (PCI Express for Graphics) 3D Chips such as the X800 or the 6800 Go. Needless to say that any portable using those components would run circles around the fastest PB available today. However, how many notebooks do you find using the 2.13 GHz chip? I didn't do a search but rest assured, you won't find many because those chips are so expensive that there only used in a few configurations. Today, a standard notebook comes with 1.6-1.8 GHz Pentium M and integrated Intel Graphics. Now if you compare the performance of such notebooks with the latest PBs, the Pentium Ms will still be faster. But the difference won't be as big as it was two years ago, when the Pentium M based notebooks were introduced. So the gap has narrowed. While it would be nice to have PCI Express graphics, how many notebook users really need them? Serial ATA HDs would be nice, but are they really that much faster? I doubt it because we're talking about 2.5" drives. The only thing Apple and Freescale should really work on is the FSB which is a bottleneck. Even a 7448 with a 200 MHz bus would be a step forward. A 1.8/1.9 G4 with a 200 MHz bus would make a decent PB. If we're lucky, we might even see a 2 GHz PB G4 by year's end. I'd prefer such a PB over a 1.2/1.3 GHz G5.
So, I really hope my 14th of February shipment of an Aluminium Powerbook ordered on the 16th of January updates into the new Powerbook. I will certainly shoot myself if it doesn't.
Do you think it matters for this case if my order was a BTO or standard? My BTO pretty much matches the current SuperDrive standard version (save for the 128 mb ram graphics).
Do you think it matters for this case if my order was a BTO or standard? My BTO pretty much matches the current SuperDrive standard version (save for the 128 mb ram graphics).
lackluster update
usb2 is nice and the small price drop but all in all a very lackluster update...hope those G5 PowerBooks show at the wwdc in june or there will be alot of dissappointed programmers and academics...
usb2 is nice and the small price drop but all in all a very lackluster update...hope those G5 PowerBooks show at the wwdc in june or there will be alot of dissappointed programmers and academics...
Wish I were getting a new powerbook!
The one thing I like besides more speed (always good!), and preinstalled Airport Extreme card, is the fact that the 12" now comes standard with 512Mb RAM. It really runs faster with the extra RAM, and can you believe it 80GB harddrive and an 8x Superdrive! Cool! Probably if anyone got a new Powerbook now, they could upgrade to OS X.4 "Tiger" when it comes out for like $20 or so. Until then, all these people do have a better ILife than me. Oh, well maybe when I get out of school, I'll get another one.
The one thing I like besides more speed (always good!), and preinstalled Airport Extreme card, is the fact that the 12" now comes standard with 512Mb RAM. It really runs faster with the extra RAM, and can you believe it 80GB harddrive and an 8x Superdrive! Cool! Probably if anyone got a new Powerbook now, they could upgrade to OS X.4 "Tiger" when it comes out for like $20 or so. Until then, all these people do have a better ILife than me. Oh, well maybe when I get out of school, I'll get another one.
Work ok for me
Well, this is the update I expected, though I got all worked up recently reading the phantom hints of g5 powerbooks, etc.
I think I'm going to upgrade from my 1.25 15" to one of these latest models. As my photo file sizes get larger, my machine has begun to feel a little sluggish when working in Photoshop, iView, etc, so I expect the 30% increase in processor speed will resolve that nicely.
Couple of considerations -
1. The power adapter is the same between the one I have (FW800 Al 1.25), and these latest. They haven't changed it in at least these three revs now.
2. The batteries are the same between the one I have and the latest.
3. The RAM is the same. I can pop my 1GB ram into the new model, and put the original 512 (was it 512, or 256, can't remember) back into the current when I sell it.
I own three power adapters (home, work 1, work 2), and three batteries (for long flights to Europe), so that works out to quite a savings. Frankly, this will suit me fine for the next 6-9 mos while they work on delivering the "real" next gen PB.
I figure I'll get $1000-1300 for my PB now. I am a (pretty elderly) grad student, and thus can get the new model for $2099 (a damn good price, as far as I'm concerned), so this is a $800-1100 upgrade for me. That works out to $150ish / mo amortized over the 6-9+ mo period of time between now and the "real" PB update.
