# New Powerbooks



## bleem2k (Jan 31, 2005)

New Powerbooks

Not g5's unfortunatly but some new specs and features now on the apple store.


----------



## dmbfan36 (Jan 31, 2005)

bluetooth 2.0, "trackpad scrolling" sounds interesting, sudden motion sensor sounds like hard drive locking on drop (perhaps), 100 gig hard drive is nice. Dual link DVI on the 17" (so you can spend more money on a 30" display).

a decent update for a non-annoucement type update, but...doesn't seem like anything earth shattering....


----------



## Randman (Jan 31, 2005)

Trackpad scrolling looks just like Sidetrack.


----------



## Viro (Jan 31, 2005)

Quite a lack luster update. The iBooks look like much much better value.


----------



## Randman (Jan 31, 2005)

Being able to run a 30 display from the 15s and 17s is nice. The larger HD and having 512 of ram standard. A nice revision till the G5s 1.8s are announced next year at MacWorld. Oh, and still not stepping on mini's shoes.


----------



## jarinteractive (Jan 31, 2005)

With sidetrack, you have to move your finger on the edge of the trackpad to scroll, but Apple's new scrolling is different: "Just drag two fingers over the trackpad to scroll vertically and horizontally or pan around any active window."

-JARinteractive


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

Yep, the iBook looks still quite attractive. So much so, in fact, that I've decided to ditch the Mac mini and get me a secondary notebook instead. See new sig.


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

this new powerbooks are AMAZING.
very very nice prices
come with amazing features...512 RAM. up to 100 GB disk,airport etc...

damn... i want one!


----------



## DanTekGeek (Jan 31, 2005)

I'm Happy. I'll be ordering one in the next week or so.


----------



## Zammy-Sam (Jan 31, 2005)

It will be darn hard for the upcoming G5 books to beat these now.


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

is that an upgrade on the 12" video card?


----------



## Randman (Jan 31, 2005)

Upcoming? Is 2006 upcoming?


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

yeap upgrade on the 12inch video card..

and now the the powerbooks are really worth the price.
they are for power users, with power features..

the average Joe can settle with a cheap iBook....

...but yes, the Powerbook does beat it in every segment and now in the Price area as well


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

the pc card slot is new as well isn't it?  lovely.


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

nope.. has been there since the beginning.... apart from the 12 inch !!!


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Jan 31, 2005)

Viro said:
			
		

> Quite a lack luster update. The iBooks look like much much better value.


I don't know where you're getting this from.

Faster processor and 20+GB bigger hard drive

8x DVD+-RW Superdrive

Audio in

Faster BT

Better graphics card (capable of running 30" cinema display)

Significant price drop

Any one of these things is great news (esp. the updated Superdrive), but when combined this is a very solid update. I'll definitely consider getting one after Tiger is released.

Kap


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

now the question is to get this 12" or get the 1.33 12" at a discount...


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Jan 31, 2005)

cfleck said:
			
		

> now the question is to get this 12" or get the 1.33 12" at a discount...


Definitely get the new PB - it's already hundreds of dollars cheaper than what the 1.33 used to be new. Plus, the new Superdrive alone is a significant improvement.

Kap


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

that assumes you want a superdrive.

aren't the only real improvements the cpu & gpu?

configuring the new pb and the ibooks (12"ers) the way i would buy them: base model pb (no sd) and the ibook upgraded on hdd, bluetooth, airport extreme, and ram from crucial the prices come out to..

1399 for the pb 
1130 for the ib

this is with edu. discount.  

thats 269 more bucks for the pb

choices, choices...

what would you do?


----------



## ScottW (Jan 31, 2005)

Well, $300 price drop on old 12" PB's... macmall.com. Hmmmmmm....


----------



## ScottW (Jan 31, 2005)

I just can't wrap myself around an iBook, I look at them in the stores and like... blah. Love the PB's though. But hate the price.


