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G4 iBook at MWNY?

I'd like to see much faster bus speeds and faster hard drives in laptops regardless of their G#. That would be my Xmas present of choice.

An iBook with 266mhz front bus, DDR ram at 266 as well and a 900mhz G3 w/ 32 mb radeon/nvidia would be absolutely freakin' delicious.
 
YES!

There will be a G4 in the iBook at MWNY. Here's how it will go. The entire line will be G4 BUT, the iMac and iBook will use the current mobo/processor with the iMac a bit more powerful. While the PowerMac and PowerBook will get the newer G4 and mobo utilizing DDR, L3 cache, etc. They MUST put a G4 in the iBook for it to continue to properly run OS X. It WILL be there.
 
Re: ~back to the mac

Originally posted by Grokgod
Are you saying that there is a PC out there that isnt in a landfill that has 8 megs VR. I havent seen 8 megs VR in a pc in a very very long time.
We talking laptops here?
Ok maybe not that long if were talking laptops.
but a while, yea, a while.

Oh crap. did I just say something stupid.
Oh well, its happened again.
Click to expand...

:)

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but when I was laptop shopping about a month ago and was considering an iBook, I almost went with a Vaio because of the low price and Athlon processor. (I run linux on all my PCs) but what pushed me to get the TiBook was that the video chipset in many of those PCs that are comparably priced to the iBook still have the ATI Rage128 8 meg chipset. I had to do some serious research to find that information, they scream "Athlon 4!" and tout the good specs, but try to bury the fact that the video card and RAM is anemic. Kudos to Apple, they are 100% honest and upfront with all their specs, I respect that as a hardware geek and am glad to be a Mac user now.
 
Re: YES!

Originally posted by tjwett
They MUST put a G4 in the iBook for it to continue to properly run OS X. It WILL be there.
Click to expand...

Man, don't know what iBook your planing on, maybe an original clamshell with G3 300 and 32 mb of ram, but the iBook can handle X just fine. Especially x.2, and especially the newest release of the iBooks with the Radeon mobility. Don't believe the propoganda that the iBook with a G3 is dead. The fact is that the G3 iBooks can handle X just fine.
 
The only thing I may be able to add to this thread is that I saw a story about IBM's new imbedded chip design that allows them to power on or off specific areas of a chip rather than having to power the whole chip all the time. They said that the technology had not yet been applied to IBM's processor for computers yet, but that it could be a major breakthrough allowing them to build chips that use far less power and deliver far more performance with the same or better battery life.

If IBM is on the brink of developing a chip that has kick butt battery life, Apple would have to think twice about moving all of their computers to the Moto chips.

I mean, wouldn't Apple have to keep throwing IBM a few bones to keep them interested in their "relationship" with our mothership?
 
Re: ~back to the mac

Originally posted by Grokgod
Are you saying that there is a PC out there that isnt in a landfill that has 8 megs VR. I havent seen 8 megs VR in a pc in a very very long time.
We talking laptops here?
Ok maybe not that long if were talking laptops.
but a while, yea, a while.

Oh crap. did I just say something stupid.
Oh well, its happened again.
Click to expand...

Actually as early as last year, entry level Compaqs came with 8 meg TNT 2 AGP cards in them. Plus you have to remember that all of the entry level Dells, and Gateways have 4 megs integrated graphics, and Celeron procs. Man, that has got to out perform my iMac G3 600 with a 16 MB ATI Rage pro.

tounge so firmly in cheek that cheek is ripping from the pressure
 
According to www.dell.com (the LAST time you will see me posting that URL!):

Dell Inspiron 2600 (entry-level notebook)

Celeron 1.2 GHz
14.1 XGA
256 MB SDRAM
Floppy
XP
10/100 Ethernet
56k modem
8x combo drive

$1627

This thing uses 32MB of RAM for video, but its SHARED system RAM. What kind of a joke is that? For $1799, I can get an iBook with 16MB dedicated VRAM on a much better video card. For $1499, I can get the 12.1" with the same specs, and not lose any resolution.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

Dell Inspiron: 7.6 pounds
IBook: 5.9 pounds (14"), 4.9 pounds (12.1")

C'mon, dont tell me the iBook is underpowered! It is a wonderful machine. My original iceBook (500/DVD) can run rings around this Dell! It runs OS X wonderfully. The 700MHz iBooks are much faster still!

I agree, Apple may be lagging in the 'pro' lineup with somewhat underpowered machines (at least in the eyes of the general public...actually utility notwithstanding!). But the iMac and (especially) the iBook will stack up against anything you can
throw at them from the PC world. Not to mention that you get to use OS X, which, for me, is the best part.
 
