Apple Releases PowerBooks and iBooks

[hellocody]

How come NVIDIA always seems to suck when compared with ATI? Is there that much of a difference? I want a 12"PB... but I'm not excited about the comments on the graphic card.

 

[jefhatfield]

Apple released new PowerBook (Press Release) and iBooks (press release) today as was widely rumored.

The new models come in the following configurations (See Apple Store):


Price comparisons will be available on http://macrumors.pricegrabber.com

Notes: All PowerBooks come with Airport Extreme PreInstalled. The 1.5GHz PowerBooks can be upgraded to 128MB graphics memory in the built in ATI Mobility Radeon 9700.

According to whispers, this should be the last G4 PowerBook revision.

GREAT

 

[hmg]

Yes, I read them and was waiting for them (for ME)...

haven't you been reading any of the rumors, or were you thinking that this was gonna be like last week, and the week before that, and the week before that... where they would psyche us out?

I expected a SMALL price drop and the specification updates rumoured. It's a $1000, that's a hell of a lot. A few hundered would not have bothered me (up to $300). I still want to buy another machine soon (updated 15"). The 17" is mostly for my partner and her publishing work, the future 15" would be for my code work. I specifically bought hers first (at the start of a salary sacrifice year) because I wanted the update!

Oh well. It's still a bloody good computer, better than my Thinkpads.

Have fun!

 

[Bhennies]

The 12" iBooks have 1.25 Gigs of RAM capability! That's amazing! Same as the 12" powerbook!

 

[DrGruv1]

Which to Buy and Please explain WHY...

These are ed. prices...

Use mostly logic pro and adobe cs
12" Ibook
256MB DDR266 SDRAM built-in
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo drive (DVD/CD-R)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Bluetooth Module
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• 1GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,200.00

12" Powerbook
• 256MB DDR333 (256MB built-in)
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• 1.33GHz PowerPC G4
• NVIDIA GeForce FX GO 5200 with 64MB DDR Video Memory
• 12.1-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $1,512.0

Would the drive speed, ram speed, .33hz G4 difference and 64mb video card MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE?

thanx
-mike

 

[klanda]

Desktops have their place.... On the desk!

people who want a sleek looking system with an integrated display get an ibook or powerbook.

the imac/emac need to die. now.

it was a fad revisited, to have all in one desktop system. notebook sales will completely dominate all desktop sales in less then 4 years. (pcs, mac, whatever)

That is nonsense. Desktop machines have their place -- on the desk! The price savings from not having to massively engineer electronics into the tight space of a laptop is why the iMac/eMac prices (particularly the eMac) prices are so much lower than a laptop. Unless you need portability (and the vast majority of non-student home computer users don't), the savings for a desktop is worthwhile. You typically get far better performance for the money.

Lower prices, detached keyboard, mouse etc. screen distance from user all support the purchase of desktops where appropriate.

Desktops will die only when 1. true docking stations exist, and 2. component prices drop so that there is negligible price difference between comparably performing notebooks and desktops.

Not sure whether Apple is interested in #1, and doubtful that #2 will ever happen.

K

 

[CrackedButter]

These are ed. prices...
Would the drive speed, ram speed, .33hz G4 difference and 64mb video card MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE?

thanx
-mike

.33hz would not make a difference no, but 333Mhz difference might..might. I'm debating on this one as well. Prefering the iBook or PBook on Deve discount.

 

[root-2]

I've been waiting for this for a while now. Anyone want to buy a G4 400 desktop?

I have a couple configuration questions now that I'm looking at the options:

1. I assume it would be a better idea to get one 512 RAM chip rather than two 256 chips. Since I'll probably want to get more down the line, is this the best option?

2. Hard drive @ 4200 rpm Vs. Hard drive at 5400rpm for a bit more cash? Will I notice a difference?

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[singletrack]

The 12" iBooks have 1.25 Gigs of RAM capability! That's amazing! Same as the 12" powerbook!

It's still only 1 slot though so you'd have to do it with very expensive 1GB modules. 256MB as standard in the iBook is good news though.

 

[zuzu]

help to decide, please

I have doubts of what 15'' powerbook to buy.
Saying it quick: would you pay 312 extra dolars for:
(conversion from euros to $ from the education store of spain)

* 128 MB video (vs. 64 MB)
(I will use the 40% of the time attached to a 16'' sony flat display as a second monitor)

* 1.5 MHZ vs 1.33 MHZ

* Backlight keyboard (I don't take planes or trains often. Is there any other more common situation?)


