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When to buy 12" Powerbook??? New release soon???

V

ValVal

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2005
16
0
HI. I'm looking to buy a new 12" powerbook. I have one at present but am annoyed I don't have the Superdrive and would also like a bigger hard drive SO.....

Does anyone know if a new Powerbook is coming out soon. I read somewhere something about August 2005 (next month)... If so, I surely wait. If not, I'll order this week!

Thanks!
 
there's no particular rumor about when new powerbooks will be released
i'd wait a week though-since if apple will update pb/ibooks they'll do so in early july before the back to school orders

ValVal said:
HI. I'm looking to buy a new 12" powerbook. I have one at present but am annoyed I don't have the Superdrive and would also like a bigger hard drive SO.....

Does anyone know if a new Powerbook is coming out soon. I read somewhere something about August 2005 (next month)... If so, I surely wait. If not, I'll order this week!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
PowerBooks and iBooks are anybody's guess at this point.

If you need it, buy it.

Otherwise, wait until MacWorld Paris.
 
yea, i second just buying one, because apple could have you waiting for a while, maybe the ibooks will be out this summer, but i highly doubt the powerbooks, they were just updated in feburary
 
Zachariah said:
Interesting you say this, because the current Education deal is good until sept 24th -- which is the day that Apple Expo (aka MacWorld Paris?) ends!

maybe that edu deal is to clear out a bunch of the current laptops before the last bump
Click to expand...
They did the same thing last year with no bump...
 
It is not uncommon for a savings or education deal to end on the day of a major Apple event (i.e. MacWorld SF, WWDC, Paris Expo, etc.). There is no guarantee that new products are released on those days and often it doesn't actually work out to be as such. If you look back in the past, iBooks and PowerBooks have been updated on random days not associated with major events. They are usually featured at big events if there is some great change to the model line, for example when the iBooks added the 14" and when the PowerBooks added the 12" and 17", they were both featured at their respective MacWorld SF Keynotes.
 
If you're a student, I'd say buy now. With the current promo, you can save an addiitional $150 to $200 off the PB if you sell the iPod mini.

For example, the current 12" PB with SD is $1499 for students. So,

$1499 (12" PB) + $179 (4GB iPod mini) - $179 (4GB iPod mini rebate) - $150 to $200 (for selling 4GB iPod mini) = $1349 to $1299

I'd rather save an additional $150 to $200 off a current PB then wait for a very minor update. I don't think Apple will put $200 worth of updates into the next PB rev.
 
sw1tcher said:
I'd rather save an additional $150 to $200 off a current PB then wait for a very minor update. I don't think Apple will put $200 worth of updates into the next PB rev.
Click to expand...

The next update might be a ways off yet, but I think it'd be worth the difference, if apple does what I hope they do. It looks as if they'll be dropping in the newer G4 7448 which has a full meg of L2 cache, a faster FSB (200mhz), and supposedly better power management features. The last one alone (on a laptop) would make it worth it for me...but opinions may vary. Also, we're probably due for a bump in terms of the graphics card (the last two revisions have both carried the same 9700 mobility), but it's hard to say what they would replace it with.

Like everyone else said, if you need it now , buy it and enjoy the free ipod mini, but if you don't need it now..then you might want to consider waiting. Of course you might get into a waiting game like I'm in ...always waiting for that next update. Then again grad school won't start for another year...so I've got plenty of time to wait.

Cheers,
Justin
 
MacHarne said:
It is not uncommon for a savings or education deal to end on the day of a major Apple event (i.e. MacWorld SF, WWDC, Paris Expo, etc.). There is no guarantee that new products are released on those days and often it doesn't actually work out to be as such. If you look back in the past, iBooks and PowerBooks have been updated on random days not associated with major events. They are usually featured at big events if there is some great change to the model line, for example when the iBooks added the 14" and when the PowerBooks added the 12" and 17", they were both featured at their respective MacWorld SF Keynotes.
Click to expand...
That's true. A lot of people suggested that since the 100 USD rebate ended during NECC, we would see new upgrades then as well. didn't happen.
:rolleyes:
 
Personally, I hope the next update is still a little way away as I recently bought one and my 14 day return period ended just a few minutes ago when the London Apple store closed. :cool: Well as long as they don't announce a new one this week anyway I don't mind!!
 
