I use it to control my speakers when I'm sitting in bed w/ my MBP. To be honest, though, it is more useful to me as a print server than anything else. And, no, it is not worth $150.
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Ultra-thin 12'' MacBook Pro?
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I use it to control my speakers when I'm sitting in bed w/ my MBP. To be honest, though, it is more useful to me as a print server than anything else. And, no, it is not worth $150.
I would have totally agreed with you before the intel switch, but recently Apple's quality control & build quality in general has started to decline.
The Macbooks just don't feel as well made as the iBooks did and there are many many more reports of them being returned due to defects. My friend's gone through two since purchasing in November and the one he's got now has a loose fitting lid. I've noticed on all of his replacemnts an unfinished-feeling 'sharpness' to some of the edges - like something that's been roughly cut and not smoothed off afterwards (sorry i'm getting too technical here..)
I've used some Dell laptops recently and, although being pig-ugly and lacking OSX, they're good solid machines that cost considerably less than the comparable Apple offering. I'm not saying i'd choose one over a Macbook/Pro - i'm too much of a industrial design fascist - but quality isn't something Apple necessarily have as a trump card anymore.
I agree that the MacBooks have been problematic, or at least that's the impression given by hanging around the Mac web (one of the three people I know with a MB has the yellow palmrests). However, it seems that the iMacs have been very reliable with few if any widespread complaints. I know mine has been absolutely perfect (20" Core Duo).
if this machine is running wi-fi at 802.11n then (from wikipedia) transfer rate should be: 200 Mbit/s typical to 540 Mbit/s Max.
DVD read write speeds at 16X is 177.28 Mbit/s
at that kind of wireless transfer rate there may be no need for the machine to carry a drive onboard.
DVD read write speeds at 16X is 177.28 Mbit/s
at that kind of wireless transfer rate there may be no need for the machine to carry a drive onboard.
Nice stuff. TabletKiosk has it right. A 12" keyboardless Touchscreen Tablet without optical yet running UMPC software so you actually have a full keyboard that you can use while holding the device in two hands. They put a full laptop HD in there for up to 180GB. 1.0GB of RAM. 1.5 Ghz processor. But its only 3 pounds and quite slim. Its pretty much perfect. Tabletkiosk i215
If Apple did that with some nice software such as touchscreen recognition, not taking software. I mean with a webcam. It would be so nice. I would buy it in an instant. Just give it a 7 hr battery. Drop in Robson technology for super quick start ups and low battery drain. It would be SO GREAT!!!! Apple DO IT. If thats what they created. I swear. I will love you apple. Thats exactly what I want.
Yes, and if you read my original post, it starts with "Drat, I was hoping....". I have posted about a need for a tablet for automating Field Operations for a couple months. I think I am able to post a suggestion that there is another market out there. Thanks!
No, I realize that it would be utterly silly to do such a thing. Yet, he is trying to point out that data storage on a DVD is an utterly useless endeavor. However, this is one situation where it is most definetly not.
And second option sounds great. Just one thing. Less Flash (it needs to be less than $3,000). Robson for battery life. Bit bigger screen. Take away the HD and make it a touchscreen. PERFECT!! Thats a note-taking machine.
Sorry, but that is malarky. I have now upgraded someone to every computer Apple makes. I just bought a MBP. It is better than my PB. I have MP which is better than my two PM's. The engineering and craftsmanship are the best there is...by far!
it's funny to me (owning my first mac - a 15" c2d mbp) that there is talk of an ultra thin laptop. my mbp is crazy thin already! compared to pretty much any pc laptop on the market, the current mbp is thinner than pretty much anything you'll find out there... that's not saying that it wouldn't be cool to be thinner, just don't know where they'd put the parts. if you look at the side of the mbp, there's not much more room vertically for the dvi and ethernet ports. any thinner, and they couldn't be on there. not to mention the firewire ports, etc.
Apple is afraid to put a discrete graphics card in a Macbook. I don't really expect an optical drive in a 12" MBP while keeping the thickness at 1" or thinner with a discrete graphics card. I do expect some sort of dock that contains a dual-layer DVD burner like the Toshiba Libretto U105.
Here are my predictions:
Laptop:
12.1" widescreen
100GB 2.5" hard drive (upgradable to 200GB)
Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz to 2.33GHz Intel processor
1GB SO-DIMM memory upgradable to 4GB
ATI Radeon X1400 graphics
Expresscard slot
0.95 inch thick
iSight cam
Magsafe power
4 pounds
5 hour battery life
Dock:
6X Dual-Layer DVD burner
0.3 - 0.5 inch thick
DVI out
Here are my predictions:
Laptop:
12.1" widescreen
100GB 2.5" hard drive (upgradable to 200GB)
Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz to 2.33GHz Intel processor
1GB SO-DIMM memory upgradable to 4GB
ATI Radeon X1400 graphics
Expresscard slot
0.95 inch thick
iSight cam
Magsafe power
4 pounds
5 hour battery life
Dock:
6X Dual-Layer DVD burner
0.3 - 0.5 inch thick
DVI out
I agree, it seems there would be room for both of these models, call them MBP 12" and MacBook mini/nano
And keep a quality keyboard on the second option, for those of us who primarily do word processing, email, etc. on the go... (no tablet for me please...)
PS. The idea of a laptop without an optical drive naturally assumes having an external one that can be left at home or taken with. Then I can do my backups, installs, media uploads, burns, what-have-you without having to lug the drive around (unless I choose to...) That is, I don't think anyone's arguing to not have any optical drive access at all, just to make it external.
