New iBooks and Powerbooks!

[barkmonster]

Originally posted by BeyondCloister
Just such a shame that the entry level iBook will cost me $322 more in the UK

blame _your_ government!

That is the dumbest comment I've ever read.

It's not our government that's overcharging us, we expect to pay 17.5% V.A.T. (sales tax) on every luxury item we buy, it's the fact that before the V.A.T. is even added Apple are charging us $3,249.99 for the high end TiBook, that's direct from the FT currency converter and it's quite a bit more than the $2,999.00 it costs in the US.

Either way, £170 or $200 more for the superdrive and doubling the RAM to 1Gb is very good value as far as the high end model is concerned. It's just a shame Apple (NOT our government) are screwing us on the price.

 

[UnixMac]

My CompUSA guy just told me that I could be getting mine as soon as two weeks. He said that his Apple man at corporate said that (as with OS X, and the Duel Processor 1.25Ghz G4's) they will likely have theirs before Apple ships to their customers. He said that basically, they are viewed as a very big customer and as such, get their stuff ASAP.

I hope he's right, cause I'm chompin at the bit for this thing!

He also, had 4 tablet PC's there on hold for some customers and said that the one they took out to display as already crashed....they are trying to figure out why the screen doesn't respond to any touch.

As for the GNX 40G, I called Apple and asked a tech if it was a heat issue that kept them out, and he said that it was pure cost, and to go ahead and drop in any drive I want.

 

[Multimedia]

Get Your What?

Originally posted by WanaPBnow
My CompUSA guy just told me that I could be getting mine as soon as two weeks. He said that his Apple man at corporate said that (as with OS X, and the Duel Processor 1.25Ghz G4's) they will likely have theirs before Apple ships to their customers. He said that basically, they are viewed as a very big customer and as such, get their stuff ASAP.

I hope he's right, cause I'm chompin at the bit for this thing!

What "thing"? You are completely unclear about what it is you are talking about. iBook which one or PowerBook which one?

Please.

 

[UnixMac]

Sorry, I made the assumption that people would read my signature....and deduce it. My bad.

I am expecting a 1.0Ghz Superdrive PB they are due "with-in two weeks" at their store. As for the ibooks, they are already there!

 

[robguz]

Originally posted by WasteGate
This is my first post, good news for me is I'll be switching back to a mac (havn't used one since my quadra 610), but one thing I noticed on the Ti Book specs is at http://www.apple.com.au/powerbook/graphics.html down the bottom right corner it says "Quake performance:
3D games push the graphics processing unit harder than any other application. And of these 3D games, Quake performance has come to be the benchmark against which all graphics processors are measured. So you’ll be pleased to hear that when playing the Quake III Arena version 1.30, in millions of colours, at 1024x768 resolution, the 1GHz PowerBook G4 blazes away at a scorching 76 frames per second".

Thats not scorching especially for a Radeon 9000 with 64Mb.
I have been holding off buying a Ti Book for 6 months waiting for this beast to come along and I'm sure that this was the same score for the older model with the Radeon 7500 32Mb.
Any thoughts?

Well, 1.32 is out, maybe that would boost it further. Still not bad for a portable. Sure better than the Radeon 16MB of just 7 months ago.

 

[robguz]

Originally posted by barkmonster


That is the dumbest comment I've ever read.

It's not our government that's overcharging us, we expect to pay 17.5% V.A.T. (sales tax) on every luxury item we buy, it's the fact that before the V.A.T. is even added Apple are charging us $3,249.99 for the high end TiBook, that's direct from the FT currency converter and it's quite a bit more than the $2,999.00 it costs in the US.
... It's just a shame Apple (NOT our government) are screwing us on the price.

I totally agree. Apple's sales figures are even worse in Europe. You'd think they'd actually drop the price a bit to compensate given the VAT. Unfortunately Apple has already treated non-US markets as somewhat of an afterthought, though I think with OSX and it's multi-lingual abilities built in, some of the product delays aren't as bad as they used to be. Go to Apple's feedback pages and tell them what you think. Tell them you'd spend more and buy more frequently if they didn't jack upthe prices, which while less profit per machine would result in greater sales and more total profit.

