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12" Powerbook: Slick and Sexy, But Not Without Issues
Gentu writes "Two very good reviews on the 12" Powerbook have been published today. The first review can be found at the Washington Post and is very positive but not very thorough, while the second one found at OSNews is an in-depth review of the popular Mac laptop, tackling down many issues that future purchasers should be aware of. 'The new 12" Powerbook is nothing more but an iBook on steroids with a G4 in it' OSNews concludes, but the overall read is very interesting."
They are confused because AMD released barton ( XP 3000+ ) today.
Call me naive or whatever, but this new powerbook comes with a 867MHz processor.
And while I realize that's not a direct measure of speed, I have to ask:
Is apple falling way behind? How do these systems compete with the 2 and 3 GHz intel systems coming out?
The reviewer stated that this model was much faster than their 450. Well, ya, its double, but its not a 2.4GHz chip or anything....??
Thanks for your comments,
mj
>Yippee, I can resize Safari and even IE now with >not much lag
Because it should obviously take an 867mhz processor that fries your lap while working to redraw a 1024x768 window 'almost fast enough'. What is it with GUI designers these days?
Well, most PowerBook owners really don't seem to be concerned that an AlienWare desk/laptop with a 3.06GP4 can run Photoshop so-and-so times faster; they seem to be more into the idea of a gorgeously-designed machine with an OS that allows them the ease of use to actually work efficiently, while still allowing them all the power they could ever want. Laptop people tend to realize much more than desktop people that a computer isn't always and end unto itself; most of the time it's just a tool for getting the job done, and they'll choose the best one available.
Plus they have that great ad with Yao Ming and Verne Troyer...still can't figure out why they didn't premiere it during the Superbowl, though.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
The PowerPC CPU can't be compared to Intel/AMD's since they operate very differently.
Still, yes, Macintoshes are falling behind when it comes to raw speed. But cleverly designed software makes it a lot faster to work with a Mac.
Ciryon
The question has to be why would you want it to boot into linux. Don't get me wrong, Linux is great, but if you've got OS X why do you want something that is basically the same (minor differences) but without the flexibility of running all your aqua apps.
Bob
You're forgetting that the Alienware machine is 10 freaking pounds. That's not portable IMO.
OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" indeed has subpixel rendering.
It doesn't have "ClearType" because "ClearType" is Microsoft's trademark for their own specific subpixel rendering technology.
If people are indeed complaining about the lack of ClearType in OS X, then Microsoft marketing has won yet again.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
To use your analogy, a VW Golf with a Porsche 911 engine inside (assume it fits...) would still not be a 911. You would need better steering, rear-wheel drive, better brakes, better noise control, different trim...a whole set of system changes to go with it.
They're saying that with a Powerbook line, you expect a certain quality of things about the system - DVI seems to be a stand-out, as does the better quality LCD. You don't seem to get those with this machine however, so hence the 'only' an iBook on steriods quip.
Cheers,
Ian
Amazing, isn't it, how people end up on the CPU treadmill? I just bought a digital camera. Already have a film SLR -- decent enough, and certainly a better picture than any digital camera under $1800 or so. What I needed was a complement to that. The kids are nine, they're old enough to enjoy taking pictures but not old enough not to waste hundreds of worthless frames learning how on film. The SLR's big to lug around, too, so a decent little digital made sense. For what we were doing, a 3 MP model seemed fine, and small-but-not-ultra-compact -- emphasis on durable, for the kids. I narrowed the models down, read some reviews, and chose something at that sweet spot. It happened to be one of the Sony models -- because it has a nice little design that's easy to tuck in a pocket and a decent little interface. Seemed better-engineered than the comparable Canons.
Apple gets that. They understand how to pitch to different market segments. Their machines have design sense, they're meant to work with you. They're durable. The OS is pleasant -- the kids haven't given me much chance to use the new camera, but they tell me iPhoto is easy as can be... :-) And they're using it on the 17" iMac that's displaced the PCs in the household because it'll fit in a weird spot and it's better at the stuff we actually do.
