# Someone Say new Powerbooks



## iKiller484 (Oct 14, 2005)

i remember hearing someone say there were going to be new powerbooks.

Also i was wondering does anyone here actually use the widgests for Tiger.
i Don't


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## bobw (Oct 14, 2005)

There are going to be new PowerBooks.

No


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## dduck (Oct 14, 2005)

+1


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## iKiller484 (Oct 14, 2005)

dduck said:
			
		

> +1



?


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Oct 14, 2005)

There will always be new PowerBooks.  Did you think Apple would release a new PowerBook, then just stop upgrading it or something?

There will always be new PowerBooks.

Yes, I use some widgets.


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## dduck (Oct 15, 2005)

iKiller484 said:
			
		

> ?


+1 is shorthand for "ME TOO!!!!11!!!one!"


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## mdnky (Oct 15, 2005)

Only widget I keep 'open' in dashboard is the calculator one.  I have a ton installed...just found them to be questionably useful for me.  Add the limited resources my iBook has and it's just not worth it IMO.


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## fryke (Oct 15, 2005)

Then I'd use Calculator.app and disable Dashboard (see macosxhints.com). Helps performance.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 15, 2005)

I use it for an egg timer, imageshack uploading, dilbert-reading and stickies.  i've also got an uptime-timer (which has just been reset thanks to itunes 6.0) and a number of other useless crap like a 3d rubix cube and freeview tv from the US. (which is crap btw)


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## kainjow (Oct 15, 2005)

Wednesday, October 19 = new PowerBooks and new Power Macs.

And no, I don't use any widgets.


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## lonny (Oct 15, 2005)

Erm... just got my AluBook!


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## mdnky (Oct 15, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> Then I'd use Calculator.app and disable Dashboard (see macosxhints.com). Helps performance.



I saw that out there, but decided against it.  I like how simple and quick the calc widget loads and is to use compared to the standalone app.  Performance wise it runs fine with just one open.  Add a few more and there are issues...but just one is fine.


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## simbalala (Oct 15, 2005)

I'm not really wanting to disable DashBoard, at least now right now but I sometimes wish the DashBoard items were little apps that didn't vanish when I clicked on my main job. I only have a couple loaded.

Well, I read fryke's comment and went over to MacHints to see what I could find and I found TinkerTool (which is pretty easy, it's a top pick).

It lets you turn DashBoard on and off at will from a GUI and lots, lots, more. So you can have your choice.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20020218051000246


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## bobbo (Oct 15, 2005)

I hope that at that event they release iWork 2.0. . .i also bet we see an iPod shuffle in black within a few months.


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## fryke (Oct 15, 2005)

iWork 2 is rumoured to come out in January 2006, along with iLife '06.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 16, 2005)

it's reportedly addressing issues with their pro lines.  so this will be powermacs and powerbooks updated, and possibly software updates to things like motion, final cut, shake, logic etc, and maybe one more thing...


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## fryke (Oct 16, 2005)

If it's a silent update, that probably means that "one more thing" would not be so special.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 16, 2005)

Invitation-only dated event.  so hopefully not a just a web-update.


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## fryke (Oct 16, 2005)

Oh, yes, just saw that. Sorry.


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## Oscar Castillo (Oct 16, 2005)

I've tried a few but never I really don't use widgets at all.  I particularly don't like how widgets are implemented. They should just be able to run on the desktop like any other app.  New PowerBooks this week, if any will be lame upgrades. An HD display like i've been hearing is pretty useless if you ask me.


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## Oscar Castillo (Oct 16, 2005)

bobbo said:
			
		

> I hope that at that event they release iWork 2.0. . .i also bet we see an iPod shuffle in black within a few months.


I'm guessing we won't be seeing any more shuffles as higher capacity nanos start to appear next year. The lowend nano can easily replace the shuffle. I just can't see anyone wanting to spend $129 shuffle over a $199 nano.


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## bobw (Oct 16, 2005)

You can run a Widget on the desktop.

Activate the Dashboard dvelopment mode. Open the Terminal and type defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES and press Return. Then logout and log back in again. Now debugging mode is activated. To get a widget off of the Dashboard and onto your desktop, just do the following:
    1.    Activate Dashboard by pressing F12 (or whatever key you've assigned to Dashboard).
    2.    Begin dragging the widget.
    3.    Press F12 again, before letting up on the mouse button.
    4.    Drop the widget wherever you want it.
You can do the same thing in reverse to drag the widget back onto the Dashboard. Also of interest: while a widget is frontmost, you can press Command-R to reload it. (This may be necessary if a widget is buggy and gets messed up somehow.) There's even a nifty Core Image-based twirl effect to accompany the reload.


