Damnit.! They had to go do that a month after I bought mine.
(got a 12", love the little sucker. So small and light, goes with me everywhere)
--
This.sig looking for creative and witty saying.
Re:Obligatory
by
RedWingsSuck
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I was told, by an Apple Store employee, that you could get the discounted price, if the unit was purchased within 30 days of the price cutting.
Re:Obligatory
by
phyxeld
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
A friend of mine has a 12'' AlBook on the way, and just got an email this morning with the subject "Great news about your recent Apple purchase". They're crediting him the difference, and he didn't even have to ask:)
-- __ Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem. - Larry Wall
Because it would ruin the entire Apple user experience of "it just works" that they can deliver on their own hardware platform. They'd be years behind Windows in driver compatibility, simply because they haven't had the legacy Windows has had in developing it.
Not to mention, hardware is where they really make their money. Everyone would probably just end up pirating the OS, anyway:)
No L3... 256k L2 cache. Find me a Pentium/Centrino with L3 cache and you've got a valid point. Udderwize...
and on top of everything else lacks several legacy ports it abandons in favour of firewire and USB.
Uhh... That spells "modern laptop" moreso than a big bulky, ugly 9 Lb monster with parallel and PS2 ports... You're conveniently ignoring 802.11g as well...
In that perspective, it's struggling to stay a competitive deal even if it dropped another $100
Re:not bad
by
Steve+Cowan
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
You can poo-poo the 1024x768 screen on the 12" PowerBook, but to my knowledge there is no higher resolution 12" display on a notebook anywhere. If you want higher resolution you need a bigger notebook. This is the right trade-off in my opinion, because things would start getting pretty tiny at higher res on a 12".
Also check the Apple PDF Datasheet on the 12", you'll see that the drive is stated to write at 24x, not 2x as you suggest. (I just checked, and interestingly the Apple Store page says the drive writes at 8x. Weird, but still faster than 2x.)
Re:not bad
by
CptChipJew
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Slow burner?
The Combo drive burns CDs at 24x and rewrites at 10x. If you're reffering to the DVD burner, which is 2x, keep in mind we're talking about $1600 laptop.
Do 9lb PC laptops have faster DVD burners usually? Do they have DVD burners at all?
-- Vonal Declosion
Re:not bad
by
NotoriousQ
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I have a Fujitsu P2000 series.....
10 inches screen, 1280x768 res. Low latency and high contrast ratio too. Looks great.
It could be too small....But then just crank up the DPI rating, and it will work perfectly. Product site
The only laptop I was considering over this one was the powerbook. The fujitsu won based on the price.....
-- badness 10000
How about the rest of the world.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Unfortunately the Australian PB prices still seem to be as high as they ever were. Not only has out dollar climbed in value against the US since the PB12 was released, and Apple have dropped the price of the PB12, we should be seeing some awesome savings, like with the eMac and iBook, both of which recently dropped quite a bit.
I'm looking buying a new mac soon. It would be tempting to go for a PB12 if they dropped as much as they should in price.,
Re:How about the rest of the world.
by
questamor
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Holy crap there's a disparity there.
$1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc.
Still, the Australian base powerbook12 is $3995. $1500+ difference.
bah!
Re:How about the rest of the world.
by
Weavus
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Its the same for Europe...
Check out these prices:
15" Combo US: $1,999.00 UK: $3,101.26
15" Superdrive US: $2,599.00 UK: $3,588.84
12" Combo US: $1,599.00 UK: $2,285.31
12" US: $1,799.00 Superdrive UK: $2,530.07
Its even worse if you are paying in Euro's rather than GBP.
I could grab a plane ticket to NY, stay in a nice hotel for a couple of days, watch a show on broadway, buy a powerbook and still pay less than I would from Apple UK.
I really want to switch but not at these prices...
Re:How about the rest of the world.
by
Alan+Partridge
·
· Score: 3, Funny
"We're not xenophobic, because that implies fear. We're not afraid of anything. We think people who are different from us are backwards, stupid, and primitive, but we're not afraid of them."
Is that why you were all taping up your fucking windows a couple of months ago?
Fucking wanker.
-- That was classic intercourse!