But why do people not "get" the whole tradeoff idea except for portables? The hutch/shrines people set up for their computers are surreal. (Hide it in the basement, please, honey.) Or look at that /. article last week about upgrading your machine to play games -- that's technology for its own sake, for people who can only be satisfied with a shooter if they know they're getting a respectable FPS rate. For some reason people "get" it for portables, but not for desktop systems. Weird.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
The new 12" Powerbook is nothing more but an iBook on steroids with a G4 in it.
I understand that this isn't necessarily intended as a positive comment, but isn't this exactly what a lot of potential Apple laptop customers have wanted? I purchased an iBook right after the revision in May 2001, and replaced it with a 15" PowerBook G4 last fall. I've enjoyed having the better performance, particularly when running Virtual PC, but I miss the smaller form factor and more convenient portability of the iBook. To me, an "iBook on steroids" would have been just what I was looking for, and my understanding was that a lot of folks who loved the iBook but needed better performance felt similarly. I think the bottom line is that, if you approach this from the high end of wanting a PowerBook, just a little smaller, you risk disappointment, but if you approach it from the lower end of wanting an iBook, just with a little more oomph, you'll be fairly satisfied.
I looked at it at the Apple store in SoHo this weekend, and it's a sweet little machine. Light, bright, nimble. Pulled up a terminal and wrote little perl scripts for twenty minutes. Completely forgot there was a candy-apple GUI grafted onto the ass of the BSD kernel.
Makes me sad for the lives the reviewers must lead that they can't be happy with the 12" powerbook. You know, the kind of people who let their whole day be ruined because the color of one of their cocoa puffs was off by a shade. For Pete's sake, they could, **horror** of horrors, be saddled with an IBM thinkpad!
Think on that, and wonder.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
But it wasn't a good review.
Too much time on irrelevancy (it seems like he went on for page after page about the two lock-ups he experienced...well, it only seemed like page after page). He could have handled it like this:
"The powerbook locked up twice unexpectedly; I called Apple, and they said it was unusual..."
Note that he didn't call Apple about the problem; which might have been helpful.
And another dozen pages (exaggeration) about frames being dropped in full screen mode for DVD's. Its okay to mention, but it could have been summarized in 2 sentences.
After reading it, the only think I know for sure is that screen stinks. But he didn't compare it to anything, so I can't judge whether he's picky, if there's a problem with is computer, or if he's nuts.
The guy's heart is in the right place, but he needs to be more self-critical of his writing. The review isn't.
there is no pcmcia slot.
The 12" Powerbook has USB, Firewire, Bluetooth, AirPort, and Ethernet all built in. If you need a modem, buy a USB modem. If you need an external hard drive, pick up a Firewire drive. Ad nauseum.
The lack of a PCMCIA slot sure seems to be a nitpick to me. If you didn't have external disk, serial, peripheral wireless, and network wireless stuff built into the machine, maybe it would be an issue. From where I sit, though, leaving out the PCMCIA slot was a smart decision so that they could keep a dramatically reduced form factor. Sure seems full-featured to me, I can't think of anything I'd want a PC card for that this laptop doesn't have a connection to handle, and I've been using PC laptops since my first 386SX-25 (no PC card there, either, had to wait till my 486SX-33 upgrade to get a PCMCIA slot. Of course, I don't think such a thing existed yet when I got my 386).
Matthew P. Barnson
I learn what I think when I read what I write
If you can afford a 17" Powerbook, you probably don't need to be flying coach.
Yeah, it's a very big problem.
You see, Apple has two lines-- the ibook and the powerbook.
One is designed as a lowest-common-denominator system for students and average folk, the other is designed as a power-user system.
Granted, it's nice that they've released a good new upgrade for the common user, but they REALLY should have released it under the ibook name with all of the missing features it SHOULD have had-- this is being marketed as a professional user's tool. That's what everyone's complaining about.
At my work, we went through a phase where everyone wanted and got a laptop. After a while, people got fed up with hauling them around, unstandard keyboards, and the expectation that since they had a laptop, they could do work at home. The shift now is back to desktops -- thank god.
I know it depends on the site and nature of the work. I need a laptop for example, but my office machine is a desktop.
