The New PowerBooks

[Fusion]

When do you think the new PB's will be in the Apple stores? I hear the 15" and 17" will be first followed by the 12".

If you remember the G5's were announced at MWSF and only got to stores much later.

Yes but when the launched the G5, they specifically said that they would not be available till august. If you look at the apple online store, it specifically says, available today. So I assume they would be there now, or within the week.

There is no way that the G5 is coming to notebooks anytime soon IMHO. I would say 1st or 2nd quarter of 2005 also.

I am really starting to lean more towards the 12" again. I would really like the backlit keyboard but the screen on the 15 I think just might be too big for going to class. The key to my use is portability. If I am not at university, then I am always somewhere different, whether it be at a cabin, house, hotel. I just would really like to have my computer anywhere. Especially on trains and planes also.

Does anyone that owns a 15" ever run into an instance where they just feel it is too big and they wish they had something smaller? I would really like to know this.

I think that if they are in the stores now, I am just going to drive to the apple store and test it out. If I am really that impressed with it, then I will order a 15, but the 12" 1ghz is looking mighty tempting right now. It is also much cheaper to max out with superdrive and HD.

One thing that does bug me, if you get the 15, you can get a 5600rpm hard drive @ 80gb. But if you get the 12, you can only get an 80gb at 4200. Is there a reason for this?

ahhh, too many choicess *sigh*

[aristotle-dude]

Man. I just bought my 12" 867Mhz pbook August 23rd. I wish I had waited and saved up instead of going for the no interest deal. Oh well. :)

Time get more ram for it.

*edit*

It would have been nice to have a faster CPU and USB 2.0 but the mini-dvi would not have been a big deal for me because I would use a VGA external anyway. :)

Is the Geforce FX a lot faster than the GeForce 4MX Go?

[PureEdit]

When do you think the new PB's will be in the Apple stores? I hear the 15" and 17" will be first followed by the 12".

If you remember the G5's were announced at MWSF and only got to stores much later.

Yes but when the launched the G5, they specifically said that they would not be available till august. If you look at the apple online store, it specifically says, available today. So I assume they would be there now, or within the week.

There is no way that the G5 is coming to notebooks anytime soon IMHO. I would say 1st or 2nd quarter of 2005 also.

I am really starting to lean more towards the 12" again. I would really like the backlit keyboard but the screen on the 15 I think just might be too big for going to class. The key to my use is portability. If I am not at university, then I am always somewhere different, whether it be at a cabin, house, hotel. I just would really like to have my computer anywhere. Especially on trains and planes also.

Does anyone that owns a 15" ever run into an instance where they just feel it is too big and they wish they had something smaller? I would really like to know this.

I think that if they are in the stores now, I am just going to drive to the apple store and test it out. If I am really that impressed with it, then I will order a 15, but the 12" 1ghz is looking mighty tempting right now. It is also much cheaper to max out with superdrive and HD.

One thing that does bug me, if you get the 15, you can get a 5600rpm hard drive @ 80gb. But if you get the 12, you can only get an 80gb at 4200. Is there a reason for this?

ahhh, too many choicess *sigh*

I have a 14'' iBook, and sometimes I wish I had the 12'', but when I am at home, I wish I had the 17'' :p

[chris_rv]

aristotle-dude: I got mine the day before- 22nd- 12" PB. I feel the same way too.

[aaron901]

Fusion, believe me, i wouldn't lie to you. :) the 15" is the perfect size for anything anywhere. college, uni, cafe, trains, you name it.. however, except planes. :D hell, i think 12" is still too big for planes unless you're sitting in first class. ;)

about my pb, i can't be bothered to go thru all the hassle to sell it and get the new one. and i also said i wouldn't sell my first Mac. :D i'll just wait til they stick a G5 into the PowerBook. :)

believe me man, the 12" is too small. you'll definitely love the widescreen!!

[Timan Veteran]

Apple took to long to get this out :(

[Knight']

Apple took to long to get this out :(

I believe it was motorolas fault, they couldn't produce enough of those faster G4s :whistle:

[monkey55]

Ordered my 17" pb, maxed out yesterday. Only thing is they are quoting 4-6 weeks in the uk before delivery, can't wait... :):)

[bboyroe]

Ordered my 17" pb, maxed out yesterday. Only thing is they are quoting 4-6 weeks in the uk before delivery, can't wait... :):)

Did you max out the ram? if you did that would account for the 4-6 weeks delay, you might be better of ordering it with the standard amout of ram and upgrading it yourself, it would be a lot cheaper and you would only wait 3-5 days instead. Also you should order it through the apple education store save a few hundred ?s, they never check if you are a teacher or student.

