Apple Sub Notebook Hints: External Optical Drive, MultiTouch Trackpad?

[MacBuzz]

Make it smaller & lighter than Panasonic R series

I've been using a Panasonic Let's Note CF-R3 as my portable PC since 2004. 2.2 lbs with battery, battery life 9 hours, XGA 10.4 inch display. Of course it does not have an internal optical drive, but never really needed it on the go. If it's going to be described as an "ultraportable", it has to be at least comparable to the Pana R series. Come on Jobs, you can do it!!

 

[pubwvj]

Excellent - no DVD

Removing the optical drive is an excellent choice. The only reasons I use the drive is for loading software. I would much rather buy downloadable software and avoid buying software on disk if possible. The optical drive has been the number one device failure in all the computers we've had in the last ten years. Removing it will make the computer more reliable as well as lighter and less expensive.

Now what I want to see is a touch screen and the computer reduced to a pocket size that folds out like a booklet - the iPal.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

 

[Digital Skunk]

do this again with a complete glass input area where the keyboard is and I think your onto something. I think the entire horizontal surface will be a touch display.
the reason I think there will be dual displays is that the way a laptop is used requires you to interact on the horizontal and while viewing the vertical plane. Touch and iPhone dogde this by being both by virtue of the fact that you can hold the device and reach all the keys with your thumbs. You will not be able to hold and type on a single surface device - so mirrored display is the only way forward

Not gonna happen. People need tactile feed back in order to type correctly and efficiently. It's a nice idea, but somethings just can't happen in certain ways. If Apple did make the MAC BOOK PRO without a real keyboard I would have to buy a Dell and suck it up with Vista.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Removing the optical drive is an excellent choice. The only reasons I use the drive is for loading software. I would much rather buy downloadable software and avoid buying software on disk if possible. The optical drive has been the number one device failure in all the computers we've had in the last ten years. Removing it will make the computer more reliable as well as lighter and less expensive.

Now what I want to see is a touch screen and the computer reduced to a pocket size that folds out like a booklet - the iPal.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

Not really. The optical drive isn't that expensive to begin with and it doesn't add that much weight either. When looking at other ultra portable machines you will find that they all have their optical drives internal and they are still light, durable, have superior battery life, and full features.

And not everyone lives without the optical drive.

If they want to take it out, they should at least make it an option to leave it in.

 

[zub3qin]

There is no virtual keyboard coming folks!

I can't believe that people seriously think that you could type on a virtual touch keyboard for major apps. It works barely ok on an iphone.

But just try and type quickly or accurately on a flat piece of glass without looking at the keys. Try it at home. "Type" on your desk as if it was a keyboard. Your fingers will start hurting in a couple of minutes. Now imagine if you had to type without looking at the keys. Without tactile markers defining the key boundaries, it is impossible to do accurately.

As cool as it would be to have a full size display on the base, the reality is that a full keyboard is the only workable solution.

 

[zub3qin]

Not gonna happen. People need tactile feed back in order to type correctly and efficiently. It's a nice idea, but somethings just can't happen in certain ways. If Apple did make the MAC BOOK PRO without a real keyboard I would have to buy a Dell and suck it up with Vista.

Heh- I just posted the same thing!

 

[surferfromuk]

Yeah. and the track pad is leaning to the left side very noticeably. Besides. The button on that thing is disgustingly huge.



** Runs to bathroom to barf up lunch **

okay.... okay.... I am better now. I think I can hold in the rest of it.



I don't understand how "if anyone can do it Apple can" is a justified statement. And yes... the second of the statement is exactly what may happen this january. It's what happened in 2007, the entire year of 2007, lots of disappointment.

because apple are operating at a speed other companies have demonstrated they have been unable to match and because in 2007 the delivered an incredible multi-touch product range that has blown every other manufacturer out of the water. OSX has such untapped potential that
we are only just beginning to see the fruits it is capableof bearing.
indeed show me any other tech company doing what apple is doing- either equivelantly or better

 

[surferfromuk]

Not gonna happen. People need tactile feed back in order to type correctly and efficiently. It's a nice idea, but somethings just can't happen in certain ways. If Apple did make the MAC BOOK PRO without a real keyboard I would have to buy a Dell and suck it up with Vista.

agreed, but if I recall there was a patent filed by apple a while ago relating to 'a new kind of touch surface' which gives (simulates?) tactile feedback - if that can be sandwiched between the glass and the display your there. I must say that if the keys were bigger on the touch I would be typing as fast and as accurately as I do with a full keyboard and that the actual 'push' really isn't the confirmtion of a press - I actually don't think I'd miss push keys one little bit.

