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In I can have a 3GHZ PC laptop, Why cant I have a powerbook G5?

Originally posted by leet1
It hurts to carry 7 1/2 pounds around? :rolleyes: lol
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i know, i know

really i do

i am getting old

i have gray in my stubble, i can't name all the rockstars on vh1 or mtv, and my ding a ling needs to stand closer to the urinal to avoid dripping on myself...and when mr ding a ling gets excited, the angle of that dangle and duration aint so great anymore

he he

so yeah, 7 1/2 pounds is heavy:p
 
You really can't look at things in terms of laptop/desktop anymore. Within the laptop spectrum, there are portable notebooks and desktop replacements. A Powerbook, iBook, Thinkpad, or any Centrino falls into the portable notebook category, whereas some of the larger Dells and certainly Alienware laptops are nothing but desktop replacements.

You can't compare a Thinkpad to an Alienware laptop as there is a fundamental difference between the intended uses of the two. A thinkpad is a mobile computing platform and emphasizes battery life and low weight over power. Alienware desktop replacements are basically compact, light desktops. Battery life is poor at best, and although 9 lbs. may not sounds like much, its not something you want hanging from your shoulders all day. There isn't anything wrong with wanting an Alienware, I'd personally love to be able to shrink my desktop down to 9 compact pounds.

However, you can't compare them with Powerbooks. A Powerbook may be slower at individual tasks, but after an hour or two of intense use, the powerbook is 100% faster than the desktop replacement.
 
i think the 17inch is a desktop replacement...i mean imagine moving that from room to room and having it on your lap....can't be nearly as comfortable as 12...15 is a tad big in my tastes but still works.

anyway, what if they beefed up the 17 inch a bit more...made it a little thicker and put in a g5. i think it would work pretty well...17 inch users i would guess are users who really tax there computer...and just want a laptop so they can movie place to place every once and awhile. so why not make it more powerful and sacrifice some of the portability..after all it is 17 inches!!
 
I think its hilarious that everyone is still carrying on and the original poster has never returned. Obviously a troll.
 
Originally posted by jefhatfield
my ding a ling needs to stand closer to the urinal to avoid dripping on myself...and when mr ding a ling gets excited, the angle of that dangle and duration aint so great anymore
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Whoa there, hon....TMI! :eek: ;)
 
First, my avatar is just to make apple fanatics mad, I smile every time someone gets mad about it (I know, I'm evil... :p )

I don't know what type of PC laptops you guys use, but the ones I have seen are alot nicer than you make it out to be. I should have reworded my question. Basically I mean to say that a 2GHZ pentium (or something still hotter than a G5) can get into a NICE laptop, so why can't a G5 which uses less heat. I'm pro apple, I just wonder why PEOPLE, not apple, make it sound like a G5 at the same wattage is way hotter than a G4 at the same wattage, and how people think just because the G5 has a BIG ASS heat sink, that it needs it (apple could have used a PC sized one, but they wanted it to be less reliant on fan speed)
 
I don't think its a question of whether or not its possible to stick a G5 into a laptop casing and make it run reliably. It seems to me that with every PB update, people expect the notebook to become thinner and lighter, yet as the processor becomes more powerful, its an improvement to keep the notebook the same size. Add to that the complaints Apple would get if powerbooks were loud and hot, and there's your reason. Apple doesn't just have to slap a G5 chipset into the PB, they have to make it run like a dream.
 
Originally posted by leet1
If he has a laptop thats overheating, he should take it to get serviced, theres no reason for it to be doing that.If you want a quiet x86 laptop, IBM makes some great ones, my dad's is silent as can be. My compaq isn't too quiet, but can't be heard 3 people away while in class and the fan doesn't even kick on when the processor is in mobile mode.
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but the point is, IBM usually makes the "ugliest" notebooks ever.. nothing compares to the design of my 12"PB (maybe 15"PB would, I don't know! :))
 
Originally posted by toughboy
but the point is, IBM usually makes the "ugliest" notebooks ever.. nothing compares to the design of my 12"PB (maybe 15"PB would, I don't know! :))
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IBM makes business laptops. I'm sure they could make it look just as good, if not better<yes, the PBs do look nice, can't go against that.>
 
Originally posted by stoid
If you look at www.applehistory.com you will see that Apple took just over a year after the initial G4 release to get it into a laptop, I am guessing the same will happen here, I'm placing my better on the July MacWorld.

