pentium M powerBook????

[punkbass25]

i think instead they will all pick up the new powermacs because they will most likely (based on release times coincidentaly being very close (or not so coincidentaly)) have a new 64-bit chip from intel which is being designed buy the old DEC designers, who just so happened to make amazing 64 bit chips almost 10 years ago. so the new intel chip will actually be free of previous intel mistakes and will basicly just be wearing the intel sticker. It has potential to be far better then the G5 very real potential.

 

[gamestriker]

From another post I made ...

[I don't know if I agree with all of that. There is no point in bumping the PB's with the same PPC chip. The huge drawback of PPC is in the laptop line. As a result the best advantage for the new Intel chips is in the laptop line. Workstations won't b e as sensitive or see as much of a a difference in design or performance with the change. The dramatic change will be by putting a blazing fast chip in the powerbook with a supercool design that is also light. Much sexier than the MINI. The MINI might be upgraded at the same time or a little later. Apple's immmediate goal is going to be to placate the Mac loyalists and a new PB will do that.

I mean, lets say they put a new chip in the MINI and release it. What is going to be fundamentally different? Can they make the size smaller? or make apps run faster? The typical MINI buyer is a fella checking email or browing the web or playing with iphoto right? I don't think that market will see or perceive a difference in the chip.

Powerbooks is where it's at.

I do agree that there is one huge update coming in the PPC line. My gut says is that it will be in the high end PowerMac line. The desktops will likely be the last models to switch. Not to mention, the die hard users who will reall care about the whole architechture and chip change are probably PowerMac users. Normal people will pick it up knowing that it will work for 3 years and the update is at least a few cycles away. Hardcore users or scientists will pick it up to hoard it and make sure that they get thelast real MAC before the internal changes.

COuld be wrong but that's what I think. (plus i really really want a sexy ultra portable powerbook. )
__________________

You definitely have a point there, though we might be waiting a while for those PowerBooks then, maybe as long as September. They have to build up stock first and get everything ready and set properly.

Saying this, lets not forget the hitherto-ignored iBook. Could the iBook update that we have been waiting for could be the first Mactel? An iBook with a Pentium M? I mean this would make sense. The extra wait would be the build up for stock for when they announce it, so its ready to ship, and they would announce it just in time for the new school year.

But even I have to see this is as doubtful, considering that the developer kits JUST went out.

and I also really really want a sexy-sleek PowerBook.

 

[eVolcre]

You definitely have a point there, though we might be waiting a while for those PowerBooks then, maybe as long as September. They have to build up stock first and get everything ready and set properly.

Saying this, lets not forget the hitherto-ignored iBook. Could the iBook update that we have been waiting for could be the first Mactel? An iBook with a Pentium M? I mean this would make sense. The extra wait would be the build up for stock for when they announce it, so its ready to ship, and they would announce it just in time for the new school year.

But even I have to see this is as doubtful, considering that the developer kits JUST went out.

and I also really really want a sexy-sleek PowerBook.

September '05? we can only fantasize eh?

I didn't think about the iBook line. You might have a point there but the only problem is that the iBook is positioned as a consumer equivalent to the pro-user Powerbook. Apple will either have to abandon that image or face the irony of having a consumer laptop more powerful than their premium brand.

I don't think they would abandon the iBook/Powerbook branding. It's too set in people's minds. That's why I really think the PB's are first.

I can wait until Septmber '06. My revA 12" PB will take me through till then. But man, I can't wait. We need to start a new thread speculating about the design and features and style of the Intel PBs.

 

[eVolcre]

Are there any rumors or ideas of what an Intel powerbook would look like? I saw a post in that 100 page thread that someone heard it would be the fastest, thinnest powerbook ever that would 'blow the PC world away'. Can't find the post ..

I also wonder how they could improve on the current AlBook design. It's pretty beautiful and utilitarian.

 

[runninmac]

Are there any rumors or ideas of what an Intel powerbook would look like? I saw a post in that 100 page thread that someone heard it would be the fastest, thinnest powerbook ever that would 'blow the PC world away'. Can't find the post ..

I also wonder how they could improve on the current AlBook design. It's pretty beautiful and utilitarian.

Yeah I will be truly amazed if the top the Alum. G4 design it goes with apple so well.

 

[MattG]

It would be amazing to have a laptop that fast in the body of a PowerBook...just imagine I'd buy one!

 

[gekko513]

Pentium Ms aren't exactly cheap. I don't understand why I should expect a price drop

 

[eVolcre]

Yeah I will be truly amazed if the top the Alum. G4 design it goes with apple so well.

Yeah. White doesn't work because it's the iBook trademark. Black has been done and is so common across the laptop industry. I'm thinking a skinnier version of the current AiBook that is widescreen. maybe carbon fiber accents? So a black and silver color?

Actually, BROWN might be pretty cool. I've never seen a brown laptop. Or maybe a copper shiny color? It would go well with laptop bags. Problem is that it won't match the Apple Screens then.