 

[npongratz]

Re: Re: re:Student ADC discounts

Originally posted by npongratz


Yeah, I was suspicious too, so I called Apple and asked them about the price irregularities. They said that they're having a problem with the powerbook section of the store, and things will allegedly be fixed by the end of today (11-7-02). Hopefully their "fix" isn't an increase in the price!

Just thought y'all might like to know.

The ADC online store now seems fixed (keeping the prices as low as they were yesterday), and I have just purchased my first mac! With the ADC student developer discount I was able to get the absolute top-of-the-line powerbook for only $2379:

1GHz PowerPC G4
1GB SDRAM - 2 DIMMs
60GB Ultra ATA drive
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
AirPort Card

What a deal!

 

[WasteGate]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
sorry [edit]WasteGate[/edit], that's how it is. the 9000 isn't THAT much faster than the 7500 , and the rating with the 7500 was 71 frames per second optimally, according to the articles i have read. i don't think the 3d engine on the 9000 is that much better, it just adds some features, and probably runs better on other areas like antialiasing. all in all though, it's the fastest on the market, if not by much, and i am sure the 64 MB DDR will help in other places.

But I wonder if Id is going to release Doom III for the mac, if so this should show all the eye candy.
Not that I'm buying this baby exclusivley to play games on, thx anyway for that.

 

[UnixMac]

Those frame rates on the PB have got to be wrong, cause to be wrong.... I'll bet Apple didn't use the proper demo or something. I have to think it can get 100fps easy if benched right......lets wait for barefeets...

On a side note, Jiust got Max Payne last nite......runs great on my 500mhz DP, I don't know if it's multiprocessor aware, but I have the graphics all maxed out, and running at 800X600, and its about 35-40 fps...

 

[lelereb]

PowerBook Superdrive burns DVD-RW?

PowerBook Superdrive burns DVD-RW?

 

[lmalave]

iBook deals are so good I had to make the switch from Windoze

Hooray!!!

I had been thinking about making the switch to Mac for a while now, and the new iBooks sealed the deal. I am not a power graphics user, so the mid-range iBook is perfect. 800 MHz iBook I bought is replacing a 600MHz Pentium III Dell Inspiron 5000. Though the 2-year old Inspiron performs quite well (MHz is sooooooooo overrated, nobody needs all these high-powered machines unless they are gamers or pro graphics users), but I am literally holding the Dell together with duct tape - the cheap case has cracks everywhere after only 2 years. Plus the underside of the Dell gets so hot it has literally burned me, and only gets about 2 hrs battery life. Compare this to the iBook with its rugged case and cool-running G3 CPU. The main difference, though, is the OS. I'm a longtime Unix geek since my college days and can't wait to have a laptop running Unix natively that can still run Office apps, work easily with peripherals, etc. I hope people can appreciate what Apple has managed to do. Pulling off a low-priced, easy-to-use, consumer-ready Unix machine is a small miracle, if you ask me.

GO APPLE! I'm never going back to Windoze!

 

[Over Achiever]

Re: PowerBook Superdrive burns DVD-RW?

Originally posted by lelereb
PowerBook Superdrive burns DVD-RW?

Yes it does. Its just that the iDVD software doesn't officially support DVD-RW, so they don't mention it. There are ways to get around it. Go through the support forums for iDVD, you find various tricks.

Go here for the forums.

Some relevant discussions...
How to write onto DVD-RW media
Erasing your DVD-RW media
So take a look around the support forum...you'll find a lot of answers there.

 

[atomwork]

not true

Originally posted by backspinner

blame _your_ government!

guys... Even back in Germany the prices are higher. But don't foget that we all have to pay tax on the US products when we buy them in a store. I am not sure if there is local and states tax there and its from state to state different. So the 17 % Tax in Europe will almost be there to after tax here.

However you don't pay tax when you buy it over macwarehouse.com or other internet seller. Apple.com still have tax

 

[bkassing]

superdrive?