If the hamsters pedal really had they might get that ol' shoehorn powered up faster, but you know how reliable little furry rodents are.
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what makes you think that what happened with previous powerbooks will determine what will happen with these? how long it took the G4 has nothing to do with it.
 
Kind of off topic but today our school got some new dell lattitude laptops for the science department and I had to use one. I love how they have those stupid color coded ports on the back. You must be realy stupid if you cant figure out that the usb port doesnt go into the parallel port. Also, didnt parrallel ports become obsolete like 5 years ago?
 
Originally posted by plinkoman
what makes you think that what happened with previous powerbooks will determine what will happen with these? how long it took the G4 has nothing to do with it.
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well it took almost 2 years not just over a year to do it

and the G4 suffered the same limitation that the G5 did, Hot extremely hot, i believe in early developments the G4 would crack the enclosure, thats why it went Ti in the first place.

"The 1.8 gigahertz version -- only the second-fastest -- of the PowerMac G5 microchip processor series sucks up a huge amount of power and puts out enough heat to burn toast." - macobserver

ya heat it an issue
 
Lets face it though whatever your personal preferences PC or MAC there can be little doubt which laptop 'shape' machine is the most desirable. Look in any style magazine and you see a G4 powerbook. The 17in is without doubt the most most drool worthy machine ever. I know someone who has one of the new 17in Toshiba's but even he looks on enviously at the powerbook. Its beautiful, it's quiet, it doesn't get hot although everyone seems to love to say they do. Apart from the ATI 9600 in the updated model I wouldn't swap my 1st gen 17in for anything even 3gHz pentiums with flashy paint jobs and colour coded parallel ports!
The battery life is not even close to the iBooks but will wipe any PC under the table. Alienware may claim 2 hour battery life but lets face it thats with logging in and then initialising the screen saver for the remaining 119 minutes.
The new 15in powerbooks are without doubt the real portable choice. There maybe some screen issues but that's the LCD manufacturers fault and in my eyes doesn't diminish apples design job at all. The 12in is the ultimate travellers choice as a designer who does a lot of travelling I must admit to being tempted to buy a one despite the ownership of a new desktop and the PB on which I write this. Think I'll wait to see what nxt year brings though!
The reason apple take time to release products is because they get it right and its not like the PC world where a manufacturer brings a new model out week after week simply to force geeks to upgrade. I meant geek in a nice way so don't roast me please!:)
I still have a LC475 which gets regular use. Try using a PC over 11 years old!
 
Originally posted by psycho bob
There maybe some screen issues but that's the LCD manufacturers fault and in my eyes doesn't diminish apples design job at all.
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Actually, I think it's either design or manufacture of the PowerBooks. I'm leaning slightly more towards manufacture because not every machine (not mine either thankfully) has this problem.
 
Originally posted by Vlade
First, my avatar is just to make apple fanatics mad, I smile every time someone gets mad about it (I know, I'm evil... :p )
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Heh, I kinda figured that. Why would one get mad about this? As long as you are not bashing Macs for no reason...
I actually like costructive criticism of Macs.
That avatar is pretty funny actually...
 
Originally posted by psycho bob
Lets face it though whatever your personal preferences PC or MAC there can be little doubt which laptop 'shape' machine is the most desirable. Look in any style magazine and you see a G4 powerbook. The 17in is without doubt the most most drool worthy machine ever.
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Well don't get me wrong, the PB is nice and all, but there is better on the windows side, considering all the different choices in shapes, sizes you have to choose from on high end models. I like tablet PCs, as well as those Clamshell ones<think thats the name for them>

The battery life is not even close to the iBooks but will wipe any PC under the table. Alienware may claim 2 hour battery life but lets face it thats with logging in and then initialising the screen saver for the remaining 119 minutes.
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Cnet tested it as 2 hours, that numbers not from their site, just fyi.
 
from Cnet's review of the Alienware Area 51m (I assume this is the one you guys are referring to).
The Area 51m was not able to complete this test with just its standard battery, a scenario that is not unheard of for this class of Pentium 4 notebooks. So, CNET Labs tested the Area 51m with two batteries in place: a 14.8V, 3,400mAh cell and a 14.8V, 4,000mAh cell. Even with two cells, the Area 51m proved to have lackluster battery life. Reaching just more than two hours, it comes nowhere near the nearly five hours achieved by the Acer TravelMate 803LCi. The TravelMate 803LCi, with its 14.8V, 4,400mAh battery--not to mention its power-efficient Pentium M processor--had no problem coming out on top. If you plan on using the Alienware Area 51m for extended periods of time, keep it plugged in.
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So it needs two batteries to get two hours? Hmmm...
 
