QotD: New PowerBooks
Posted January 31st, 2005 @ 09:59am by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: What do you think of the new PowerBooks?
My Answer: Great. The trackpad bit is nice. The Sudden Motion thing is nice. Anyone thinking these would be G5s was simply out of their gourd. Bluetooth 2.0? Who'da thunk it? Built-in wireless is a good thing. And 17 inches for $2699? When these things were introduced - had they actually been available on time - they sold like hotcakes at $3499.
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Posted 31 Jan 2005 at 10:45am #
Hm, not bad pricing at all. I don't remember the specifications in detail on the previous line-up, but have Apple increased the default amount of RAM in PowerBooks? 512MB is at least useable. Trackpad-thingy is nice, glad Apple sees the value in scroll-ability through the trackpad. For those of us with older *books, the SideTrack prefpane provides similar functionality. And Bluetooth 2 as default - nice!
Not a bad upgrade at all, the PowerBooks certainly needed it 🙂
Posted 31 Jan 2005 at 12:08pm #
... and you can't beat a brand new 15" 1.67 ghz powerbook for $1839 with ADC h/w discount! WOOP
Posted 31 Jan 2005 at 12:10pm #
Speaking of ADC hardware discounts, I have one I can't use by February 28 when my renewal is up. Interested parties should take that for what it's worth… 😉
Posted 31 Jan 2005 at 5:29pm #
The two-fingered scrolling is rather interesting. According to the developer of SideTrack the current trackpads can already detect two fingers on the trackpad. It'd be nice if this feature were backported to the older AIBooks.
Posted 01 Feb 2005 at 1:31am #
This is great timing for me (if you look on the bright side) since last week my iBook (+iPod, headphones, camera, backpack, etc.) were stolen from my hotel room in Melbourne.
Since the insurance leeches don't want to cough up, I'm screwed (well, the people who stole it are screwed - it's held together with my soldering skill, missing some keys and the screen data cable goes crazy). I was thinking of replacing it with a PB, but these are just perfect. 😀
Posted 01 Feb 2005 at 3:06pm #
Did anyone notice that the 7200 rpm drives are not available in the new powerbook lineup ? iirc They were in the previous lineup. Maybe it has something to do with the technology that parks the head when you jar the laptop.
Posted 02 Feb 2005 at 1:32am #
Not according to Apple-History.com. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a laptop with a very fast HDD (but I don't pay much attention to that spec).
Posted 02 Feb 2005 at 1:36pm #
If it's true that the new PowerBook G4 models still use the 7447A processor I would first like to test drive the 1.67 Ghz models. Freescale's website lists the following speeds (Mhz) for this processor: 600, 733, 867, 1000, 1167, 1267, 1420. I guess that 1.42 Ghz is the top of the line when you ask the chip's manufacturer. Anything beyond that produces too much heat and consumes too much power. That in turn equals more noise from the fan and reduced battery life.
I already have a PowerBook G4 with such features. I guess that makes me the moron and it sucks to be me but if I buy the next PowerBook I would like to avoid having such features.