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

u get faster processor, much better graphics card, better design, lighter...

faster 5400hard disk. larger hard disk

bluetooth 2.0.

512 minimum RAM

new trackpad...


Sudden Fall system...

.. if ur dont have the knowledge to admire these new features.... than im sure u guys can add,....

1+1+1... etc..... makes up how many new features ? he he...


and its nice with the price drops... but i dont want them dropping too much because then then quality drops
they are powerbooks... not Dells....


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

ScottW said:
			
		

> Well, $300 price drop on old 12" PB's... macmall.com. Hmmmmmm....



huh?  where?

$1294

not exactly a deal

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/families/powerbook/?WTReferer=http://www.macmall.com/&wt.mc_id=8068


----------



## Convert (Jan 31, 2005)

Well, a new 12 inch 1.5Ghz 80GB 512MB ram Powerbook WITH SUPERDRIVE costs... £20 cheaper than what my model cost, which doesn't have the SD.

A model with similar specs to mine (60GB, 512 ram, Combo,) costs £1049...almost £200 cheaper.

 I'm annoyed.


----------



## Viro (Jan 31, 2005)

The 12" Powerbook's video card is the same. It was a 64 MB GeForce FX5200 Go since the 1GHz Powerbooks.

I'm thinking it's kinda lack luster since I have pretty much all the stuff in the Powerbook. I've put in 1 GB of RAM in mine, took an 'old' 7.2K RPM hard drive that was lying around and put it in, and these updates aren't too brilliant. I was hoping for something more amazing, at least an upgraded video card. The fx5200 is really appalling at games(if you turn on lots of eye candy), since it has only 1 pixel shader pipeline.

The scroll pad is something I've had since I got SideTrack. The other stuff, faster superdrive, BT 2.0 isn't something that I use, so it doesn't add much. 167 MHz processor speed increase may be slightly noticable, and it probably the only thing I'd really really like .

Sure, it's cheaper, but then if you've bought the old Powerbook 12", you've probably had your system for half a year already.... this isn't impressive.


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

Ah, Convert's our first "There are new PowerBooks!"-whiner today.  ... Happens all the time. You buy new hardware, it's old a few days/weeks/months later. You've bought yours a few months ago, right? Be happy: It's still good hardware.


----------



## Convert (Jan 31, 2005)

Yeah, I am happy, I am with Viro, I guess. The only thing I'd like is the speed boost. But come to think of it it's not MUCH of a speed boost.


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

Viro there isnt any 7200 rpm decent hard drive out there...
the only good one is the Hitatchi 7k60. but it consumes more power, it is nosier and reaches sizes of 60gigs only...

a speed increase is allways wellcome...

a standard 512 RAm is allways wellcome.

a  price drop is allways wellcome....

the 64mb card becoming a  standard in the 12inch powerbooks is allways wellcome...


the bluetooth is allways wellcome... (it might not be useful now, but it will be in the future... if u use other mobile devices that is.... u might be a simple user that doesnt need it... ) 

tha brighter keyboard is allways wellcome... 

the larger hard disks are allways wellcome.....

etc etc... i can go on.. but if u dont get it by now... then u wont get it ever


----------



## chevy (Jan 31, 2005)

Just hope that other Macs will follow with un-cut SuperDrive and 512 MB RAM !

There is no reason for limiting the SuperDrive to -R, and 256 MB is really too little.


----------



## robjs (Jan 31, 2005)

So, after having my Powerbook stolen, I went ahead and ordered one, the company I deal with were meant to be having one come in from Apple today. So, let's do a little analysis.

Basically, all I /really/ like about the new model is the Thinkpad like drop sensor, I didn't really use the backlit keyboard, being able to touch type meant that I didn't ever use it. The dual DVI heads on the 128MB graphics option are rather nice too - but definitely not essential for me. I don't have the money for the 30", and it's meant to be portable.

The speed difference of the G4 is negligible, and I don't really mind about that. The faster SuperDrive isn't something that matters to me, as before I just had a combo disk.