 

[FCPnewbie]

Lessons from the past

Remember when apple dropped the floppy drive before almost everyone else and we all thought they were nuts? Remember that?
I'd venture to say that they're ahead of the game again. But that's just me.

 

[proximity]

Removing the optical drive makes perfect sense. Apple was met with the same reactions when they removed the floppydrive. Most people don't use their optical drive daily, removing it to save space is a logical choice which would work well both with an external alternative or with the Leopard install software provided on a USB memory stick.

 

[zub3qin]

Is Multitouch on a mac something that would simply be "cool" or would it in some way boost productivity? Mouse, dragging, clicking, seems to be a very very quick way to do things.

What would Multitouch let us do better on a Mac laptop?

In some ways this reminds me of someone trying to invent a replacement for a fork.

 

[Digital Skunk]

because apple are operating at a speed other companies have demonstrated they have been unable to match and because in 2007 the delivered an incredible multi-touch product range that has blown every other manufacturer out of the water. OSX has such untapped potential that
we are only just beginning to see the fruits it is capableof bearing.
indeed show me any other tech company doing what apple is doing- either equivelantly or better

Oh man...

Let's see.... in 2007 Apple brought us the iPhone whose only advantage in the phone industry is the UI. And Leopard, which like every new OS is buggy. It will get fixed and the iPhone will be better, especially when it's off of the AT&T network, but that's about it.

NOW. HP worked with ATI and Nvidia to get us Crossfire and SLI in one machine. Dell improved their industrial design and gave us a good looking laptop in 13" and 15" models that offer configurations that the MBP can't offer. Intel is.... well we all know about Intel and what they are doing.

Sprint is introducing WiMax into cities and will offer speeds that are much faster than anything EDGE can match, and do so with less power than 3G.

Nikon offers a full frame DSLR that blows away the competitions and a cropped sensor model that sets a new standard for cameras in it's class.

And in the meantime... Apple has an 18 month old Mac Pro that they are still charging full price for. And outdated MacBook Pro with a very limiting design, iMacs with screen issues, no mini tower, and the Apple TV and Mac Mini which many are still wondering if they are relevant anymore.

So... we have the UI of the iPhone and Touch, and Leopard ( or the possibility of what Leopard could be)

Not that Apple hasn't been working hard... just that they haven't been doing that much. Other than the toys, they haven't been doing anything at all. So I am hoping this MacWorld will show us what they have been doing. There had better be some breakthrough stuff there, at least a Mac Pro, Mac Book Pro, and iTunes Rental Store and Leopard update.

 

[NAG]

Wait wait. So Dell gets props for making a good looking laptop with features others can't match but the iPhone gets dumped on because it is a phone? You're hardly being objective with your statement there.

 

[Digital Skunk]

agreed, but if I recall there was a patent filed by apple a while ago relating to 'a new kind of touch surface' which gives (simulates?) tactile feedback - if that can be sandwiched between the glass and the display your there. I must say that if the keys were bigger on the touch I would be typing as fast and as accurately as I do with a full keyboard and that the actual 'push' really isn't the confirmtion of a press - I actually don't think I'd miss push keys one little bit.

But you have to look at the iPhone still since the screen is only but so big. When you are typing quickly, and on a desktop or laptop you're not supposed to look at the keyboard.

It would be nice to have a keyboard like that, but actual buttons are still needed. OR if they made the Aluminum keyboard's keys little LED displays like that God awful Russian piece of crap Optimus keyboard but made it better and cheaper than we could talk.

 

[aswitcher]

Not really. The optical drive isn't that expensive to begin with and it doesn't add that much weight either. When looking at other ultra portable machines you will find that they all have their optical drives internal and they are still light, durable, have superior battery life, and full features.

And not everyone lives without the optical drive.

If they want to take it out, they should at least make it an option to leave it in.

I disagree. Apple tend to be leaders in change and its not something they do lightly.

To me removing the optical drive means one big piece of hardware (relatively) gone for size and weight. It also means less moving parts - and when they go flash as well (soon?) that will be do the same again. Also removing the optical drive opens up the possibility of additional ports or at least not the loss of ports for usb/fw/video.

