Well, you have already covered all the bells and whistles I'd like to see, except for better batteries/battery life. But I doubt that will happen. Maybe if it could somehow make and dispense beer...
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What new features do you want in a powerbook?
- Thread starter Aciddan
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-Better graphics card (64 MB DDR on 12", 64 or 128 MB on 15" and 17")
-Hardware sound
-USB 2
-Better AirPort range
-Faster G4s, preferrably 7457
-Second battery/media bay
I also think Apple would do well to sell an ultralight notebook. Same specs as the 12" PB right now, but without the internal optical drive.
-Hardware sound
-USB 2
-Better AirPort range
-Faster G4s, preferrably 7457
-Second battery/media bay
I also think Apple would do well to sell an ultralight notebook. Same specs as the 12" PB right now, but without the internal optical drive.
Originally posted by MacFan25
The aluminum look I mean.
it has the alluminum look right now. the keyboard is now silver, just like the rest of it. the only one that still has black kb is the 15" TiBook. oh wait, you are talking about the TiBook aren't you? now i get it! i was just thinking of the entire PowerBook line as a whole, and mostly thinking of the current AlBooks. oops, slight communication gap going on here. my bad. anyway i'm sure the 15" Alluminum will be around real soon and it will match the others perfectly. cheers.
Backlit Keyboard
People keep asking for the backlit keyboard. I must admit, this was one of the things that made me really excited when I bought my 17" PowerBook.
It turns out, however, to be almost entirely useless. Why? The 17" screen puts out enough light that even in total darkness, I'm almost never aware of the backlighting. Very occasionally, if I'm playing a DVD and there's a "dark" part, I'll notice it - but when using normal apps, never ever.
Sorry to rain on anyone's parade, but it's just not that important in the real world - at least as it's implemented now. Your mileage may vary.
M.
People keep asking for the backlit keyboard. I must admit, this was one of the things that made me really excited when I bought my 17" PowerBook.
It turns out, however, to be almost entirely useless. Why? The 17" screen puts out enough light that even in total darkness, I'm almost never aware of the backlighting. Very occasionally, if I'm playing a DVD and there's a "dark" part, I'll notice it - but when using normal apps, never ever.
Sorry to rain on anyone's parade, but it's just not that important in the real world - at least as it's implemented now. Your mileage may vary.
M.
The usual things, of course, and then a few other items:
Easy Stuff:
- A TouchStream-style gesture pad instead of a trackpad. (but no ugly handprint graphics!)
- A multi-format flash card slot. The USB adapters are very small and very close to free. Why not just build one in?
- A handle like the original iBook, but citrus-free.
- A liquid-proof bulkhead between the keyboard and the important bits.
Rather More Difficult Stuff:
- direct methanol fuel cell
- OLED or e-paper display
- Or better yet, ditch the display and go with direct-to-retina scanning lasers
Easy Stuff:
- A TouchStream-style gesture pad instead of a trackpad. (but no ugly handprint graphics!)
- A multi-format flash card slot. The USB adapters are very small and very close to free. Why not just build one in?
- A handle like the original iBook, but citrus-free.
- A liquid-proof bulkhead between the keyboard and the important bits.
Rather More Difficult Stuff:
- direct methanol fuel cell
- OLED or e-paper display
- Or better yet, ditch the display and go with direct-to-retina scanning lasers
I think a real multimedia portable unit (Powerbook) shuld have imput as well as output ports for everything, I'm talking about good video imput capabilities beside the firewire connections. A analog video imput would be so nice because I wouldn't need to get and external device to capture images from my VCR or Hi 8 camera.
That is the feature would be so functional to me, better than bluetooth.
That is the feature would be so functional to me, better than bluetooth.
ah, another video fan. yeah, i think i would sacrifice the backlit keyboard option in favor of the video in.
Apple should definitely bring the AV features back to the desktops, tho.
I'd want them to go back to Titanium as opposed to Alluminum. It looked so much cooler, and sounded stronger. Maybe they could make one that's bullet-proof, too.
Originally posted by XnavxeMiyyep
I'd want them to go back to Titanium as opposed to Alluminum. It looked so much cooler, and sounded stronger. Maybe they could make one that's bullet-proof, too.
I think Panasonic built one a while back. They called it a "Toughbook". It was pretty hardcore and I believe encased in Kevlar. They were for soldiers, police officers, construction workers, basically anyone who may have been exposed to serious occupational hazards.
Originally posted by XnavxeMiyyep
Maybe they could make one that's bullet-proof, too.
They could use some of that one-way bulletproof glass mentioned on Ars Technica a few days ago. That way, when someone attacks your PowerBook it can return fire in self defense. True, this idea does have its pitfalls... You would definitely want to be certain that the feature is well debugged before sticking in on the market, and of course public betas are out of the question.