[Fusion]

Fusion, believe me, i wouldn't lie to you. :) the 15" is the perfect size for anything anywhere. college, uni, cafe, trains, you name it.. however, except planes. :D hell, i think 12" is still too big for planes unless you're sitting in first class. ;)

about my pb, i can't be bothered to go thru all the hassle to sell it and get the new one. and i also said i wouldn't sell my first Mac. :D i'll just wait til they stick a G5 into the PowerBook. :)

believe me man, the 12" is too small. you'll definitely love the widescreen!!

Well, I will hit up the apple store in bellvue when I am there and hopefully they will have one there that I can play around with. I am thinking that if I went with the 15 model, I would just get the base system, with an 80gig 5600 drive and that's it. Nothing else. I would have to upgrade my ram, get airport extreme and anything else later on. This system would come to $1800 US, so I think I can do that.

[Elliott]

I told them to reserve one for me at my local Apple Store, Fusion. They didn't have them yet, but when they do, they'll call me. Can't wait! :)

[chris_rv]

Now everyone's getting the new PowerBooks! :D Are any of you first-time Mac users by any chance? It'd be nice if every announcement attracted more people to switch.

Edited September 17, 2003 by chris_rv

[Fusion]

Now everyone's getting the new PowerBooks! :D Are any of you first-time Mac users by any chance? It'd be nice if every announcement attracted more people to switch.

This will be my first Mac, but I have heard many people that wanted to move to Mac but were not happy with the notebook line. They said the 15 was just the right size but to out of date, so I am sure they will be getting it.

I think that the ibook probably attracts more switchers than the powerbook.

I was looking around at the specs, and it looks like the 15 superdirve is just a small version of the 17 whereas the 15 combo drive is really a 12" upgrade.

[Leif]

does any one know of, or are aware of someone who has done performance tests on the old/new powerbooks? ie has does the new 12inch performed compared to the original 867 g4 12 inch? has does the new g4 15inch redesign perform against the 15inch that came right before it? also how do both compare to an equal g4 desktop? anyone know where these answers can be found? or can someone submit them to someone? to do the benchmarks? i'm surpised i cannot find them anywhere

[Pilsbury]

Seeing as they were just announced, I doubt it....

However, stating the obvious:

The 1GHz 12" will be faster than the 867MHz one...

All the 15" ones will be faster than the old 15" ones, due to DDR, etc...

Laptops are always a bit slower than desktops, due to slower HDD's, power saving, etc...

(although the 16MB 5400RPM Toshiba HDD in my PowerBook 1GHz makes a significant step in minimizing that gap :D )

[Leif]

yeah yeah i know this. i want numbers lol. DUDE 16 MB 5400 in your powerbook? how much and where? lol.

[Leif]

the main reason i ask about benchmarks is i find it odd that apple doesn't tout numbers with is powerbook line. it sure as hell flaunts g4 and g5 benchmark numbers

[chris_rv]

Well, I'm not surprised that benchmarks for the new PowerBooks haven't surfaced yet. It usually takes awhile before the press or other sites get to test shipping units.

[Pilsbury]

yeah yeah i know this. i want numbers lol. DUDE 16 MB 5400 in your powerbook? how much and where? lol.

OWC - $209 for a 60GB

[chris_rv]

Pilsbury: Is it really that much zippier than the stock HD?

And you guys getting the new PB's, you might want to post to these threads:

Your Mac Desktop (Hardware)- let us at least see them.

Switchers might also want to check these out

Unofficial Newbie Guide to OS X- getting started with OS X.

Neowin iChat Buddies- get to know your friendly neowin mac users.

Edited September 17, 2003 by chris_rv

[kryptonik]

Man, now I want a Mac even more! Oh man, I can't wait! :)

[aaron901]

Leif, the new PowerBooks were just announced. you're not gonna see any benchmarks this quick.

[michael.b]

My first powerbook:

PBG4 15.2/1.25GHZ/1024/80/SD/AP/BL/LL

Z07E02MPU

On or before 10/30/2003

1.25GHz PowerPC G4 065-4116

1GB DDR333 SDRAM 065-4673

80GB Ultra ATA Drive@5400rpm 065-4544

Super Drive (DVD-R/CD-RW) 065-4119

Country Kit/Airport Extreme 065-4496

BkLit Keyboard/Mac OS 065-4495

I also picked up a apple care plan, office, printer, power adapter, isight.

I am excited!

I placed the order the night of release. So the 4-6 weeks is due to the customization, not only is the delay prevalent in countries outside the US.

:D

[chris_rv]

Congratulations varekai2- have fun with your new PB :laugh: Another one joins the initiated :alien:

[aaron901]

dang.. i'm sooo tempted to get a new one.. the backlit keyboard is soooo wicked. and i'm just kinda sick of bringing my d-link bluetooth adapter with me all the time.. and with all the extra...

what do you guys think??