New Powerbooks

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.
 
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....
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.

:D
 
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 :)
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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...

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 :)
Click to expand...

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.
 
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:p :p :p
 
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.
 
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...
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...
Good idea :)

Thanks for the added perspective.

Kap
 
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).
 
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