Education Prices
by
Pirogoeth
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
If you're eligible, the Education Store has them for only $1499!
-- Happiness is like peeing yourself. Everybody can see it but only you can feel its warmth.
Re:Education Prices
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Informative
If you're eligible, the Education Store has them for only $1499!
And check your university for deals: mine threw in a 10 GB iPod for free. (Though they made you buy AppleCare, but I was going to buy it anyway.)
Re:Education Prices
by
illusion_2K
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Another strategy, that I'll be using myself shortly, is to join the Apple Developer Connection (for about $100) as a student and then use their hardware seeding program, which gives you about 10-20% off your first hardware purchase with them.
Plus, the program has a bunch of developer tools and other discounts included. It's certainly wortha look.
Upgrades pending?
by
Jeff+Kelly
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Seems to me like Apple is going to upgrade some of their Powerbooks in the near future. 15'' PBs are nearly sold out and are hard to get.
I have been waiting for a very long time now for Apple to upgrade the 15'' PB to an AI Model with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. But now it won't probably be long until I get my PB and iPod. (My precious)
Regards
Christian
Re:Upgrades pending?
by
shayborg
·
· Score: 4, Funny
I have been waiting for a very long time now for Apple to upgrade the 15'' PB to an AI Model with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme...
The HalBook? Might be interesting...;-) (I think you meant Al with a small letter L, not AI.)
-- shayborg
There is more than "just works"
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
There is more than "it just works". How about "It not only works, it creates, it plays, and it does a lot more"
If you are informed enough to ask a question like that, you shouldn't have to ask a question like that. Anyway, the rumor mill has been going full steam after months of, well, nothing. Here is the latest...
Yes, conflicting reports... But it's always safe to assume that when Apple lowers prices, their main goal is to clear out inventory for a new or updated model.
--
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
my joke appreciation level
by
krilli
·
· Score: 3, Funny
verdict: not bad.
the coffee is not neccessarily making you unfunny, but it definitely isn't helping your anxiety and paranoia.
Now, why doesn't Apple make OSX for x86 machines ?
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but everyone, repeat after me:
Because Apple is a hardware company!
Selling OS X for x86 machines would cut into their margins, encourage their competitors, and there's simply no way they could survive as an OS-only vendor (remember BeOS? That was a lot better than Windows, too).
Down From What?
by
nanobug
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
What price were they before?
Re:Down From What?
by
questamor
·
· Score: 4, Informative
While the article doesn't mention it, macnn's story on the price drop does.
Re:Down From What?
by
doce
·
· Score: 3, Informative
the $600 difference between the two 15" powerbooks is not just the drive.
for $1999, you get 867MHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, no airport, combo drive
for $2599, you get 1GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB hard drive, airport, superdrive
so.. faster processor, more ram, bigger drive, wifi, and better optical drive.
-- woof!
Same on the flip side of the planet.
by
thatguywhoiam
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
$1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc.
We're experiencing the same thing in Canada - because of the recent plunge of the US dollar versus our own, prices should have dropped... but they haven't. Apple gear in Canada still costs approximately 10% more than it should, at the current rates.
Now, I have some sympathy as Apple Canada/retail stores probably had to buy all that stuff at the old rate, but still.. I certainly won't buy another Mac until they adjust this discrepancy (and said Mac model starts with the letter 'G' and ends in '5').
If it's 2x DVD-R, then you are correct - Apple has DVD burners in their laptops - something that few (any?) PC laptops have.
If you're talking about CD writing speed, it's bollocks - my iBook is a year old and has an 8x combo CD burner. The newer iBooks have 16x burners - I see no reason that the powerbook would have a 2x burner.
If it was a typo and you meant to type "24x" and call it slow, then you're just impatient. I doubt there's much point putting a burner of that speed in a laptop - the faster you spin the disc, the more battery you use doing so.
You also note that it "lacks several legacy ports in favour of firewire and USB" as if this is a bad thing. I don't want a paralell port or an RS232 port on my laptop. I'm sure there are people who do need these ports, for them there are two options - buy a PC laptop or buy an adapter. There's no reason to include them on 98.7654% of modern laptops*.
