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New PowerBooks - Finally

Originally posted by Lord Bodak
My 12" order was automatically upgraded.

Good things:
Faster chip
More L2 cache
USB 2.0
More onboard RAM
DVI!

Bad things:
Mini-DVI to composite video adapter is listed as "sold separately" (they used to include one)
My estimated ship date moved from 9/24 to 9/25 :(

All in all though, I'm pretty happy...
The 7457 (it obviously has one b/c of the 512K L2 cache... the old chip had 256K as was pointed out in iMac discussions last week) should hopefully solve the heat issue.
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Slight correction, as far as I know, this is the first machine they've ever made that has Mini-DVI, all the others had mini-VGA. So a different, and probably marginally more expensive part, thus the separate price.

Congratulations on your upgrade too!
 
Re: New P-Books

Originally posted by gloftis
So far, nobody seems to have noticed that the WiFi Ghz gap has closed.

The Wintel notebooks with the "New Technology" Centrino processor comes in about 1.4 Ghz, with the bogus hyperthreading system to "accelerate" its effective clock speed.

The PB 17 is now nominally just .67Ghz off that figure with a proven ability to blow the doors off a P4 at 1 Ghz.

I doubt we'll see a PB G5 because of the heat issue, but alll you whiners do a search on the IBM PPC 750VX, which, by some estimations, could reach clock speeds of 3Ghz+
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Wow, you're so off the mark there it's astounding..

the Centrino/Pentium-M doesn't have hyperthreading, it's not even BASED on the Pentium 4/Netburst architecture

It doesn't matter how a 1.33Ghz G4 does against a 1Ghz P4, because 1Ghz P4s don't exist, and 1.4Ghz Pentium M's are a LOT faster per clock than the Pentium 4-M

I'd reckon that the 1.4Ghz P-M would still be faster by a pretty big margin, it's a similarly efficient core with twice the L2 cache and a faster bus interface... it won't run OSX tho :)
 
Originally posted by nydoofus
So now that 5400 RPM HD's are an option, do any of you think its worth the extra cost?
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Yes. 4200rpm drives are bottlenecks. (of course, it depends on who makes the 5400rpm drive, but since it's 80GB, there's only one manufacturer: HGST-- and it's a good drive.) Toshiba 5400rpm drives are slow by comparison to the HGST/IBM laptop 5400rpm drives. My guess, though, is that ordering the 80GB 5400rpm will delay an order because they just started manufacturing them and there is a limited supply.
 
Word for Switchers

Now that you are part of the Mac family--which one of you referred to as the "Dark Side"-- be prepared for the fact that Mac users are both loyal and dissatisfied.

We just got a 25-33% improvement in processing speed and many of our number are upset that it wasn't an upgrade to dual 3 Ghz G5's.

There is a reason: working with a Mac, especially with OS X, is less stressful than the same experience with Windoze. Hence, to compensate for the lack of stress in their lives, many Mac users obsess about what could have been and pine for next year's technology today.

It is a harmless obsession, other than its effect on purchases; they don't buy the new products because they aren't new enough.

Anyway, welcome to the family!
 
15" Resolution

I could have sworn the 15" Superdrive had TFT XGA??? Just the Super, not Combo. I don't see it listed now?
 
I don't like the fact that the 17" has a faster processor, the top 15" should be the same specs throughout other than screensize otherwise whats the point in offering 2 15"'s other than with or without SD and BL Keyboard?

Other bad things.

No FW800 on a "pro machine" which is the 12".

I've rated this story as negative.

I buy a laptop based on screen size and weight, features come second, now i cannot buy the laptop i want because i cannot get the features i want. Apple is selling them as though they are powermacs where the processor speed is the most important, when its not.
 
Originally posted by Julianne
I must say I was abit dissapointed to see only a .33Mhz increase in processor speed
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Ok I have seen a couple of people say this now, they did not speed it up only .33 of a Mhz, it is .33 of a Ghz or a 330Mhz speed bump, which is not bad for Apple.

No L3 cache? Well that will be the improvement on the next rev. just wait and see, a speed bump to 1.6 and L3, but not bad for a G4, it would fly, and so will these.
 
5400 RPM drives use 50% power w/ 50% more heat

Originally posted by legion
Yes. 4200rpm drives are bottlenecks. (of course, it depends on who makes the 5400rpm drive, but since it's 80GB, there's only one manufacturer: HGST-- and it's a good drive.)
Click to expand...

The specs for the HGST drives show the 5400 using about 50% more power than the 4200 under normal conditions.

I've opted for battery life and cooler running - the minor performance difference will only occasionally be noticeable.
 
12" Available Now?

So is the 12" available now? At the Apple Store pBook page, the 15"" and 17" all have red lettering saying, "Available today." The 12" DOES NOT. When will we have 12" pBooks?
 
Originally posted by Stelliform
I have a 15" TiBook with the first revision superdrive. I was kind of hoping to see DVD-RW on this revision. I wish mine could do it. On the flip side, maybe it is an OS limitation, (I know the drive in mine is capable) and Panther will fix it for me.
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you can burn to a DVD-RW, it should work. to erase, go to 'disk copy' (or 'disk utility' in panther) and choose 'erase disk'

you can check out the details in another thread. just do a search

on the PBs, I am happy that the rumor talk will finally move away from powerbook talk, for now. all this talk makes me feel bad about my 17-inch with GeForce4 440 Go which, I don't need to tell you is no Radeon 9600. I can live with being .33 GHz behind, but the video card difference is killing me. but I will keep trucking with my L3 cache. . .







I can't believe the number of times i used "talk" in this post :(
 
Originally posted by tduality
Exactly. My current PM G4 has 400Mhz. So this update is almost....don't want to think about it.
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Same here, 500mhz PB G4...I keep telling myself, "Not until the G5s Not Until the G5s..."