The Apple store lists a 1ghz models with the combo drive for $200 less than the superdrive. None of the other vendors seem to offer this configuration at the 1ghz level. I don't really see why I want a superdrive. I don't anticipate burning dvds anytime soon and when I do, want an external. Can somebody enlighten me as to why I'd want a superdrive?

I guess what it comes down to is that the apple store charges tax. So a 1ghz at 2799 plus tax comes to 2999. Buying from a vendor without tax gives me a superdrive for the same price I get the combo drive. And the combo drive powerbook is available now and not in 3-4 weeks.

How big a risk that the superdrive will suck because it's new for powerbooks?

 

[Multimedia]

Re: superdrive?

Originally posted by bkassing
The Apple store lists a 1ghz models with the combo drive for $200 less than the superdrive. None of the other vendors seem to offer this configuration at the 1ghz level. I don't really see why I want a superdrive. I don't anticipate burning dvds anytime soon and when I do, want an external. Can somebody enlighten me as to why I'd want a superdrive?

I guess what it comes down to is that the apple store charges tax. So a 1ghz at 2799 plus tax comes to 2999. Buying from a vendor without tax gives me a superdrive for the same price I get the combo drive. And the combo drive powerbook is available now and not in 3-4 weeks.

How big a risk that the superdrive will suck because it's new for powerbooks?

Well when you are ready to spend that much money, you might as well get the SuperDrive. Think of it as a way to have a spare 4.5 GB hard drive. With Toast you can write to it in multiple sessions Ñ even rewrite to a rewriteable dvd. It's like having 6 CDs on one platter. Apple isn't likely to offer their first Portable's Internal SuperDrive with something they haven't tested extensively to their satisfaction. I wouldn't worry about it sucking.

It only writes CDRs @ 8X. But you may regret not getting it later and it might not be easily ungradable. Have you seen what you can do with iDVD? It's pretty cool. We Cube users are hankering for one of those slotload SuperDrives as soon as we can find Apple's source. I hope we see 2x slotloads by Summer 2003 and 4x slotloads in a year.

 

[shadowfax]

Re: Re: superdrive?

Originally posted by Multimedia

It also writes CDRs @ 16X you know. You may regret not getting it later and it might not be easily ungradable. Have you seen what you can do with iDVD? It's pretty cool. We Cube users are hankering for one of those slotload SuperDrives as soon as we can find Apple's source. I hope we see 2x slotloads by Summer 2003 and 4x slotloads in a year.

since when does it write at 16x? i would have paid another 200$ just for that! does the powermac superdrive write at CDs at 16x? because you are way off. i just read the tech specs, and the superdrive reads DVDs at 6, CDs at 24, writes at 8, and writes CDRW at 4, while the combo drive reads dvds at 8, CDs at 24, and writes both CDR and CDRW at 8x... that's the reason i chose the combo, because i knew i would be watching DVDs and writing CDRWs a lot more than writing DVDs.. it takes a LONG time to write a DVD, if i am not much mistaken, and the only thing i would ever write to it is my music library, which is 4.4 GB...

there are plenty of reasons for someone to get a superdrive, of course, but i didn't really feel like it. the regret it later thing doesn't hold up either; i am sure MCE will sell it for 300$ or less in a few months, and even the 800 MHz users will be able to get it.

 

[Rower_CPU]

TiBook Superdrive:
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW); writes DVD-R discs at 1x speed, reads DVDs at 6x speed, writes CD-R discs at 8x speed, writes CD-RW discs at 4x speed, reads CDs at 24x speed

PowerMac Superdrive:
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW); writes DVD-R discs at 2x speed, reads DVDs at 6x speed, writes CD-R discs at 8x speed, writes CD-RW discs at 4x speed, reads CDs at 24x speed

Looks like 8x CDR burning to me...

 

[Multimedia]

Re: Re: Re: superdrive?