I guess in the grand scheme of things, I'd gladly pay the $150ish per month as a "mental health fee" to allow me to pry myself away from checking these darn rumor boards every 11.6 minutes, waiting for the next update.
Eric
http://www.ime3.com/
Well, this is the update I expected, though I got all worked up recently reading the phantom hints of g5 powerbooks, etc.
I think I'm going to upgrade from my 1.25 15" to one of these latest models. As my photo file sizes get larger, my machine has begun to feel a little sluggish when working in Photoshop, iView, etc, so I expect the 30% increase in processor speed will resolve that nicely.
Couple of considerations -
1. The power adapter is the same between the one I have (FW800 Al 1.25), and these latest. They haven't changed it in at least these three revs now.
2. The batteries are the same between the one I have and the latest.
3. The RAM is the same. I can pop my 1GB ram into the new model, and put the original 512 (was it 512, or 256, can't remember) back into the current when I sell it.
I own three power adapters (home, work 1, work 2), and three batteries (for long flights to Europe), so that works out to quite a savings. Frankly, this will suit me fine for the next 6-9 mos while they work on delivering the "real" next gen PB.
I figure I'll get $1000-1300 for my PB now. I am a (pretty elderly) grad student, and thus can get the new model for $2099 (a damn good price, as far as I'm concerned), so this is a $800-1100 upgrade for me. That works out to $150ish / mo amortized over the 6-9+ mo period of time between now and the "real" PB update.
I guess in the grand scheme of things, I'd gladly pay the $150ish per month as a "mental health fee" to allow me to pry myself away from checking these darn rumor boards every 11.6 minutes, waiting for the next update.
Eric
http://www.ime3.com/
They are weak
Look, a Centrino machine kicks ass on the G4 powerbooks in terms of speed, battery life, screen quality, etc. I've had both. I love my powerbook, but it is slow compared to even a year-old Centrino that I used to have. Some basic things really stand out: thumbnails take forever to produce, burning DVDs take longer, photoshop "renders" take much longer, etc. etc. A 1.33 AL PB with 1g of ram is obviously slower than a 1.6 centrino I had with 512M. I have the 5400 drive too.
The PB battery life is weak, really weak. I too fly with a spare battery, and that's still barely enough for a trans-con flight where I'm working half the time, not burning anything, etc. Somebody is probably going to say, "Yeah, but I get 3+ hours." Horse puckey, I've talked to a lot of travellers (love the Mac cult thing), nobody gets that who is actually working. I turn off airport, bluetooth, run it dim, max energy saving, etc, it sucks to have to carry a spare battery even when on a 4-hour flight (yes, two last four hours, but one lasts 2:30 or so max so you need two), never mind something longer.
Powerbooks are also quite delicate compared to the last few PC notebooks I've had, the case dents easily when banged even lightly. I've had to replace the screen enclosure (comes with a screen so that ain't cheap...) and the base. Never had to do that with a plastic case. Metal sure looks nice, but please, make it tougher, I'd rather have the Ibook enclosure.
I still love my powerbook because it runs OSX. If I could get a Centrino machine that ran OSX (and therefore Final Cut, Omni Outliner, and Keynote) I would buy it in a heartbeat. Overall I'm not super impressed with the AL PBs, I liked the longer battery life, screen hinge (you could use it in cramped spaces better) of the Tis. Then again the Tis had issues too, and OS9 was a junk show compared to even W2K, far less stable. OSX is brilliant.
Also, the Macally adapter is lighter and has a light on it so you can actually see that the adapter is receiving power when plugged in without having to plug it into the powerbook. Some hotel rooms have lots of outlets that only work when this or that switch is on, pain without the Macally adapter. The powerbook adapter is also really jiggly, I have to re-crimp the connector sleeve in the plug regularly to get power.
And howz about a dock for the AL machines so I don't have to disconnect everything (power, DVI, USB, Firewire, Audio,) everytime I come home? That's really nice if you travel a lot, pretty standard fare in the PC world too.
