Apple Updates PowerBooks

Tablespork writes "Apple this morning has updated the PowerBook G4. The new models feature 1.5 or 1.67 ghz processors, 8x superdrives, 512MB memory standard, Bluetooth 2.0, updated graphics cards, a sudden motion sensor, as well as a scrolling trackpad. Looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for the PowerBook G5."

Comments

Re:Eh

[TheKidWho]

1.5ghz vs 1.2ghz
64mb geforce vs 32mb radeon
512ram vs 256ram
167bus vs 133 bus
5400rpm 60gb HD vs 30gb HD
DVI out vs mirror VGA
Having the powerplug on the same side as all the other ports vs the way the ibook has it which makes it slighlty uncomfortable to use on its side
motion sensing vs nothing

I dunno, these new 12" powerbooks look like a great deal to me, especially for $1400 with a student discount!

Re:Tablespork, you must have been the only one

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Every single time any CPU (x86, PowerPC, SPARC, whatever) gets faster, someone always asks the question, "Does anyone really need this?"

And the answer, ultimately, is always, "Yes."

Re:Tablespork, you must have been the only one

[daviddennis]

As someone who does heavy video editing, I can say that a 1ghz PowerBook G4 will perform flawlessly for any video editing task not involving heavy compositing. You'll see instant previews for everything that matters (dissolves, simple superimpositions, etc).

A G5+ processor is indispensible if you're converting from one video format to another (like when someone gives you a video screen capture that needs to be integrated) or when you're doing compositing (layering of images). In my experience, most of those are best done on the dual processor G5 in any event, and a dual processor G5 is unlikely to ever land in a laptop since the heat and power consumption problems are too difficult.

But the cold truth - in my opinion, anyway - is that few true Apple obsessives want to feel left out from the G5 revolution and so we are holding back from buying G4 PowerBooks because we just know it will be downright embarassing to have last year's model when the G5 PowerBook comes out.

In a sense this is very good because the flood of orders that will come when the new PowerBook G5 is introduced keep Apple in business. At the same time, it's a kind of sad testament to the power of ego in human life.

D

Re:Unequal Articles under Slashdot

[jht]

Seriously? There's a couple of reasons. First off, Dell (or PC vendor X) does upgrades/updates differently from Apple. When Intel ships a newer, faster chip, Dell just slipstreams it into their existing models/lineups. Also, Dell offers so many different models that a change to one isn't really a news event. Besides, every other PC vendor offers something equivalent - Dell's only innovation is in the supply chain (and making it hyper-efficient). They don't actually make anything, they just package it into a cheap beige box.

Slashdot does cover all the new Intel and AMD announcements, which means that to run a feature when Dell puts it into a system would just really be covering the same story twice (not that Slashdot doesn't routinely cover things twice).

The difference is that Apple actually engineers their own products and OS. Also, they upgrade less often, and then when they do they upgrade a whole family of products simultaneously. That helps make it newsworthy. Yes, the speed improvement is a whopping 167 MHz per config (or only 1x on the multiplier), but when they revved the PowerBooks today they also added features (like dual-DVI support and the funky new scrollpad), changed video cards, and upgraded other stuff like Bluetooth.

Plus, Apple is Apple. Dell is just another PC vendor. If Dell is doing an upgrade, chances are all the other PC vendors are putting the same feature in their equivalent model at the exact same time. Like I said above, the news is when Intel or AMD introduce the upgrade that everybody then puts into their product lines, not when Dell does theirs.