I've done alright about having my Powerbook stolen, and I must say, this is why I pressed on with ordering it, the fact that they didn't release anything at MWSF meant that I was eager to get one.

All in all, I'm pleased that I got the Powerbook I did.

edit// I read something on macrumours about the Powerbooks with BTO options like the 128MB VRAM that have been dispatched in the last few days, something to the tune that they would be upgraded. I don't think I believe it, but as always thoughts are welcome.

Rob


----------



## Convert (Jan 31, 2005)

I am glad you are getting/have your Powerbook Rob!

I still wait for mine...


----------



## robjs (Jan 31, 2005)

Oh dear. I just checked the pricing changes, and I must say my decision has changed a little.

I could get 1.67Ghz/512MB RAM/128MB VRAM/80GB disk/Combo drive and a 20" Apple Display for the price (w/o VAT) I just paid for 1.5Ghz/1GB RAM (2DIMMs)/80GB disk/Superdrive I'm rather annoyed. I think I'll try and cancel.

Rob


----------



## Viro (Jan 31, 2005)

soulseek said:
			
		

> Viro there isnt any 7200 rpm decent hard drive out there...
> the only good one is the Hitatchi 7k60. but it consumes more power, it is nosier and reaches sizes of 60gigs only...
> 
> a speed increase is allways wellcome...
> ...



The 7K60 is a great drive. Is as silent as the other hard drives, and doesn't visibly consume more power. I get about the same battery life as I ever did with the 4.2K RPM drive. 60 GBs is enough for me, as I value the faster seek times more. But then i've got strange needs anyway .

The video card is the same as the previous rev 12". Shame that. I was hoping they would up it to the fx5700 or 6600 Go and move the 15" and 17" to the ATI x700 (or x800?). That way, we'll get better graphics.

Speed bump is nice, but come on.... 167 MHz in 9 months isn't much to shout about. 

The rest,well... they're alright. It's just not an amazing upgrade. The iBooks still provide better value. But maybe I'm just one of those hard to please people.


----------



## soulseek (Jan 31, 2005)

the iBook is a good value. if ur looking for something simple to get ur internet browsing and documents written...  


as for the drives.
the 7k60 might be a good drive but it is noisier than the new 5k100. it consumers more power than it at peak times and consumes way more power when idle ...
its limited at 60 GB which does matter... its still an excellent drive. but not good enough  


as for the speed improvement.. its nothing big... but i dont see the competition doing any better..

so for the time being, these lower priced and updated powerbooks are great in every aspect, from design, to hardware features..  Untill the G5 powerbooks arrive


----------



## cfleck (Jan 31, 2005)

just for poops and laughs, maybe viro should run an xbench and post the results and someone else with the other hdd should as well so we can all compare the speed results.


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

While many people seem pleased with the new PowerBooks, I really have to add my scepticism. I've bought my PB 15" 1.33 GHz almost a year ago (when they came out), and there definitely wasn't much going on, or I would drool for one of those new ones... I mean: Sure, they're all nice to have features, but nothing is really THAT big a change. I'd expect Apple to make such changes at least every 6 months, better every 4 months.

But I guess that's just what will happen now. The G5 will arrive in PBs this Summer (WWDC?) and people who buy now will get pissed because it's only been 4 or 5 months then that they've bought their PB...

Well, I'm happy now with my two babies. My PB has been "upped" to my desktop machine (1 GB RAM truly is better than 768 MB, guess I _do_ a lot of stuff at the same time on my Macs...) and my new iBook is the more ideal machine to write stories when out of the house...


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Jan 31, 2005)

As good as I think the new PBs are, I think I'm significantly better off just keeping my Ti PB and adding a Mac mini (rather than selling my PB and getting a 12" PB).

*Question: What speed is the Superdrive on the Mac mini?*

Kap


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

4x. For a short time, Apple mentioned an 8x drive, but has taken it back to 4x. However: You might be better off getting the combo Mac mini and a FW 'superdrive' you can use on both the TiBook and the Mac mini.


