Apple Updates iBooks and PowerBooks [Archive]

View Full Version : Apple Updates iBooks and PowerBooks

Kent Pribbernow

04-19-2004, 04:00 PM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/' target='_blank'>http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/</a> </div>Not to be outdone by its software team, Apple's hardware division is also making some major announcements today. Apple is releasing product refreshes to its popular iBook and PowerBook line of portable computers. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/ibook.jpg" />iBook G4 The 1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 4.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,099 (US) and includes: -- a crisp 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; -- 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.25GB maximum memory; -- a 30GB Ultra ATA hard drive; -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400; -- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support; -- Ethernet (10/100BASE-T); and -- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive. <!> The 1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 5.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US) and includes: -- a crisp 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; -- 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.25GB maximum memory; -- a 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive; -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400; -- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support; -- Ethernet (10/100BASE-T); and -- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive. The 1.2 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 5.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US) and includes: -- a brilliant 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; -- 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.25GB maximum memory; -- a 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking; -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400; -- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support; -- Ethernet (10/100BASE-T); and -- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/powerbook.jpg" />PowerBook The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes: -- a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive; -- 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth; -- DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support; -- two USB 2.0 ports and FireWire(R) 400; and -- a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes: -- a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive; -- 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth; -- DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support; -- two USB 2.0 ports and Firewire 400; and -- a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. The 1.33 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes: -- a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive; -- 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth; -- DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support; -- Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T); -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800; and -- a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. The 1.5 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes: -- a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive; -- 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth; -- DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support; -- Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T); -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800; -- a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; and -- a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. The 1.5 GHz, 17-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes: -- a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive; -- 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; -- AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth; -- DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support; -- Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T); -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800; -- a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; and -- a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

entropy1980

04-19-2004, 04:05 PM

Big news on 2 things:
All Macs now over 1 Ghz, and You can now get a Superdrive on an iBook!
Look for G5 powerbooks by end of the year to allow for more of a difference between iBook and Powerbook...

James Fee

04-19-2004, 05:24 PM

Don't know if you noticed it, but all Powerbooks now include Bluetooth and WiFi standard.

Jason Dunn

04-19-2004, 05:30 PM

Don't know if you noticed it, but all Powerbooks now include Bluetooth and WiFi standard.

That's very cool - on the PC side of things, built-in WiFi is a given with most models, but Bluetooth support is still sporadic. We won't see widespread Bluetooth support until there's native Windows XP support - the Mac support for BT is something that I envy. :wink:

James Fee

04-19-2004, 05:51 PM

We won't see widespread Bluetooth support until there's native Windows XP support - the Mac support for BT is something that I envy. :wink:
WinXP SP2 will have it, right? :D

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp2.asp

Filip Norrgard

04-19-2004, 06:48 PM

Argh! 8O What laptop should I now buy: PC or Mac? :D

Too bad that metal cased PC laptops are rare 'cause I tried out a HP laptop yesterday and was scared away by the spongy plastic it has! That is just so not cool. :x

Anyone got any laptop recommendations for a student stuying computer science? :wink:

Mojo Jojo

04-19-2004, 07:43 PM

Anyone got any laptop recommendations for a student stuying computer science? :wink:

Hi there, new to DMT here but an Apple user and fan.

I have an Apple laptop and I think the thing is great. Most of my laptop work is for Graphic Design and the wireless, OS X stability, size, processing power, and battery life are excellent.

However when people ask I can't jump immediately to recommending one and tell the person to slow down.

I would first ask what the person wants to do, and tell them to do a little research and make sure there are supporting Applications available for them. While my laptop experience is great, with a lot of design apps at my finger tips, some people might find key applications are not available for their work needs.

In the case of student work, some professors have certain requirments for applications that may not be written for Apple OS languages. A good thing to do would be to ask the professors for your major what they are using in the computer labs for applications.

If your goal is to do as much of your school work on your personal computer and all needed Apps are available for Apple OS then I would say go for it! It has been my best investment in a long while.

Kent Pribbernow

04-19-2004, 08:05 PM

Yeah, these new portables are so damn hot and tempting, and place me in something of a dillema. I'm planning on upgrading to a new PC later this year or early 2005. But now I'm half tempted to forgoe the PC upgrade, and update from my current G4 iMac. I'd love to get either an iBook or 17" iMac. The 15" LCD on my 700mhz model is rather limiting.