Originally posted by Shadowfax


since when does it write at 16x? i would have paid another 200$ just for that! does the powermac superdrive write at CDs at 16x? because you are way off. i just read the tech specs, and the superdrive reads DVDs at 6, CDs at 24, writes at 8, and writes CDRW at 4, while the combo drive reads dvds at 8, CDs at 24, and writes both CDR and CDRW at 8x... that's the reason i chose the combo, because i knew i would be watching DVDs and writing CDRWs a lot more than writing DVDs.. it takes a LONG time to write a DVD, if i am not much mistaken, and the only thing i would ever write to it is my music library, which is 4.4 GB...

there are plenty of reasons for someone to get a superdrive, of course, but i didn't really feel like it. the regret it later thing doesn't hold up either; i am sure MCE will sell it for 300$ or less in a few months, and even the 800 MHz users will be able to get it.

My bad. I apologize. It's only an 8x4x24x CDR drive. I was thinking of the new iBook's 16x8x24x CDRW/8x DVD read Combo drive. Excuse me. Nevertheless I think if you are spending that much money it's still worth the extra $200 to have an internal DVD writer even if it does only write 1x to DVD-Rs and RWs and 8x to CDRs.

 

[the future]

Re: iBook deals are so good I had to make the switch from Windoze

Pulling off a low-priced, easy-to-use, consumer-ready Unix machine is a small miracle, if you ask me.

You're just so RIGHT, man! Apple + Unix = a marriage made in heaven! Have fun with your iBook!

 

[shadowfax]

Re: Re: Re: Re: superdrive?

Originally posted by Multimedia


My bad. I apologize. It's only an 8x4x24x CDR drive. I was thinking of the new iBook's 16x8x24x CDRW/8x DVD read Combo drive. Excuse me. Nevertheless I think if you are spending that much money it's still worth the extra $200 to have an internal DVD writer even if it does only write 1x to DVD-Rs and RWs and 8x to CDRs.

of course, but i prefer the faster RW rates of the Combo drive... for 200$ less. as i said though, opinions, opinions... that stinks that only the iBook has faster burn rates though. i would pay an extra 200$ to have a 16x CDR rate in the powerbook. oh well. everything else is faster.

 

[scem0]

I prefer my 40x10x40x . It is fast as hell. I burned 26 Kung Fu
movies in one night. They took about 1 hour to burn - that is
about 2 minutes per CD, but they only took a minute to burn. It
was the organizing and writing the labels that took longer.

I love Kazaa

 

[Multimedia]

Why Is The PowerBook SuperDrive Is So Slow?

I just had a thought that perhaps the slotload SuperDrive in the PowerBook is slow because of HEAT issues. Maybe that's the only way they can keep the PowerBook case from melting when writing DVDs or CDRs. Any thoughts on that angle?

 

[Multimedia]

What Is Kazaa? Burning Movies To CDRs? How?

Originally posted by scem0
I prefer my 40x10x40x . It is fast as hell. I burned 26 Kung Fu
movies in one night. They took about 1 hour to burn - that is
about 2 minutes per CD, but they only took a minute to burn. It
was the organizing and writing the labels that took longer.

I love Kazaa

How are you burning Movies to CDRs and what is Kazaa? I'm picking up a 52x24x52x CDR drive this afternoon for $69 after $10 rebate at Fry's.

 

[scem0]

That is why I think it is so slow... I am suprised nobody has
mentioned it yet, other then yourself. I would look through
previous posts to see if anone else has mentioned heat issues
being the cause of the slow speeds but I am lazy.

 

[scem0]

Re: What Is Kazaa? Burning Movies To CDRs? How?

Originally posted by Multimedia


How are you burning Movies to CDRs and what is Kazaa?

Im not burning movies so I can put them in a DVD player and
watch them. I am burning the files onto a CDR, and so I can put
the CDR in my CDROM drive and watch them if I want to.

Kazaa is a file sharing client on PCs. It is soooooo great. There
isn't a version for Macs (but there is a shadow client called Neo
which sucks), and one needs to be developed because it is on
the fasttrack network which is soooo much better then Gnutella.