* 88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Yellowdog Linux for your old Macs an option...
by
SYFer
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
"What do us people with old powerbooks do?"
Well, one suggestion might be to give it a new, longer period of usefulness by loading Yellowdog Linux, but that strategy may well not suit your needs as you may require certain OS X apps.
In my case, I primarily use a current generation tower with OS-X loaded--this is needed for my work. I also happen to have an old G3 Firewire laptop laying around that is about to go Yellowdog. Since it only has 128 megs of RAM, its not really a good candidate for OS X (and I won't put any more money into it at this point).
It is currently doing duty as my "legacy" OS 9 machine and I use it to run the 2 or 3 remaining pesky OS 9 apps that I have not/can not upgrade to OS X. And I no longer even care to run "classic" on my main machine.
The minute those apps are no longer needed, that old laptop will get a new lease on life running Yellowdog which does very well with older Macs. Then I'll be able to run more meaningful apps like GIMP (and hopefully even filmGIMP).
This is a great solution because instead of becoming increasingly meaningless (OS 9) or redundant (and underpowered) as an OS X machine, it will now fulfill a unique and useful roll in my studio.
To find out more, visit hwww.yellowdoglinux.com of course.
-- "...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
For the same reason Microsoft doesn't give you Office for free. You don't kill the cash cow. Apple makes money on the hardware, off people who are dead-set on the Apple product. Apple's software sales are puny in comparison to the $BIG_MONEY made off the hardware sales. Many mac users don't even buy OS upgrades, there's a 'I paid $BIG_MONEY for my Mac, I'm entitled to a free copy of Jaguar' attitude thats left over from the pre-system 7 days when Apple gave the OS away for free.
-- "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie."
-Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Still using my 400 MHz G4 PowerBook & still loving it more than I ever did any of my PC laptops--no matter how fast they were.
It feels so good finally being content with something.
I look back to the foolishness of my former self with pity; I was never satisfied with my laptop. Somehow I thought that new hardware or a new OS would fix my problems. Somehow I kept at this for years, searching for the right laptop. I became a computing nomad--jumping from laptop to laptop, thinking that maybe my issues would be solved with the latest hardware. And jumping from OS to OS--from Windows to Suse to Debian to Mandrake to OpenBSD to FreeBSD... on and on. I couldn't find anything that really fit my needs.
I find that it wasn't really speed I needed all those years I was on the MHz treadmill--it was just a computer that worked the way it was supposed to.
I'm quite happy with what I have, and for the first time, I know I'll be using a computer until it dies its natural death. For the first time I can concentrate on getting things done rather than that gaggle of concerns and problems I had to think about before I could even start a project.
So, I've found out first-hand what people with old PowerBooks do--a lot more than people with old PC laptops.
It won't even matter whether Apple is competitive with the PC world. The mac users will always buy macs, and PC users will never be able to be cconvinced that
OS X is better than windows.
RISC chips outperform CISC chips, even at much slower speeds.
Macs are just way cooler than windows machines.
In the end, it sucks for mac users, b/c if Apple had 20% market share, their prices would be lower, and we could buy more songs from the Apple music store with the money we save.
PowerPC to x86 does not mean PC clone
by
AHumbleOpinion
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Your argument applies to Apple introducing MacOS X on generic PC clones. This has nothing to do with a switch from PowerPC to x86. The realistic scenario is simply Apple replaces the PowerPC at the core of it's proprietary design with an x86, much like the transition from 68K to PPC. This could also be a relatively painless transition. Emulation would not work as well this time around, however MacOS X apps are much more likely to be less CPU dependent than MacOS apps of the mid-90's.
Still using my 400 MHz G4 PowerBook & still loving it more than I ever did any of my PC laptops--no matter how fast they were.It feels so good finally being content with something.
--
"My name is Tres, and I'm never buying another Mac again."
"Okay, okay, cut!... we're going again. Writers, get over here."
"What did I say?"
-- If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Re:New chips soon?
by
kalidasa
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Noone knows yet what machines the 970 (the new IBM chip expected to replace the Motorola G4) will be used in first. There's been some speculation that all G4s will be replaced by 970s at the same time because the 970s are cheaper, other speculation that the PowerMacs would be the first, followed by PowerBooks then by iMacs, and yet other speculation that it would be PowerBooks first.