Edge, I have to give you a hell yea on that post. I actually think that is one of the best 'newbie' posts that I have seen in a long time. I actually think that Alpha will agree. Great to have you on board, and look forward to talking to you in the future.
 
Re: Re: ~back to the mac

Originally posted by Catfish


:)

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but when I was laptop shopping about a month ago and was considering an iBook, I almost went with a Vaio because of the low price and Athlon processor. (I run linux on all my PCs) but what pushed me to get the TiBook was that the video chipset in many of those PCs that are comparably priced to the iBook still have the ATI Rage128 8 meg chipset. I had to do some serious research to find that information, they scream "Athlon 4!" and tout the good specs, but try to bury the fact that the video card and RAM is anemic. Kudos to Apple, they are 100% honest and upfront with all their specs, I respect that as a hardware geek and am glad to be a Mac user now.
Click to expand...


Be careful. As much as I love sony (#2 to apple in my book) they have some issues with linux. I don't know why. It's a rare occurance. It might be some of their proprietary components they use. It's weird because they have said that outside the us they are going to start pushing Linux as their main os over the next few years. :\

Maybe their own flavor of Redhat or SuSE?

Or maybe I am just crazy.

LOL.
 
Yea Edge, good post~

Whats all this about slow iBooks.
OSX runs great on the new 700 with Radeon. I tested one at a store.

There isnt going to be a G4 iBook for a long time.

Why?>!
Well, because its the low cost solution and still has a lot of life!
Putting in a G4 would obvously raise the cost.

With so many people griping about the costs of Macs, why would anyone want to raise the prices.

You realize that there is a powerbook Ti out with a G4, right.

ANd with the QE changes coming, the Ibook will be a perfect student viable solution price wise.

Good comparision, EDGE! Thanks
 
Re: Yea Edge, good post~

Originally posted by Grokgod
Whats all this about slow iBooks.
OSX runs great on the new 700 with Radeon. I tested one at a store.

There isnt going to be a G4 iBook for a long time.

Why?>!
Well, because its the low cost solution and still has a lot of life!
Putting in a G4 would obvously raise the cost.

With so many people griping about the costs of Macs, why would anyone want to raise the prices.

You realize that there is a powerbook Ti out with a G4, right.

ANd with the QE changes coming, the Ibook will be a perfect student viable solution price wise.

Good comparision, EDGE! Thanks
Click to expand...
The reason that I want a G4 in the iBook is for DVD encoding. Eventually, there will be SuperDrives in the iBook. For iDVD to work, you need a G4 (Steve's words, not mine).

iDVD is part of apple 4-part digital hub. When SuperDrives get small (and cheap enough) to put into a notebook, the iBook better be ready with a G4.
 
Re: Superdrives and the G4 iBook

But, I suspect that the two events (superdrive and G4 in an iBook) will happen around the same time, just like with the iMac.

However, the fact that the TiBook still does not have a SuperDrive tells me that there is not going to be one in the iBook for a while. And you are right, one of the best reasons for upping the iBook to a G4 is to facilitate iDVD.

Therefore, look for the Ti to get one first. The G4 iBook will come later (with a superdrive)
 
Re: Re: Yea Edge, good post~

>?]Originally posted by ftaok [/i]
The reason that I want a G4 in the iBook is for DVD encoding. Eventually, there will be SuperDrives in the iBook. For iDVD to work, you need a G4 (Steve's words, not mine).
[/QUOTE]

You mispelled TiBook.
 
Re: Re: Superdrives and the G4 iBook

Originally posted by Edge100
But, I suspect that the two events (superdrive and G4 in an iBook) will happen around the same time, just like with the iMac.

However, the fact that the TiBook still does not have a SuperDrive tells me that there is not going to be one in the iBook for a while. And you are right, one of the best reasons for upping the iBook to a G4 is to facilitate iDVD.

Therefore, look for the Ti to get one first. The G4 iBook will come later (with a superdrive)
Click to expand...
Therein lies the rub. Physically, the iBook would be able to accomodate a SuperDrive before the TiBook. Being that the iBook is a tray loader.

But the cost of the SuperDrive will have to play a part in the decision of whether the iBook gets the SuperDrive sooner or later.

Here's a scenario. Does Apple let others get the jump with a DVD burner in a laptop? Or will they stick one in the iBook before the TiBook so that they can say that they have the 1st notebook with a DVD burner? They did it with the Combo drive, maybe they'll do it with the SuperDrive.

In the end, it's hard to say. But I do agree that the iBook will get the G4 when they get the SuperDrive.
 