Photoshop isn't the reason I love my Mac and will never buy another PC. The reason I love my Mac and will never buy another PC is that it just works. The OS is effective, the apps work well and consistently I just don't have the problems that I have in Windows. I don't care if it's a bit more expensive or if it's a bit slower. I care that I can get more work done and I experience a tenth of the frustration. That's the difference between a Mac and a PC. No numbers, just results. Plugging my parents' DV camera in the FireWire ports on my PowerBook and making a really neat movie result just because I have a spare hour to kill is the difference. I wouldn't conceive of doing that on a PC. I know that it would turn into two hours of frustration and irritation. I don't have the time or the patience for that, I just want to do something that works and have fun doing it.
Apple lacks access to the faster processors that would usually serve as a differentiating factor between $1,000 and $3,000 models. Since they can't make the top end any faster, Apple has looked to "differentiate" models in other ways (I call it crippling).
Your example of limiting the Powerbook 12's memory for no particular reason is one good example, another would be removing the video-out functionality from the iBook. It is a business decision that I don't agree with. I think Apple would sell more computers (without increasing their costs!) if they would not remove features from the low end. But someone at Apple disagrees.
The way I figure it, the 12" PowerBook actually is the new iBook, corresponding to the new iMac with its new form factor (the desk lamp) and other higher-end features.
When that happened to the iMac, the old version became the eMac. So now, the way I think of the 12" PowerBook is that the iBook made a corresponding leap to a new enclosure and higher-end features, to keep it in step with the desktop "i" machine. The old version now more closely matches the eMac, so it should be called the "eBook".
In short, the "i" prefix is sort of bumped up from denoting the entry-level machines to now denote the mid-range, and the "e" prefix has been introduced to fill the gap at the entry level. Except, of course that the names for the low- and mid-range laptops haven't oficially changed to fit this scheme.
David Gould
main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}
A 12" laptop with DVI, plugged into a Cinema Display could be a desktop replacement. But note that the 12" Powerbook does not have DVI. Nor does it have an L3 cache or a FireWire 800 port or memory expandable above 640Mb.
/. crowd who appreciate cool, well-made, technology and know, for the most part, exactly what can and cannot be expected of it.
/. would like. But I mean no offence when I say to you, you are in the minority. Most people, when they want a "portable desktop machine" want something that is just small enough to move from room to room or take to set up in a hotel during exceptionally long business trips. The 15" or better yet the 17" fit this mold exceptionally well.
The review played the lack of these features off as deficiencies that counted as checks in the "bad" column against the 12" PowerBook because it made it less suitable for a desktop replacement.
My point is that these are not deficiencies but very conscious design decisions that hint to the purpose and philosophy behind the 12" PowerBook and its low price tag (tablet killer? PDA equalizer? Executive presentation junkie's entry drug? Digital photographer's best friend?).
But whatever you might personally argue the 12"s niche is, it's clearly not targeting the desktop computer. Other's here seem to be happy with it as a desktop replacement, but then, that's the
But if you're average Windows (or Apple!) user bought the 12" expecting it to replace her desktop computer, she would be disappointed (as, indeed, the author of the above article was).
I say, "Well, of course you're unhappy with it on your desktop! That wasn't what it was made for, and if you use it for what it was made for you will find it to be a brilliantly designed machine."
As to your situation, you were evidently looking for a 12" desktop machine. That is something many, perhaps, here on
On the other hand, when most people go shopping for a small laptop, they want it for constant travel or true portability around the house -- my 12" is never on a desktop. It's always on my lap!
These people, more often than not, have/need a desktop machine, too. If a desktop owner wants a portable laptop to use along side his other computer, the most important "feature" of that laptop is low price (he already owns one computer, after all).
Coincidentally, if a desktop owner wants a portable computer to use along side his other computer, the least important features are DVI, L3 cache, etc. So Apple could kill those things, make the 12" cheaper, and make this class of computer user very happy.
You may claim that Apple should release a version of the 12" that has DVI, L3, >640Mb so that your class of computer user is happy, and I sympathize with you. But the hard facts are they would not sell more than a few thousand such PowerBooks, so it's not likely to happen.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Apple will see complaints like yours in such a number that they'll realize there is a market for tricked-out small PowerBooks out there. You could get your wish. But in the mean time, saying that the 12" is crippled because it doesn't fit your particular needs is like saying a hammer is stupid because it won't tighten the bolt you have in front of you.
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