Maybe this is all small stuff, but add it up and Apple needs to stop pretending that its notebooks are remotely comparable to Centrinos and start producing something that actually IS. XP obviously has issues, but if you're reasonably competent and do really basic maintenance it's no big deal and very stable. Apple's software advantage is important but, if we're honest, the hardware is really slipping compared to the PC notebook world, time to buck up and get it on Apple! I will not buy another powerbook even though I love OSX unless Apple dramatically steps up real specs, I'm sick of waiting while working, I'll do it a bit longer but if Apple doesn't have something stellar in the next six months I'll buy a PC notebook for the road. And why didn't Apple just release the 1.6 G4s last summer? So it could pretend to be stepping the speed up? Please, that's the worst sort of marketing nonsense to keep a line alive I've ever seen. I'll bet I'm not the only over-travelled person thinking this. Those who have never run Centrinos won't know what I'm talking about, those who have run even older centrinos will get it.
Rant mode off.
Zaty said:
Look, a Centrino machine kicks ass on the G4 powerbooks in terms of speed, battery life, screen quality, etc. I've had both. I love my powerbook, but it is slow compared to even a year-old Centrino that I used to have. Some basic things really stand out: thumbnails take forever to produce, burning DVDs take longer, photoshop "renders" take much longer, etc. etc. A 1.33 AL PB with 1g of ram is obviously slower than a 1.6 centrino I had with 512M. I have the 5400 drive too.
The PB battery life is weak, really weak. I too fly with a spare battery, and that's still barely enough for a trans-con flight where I'm working half the time, not burning anything, etc. Somebody is probably going to say, "Yeah, but I get 3+ hours." Horse puckey, I've talked to a lot of travellers (love the Mac cult thing), nobody gets that who is actually working. I turn off airport, bluetooth, run it dim, max energy saving, etc, it sucks to have to carry a spare battery even when on a 4-hour flight (yes, two last four hours, but one lasts 2:30 or so max so you need two), never mind something longer.
Powerbooks are also quite delicate compared to the last few PC notebooks I've had, the case dents easily when banged even lightly. I've had to replace the screen enclosure (comes with a screen so that ain't cheap...) and the base. Never had to do that with a plastic case. Metal sure looks nice, but please, make it tougher, I'd rather have the Ibook enclosure.
I still love my powerbook because it runs OSX. If I could get a Centrino machine that ran OSX (and therefore Final Cut, Omni Outliner, and Keynote) I would buy it in a heartbeat. Overall I'm not super impressed with the AL PBs, I liked the longer battery life, screen hinge (you could use it in cramped spaces better) of the Tis. Then again the Tis had issues too, and OS9 was a junk show compared to even W2K, far less stable. OSX is brilliant.
Also, the Macally adapter is lighter and has a light on it so you can actually see that the adapter is receiving power when plugged in without having to plug it into the powerbook. Some hotel rooms have lots of outlets that only work when this or that switch is on, pain without the Macally adapter. The powerbook adapter is also really jiggly, I have to re-crimp the connector sleeve in the plug regularly to get power.
And howz about a dock for the AL machines so I don't have to disconnect everything (power, DVI, USB, Firewire, Audio,) everytime I come home? That's really nice if you travel a lot, pretty standard fare in the PC world too.
Maybe this is all small stuff, but add it up and Apple needs to stop pretending that its notebooks are remotely comparable to Centrinos and start producing something that actually IS. XP obviously has issues, but if you're reasonably competent and do really basic maintenance it's no big deal and very stable. Apple's software advantage is important but, if we're honest, the hardware is really slipping compared to the PC notebook world, time to buck up and get it on Apple! I will not buy another powerbook even though I love OSX unless Apple dramatically steps up real specs, I'm sick of waiting while working, I'll do it a bit longer but if Apple doesn't have something stellar in the next six months I'll buy a PC notebook for the road. And why didn't Apple just release the 1.6 G4s last summer? So it could pretend to be stepping the speed up? Please, that's the worst sort of marketing nonsense to keep a line alive I've ever seen. I'll bet I'm not the only over-travelled person thinking this. Those who have never run Centrinos won't know what I'm talking about, those who have run even older centrinos will get it.
Rant mode off.
They still need to upgrade the screen. And also upgrade their airport and superdrive, so we they can put the new ones in the powerbook. although it's not like you can't get an external dvd burner or wireless.