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Jan 31, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> However: You might be better off getting the combo Mac mini and a FW 'superdrive' you can use on both the TiBook and the Mac mini.


Good idea 

Thanks for the added perspective.

Kap


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

If you get a more or less compatible drive, PatchBurn 3.x can make it iLife-compatible: http://www.patchburn.de/ ... I've got an external no-name case with a NEC "SuperDrive", and PatchBurn makes it totally compatible - even through system updates (i.e. just like we like it, totally compatible).


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Jan 31, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> If you get a more or less compatible drive, PatchBurn 3.x can make it iLife-compatible: http://www.patchburn.de/ ... I've got an external no-name case with a NEC "SuperDrive", and PatchBurn makes it totally compatible - even through system updates (i.e. just like we like it, totally compatible).


Excellent 

Kap


----------



## clc2112 (Jan 31, 2005)

I just bought 2 new powerbooks (15" 1.5ghz) on the 11th.  Less than 3 weeks ago still.  I specifically waited until MW and the guy at the store said since they didnt announce it, there aren't new ones in the pipe!!!

All I want is to be able to take mine back to get the new ones.  Is there any kind of policy in place that will allow this?

please help this reall perturbs (sp?) me!!!!

calvin


----------



## Oscar Castillo (Jan 31, 2005)

clc2112 said:
			
		

> I just bought 2 new powerbooks (15" 1.5ghz) on the 11th.  Less than 3 weeks ago still.  I specifically waited until MW and the guy at the store said since they didnt announce it, there aren't new ones in the pipe!!!
> 
> All I want is to be able to take mine back to get the new ones.  Is there any kind of policy in place that will allow this?
> 
> ...



Last year I purchased an iMac G4 online then decided I'd rather have a PowerMac and was able to exchange it at my local Apple store.  The box was unopened of course.


----------



## fryke (Jan 31, 2005)

Sadly: No. You've bought them and now you've got them. You can go to that specific guy and tell him that he was wrong, but that won't help you, either.
Yes, rumour sites are often wrong, but a PowerBook update was overdue ever since the iBooks got updated to 1.2/1.33 GHz and various rumour sites predicted PowerBooks at MWSF and mine specifically said "or in the month thereafter". Never buy PowerBooks when new ones are expected by the rumour mills unless you're entirely sure you won't regret it... :/


----------



## malexgreen (Jan 31, 2005)

bleem2k said:
			
		

> New Powerbooks
> 
> Not g5's unfortunatly but some new specs and features now on the apple store.



Do these new powerbooks have the Freescale PPC 7448? If not, I'd be kinda annoyed seeing that the 7448 is a pin compat.  to the current 7447A processor, but with significant power savings and performance. The Apple web site doesn't say if the new processors have a bigger L2 cache, AFAIK.


----------



## malexgreen (Jan 31, 2005)

malexgreen said:
			
		

> Do these new powerbooks have the Freescale PPC 7448? If not, I'd be kinda annoyed seeing that the 7448 is a pin compat.  to the current 7447A processor, but with significant power savings and performance. The Apple web site doesn't say if the new processors have a bigger L2 cache, AFAIK.





> 15-inch models
> 
> 1.67GHz PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine, 512K SRAM on-chip L2 cache, 167MHz system bus
> 
> 512MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 2GB


Yep looks like it's the MPC7447/A overclocked. I'm kinda disappointed. Something is wrong either on Freescale's or Apple's end. They could have just dropped in the MPC7448 and had  much better power/performance in the notebook, as far as I can tell. See attachement below:


----------



## FrgMstr (Feb 1, 2005)

WooHoo,

Well i for one following my updated powerbook thread the other day am very pleased  I was going to go with the 1.2Ghz 12" IBook but have now gone with the 12" 1.5Ghz Powerbook for only a few hundred more when you factor in the mem and HD upgrade i was going to do to the ibook 

Well chuffed is all i can say and its being delivered in 3 days after launch!