Who knows. I would buy the same design if it met my specs. But a cool revamp to start the new era of Intel chips would be awesome.

Copper sounds good the more I think about it actually. Or a dark brown.

How about Ferrari red? Sounds wierd but man, talk about making a statement.

Check out this bad boy

Every other notebook I have ever had pales in comparison to my new Ferrari-branded notebook from Acer. Since I brought my new purchase home, my IBM T-40 has been hiding in the corner, the Toshiba Tablet is putting up a brave front, the 17-inch Gateway is on the shelf looking the other way, and even the new Sony 505 looks abashed next to this stunning red box.

Acer's Ferrari-Branded NotebookFrom its three coats of high-quality automotive paint and Ferrari branding on the case to its brushed silver interior and tastefully etched logos, this machine is a thing of beauty. When I walk into a room with this baby, even the Apple users join the throngs of admirers. However, much like owning an exotic car, there are some trade-offs to all of this fame.

For instance, I rarely let this laptop leave my sight. I am convinced that should it be out of sight for a moment someone else will touch, fondle or "borrow" it. And because I worry about the finish, I am constantly aware of what I'm doing in the vicinity of the notebook. The dogs and cats know that it is off-limits, and I don't allow anyone near it with food or drink. I have a hard time thinking of putting it in a computer bag and have started to wish that I had a laptop cover, which, like a car cover, would protect it against unfit eyes, my laptop bag and the elements.

As you would expect, performance is very strong, but battery life isn't. I'm getting around 3 hours of heavy use with the 802.11g network at full power. Of course that's the same trade-off with a car; you don't buy a high-performance car and expect to get good gas mileage. (I think I just heard a snicker from the IBM T-40, which gets around 7 hours.)

Part of me wishes this notebook was fueled by the Athlon64 rather than the Athlon XP-M chip because, like with the car, I want ultimate performance—but then I take one look at the machine's lustrous coat, and somehow everything else seems trivial.

Other features include a 15-inch SXGA+ screen, coupled with 128MB ATI Radeon 9200 graphics, 512MB 333 SDRAM, a 60GB hard drive, DVD (+/-) RW, Bluetooth and 802.11g Wireless. No, it doesn't come with electric windows and air-conditioning; it does, however, have an extremely rare Ferrari optical mouse in Ferrari red, which will probably be in use years after the laptop goes to laptop heaven.

Acer's Ferrari: Under the HoodOne impressive piece of execution is that when you fire the machine up it plays a WAV file of a Ferrari race car revving its engine. That alone is worth the relatively low $1,899 price of admission. (I found it priced as low as $1,725 at PCVideoOnline.) Even when I'm in a meeting, I don't turn the sound off because of the unbridled envy that seems to show up in the eyes of my, granted mostly male, co-attendees. So far no one has complained.

The desktop screen also boasts a unique design, complete with a Ferrari racing motif and active calendar.

When talking about products targeted at individuals, I actually see a lot of IT value in the concept. A few years ago I was involved in a study to see why some firms experience failure rates that exceed 30 percent for laptop computers, and it came down to the fact that people simply were abusing their machines. If employees were given a product they were proud of as opposed to one purchased at a bargain basement piece, they took better care of it, particularly if they knew they could buy it after a reasonable two-year service life for a laptop computer.

PointerPlanning hardware upgrades? eWEEK Labs tells you what you need to know.

Executives often want products that are exclusive to them and are often more concerned with status than practicality, which means they often end up with products that cost up to twice what the company is deploying to the rank and file. With Acer's Ferrari notebook, here is a product that has the same exclusive nature and may actually cost less than the standard product given to everyone else (that can be our little secret). How often is it you can make an executive happy and stay within budget? Using a product like this to save money, even in an enterprise, is hardly unusual according to eWEEK Labs.

However, the overall goal of a product like this is to enhance the brand and drive attention to the rest of the product line. This is called a Halo product because it tends to shed positive light on other products from the same company. Even if people don't buy the Ferrari notebook they will, after seeing or hearing of it, be more likely to consider an Acer product and think of the company in a more positive light.

Overall, this is one of the highest quality laptops I have ever had, and it should serve its purpose of improving Acer's image admirably.

This idea of using another brand to enhance the value of an unrelated product (I have a Ferrari watch too) is far from unique, but Acer gets full credit for applying it to the PC market.

A black and red combination would match the U2 Ipod. Make the inside white or brushed aluminum and it matches the current displays and whew, it sounds way cool.

Midnight Blue? Either in a brushed aluminum or a matte finish? Both would look cool and 'powerful'. I'm sold on the ferrari red though.

 

[eVolcre]

Pentium Ms aren't exactly cheap. I don't understand why I should expect a price drop

Who said anything about a price drop? I said I'd pay 2500 for a single boot and 3000 if it also runs Windows. I agree with you, there would be no reason for a price drop in the PB line. It's going to be the high end machine that sets the bar for all other pro user laptops. iBook is a different story though

 

[notjustjay]

I heard somewhere that the powerbook sleep function (where everything is loaded to the RAM so you can carry on working in a second or 2) is a hardware feature which is why windows laptops take so damn long to start up after you close them...If this is the case does that mean we'll lose our PBs being ready to work on by the time the screen is at 90º??