My wishlist
I currently own a PowerBook G4 1GHz w/SuperDrive. This is arguably one of the finest laptops ever made, so I really can't ask for much else. That said, the next time I buy a laptop, here's what I'd like to see (in a few years):
G5 (low power when available; multi-core if possible)
OLED Display
DVD-RW
Built-in videocamera for videoconferencing (think Minolta DiMAGE Xi for a lens mechanism)
REALLY strong -- power of a PowerBook, durability of an iBook; think DROPPABLE, possibly water resistant, top surface waterproof for coffee, softdrinks & kids.
Great speakers, not the tinny things we listen to today on laptops.
USB2
A handle like the original iBook
That should keep them busy for awhile.
- Adam
I currently own a PowerBook G4 1GHz w/SuperDrive. This is arguably one of the finest laptops ever made, so I really can't ask for much else. That said, the next time I buy a laptop, here's what I'd like to see (in a few years):
G5 (low power when available; multi-core if possible)
OLED Display
DVD-RW
Built-in videocamera for videoconferencing (think Minolta DiMAGE Xi for a lens mechanism)
REALLY strong -- power of a PowerBook, durability of an iBook; think DROPPABLE, possibly water resistant, top surface waterproof for coffee, softdrinks & kids.
Great speakers, not the tinny things we listen to today on laptops.
USB2
A handle like the original iBook
That should keep them busy for awhile.
- Adam
Faster Hard Drives...
I may be mistaken, but aren't the HDs on current PowerBooks only 4200 RPM? If so, I'm surprised that no one has taken issue with this, since 5400 RPM HDs are fairly common (at least as an option) on most Windows notebooks. I think that Apple needs to catch up here. I'm into audio production on a "prosumer" level, and many articles I've read have mentioned that hard drive speed has noticeable impact on a computer's performance in that field. I'm assuming the same would apply to video production and other types of multimedia as well. Anyone agree? On the other hand however, 7200 RPM is really the standard for most of those applications, so maybe the jump from 4200 to 5400 wouldn't be too significant. Then again, I thought I read somewhere that IBM had developed a 7200 RPM notebook hard drive, and since Apple and IBM are now partners, perhaps it would be feasible to hope for the 7200 RPM drives to make it into the powerbooks. Of course, I'm sure all sorts of heat and battery life issues come into play here, so it's hard to say. The bottom line is that I want faster hard drives in addition to everything that people have posted so far.
I may be mistaken, but aren't the HDs on current PowerBooks only 4200 RPM? If so, I'm surprised that no one has taken issue with this, since 5400 RPM HDs are fairly common (at least as an option) on most Windows notebooks. I think that Apple needs to catch up here. I'm into audio production on a "prosumer" level, and many articles I've read have mentioned that hard drive speed has noticeable impact on a computer's performance in that field. I'm assuming the same would apply to video production and other types of multimedia as well. Anyone agree? On the other hand however, 7200 RPM is really the standard for most of those applications, so maybe the jump from 4200 to 5400 wouldn't be too significant. Then again, I thought I read somewhere that IBM had developed a 7200 RPM notebook hard drive, and since Apple and IBM are now partners, perhaps it would be feasible to hope for the 7200 RPM drives to make it into the powerbooks. Of course, I'm sure all sorts of heat and battery life issues come into play here, so it's hard to say. The bottom line is that I want faster hard drives in addition to everything that people have posted so far.
Re: Faster Hard Drives...
Interesting point. With all the fairly unreasonable stuff we keep trying to stuff into these notebooks, no one has made a point of asking for faster HDs. Fat lot of good dual G5s will do you if the machine can't read the drive at a reasonable clip....
7200 or bust!
Interesting point. With all the fairly unreasonable stuff we keep trying to stuff into these notebooks, no one has made a point of asking for faster HDs. Fat lot of good dual G5s will do you if the machine can't read the drive at a reasonable clip....
7200 or bust!
My most anticipated feature for the new Powerbooks will simply be them shipping before the school year starts, whatever their new gadgets entail.
I agree as long as it is brought in line with 12" & 17" models. Ship before August 7th PLEASE!!!!
That resolution is also used on the 14" ibook and the 15" imac... I don't think there's any way Apple is going to push it higher on a 12" screen. Those would be some tiny icons!
A 1.25 Ghz g4 and Radeon 9600 would make me very happy.
Oh, and those back lit keys... I've borrowed a powerbook 17" from my friend for a few weeks for some work. That backlight keyboard thing is cool but useless. It only activates when its very dark, and its barely noticible until you tell someone to look at it. In addition the screen is bright enough to light up the keyboard.
My request feature, is 2x superdrives, video in, tv tuner in addition a touchscreen would be very nice...precision for rotoscoping
My request feature, is 2x superdrives, video in, tv tuner
in addition a touchscreen would be very nice...precision for rotoscoping
A "Power" user should be entitled to a 2 button mouse on the PowerBook.
I would prefer it as an option anyway.
I have a MX700 logitech mouse but it isn't something you take with you since you need a plug socket for the adapter which connects to the mouse dock. A second button would be nice.
I would prefer it as an option anyway.
I have a MX700 logitech mouse but it isn't something you take with you since you need a plug socket for the adapter which connects to the mouse dock. A second button would be nice.