Oh and its my first mac


----------



## soulseek (Feb 1, 2005)

ur very lucky Mstr 
enjoy your powerbook


----------



## FrgMstr (Feb 1, 2005)

Thanks soulseek


----------



## fryke (Feb 1, 2005)

Yup! Have fun with that 'book when it arrives!


----------



## hulkaros (Feb 1, 2005)

Well, I've been away for some time but some things never change! Especially, the iWhining around here 

1st of all: SideTrack isn't the same thing like Apple's... SideTrack uses, errr, the sides of your trackpad while Apple's utilizes the whole trackpad 

Now, back to others:
-The ability to drive the 30" Apple Display from your PowerBook is simply stunning! Have you seen the desktop GPUs that do the same thing? Those cards are at least 3/5 of a 15" PowerBook size for crying out loud... Did I mention those GPUs prices? At least $499!!!!!!!!!
-Optical In and Out? Sign me in!
-Up to 8x DVD± media in a slot loading mechanism? Jaw dropping!
-Bluetooth 2 standard?
-Sudden fall patent is in? Oh, well... If only all portables had that 
-Faster G4 too? First time seen running up to 1.67MHz? In a portable design?  Do you guys even remember the size of a G4/1.42 heatsink inside a PowerMac G4? 
-5400 rpm hard disk in sizes of up to 100 GBs? WOW! I mean we all know the HUGE speed difference in real world scenarios compared to 4200 rpm hard disks!!!
-Airport Extreme standard too?
-512 MB of RAM standard? 
-And better keyboard lights?

All the above in lower prices too? And people still iWhine?

I already knew that some things never change... Thank you for reminding me that


----------



## robjs (Feb 1, 2005)

Note: I don't work for Jigsaw24 

Anyone in the UK, I can't recommend Jigsaw24 (www.jigsaw24.com) highly enough for sales! I ordered the Powerbook (old model) Friday, they were meant to have a model coming in for me, shipping for today (not sure what happened to that, Jigsaw purchasing and Apple suppliers seem to have their wires crossed), but it worked completely in my favour!

I've just cancelled the 1.5Ghz model, and am hoping to to the 1.67Ghz/512MB RAM/Combo drive (the other model was to have Superdrive, but it wasn't one of requirements, I don't burn CDs that often, and I'll probably end up getting  G5 with superdrive anyway )/128MB VRAM/80GB disk and then, as the killer, a Apple Cinema display (of the 20" variety).

I rang, expecting to have to argue, I had the terms of sale infront of me, I had the Distance Selling Regulations (UK law on 14 day "cooling off" period if unopened etc) in front of me. Dave, my sales guy, just said "Sure, I see where you're coming from, I'll get that sorted for you". Awesome. Completely and utterly marvellous (you might be able to tell that I'm rather excited about it!).

Again, Jigsaw24, awesome sales, awesome service  [I bought my last Powerbook from them, they shipped it me in literally 12 hours, and their RMAs are great too - I had a broken docking station and they sorted that fine]. 

I must re-iterate that I don't work for Jigsaw24.

Rob


----------



## gphillipk (Feb 1, 2005)

cfleck said:
			
		

> the pc card slot is new as well isn't it?  lovely.





			
				soulseek said:
			
		

> nope.. has been there since the beginning.... apart from the 12 inch !!!



Uuuummm, do you mean to say the 'new' 12" PB still doesn't have a PC card slot? ::alien::


----------



## soulseek (Feb 1, 2005)

yeap it doesnt. check it out... where would it fit ?


----------



## soulseek (Feb 1, 2005)

HULK... i couldnt have said it better myself !!!

what is it with these whiners ??? they must be american... probably voted for bush... he he.. huh Scott ?


----------



## cfleck (Feb 1, 2005)

soulseek, you clearly aren't otherwise you wouldn't bring up such a matter as a joke.  there are way too many volitile people when it comes to that issue.


----------