I use my drive for software loading (a pretty occasional thing) - backups (although the last 2 years I have just used external HDDs mostly, and now we have time machine as well) - loading music into iTunes (something that I haven't done since I got my Alu iMac which is now the multimedia machine) - DVD watching (which I cant say I have done for over a year because there are better ways to do that). So for me I loose almost no real day to day functionality if they make it an external thats nice and portable, and preferably powered over firewire.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Wait wait. So Dell gets props for making a good looking laptop with features others can't match but the iPhone gets dumped on because it is a phone? You're hardly being objective with your statement there.

iPhone is missing a lot of features that are SUPPOSED to be in a phone.
- Phone as modem
- Flash support
- MMS/SMS
- Stupid features that are missing like deleting single Mail messages.

The Dell 1330 adds options that the Mac Book doesn't currently have.
- Dedicated GFX cards
- LED display
- you get the picture

And it does it in a design that is pretty close to looking as good as the Mac. The only thing holding a lot of PCs down is Vista.

Not arguing with Apple's progress, it's just not as fast and as dedicated as it should be.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I disagree. Apple tend to be leaders in change and its not something they do lightly.

To me removing the optical drive means one big piece of hardware (relatively) gone for size and weight. It also means less moving parts - and when they go flash as well (soon?) that will be do the same again. Also removing the optical drive opens up the possibility of additional ports or at least not the loss of ports for usb/fw/video.

I use my drive for software loading (a pretty occasional thing) - backups (although the last 2 years I have just used external HDDs mostly, and now we have time machine as well) - loading music into iTunes (something that I haven't done since I got my Alu iMac which is now the multimedia machine) - DVD watching (which I cant say I have done for over a year because there are better ways to do that). So for me I loose almost no real day to day functionality if they make it an external thats nice and portable, and preferably powered over firewire.

Agreed, but i am saying that removing the optical isn't needed, that isn't holding Apple back from making an ultra portable. They just haven't done it.

 

[aswitcher]

Yeah I usually do. Macworld and a 6 pack is a great combo!

4am is to early for beer for me. Good coffee and multiple machines and screens to be as vicariously there as I can be.

 

[aswitcher]

Agreed, but i am saying that removing the optical isn't needed, that isn't holding Apple back from making an ultra portable. They just haven't done it.

No, I guess its not "needed" but personally I think its going to be a better machine for me if its a bit smaller/thinner and lighter because they chose to drop the optical drive (and no ports loss I hope). Also one less thing to go wrong with the machine having had issues with discs stuck in drives a few times in the past.

 

[messedkid]

i hope it can be used/bought seperately as well. im sick of not having a dvd burner in my macbook.

 

[aswitcher]

i hope it can be used/bought seperately as well. im sick of not having a dvd burner in my macbook.

If it cant be then I suggest you check out the LaCie Firewire lightscribe external DVD drive they recently released. Comes with Toast 8 for a pretty good price and specs wise looks very good.

 

[iW00t]

A Bluetooth optical drive with a on/off switch and a Li-ion poly battery would be amazing.

With an amazing transfer rate of 1mb/s?

I certainly can watch a 2 hour movie in 20 years...

I have an even better idea. A wireless battery that beams power directly into your MBP. Way cooler, and evades TSA regulations!

 

[blashphemy]

If they have a multi-touch touchpad, I doubt that it will be used for anything more interesting than what a touchpad is currently used for or even be listed as a major feature. Think about it - what are you going to do with a multi-touch touchpad? Already you can have 1 finger to move the mouse around and 2 fingers in the same direction scrolls, so you already have "multi-touch" in a way. So, I think they'll just say, "oh and by the way the touchpad is multi-touch" and then move on since that's good marketing, if they say anything about it at all.

Other than that, rather predictable, really only thing to do now is wait until the keynote and see what comes true *cue the magic*

 

[Stella]

With an amazing transfer rate of 1mb/s?

I certainly can watch a 2 hour movie in 20 years...

I have an even better idea. A wireless battery that beams power directly into your MBP. Way cooler, and evades TSA regulations!

In the future: Highspeed Bluetooth / Bluetooth 3 is your answer... up to 480 Mbit/s.

Not sure on its anticipated release dates tho.

 

[MattInOz]

Guys, it's not going to have an external optical drive.. Reason being is as follows.. Apple hates attached accessories, etc. Just think about the iMac with a wireless mouse and keyboard.. You have nothing except power.. They even criticize others for doing stuff like that.. Second, don't you remember that weird patent which showed a optical drive on the bottom of the notebook? Of course the picture was stupid, but patent pics usually are.. I think they are going to do something innovative with the optical drive no one has ever done before.. Having said that.. I wouldn't mind if the drive was external since you don't use it much anyway..

You always have one accessory, the power brick so why not build a optical drive into the power brick, since your then adding some form of data connection either to a magsafe or wireless, add a usb2 hub for the other devices. It's going to be smaller than the two separate.