Originally posted by Eliot
How much of a redesign would it take to get SuperDrive into a
new form TiBook ?
Click to expand...


The current superdrive (the dvr-104) is 1 11/16" tall. The tibook is 1" tall. You figure it out.

The tibooks will not be getting superdrives in their current form. The technology just isn't ready for that, because a) the drives are too big, b) the write times are too slow for mobile computing.
 
Originally posted by britboy
The current superdrive (the dvr-104) is 1 11/16" tall. The tibook is 1" tall. You figure it out.

The tibooks will not be getting superdrives in their current form. The technology just isn't ready for that, because a) the drives are too big, b) the write times are too slow for mobile computing.
Click to expand...
I disagree with your point "b". Just because a computer is mobile, doesn't mean it has to be. I have a Combo drive in my iBook and it's @$$ slow. Doesn't mean that I don't burn with it.

Besides, it's usually a good idea to keep the computer still when you're burning a disc.

The TiBooks' will be getting a SuperDrive (or DVD+RW - depends on which standard wins) when it fits. Whether that means the drive gets smaller or the PB gets thicker, only Apple knows.
 
Originally posted by ftaok
I disagree with your point "b". Just because a computer is mobile, doesn't mean it has to be. I have a Combo drive in my iBook and it's @$$ slow. Doesn't mean that I don't burn with it.

Besides, it's usually a good idea to keep the computer still when you're burning a disc.

The TiBooks' will be getting a SuperDrive (or DVD+RW - depends on which standard wins) when it fits. Whether that means the drive gets smaller or the PB gets thicker, only Apple knows.
Click to expand...

Well, my iBook burns at 8X so I can live with that. The Ti will not get thicker, that is not the way of tech. It will get a SuperDrive one day, but not till it can fit. The iBook, will not get a SuperDrive for at least a year.
 
Originally posted by ftaok
I disagree with your point "b". Just because a computer is mobile, doesn't mean it has to be. I have a Combo drive in my iBook and it's @$$ slow. Doesn't mean that I don't burn with it.

Besides, it's usually a good idea to keep the computer still when you're burning a disc.

The TiBooks' will be getting a SuperDrive (or DVD+RW - depends on which standard wins) when it fits. Whether that means the drive gets smaller or the PB gets thicker, only Apple knows.
Click to expand...

Just because a computer is sitting still, doesn't mean you'll have a power-socket. You could be on a train, in a car..... if the battery only lasts about 3 hours, and burning a dvd the same (for iDVD for example), then it's not really practical. Until dvd burners get faster, or batteries last longer, we're not going to get them in portable computers.

Also, the powerbook range will most likely have moved on from the ti design by the time the technology arrives, so i stand by my statement that the tibooks will not be getting superdrives.
 
Britboy,
As one Brit to another, thanks for the (few) kind words. Not a process engineer, never will be.
Always helpful to get such erudite advice when planning purchasing..............................

____________________

4th July..........Bring it on....................
Starting to like the sound of it myself
 
Re: Re: YES!

Originally posted by Backtothemac


Man, don't know what iBook your planing on, maybe an original clamshell with G3 300 and 32 mb of ram, but the iBook can handle X just fine. Especially x.2, and especially the newest release of the iBooks with the Radeon mobility. Don't believe the propoganda that the iBook with a G3 is dead. The fact is that the G3 iBooks can handle X just fine.
Click to expand...

All my classmates had iBook 600s(i was smart enough to upgrade to the Ti). They ALL ran like crap. Especially with photoshop, video, etc. Just because it can run it doesn't mean it's good. My parents old 120mhz Pentium2 could run Quake 2. That didn't make it fun. OSX is optimised for the G4 velocity engine. What good is a multithreading OS if you can't have more than one thing running at a time. People need to run other apps besides the desktop, which takes 128mb RAM anyway. The iBook is cute but very underpowered for OSX. Hell, my Ti 550 is too. I think they all are except the duals.
 
I too am considering a laptop for college use.

At the moment, I have a 350 MHz blue and white G3 and a 1.9 GHz Pentium 4 Dell. My Dell is coming with me when I move into my dorm, and therein lies the problem: I would like very much to get a Mac laptop, but I have to be darn sure that whatever work I do on either system will be readable (to some degree) on the other. Networking capability would be nice, too.

You might not guess from my G3's specs that I'm used to being more of a "power user", but I am (whenever financially possible). Top-of-the-line G4 TiBooks are obviously a great temptation, but it's difficult for me to justify shelling out that kind of cash for a college laptop. On the other hand, I don't know that a low-end 12" iBook could satisfy me.

I would not be making a purchase until fall or later, but any suggestions would be welcome.
 
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