My question, though, is whether you can put a 7200 RPM HDD in the Powerbook with SMS in it. Or can you only have harddrives approved for that technology? I'd really like to use the 7200 RPM notebook drive I have now because using the slower harddrives (atleast on PCs) is a nightmare.
My question, though, is whether you can put a 7200 RPM HDD in the Powerbook with SMS in it. Or can you only have harddrives approved for that technology? I'd really like to use the 7200 RPM notebook drive I have now because using the slower harddrives (atleast on PCs) is a nightmare.
New PB
It's a good update if you already have one, but an excellent one if you don't. Is it worth upgrading my 15" PB 1.5 GHz? No.
I like the scroll feature best, but beyond that, there's nothing compelling if you already run a competitive machine.
It's a good update if you already have one, but an excellent one if you don't. Is it worth upgrading my 15" PB 1.5 GHz? No.
I like the scroll feature best, but beyond that, there's nothing compelling if you already run a competitive machine.
dilweegie said:
What are you trying to do to me? Make me check my order status even more often? I'm not sure it is possible.
This update shouldn't have taken nearly 10 months. I get the feeling Apple was holding off waiting on new chips perhaps but couldn't hold out much longer.
However, this update and lower price comes at a great time for us Canadians, with the strong Canadian dollar the exchange rate is great, unlike the over priced iPods in Canada, the PowerBooks are priced accordingly with the current exchange rates. I'm tempted to give in and buy now. Perhaps when the next incarnation of the Powerbook arrives the exchange rate will stinkl!
However, this update and lower price comes at a great time for us Canadians, with the strong Canadian dollar the exchange rate is great, unlike the over priced iPods in Canada, the PowerBooks are priced accordingly with the current exchange rates. I'm tempted to give in and buy now. Perhaps when the next incarnation of the Powerbook arrives the exchange rate will stinkl!
Furrybeagle said:
I think the need for 7200 rpm drives is just an Windows XP thing... My current PB is very easy on the drive, wheres my wife's VAIO moves as fast as its hard drive, which is now a 7200 rpm.
Here's my take on this whole PB thing.
If I absolutely, positively HAD to had a high-end laptop, it would be a PowerBook, but I would not at all lik ethe price I had to pay for it.
Despite the aluminum case, despite the 17" screen, despite the cool new features....it's not worth nearly three grand. Period.
I might consider a 12" - and I did, but for a 500.00 savings, I have a laptop that does what I need it to, albeit a little slower.
The PB used to be something to marvel at..when your consumer desktop is using a G5 chip, and your entry-level $499.00 computer is using a chip within close range to a $3,000 laptop (I know, it has a screen), there is something wrong.
Apple is trying to sell a Ferrari with a Hyundai engine in it...
An believe me, I love this company and their products, but every time I look at and use a PB I can't see the money.
G5 with a 500 FSB yes, G4 - Nuh uh.
If I absolutely, positively HAD to had a high-end laptop, it would be a PowerBook, but I would not at all lik ethe price I had to pay for it.
Despite the aluminum case, despite the 17" screen, despite the cool new features....it's not worth nearly three grand. Period.
I might consider a 12" - and I did, but for a 500.00 savings, I have a laptop that does what I need it to, albeit a little slower.
The PB used to be something to marvel at..when your consumer desktop is using a G5 chip, and your entry-level $499.00 computer is using a chip within close range to a $3,000 laptop (I know, it has a screen), there is something wrong.
Apple is trying to sell a Ferrari with a Hyundai engine in it...
An believe me, I love this company and their products, but every time I look at and use a PB I can't see the money.
G5 with a 500 FSB yes, G4 - Nuh uh.
well yes...
They better be sweet with all the G5 powerbook mongers drooling over every rumor. Many of them *really* thought we would see them this time around, including myself. So with 90%+ chance there won't be another G4 Powerbook update, again, they better be sweet.
With my ol' 1ghz 12" ticking without a hitch, scratch or dent, I still see these as some pretty solid laptops.
JeffTL said:
They better be sweet with all the G5 powerbook mongers drooling over every rumor. Many of them *really* thought we would see them this time around, including myself. So with 90%+ chance there won't be another G4 Powerbook update, again, they better be sweet.
With my ol' 1ghz 12" ticking without a hitch, scratch or dent, I still see these as some pretty solid laptops.