give me two batteries and I'll get 6-7 hours out my powerbook. I quite agree some wintel machines are nice but tablets are not notebooks I was strictly talking bout those.
If you put a powerbook in front of someone with out discussing spec platform etc I bet the average joe in the street would choose the powerbook everytime. This is kinda pointless discussion because pc users will always back their corner just as mac users will theirs. Next time I'm in a bar tho and the lady comes up to admire my handsome chunk of aluminium I'll remember to point out its a mac. Although the big white glowing apple may be kind of a hint.
As far as which is better I know which I would choose every time and yes I do own a pc as well so I have seen both sides of the arguement. All the professionals I know use macs all my business is conducted on them. They aren't the fastest machines certainly not on paper but as people on this forum have pointed out before you don't buy a mac for that reason. To the vast majority of professional mac buyers (certainly in the design/print side of things) quoted gHz is irrelevant. A mac is far more powerful then the sum of its parts.

Actually, I think it's either design or manufacture of the PowerBooks. I'm leaning slightly more towards manufacture because not every machine (not mine either thankfully) has this problem.
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I was referring purely to the aesthetics not the technical design and hardware.
 
Well, you were laying the blame on the LCD manufacturer when it is more likely to be the manufacture or design of the PowerBook itself. SO if you took the LCD and changed the spacers around inside a different housing, the problem wouldn't occur. That's assuming, though, that the LCD manufacturer had nothing to do with the placement of the spacers.


Man, I love this backlit keyboard!
 
Originally posted by psycho bob
Next time I'm in a bar tho and the lady comes up to admire my handsome chunk of aluminium I'll remember to point out its a mac. Although the big white glowing apple may be kind of a hint.
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speaking about bars, cafeterias, and coffee houses, it would be great if apple made their keyboards spillproof like the panasonic toughbook so the laptop could withstand a coffee, soda, beer, or even vodka on the rocks spill

a wet drink pouring into the motherboard will often spell the end of the laptop

if you do spill something on your laptop, shut it down, let it dry completely and maybe you may stand a chance as i have read this in macworld regarding their original sturdy ibook model
 
the spacers are built into the screens aren't they? I assume that while these screens may have been made specifically for apple's 15in PB (please correct me if they are used else where!) they won't be manufactured to apple's design only their chosen resolution and dimensions. The LCD manufacturer will do that. And even if it was apple's fault of the thousands of 15in PB they ship only a small percentage must be effected other wise the outcry would be far greater and they would be forced to do something. Not saying its particularly nice for those who are effected by it mind. Are there any really clear photos of these white marks in everyday use (ie; normal screen shots with say an iapp open)?
 
Anyone who buys a 3GHz P4 laptop for Alienware prices is a retard (I meant that in the clinical sense - make them take a test, you'll see). Pure and simple. I have a 3+ GHz P4 desktop and a nice P4M laptop. I am not a troller or zealot (despite my sig).

ECS makes the chasis for these things using an SiS chipset (OK, but not best for a P4 - i875 gets that honor). With a nice screen a barebones ECS machine can be had for less than $1000 CDN. Add any CPU, drive, and video you want (if you can find the mAGP part).

People who buy these things are paying a premium for commodity junk. There is no Jonathan Ivy at SiS making sure that you get a decent weight, battery life and low heat.

The original ECS 'portable' had AN EXTERNAL BATTERY!!!

When Centrino hits 1.8GHz it will smoke a 3Ghz P4 and offser 4 hours of battery.

Its sad when people buy WinTel boxes. More so when they buy $0 R&D clunkers liek most Dells and 'portable' desktop replacements.

Fellow Mac users, these people are beyond our help. Don't even argue with them. These are the people who bought 5lb. Archos Jukebox 'iPod killers.'
 
Originally posted by lewdvig
Anyone who buys a 3GHz P4 laptop for Alienware prices is a retard

Its sad when people buy WinTel boxes. More so when they buy $0 R&D clunkers liek most Dells and 'portable' desktop replacements.

Fellow Mac users, these people are beyond our help. Don't even argue with them. These are the people who bought 5lb. Archos Jukebox 'iPod killers.'
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Sad? I bought a windows box and compaq laptop and I'm nothing but smiles :D

When people buy those power user laptops, they know what they are getting into. They know they are sacrificing battery life for extreme cpu power. Calling them retarded is moronic.
 
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