Slashdot Mirror
Damnit.! They had to go do that a month after I bought mine.
(got a 12", love the little sucker. So small and light, goes with me everywhere)
This
Because it would ruin the entire Apple user experience of "it just works" that they can deliver on their own hardware platform. They'd be years behind Windows in driver compatibility, simply because they haven't had the legacy Windows has had in developing it.
:)
Not to mention, hardware is where they really make their money. Everyone would probably just end up pirating the OS, anyway
Chris -- http://www.bitter.net/
I'm no fan of Apple by an means of the imagination, but $1599's pretty decent and a heck of a lot more affordable than a tablet.
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
Unfortunately the Australian PB prices still seem to be as high as they ever were. Not only has out dollar climbed in value against the US since the PB12 was released, and Apple have dropped the price of the PB12, we should be seeing some awesome savings, like with the eMac and iBook, both of which recently dropped quite a bit.
I'm looking buying a new mac soon. It would be tempting to go for a PB12 if they dropped as much as they should in price.,
If you're eligible, the Education Store has them for only $1499!
Happiness is like peeing yourself. Everybody can see it but only you can feel its warmth.
Seems to me like Apple is going to upgrade some of their Powerbooks in the near future. 15'' PBs are nearly sold out and are hard to get.
I have been waiting for a very long time now for Apple to upgrade the 15'' PB to an AI Model with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. But now it won't probably be long until I get my PB and iPod. (My precious)
Regards
Christian
There is more than "it just works". How about "It not only works, it creates, it plays, and it does a lot more"
Makes you wonder why the Combo Drive iBook is still $1,299 base...
I hate Grammar Nazi's
"What do us people with old powerbooks do?"
:)"
:-D
Um, use them?
"I want to finance a nice sexy 15.4" Aluminium PowerBook (coming out real soon) or a nice PowerMac PPC970 (G5?) Tower, with 64bit Panther
I also want $UNANNOUNCED_PRODUCT!
(These jokes may not be as funny as I think they are. The coffee pot's still churning this morning.)
Mikey-San
Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
If you are informed enough to ask a question like that, you shouldn't have to ask a question like that. Anyway, the rumor mill has been going full steam after months of, well, nothing. Here is the latest...
RIP G4???
G4 iBook???
Yes, conflicting reports... But it's always safe to assume that when Apple lowers prices, their main goal is to clear out inventory for a new or updated model.
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
verdict: not bad.
the coffee is not neccessarily making you unfunny, but it definitely isn't helping your anxiety and paranoia.
Jag pratar lite svenska.
Now, why doesn't Apple make OSX for x86 machines ?
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but everyone, repeat after me:
Because Apple is a hardware company!
Selling OS X for x86 machines would cut into their margins, encourage their competitors, and there's simply no way they could survive as an OS-only vendor (remember BeOS? That was a lot better than Windows, too).
What price were they before?
We're experiencing the same thing in Canada - because of the recent plunge of the US dollar versus our own, prices should have dropped... but they haven't. Apple gear in Canada still costs approximately 10% more than it should, at the current rates.
Now, I have some sympathy as Apple Canada/retail stores probably had to buy all that stuff at the old rate, but still.. I certainly won't buy another Mac until they adjust this discrepancy (and said Mac model starts with the letter 'G' and ends in '5').
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
What media are you talking about there?
If it's 2x DVD-R, then you are correct - Apple has DVD burners in their laptops - something that few (any?) PC laptops have.
If you're talking about CD writing speed, it's bollocks - my iBook is a year old and has an 8x combo CD burner. The newer iBooks have 16x burners - I see no reason that the powerbook would have a 2x burner.
If it was a typo and you meant to type "24x" and call it slow, then you're just impatient. I doubt there's much point putting a burner of that speed in a laptop - the faster you spin the disc, the more battery you use doing so.
You also note that it "lacks several legacy ports in favour of firewire and USB" as if this is a bad thing. I don't want a paralell port or an RS232 port on my laptop. I'm sure there are people who do need these ports, for them there are two options - buy a PC laptop or buy an adapter. There's no reason to include them on 98.7654% of modern laptops*.