Oh heck no. My Dell laptops could do this just fine.

It's just that half the time, when I woke the Dell from sleep, Windows crashed...

Hibernate was much more reliable with Windows, so I got into the habit of using that instead.

 

[m-dogg]

Yeah I will be truly amazed if the top the Alum. G4 design it goes with apple so well.

I think a darker metallic color, like a gunmetal type color would look pretty cool...

or maybe they'll go retro...bring on the powerbook woody, with an inlaid panel of your choice of 5 exotic hardwoods!

 

[eVolcre]

I think a darker metallic color, like a gunmetal type color would look pretty cool...

or maybe they'll go retro...bring on the powerbook woody, with an inlaid panel of your choice of 5 exotic hardwoods!

HEHEHE, powerbook woody.

 

[tomjleeds]

What's an L2 cache? What does it do? And what does it mean when you say 2MB L2 cache at FULL speed? is that better than a 1MB cache? Is it better than a 2MB cache at SLOW speed? Edumacate me ...

L2 cache is on-chip memory which the processor uses to store the data which it's working with at that exact moment.

In simple terms, the more L2 cache you have, the more data you can work with at any one time, meaning that you spend less time getting more data from main system memory. The speed bit is how often the cache can be updated (almost always the faster the better).

 

[revenuee]

sigh --- looks like i'll be getting this generations powerbook in september after all

not really suprized ... it was wishfull thinking on my part

 

[UTB_Avid]

I think a darker metallic color, like a gunmetal type color would look pretty cool...

or maybe they'll go retro...bring on the powerbook woody, with an inlaid panel of your choice of 5 exotic hardwoods!

Lets not turn our beautiful PB's into that monstrosity the Ego Tulip. Gross

 

[drewyboy]

Why has everyone forgot about the dual proc from freescale?? starting at 1.5 ghz... 10-15watts for power... 667mhz fsb... how does the pentium m compare to this? also, isn't the pent. m only going to be running 60-80% os x compared to the "g" series?? please explain to me. i have been longing a powerbook for the last 9-10 months, and if something doesn't come out b4 this fall.. i may be stuck w/ my parents crappy e-machines.

 

[iBunny]

Yes! No more "G5 Powerbooks tuesday threads"

Pentium M is a Far superior Processor

 

[eVolcre]

no more speculation on future designs? i saw that sony has vaio in burgundy or midnight blue, so that's allreadt been done.

 

[tsk]

Why has everyone forgot about the dual proc from freescale?? starting at 1.5 ghz... 10-15watts for power... 667mhz fsb... how does the pentium m compare to this? also, isn't the pent. m only going to be running 60-80% os x compared to the "g" series?? please explain to me. i have been longing a powerbook for the last 9-10 months, and if something doesn't come out b4 this fall.. i may be stuck w/ my parents crappy e-machines.

It just seems very unlikely they'd ever get to the dual core from Freescale. From what I know, they are not currently shipping, and I don't think the dual core is just a drop in replacement.

 

[weg]

does any one think we will get pentium m PB as one of the first macintel manchines if so do you think it will be before july/2006.
I want a powerbook but will not buy until the new ones come out. do you think they will be cheaper.maybe a couple of houndreds less?????

Actually, it seems as if the G4 Cube will be one of the first MacIntel machines: A company called U-Power provides PCube, an accelerator for the G4 Cube (there's also a story on Slashdot running on this).

 

[eVolcre]

G4 cube???? When did they ever make a G4 cube? I thought that was a much older machine

 

[emotion]

G4 cube???? When did they ever make a G4 cube? I thought that was a much older machine

google is your friend

 

[eVolcre]

google is your friend

So what's the point of this forum then? We could find all information off google. In the time it took you to type that you could have told me about the cube and we may have had a nice discussion. Now I just think you're a jerk.

Seriously, I don't understand why people post one liners like this. If you're not interested in helping don't click on the damn message.

 

[emotion]

So what's the point of this forum then? We could find all information off google. In the time it took you to type that you could have told me about the cube and we may have had a nice discussion. Now I just think you're a jerk.

calm down...i don't have the time to talk about whether the g4 cube exists (!). i was just pointing out the info can be had on google.

Seriously, I don't understand why people post one liners like this. If you're not interested in helping don't click on the damn message.

i thought google would help. anyway a search of the forum will also give you an answer. have you tried that?

(may i also remind that the subject of the thread is pentium m based powerbooks...that is why i clicked)

 

[eVolcre]

calm down...i don't have the time to talk about whether the g4 cube exists (!). i was just pointing out the info can be had on google.



i thought google would help. anyway a search of the forum will also give you an answer. have you tried that?

(may i also remind that the subject of the thread is pentium m based powerbooks...that is why i clicked)

Lets just agree to disagree. Peace.