# I will use it to program websites, so I use simultanously a lot of open apps: bbedit, netfinder, safari, explorer, sometimes also netscape to test, eudora, photoshop, itunes...

Thanks!
a.

 

[mxpiazza]

These are ed. prices...

Use mostly logic pro and adobe cs

....

Would the drive speed, ram speed, .33hz G4 difference and 64mb video card MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE?

thanx
-mike

if you intend on doing anything creative professional wise, get the creative PRO laptop. especially for adobe, the video ram will be a ton of help. incresed processer speed always helps, faster ram (which helps a ton with memory intensive applications such as the ones you intend on using), and if i'm not mistaken, the powerbook g4 has a faster proc. bus speed, 167 mhz vs. 133 mhz on the iBook.

bottom line, if you are using it for professional work, get the PowerBook. iBooks can run the programs you want to run, but certainly weren't intended to be used for creative professionals, that's why the PowerBook line exists.

 

[Hattig]

So in Australia Powerbooks went from an average of 34% above USA prices down to 17%, just 1% more than the eMacs.
iBooks went from 26% to 13%.

A halving of the markup! EXCELLENT! Given GST and shipping I am much happier with Apple Australia. This seems pretty fair.

Now can they do something about Office X?

They ship the damn things from Taiwan or similar. It must be cheaper to ship to Australia than the US even. There is no excuse for any markup above the standard prices except to generate a nice round number for the pricing, and maybe if different plugs / power adapters are required that cost more than the US adapters.

£799 in the UK is a nice price for the 12" iBook ... but that is US$1244 even taking VAT into consideration - nearly a $150 markup on the normal price. Yeah, this is a lot better than the previous pricing, but it is still disgusting. £749 would be a more reasonable price, and still higher than the dollar equivalent.

 

[hellocody]

Why do the Go5200 suck so much? Is it just with videogames, or would it also apply to light photoshop work and video-editing, and how about just using the web?

 

[mxpiazza]

I've been waiting for this for a while now. Anyone want to buy a G4 400 desktop?

I have a couple configuration questions now that I'm looking at the options:

1. I assume it would be a better idea to get one 512 RAM chip rather than two 256 chips. Since I'll probably want to get more down the line, is this the best option?

2. Hard drive @ 4200 rpm Vs. Hard drive at 5400rpm for a bit more cash? Will I notice a difference?

Any advice is much appreciated.

1. definitley get the RAM in one chip, unless you enjoy throwing RAM away when you upgrade. it will save you money in the long run.

2. hard drive speed is one of the least talked about yet one of the most noticeable upgrades when it comes to computers. $50 for the upgrade is well worth it.

3. while you're at it, assuming you're getting the high end 15" or 17", upgrade the graphics to 128 for the extra $50 as well, that's the icing on the cake.

 

[Dippo]

Why do the Go5200 suck so much? Is it just with videogames, or would it also apply to light photoshop work and video-editing, and how about just using the web?

I would say that the 5200 is about the same as a Radeon 9000.

Not good for games but fine for photoshop and surfing.

Here's a VERY ROUGH comparison
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1797&p=6

 

[RedEric]

Why do the Go5200 suck so much? Is it just with videogames, or would it also apply to light photoshop work and video-editing, and how about just using the web?

I found a quote about a comparison between a 9700 and Go5700:-

“The 9700 produced a framerate of 30.4fps in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory benchmark, which is stunning on a 2.4GHZ machine.
“Even more impressive ,though, is the comparison with the Go5700 Ultra, which only managed 24.3fps in the same benchmark.”
Ben Handwidge, February 2004

Bear in mind that that is a Go5700 (and PC stats) so the performance of the Go5200 would be less I guess.

 

[MacSA]

iBook £799

The latest iBooks look like great deals now. I think it was just over 6 months ago Apple were selling the 700mhz G3 Ibook, 128 MB RAM, Optical drive for the same price as the new low end 12" iBook

 

[Wuddel]

Nice. The mid iBook-model is a little expensive. I really like the new 12"-PB, since I think it will be able to run World of Warcraft with the new 64 MB card.

15" still a little overpriced.

 

[numediaman]

YESSSSS!!!!


Going to order my new Powerbook 15" 1.5 now!!!!!!!