* 88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.
"What do us people with old powerbooks do?"
Well, one suggestion might be to give it a new, longer period of usefulness by loading Yellowdog Linux, but that strategy may well not suit your needs as you may require certain OS X apps.
In my case, I primarily use a current generation tower with OS-X loaded--this is needed for my work. I also happen to have an old G3 Firewire laptop laying around that is about to go Yellowdog. Since it only has 128 megs of RAM, its not really a good candidate for OS X (and I won't put any more money into it at this point).
It is currently doing duty as my "legacy" OS 9 machine and I use it to run the 2 or 3 remaining pesky OS 9 apps that I have not/can not upgrade to OS X. And I no longer even care to run "classic" on my main machine.
The minute those apps are no longer needed, that old laptop will get a new lease on life running Yellowdog which does very well with older Macs. Then I'll be able to run more meaningful apps like GIMP (and hopefully even filmGIMP).
This is a great solution because instead of becoming increasingly meaningless (OS 9) or redundant (and underpowered) as an OS X machine, it will now fulfill a unique and useful roll in my studio.
To find out more, visit hwww.yellowdoglinux.com of course.
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
who the hell looks at a laptop as an investment?
Actually, the PowerMac I bought in January 2000 can't possibly have dropped as much in value as the tech-stocks i sold have done since.
Somewhere in the heavens... they are waiting.
For the same reason Microsoft doesn't give you Office for free. You don't kill the cash cow. Apple makes money on the hardware, off people who are dead-set on the Apple product. Apple's software sales are puny in comparison to the $BIG_MONEY made off the hardware sales. Many mac users don't even buy OS upgrades, there's a 'I paid $BIG_MONEY for my Mac, I'm entitled to a free copy of Jaguar' attitude thats left over from the pre-system 7 days when Apple gave the OS away for free.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Still using my 400 MHz G4 PowerBook & still loving it more than I ever did any of my PC laptops--no matter how fast they were.
It feels so good finally being content with something.
I look back to the foolishness of my former self with pity; I was never satisfied with my laptop. Somehow I thought that new hardware or a new OS would fix my problems. Somehow I kept at this for years, searching for the right laptop. I became a computing nomad--jumping from laptop to laptop, thinking that maybe my issues would be solved with the latest hardware. And jumping from OS to OS--from Windows to Suse to Debian to Mandrake to OpenBSD to FreeBSD... on and on. I couldn't find anything that really fit my needs.
I find that it wasn't really speed I needed all those years I was on the MHz treadmill--it was just a computer that worked the way it was supposed to.
I'm quite happy with what I have, and for the first time, I know I'll be using a computer until it dies its natural death. For the first time I can concentrate on getting things done rather than that gaggle of concerns and problems I had to think about before I could even start a project.
So, I've found out first-hand what people with old PowerBooks do--a lot more than people with old PC laptops.
Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
- OS X is better than windows.
- RISC chips outperform CISC chips, even at much slower speeds.
- Macs are just way cooler than windows machines.
In the end, it sucks for mac users, b/c if Apple had 20% market share, their prices would be lower, and we could buy more songs from the Apple music store with the money we save.Your argument applies to Apple introducing MacOS X on generic PC clones. This has nothing to do with a switch from PowerPC to x86. The realistic scenario is simply Apple replaces the PowerPC at the core of it's proprietary design with an x86, much like the transition from 68K to PPC. This could also be a relatively painless transition. Emulation would not work as well this time around, however MacOS X apps are much more likely to be less CPU dependent than MacOS apps of the mid-90's.
--
"My name is Tres, and I'm never buying another Mac again."
"Okay, okay, cut!... we're going again. Writers, get over here."
"What did I say?"
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Noone knows yet what machines the 970 (the new IBM chip expected to replace the Motorola G4) will be used in first. There's been some speculation that all G4s will be replaced by 970s at the same time because the 970s are cheaper, other speculation that the PowerMacs would be the first, followed by PowerBooks then by iMacs, and yet other speculation that it would be PowerBooks first.