Don't know how much more I can stand this! Though if something unfortunate were to happen to my happy little companion the 12" looks very tempting for the price as something to tide me over.
 
Re: Re: New PBs

Originally posted by legion
Most well-implemented P-M machines meet or beat the current/new PB lineup
and they're getting cheaper in battery life. Plus, Dothan (next P-M) is due in December (0.9 micron process, larger L2) which will make it more efficient battery-wise and it'll clock higher (start 1.9 set to go to almost 3) This will be in laptops by 2Q '04, which means if Apple doesn't revamp the linup again in 3 to 4 months, they're gonna fall way behind. Currently, these PBs are sheep in wolves' clothing (they look powerful but are really "i" level.) If the first series of G5 PBs come out in 6 months from now and they only measure up to the current G5 desktops, the speed gap will be huge between G5 2Ghz PBs and Wintel P-M 3Ghz and Apple will have to make another quantum leap to get back in the game (like they've done with moving from Motorola's G4 to IBM's 970)
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On the nail legion! I was slightly taken in by the reality distortion field but thanks to this post I have my feet firmly on the ground again.

The Apple laptops are in serious trouble I'd say. Yes they'll sell well over the next few weeks as the people waiting for 15" upgrades snap them up. But if Apple think they're going to get many (and I know there are some on this board so I'm not ruling it out altogether) switchers because of their powerbooks than they've got a rude awakening ahead of them.

Far too little, far far too late IMHO.

e.
 
Is the RAM easily updatable in the 15"'s?

I'm going to buy one but i need to be able to load a bit moer in down the track...

oh, and no backlit on the 1ghz 15 is a real bummer, an exxtra $AUD121 i'd rather keep
 
Originally posted by KLFloyd
Same here, 500mhz PB G4...I keep telling myself, "Not until the G5s Not Until the G5s..."

Don't know how much more I can stand this! Though if something unfortunate were to happen to my happy little companion the 12" looks very tempting for the price as something to tide me over.
Click to expand...

I'm on the same machine. I keep saying wait for the G5s, but I wouldn't buy a RevA G5 PB anyway, not after the problems I had buying this RevA PB G4. I have to sent it back in the first week, after waiting 2.5 months for it. Plus the case seems a bit flimsy now!
 
Booooooo!

BLAH BLAH BLAH!! So there was a very small speed bump. Would it be so hard to put in higher res displays? and they dropped the L3. This update is such a joke. I will have to wait on my PB purchase until next year.

Hickman
 
So, to those of you who remember my agonising about whether to get a Mac or PC, then deciding to hold on and see what the new 15" was like, "Is it what I was waiting for?"

Tricky, really. The Superdrive 15" looks a pretty good deal, by Apple standards, but equally 1.25GHz (i nearly typed MHz there, god knows how many corrections I would have had to endure) sounds pretty weak against the new Pentium Ms, and OS X is quite processor intensive. And there is all this speed talk about caches that goes a little over my head.

On the other hand, it has everything else I was hoping for except 1Gb/RAM as standard, and that can always be solved. It looks like I'm gonna fit in just fine as a Mac user - I'll buy it because it looks wonderful, but I'll gripe that it's innards can't keep pace with intel... :)

(Oh, and I've found the perfect place to buy it too - the tech bit of Selfridge's new store in Birmingham, England Selfridges Birmingham - which is made out of aluminium too)
 
Originally posted by Abercrombieboy
...it is .33 of a Ghz or a 330Mhz speed bump, which is not bad for Apple.
Click to expand...

Should say "which is not bad for MOTOROLA"

Apple can't wait to go to only IBM chips --- neither can we (G5 or other).

Just dump Motorola!
 
Originally posted by Nik_Doof
Yet another Switcher here....

I'm gonna join the ranks soon as my new CC arrives :)
Click to expand...

Well, I can't praise OS X and the general ease of use of Macs high enough. I have an iMac and a dual G5 on order. However, I would think VERY carefully before buying a powerbook right now. If you have to switch, get a 1.6/1.8 G5. If you are going to be anywhere near any other laptop users who may have Pentium M based machines you will soon get pi**ed off I reckon, unless you're just a style guru, in which case good luck to you.

e.
 
Pretty sad update if you ask me. 1 YEAR WAIT FOR .33 GHZ, (not to bring up this PC-Mac comparison), but no company BUT Apple could get away with this.

EVEN if the Mac G4 was TWICE as fast as a P4, PC laptop speeds have increased up to 3.2Ghz with H/T and 800Mhz FSB (using a desktop processer).


I think I'll stay with my P4 notebook (HP zd7000), untill Apple puts the G5 in a moble.

Please no flames for my opinion (it is just that MY OPINION).
 
Originally posted by lord_flash
It looks like I'm gonna fit in just fine as a Mac user - I'll buy it because it looks wonderful, but I'll gripe that it's innards can't keep pace with intel... :)

(Oh, and I've found the perfect place to buy it too - the tech bit of Selfridge's new store in Birmingham, England Selfridges Birmingham - which is made out of aluminium too)
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Heh Heh! Ex brummie here :) Cool place to get your book from!

Personally I think you're making the right decision at the wrong time. Although when Apple are going to catch up to the P-M is anyones guess.

If you don't need the portability get a G5. Otherwise, well, at least you're going in with your eyes open it seems.

Good luck and enjoy.

e.
 
oh, i forgot to mention. the support of the 2GB of RAM is not really new. you can put two 1GB sticks into the previous 17-inch, but it is expensive. but if you look at the BTO page of the new one, you will find that 2GB from apple is too. so that is not exactly a new feature, they have just officially supported the new memory max. I think both will actually take 4GB or something, it's just that the memory modules are not here yet.
 
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