The current 12" PB is a very capable sub notebook. 1.5 Ghz, 80 GB hard drive, nVidia 5200 Go with 62 MB, BT2, Airport Express, DVD burner, high memory capacity (I maxed it out to 1.25 G), optimal screen resolution (not too small letters, not too large), hard drive protection, DVI port, firewire, UBS, and etc. I looked other PC notebooks but nothing comes close to the spec for this size. The only thing I am intrigued by is Sony Vaio T series (the one with various color options, carbon fiber chassis, and etc) but its price is about 50% more than a 12" PB. It is very easy to take it with you (which I do when i travel) and I just bought Booq Mamba XS bag for this baby. I used to use the one you can buy at the Apple Store. I have yet to see a PC sub notebook which is able to get connected to an external LCD via DVI at a spanning mode.
 
I agree with what others have said. Where the iBook is starting to look like an old machine, I think the Powerbook, though could be better, isn't looking too shabby at the moment. And an update in them won't be much. Not until the Intel Macs.
 
ValVal said:
HI. I'm looking to buy a new 12" powerbook. I have one at present but am annoyed I don't have the Superdrive and would also like a bigger hard drive SO.....

Does anyone know if a new Powerbook is coming out soon. I read somewhere something about August 2005 (next month)... If so, I surely wait. If not, I'll order this week!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

A new update won't be anything worth writing home about...

Get it now.

If there is a new update, it will be like 1.67 GHz instead of 1.5, and 1.7 or 1.75 GHz instead of 1.67 for the 15"/17"
 
justinshiding said:
The next update might be a ways off yet, but I think it'd be worth the difference, if apple does what I hope they do. It looks as if they'll be dropping in the newer G4 7448 which has a full meg of L2 cache, a faster FSB (200mhz), and supposedly better power management features. The last one alone (on a laptop) would make it worth it for me...but opinions may vary. Also, we're probably due for a bump in terms of the graphics card (the last two revisions have both carried the same 9700 mobility), but it's hard to say what they would replace it with.
Click to expand...

The only option for upgrading the GPU is the ATI Radeon 9800 Mobility. If you look at the ATI Mobile page, it is the top AGP mobile GPU followed by the 9700.
 
sw1tcher said:
If you're a student, I'd say buy now. With the current promo, you can save an addiitional $150 to $200 off the PB if you sell the iPod mini.

For example, the current 12" PB with SD is $1499 for students. So,

$1499 (12" PB) + $179 (4GB iPod mini) - $179 (4GB iPod mini rebate) - $150 to $200 (for selling 4GB iPod mini) = $1349 to $1299

I'd rather save an additional $150 to $200 off a current PB then wait for a very minor update. I don't think Apple will put $200 worth of updates into the next PB rev.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about the printer deal... That can be another say $100 off if you already have a printer.

I too don't think they'll be updated until after the promo. Think of it as a sale. They are clearing out the old to make room for the new. It's up to you if you want to buy the 'sale' item or if you want to wait and pay full price for the brand new.

The current powerbooks are pretty darn nice the way the are.
 
Unless Intrepid is capable of being overclocked to 200MHz, don't expect Apple to do much with the new capabilities of the 7448 -- expect use it as a speed bumped drop-in replacement.

There is a good change that the Intrepid will max out at 166MHz and not be replaced with the Intrepid2 -- since the switch to Intel is coming so quick, an Intrepid's replacement won't last Apple's minimum 18-24 months for chipset replacements.
 
ValVal said:
HI. I'm looking to buy a new 12" powerbook. I have one at present but am annoyed I don't have the Superdrive and would also like a bigger hard drive SO.....

Does anyone know if a new Powerbook is coming out soon. I read somewhere something about August 2005 (next month)... If so, I surely wait. If not, I'll order this week!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I can't wait anymore! I've just ordered PB12"(Superdrive) and Ipod 20 GB yesterday and got the student union discount. My order is still processing. :( I hope to get it in soon.
 
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