Suhit Gupta

04-19-2004, 08:31 PM

Anyone got any laptop recommendations for a student stuying computer science? :wink:
I own both, a mac and a PC laptop. Actually I bought the mac (Powerbook 15") for my sister and she is a CS major too. She has been using the Powerbook quite effectively and says that coding on the unit is quite nice. With built in emacs, she is pretty much set with an editor. Compilers can easily be built on the unit, just like you would on any other Linux or BSD box.

I personally have a Toshiba Portege M200. It is a TabletPC, 1.7 GHz, 2GB RAM, 60GB 7200rpm drive. It is also a good unit to code on and with the 1440x1050 display, the resolution is fantastic (though sometimes it is a bit hard to see ;-)). I run Visual Studio .NET on it just fine and when it comes to being lazy (i.e. just surfing) it is fantastic for opening up Avantbrowser, firing up all my tabs, switching to Tablet mode and reading while lounging/watching TV :).

Suhit

Kent Pribbernow

04-19-2004, 09:02 PM

Too bad that metal cased PC laptops are rare 'cause I tried out a HP laptop yesterday and was scared away by the spongy plastic it has! That is just so not cool. :x

God yes!!!!! 8O Why do PC laptops all have painted plastic shells rather than metal? Why is Apple the only company (besides IBM) that uses REAL ALUMINUM casings? Every time I walk into Best Buy I see these sexy Sony Vaio portables with sleek silver chassis, but these are all just paint jobs. Have you seen what happens to painted plastic laptop cases over time? It's not pretty.

As trivial as this may seem to some of you, it matters to me. This is one reason why I don't own a laptop....and don't care to. They all look too cheap and aren't rugged enough for my tastes. Call me petty, but that's how I feel. :pukeface:

Gary Sheynkman

04-19-2004, 11:57 PM

These rule! Apples are becoming more and more appealing with each new software and hardware release

James Fee

04-20-2004, 12:02 AM

As trivial as this may seem to some of you, it matters to me. This is one reason why I don't own a laptop....and don't care to. They all look too cheap and aren't rugged enough for my tastes. Call me petty, but that's how I feel. :pukeface:
No I totally agree. I have a Dell Precision M50 laptop at work and it creaks and groans worse than a 1980's Chevy Caprice (http://www.ajuvant.ee/kylalised/caprice/caprice87.jpg).

Filip Norrgard

04-20-2004, 07:02 AM

I own both, a mac and a PC laptop. Actually I bought the mac (Powerbook 15") for my sister and she is a CS major too. She has been using the Powerbook quite effectively and says that coding on the unit is quite nice. With built in emacs, she is pretty much set with an editor. Compilers can easily be built on the unit, just like you would on any other Linux or BSD box.
That's what I have been thinking. I'm running a Linux web server and I do some coding myself, but I don't like to be forced to SSH to the server to do some code testing hence an *Book seems attractive. (Plus MySQL, and other goodies that can only be tested on a BSD machine)

.NET is also something to consider. I like the layout of Visual Studio .NET and I'm doing some amateur Pocket PC programming with it too. It should be somewhat possible to do .NET/Mono on a Mac also, but the Mono (http://www.go-mono.com) port to Mac was down last time I checked.

Second, the DVB USB TV tuners are PC only (from Hauppauge) and not a single one seems to be compatible with Mac! 8O Analog TV tuners are no go, since they're so out around here nowadays... :wink:

To make matters worse, a Dell super-laptop (customized for my needs) is only 100 € cheaper than an Apple PowerBook (customized) ... :roll:

Jason Dunn

04-20-2004, 04:18 PM

James Fee

04-20-2004, 04:52 PM

Looks like a G5 powerbook is far away. These might be it for some time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3639825.stm

Kent Pribbernow

04-20-2004, 04:56 PM

Question: is OS X really light on the RAM footprint? I ask because I noticed that almost all these units are 256 MB, and the high-end units are 512 MB. When I think about RAM, 512 MB is where I start. :-)

No, on the contrary, OSX has a rather large mem footprint. I have 640MB of RAM in my iMac. 256MB in my opinion is not enough. 512 minimum, perferably more!

Kent Pribbernow

04-20-2004, 05:00 PM

Speaking of which, the really annoying part is that Apple makes it difficult to add RAM in some cases. My G4 iMac for example only has ONE DIMM slot. The other DIMM slot, which houses the default factory RAM, is not user accessible. That means if I want to add more memory, I have to get a screwedriver and disembowel this unit....which voids your warranty of course.

Jason Dunn

04-20-2004, 05:20 PM