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## Oscar Castillo (Oct 16, 2005)

bobw said:
			
		

> You can run a Widget on the desktop.
> 
> Activate the Dashboard dvelopment mode. Open the Terminal and type defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES and press Return. Then logout and log back in again. Now debugging mode is activated. To get a widget off of the Dashboard and onto your desktop, just do the following:
> 1.    Activate Dashboard by pressing F12 (or whatever key you've assigned to Dashboard).
> ...


Yes, I was aware, but not very elegant or Apple style.  It can be done better.


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## fryke (Oct 16, 2005)

Well, it's not Apple's _intention_ to make people use widgets outside of Dashboard, you see. That's why they don't have a more "elegant" way to do this. And about the shuffle: Those people who think even the money for the shuffle is at the very top end what they're spending on a music playing device, those might still get a shuffle. Also for joggers, the shuffle is probably still the way to go. And Apple will, in my opinion, want to keep a "lowest price" option for people to get onto iPod instead of using the competition. They need all possible customers of iTunes Music Store lured into using iTunes, you see...


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## Veljo (Oct 16, 2005)

Right-click on the trackpad! DO IT!


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## Jason (Oct 17, 2005)

Oscar Castillo said:
			
		

> I'm guessing we won't be seeing any more shuffles as higher capacity nanos start to appear next year. The lowend nano can easily replace the shuffle. I just can't see anyone wanting to spend $129 shuffle over a $199 nano.



Price wise, maybe. But utility wise, not really. A lot of shuffle users (or at least me) use it as a "jump drive" as well. I could see them dropping the 512mb version and making the 1gb version 99 dollars. I think if they managed to get a small lcd onto it (one that purely scrolls song info, 2 color, nothing big and fancy), it wouldnt get so much "negative" publicity and would do better sales. 

Either way, I wouldnt replace mine with a nano. But I wouldnt mind just having a nano also


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 17, 2005)

if you use tinkertool, you can click a checkbox to let you drag widgets off the dashboard onto the desktop, or just turn the dashboard off completely.


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## Stridder44 (Oct 17, 2005)

Oh how I can't wait for them...


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## mindbend (Oct 17, 2005)

Before Tiger came out I was like, Widgets are overhyped. Then when Tiger came out I played around with Widgets, installed a few, actually used a couple for a bit. Now, I have to say, I really don't use them.

It's not that there aren't useful widgets, it's just that I already use self-contained apps to do a given task (like printing envelopes). And since I use keyboard shortcuts to launch apps (ikey), the quick access benefit of Dashboard isn't really part of it.

If Dashboard were removed one day, I wouldn't miss it. Really, all it is is a repository for web pages that act as self-contained, well, widgets. As I understand it, the widgets are just little Safari windows in effect. Yes? No?


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## Veljo (Oct 17, 2005)

They are, yes.

I find Dashboard useful. I use Weather, Calculator and Dictionary widgets almost every day. Thesaurus is handy when you're writing something 

But anyway, this thread is about the new Powerbooks, lets not go too far off topic


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## dixonbm (Oct 17, 2005)

Didn't they say the first Pentium powerbooks would be out in 2007? 

And yes I do use the following widgets:

Weather
Doppler Radar
Sunlit earth - I just think it's cool
Yellow Page search - very useful
Conversion tool - converts everthing from currency to distance and weight


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## fryke (Oct 18, 2005)

I personally started using Dashboard again. I never change much, though, so I always have the same things open:

- An entry field for a blog.
- Wikipedia (Gotta love this...)
- 3 Stickies
- Weather for Winterthur, Switzerland.

And I hope they don't eat memory like they used to in 10.4.0/10.4.1


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## Veljo (Oct 19, 2005)

Well its official, I'm happy with the new Powerbooks. I was very happy to see 128MB DDR VRAM on the 15" and 17" models as standard, as well as the option of a 7200RPM hard disk.

As speculated, the 15" now has a 1440 x 900 resolution, and the 17" has 1680 x 1050.


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## fryke (Oct 19, 2005)

I'll have to take a look at those. Mind you, I won't be buying, since my 1.33 GHz 15" will still do for another year or so. (And you've probably read my signature about the intel thing that was put in place when everybody was _so_ upset about it...)  ... But the resolution is of interest to me. I personally think 1280*854 is perfect for the screen, but I just _guess_ that when I compare them side by side, GUI items will look awfully big on mine. (I remember having my current PB next to the 1152*768 TiBook 500 I was selling back then...)


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## HomunQlus (Oct 20, 2005)

Well... I have an older PowerBook G4, even without SuperDrive, but Widescreen. Still, the newer ones make my one look so old and dated.... Does this make my PowerBook a retro one? ;-)


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## fryke (Oct 20, 2005)

I'd say a TiBook is retro, maybe, but if it's aluminum, it certainly isn't yet.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 20, 2005)

Powerbook 150 is retro....


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## fryke (Oct 20, 2005)

Ah, yes. I sold mine more than a decade ago, I believe.


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