...and if they make ultra light (<3 lbs) laptops with optical drives, that's great, but I would still rather trade it in for battery life, lighter weight, bigger hard drive, less heat, whatever else they can give me, since I still so very rarely ever need the optical drive at all, and especially while on the go. 
I concede that i've had no problems with my MBP either, but on the other hand I haven't noticed the build quality being any better than a comparable PB.
I suppose the point i'm trying to make is that some (read: the consumer line) Apple products appear to have dipped in quality. I don't think it's a perfect causal relationship, but increasingly lower prices seem to be subject to a trade-off with quality, as would seem intuitive.
Don't get me wrong: I love the Macbook. It's sexy & a great buy & I'd choose it over a Dell everytime... but you have to wonder why there's such a huge price difference between the MB and MBP line.
What exactly makes you guys think this would be a professional machine. i mean other than the aluminum casing i didn't see the 12 pb in the same leage was the 15 or 17. It had no dual dvi, and no fw 800, and no pci card slot, i don't think they'll fit it into a 12 mbp and thats all that's missing from a MB to make it a pro. I mean "professional" should be defined by features where it seems to me it will be just defined be casing. I mean it really is just a subnotebook for useres that want something small, but its not a pro notebook, nor was a 12 pb. i really don't get it. what i want is the features of a 15 without the screen a TRUE small professional notebook that is easy to carry around and i can connect to a screen at a desk instead of being pigeon wholed in to haveing by a computer with a larger screen to access other features i may need or want. Thats the gap that has to be filled.
i worry that the 12 inch widescreen will look too small. if only there was a 13.3 widescreen macbook pro. now that i would buy. perfect for the college student and traveler.
Wow, imagine that. A 12" laptop weighing less than a 15" version of the same laptop.
Ultra thin? They're already only 1" thick!
I wonder how you would make it any smaller and still be able to put in an optical drive or hard drive?
I'm honestly going for the tablet. 12" is mighty small for a laptop, and being less than 1" thin....
Hmm. Maybe I'll be investing in two new apple products after christams! (iPhone and this)
Macbook Nano. I called that first.
Kids, kids.
It will be called the Mini Macbook Pro.
Okay, thanks for taking me out of context... To clarify, we were talking about a portable BluRay media player, which I stated would not be a smart move for Apple seeing as how it would dissuade people from buying digital content from the iTunes Store. Comprende?
Man, you really like to ignore what I was originally talking about.
FIRST, we were on the subject of DVD alternatives.
SECOND, I never said optical drives were useless.
THIRD, why on earth would you be using an ultra-portable laptop to back up gigabytes and gigabytes of data?
FOURTH, there are other even less expensive solutions for data backup: Tapes, rotate & re-record, etc. Never would I suggest using flash media to do weekly backups of a mainframe or other server... nor would I ever suggest doing it on an Ultra-Portable laptop.
My post was simply aimed at those who were complaining about a lack of optical drive in an ultra-portable... and at no point was I advocating the end of DVDs or CDs or BluRay all together. That would be ridiculous.
-Clive
12" with the works ---- lit keyboard a MUST !
I don't feel the 12" should compromise on features.
It ought to be a true miniature marvel of design like
the Cooper Mini car -- not a sawed off version of something bigger.
Therefore :
GOTTA have lit keyboard : I have such a hassle seeing my G4 12" keys in the dimmed down classroom where I use a digital projector. I have tried the USB LED's --
ugh !!! major POS.
Black characters on a silver key face didn't help either -- so make with the lit keys already.
ALso -- leave the drives !!! I need them - even double layer, if possible.
The wide screen is great -- please NO GLOSSY !
THINNESS : enough is enough -- I want STURDY hardware - especially in a portable : what, you gonna make it so it flops over in a breeze ? So, unless you have some honeycomb of carbon fiber or the like, don't obsess so much on thinnnes, OK ?
Hey ! What about the camera rotates to face forward- ehh ?
Ever use Eye-TV's hybrid dongle ? Pretty neat, yes ?
So why not build one of those in ?
And , please, an optional killer Video processor ---
My G4 12" is the fastest one I own, and it almost
handles HD TV terrestrial with few stutters : a killer
chip would be great.
--- gooddog
/
: * ] AAAaaaaRRRrrFFfff !!!
\
*********************************
---- lit keyboard a MUST !I don't feel the 12" should compromise on features.
It ought to be a true miniature marvel of design like
the Cooper Mini car -- not a sawed off version of something bigger.
Therefore :
GOTTA have lit keyboard : I have such a hassle seeing my G4 12" keys in the dimmed down classroom where I use a digital projector. I have tried the USB LED's --
ugh !!! major POS.
Black characters on a silver key face didn't help either -- so make with the lit keys already.
ALso -- leave the drives !!! I need them - even double layer, if possible.
The wide screen is great -- please NO GLOSSY !
THINNESS : enough is enough -- I want STURDY hardware - especially in a portable : what, you gonna make it so it flops over in a breeze ? So, unless you have some honeycomb of carbon fiber or the like, don't obsess so much on thinnnes, OK ?
Hey ! What about the camera rotates to face forward- ehh ?
Ever use Eye-TV's hybrid dongle ? Pretty neat, yes ?
So why not build one of those in ?
And , please, an optional killer Video processor ---
My G4 12" is the fastest one I own, and it almost
handles HD TV terrestrial with few stutters : a killer
chip would be great.
--- gooddog
/
: * ] AAAaaaaRRRrrFFfff !!!
\
*********************************