Smart move. Watch, there will be those that are convinced there will be G5 PBs by WWDC and will be back on this forum complaining about a lack of updates.

Now for those who want an updated G5 PowerMac (like me) . . . I think we have a while to wait.

 

[iReilly]

Education discount

Good news for everyone waiting for the updates. Now I have a question for you all. I want to surprise my son with a new 17" tricked out PB. He needs it for school. How can I, as a parent, take advantage of the educational discount without a student ID card. And I don't want to spoil the surprise and I won't rifle through his wallet for his student ID.

thanks in advance...

---------------------------------
Dell 3.2 (Still waiting for Rev B PM)

 

[oingoboingo]

How come NVIDIA always seems to suck when compared with ATI? Is there that much of a difference? I want a 12"PB... but I'm not excited about the comments on the graphic card.

From the small amount of information I can find on the net where the GeForce FX 5200Go and the Radeon 9200 Mobility are tested in a notebook system of the same specificiation, the Radeon 9200 appears to be faster. Sometimes by a small amount, sometimes by a lot. In the Windows world, the main advantage of the GeForce chip is that it is DirectX 9 compliant, while the Radeon 9200 is not. However, many people have commented (quite fairly IMHO) that DirectX 9 compliance isn't really worth that much when it's implemented in a GPU which will most likely be too slow to run any newer DirectX 9 games!

It's a bit of a moot point anyway...if you want to do some serious 3D gaming, then neither the iBook with its Radeon 9200 or the PowerBook with the GeForce FX5200 is probably going to fit the bill. I only get around 10-15 fps on the full retail version of Unreal Tournament 2004 on my 1GHz 12" PowerBook at 1024x768 at default levels of detail in Onslaught mode. If I reduce detail settings across the board to 'Low', then I can raise FPS to about 20-25. It's playable, but obviously the 12" PowerBook is no gaming monster, and I suspect that the iBooks aren't either. The faster 1.33GHz G4 in the 12" PowerBook will certainly help...the G4 isn't really what's considered a 'fast' CPU these days, and every MHz helps.

If 3D performance is important to you, and you're seriously considering the 12" PowerBook, definitely wait a few weeks and check out some gaming benchmarks for the new 1.33GHz 12" PowerBook as they trickle in. Maybe the faster CPU helps a lot. Maybe the whole system is hamstrung by the GeForce FX 5200. Hell, maybe the 14" iBook will be faster at Unreal Tournament 2004 than the 12" PowerBook! Just don't expect anything shy of the 15" or 17" PowerBooks to be a killer 3D games performer.

Whoops, almost forgot. Here are some links to reviews comparing the FX5200 to the 9200. Take what you will from them

http://www.gamers-depot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/9200_geforcefx/001.htm

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8836

 

[Zaty]

Nice update, Apple!

It's really a nice update!

Especially the 12" PB got a huge bump with a faster cpu, twice as much VRAM and faster RAM bigger HD, not the mention AE that comes preinstalled.

Those are deciding between the 12" iBook and the 12" PB, go for the PB. I'm sure the performance gap has widened.

 

[Mokona]

Don't dis the Radeon 9000

I would say that the 5200 is about the same as a Radeon 9000.

Not good for games but fine for photoshop and surfing.

I would say that the Radeon 9000 is fine for games, or was that six months ago? How many new games for the mac are there, really, we're still playing the same games... You want to play games, get a pc. The mac is a professional tool (or hobby tool), just not a game platform, even though the potential is there.

 

[Dippo]

From the small amount of information I can find on the net where the GeForce FX 5200Go and the Radeon 9200 Mobility are tested in a notebook system of the same specificiation, the Radeon 9200 appears to be faster. Sometimes by a small amount, sometimes by a lot. In the Windows world, the main advantage of the GeForce chip is that it is DirectX 9 compliant, while the Radeon 9200 is not. However, many people have commented (quite fairly IMHO) that DirectX 9 compliance isn't really worth that much when it's implemented in a GPU which will most likely be too slow to run any newer DirectX 9 games!

Of course DirectX 9 doesn't mean anything for the mac

 

[Dippo]

I would say that the Radeon 9000 is fine for games, or was that six months ago? How many new games for the mac are there, really, we're still playing the same games... You want to play games, get a pc. The mac is a professional tool (or hobby tool), just not a game platform, even though the potential is there.

More like 3 years ago

The 9700 was released summer 2002...
http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2002/4512.html