I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one that got burned with a white iBook. For all the HYPE here on Slashdot - (it's great hardware! wonderful little computer! etc.) it is DOG SLOW.
For $1200 I am very disappointed. At that price I can buy a Wintel laptop that will run W2k FAST.
If 10.2 or whatever they call the next revision does not address the scrolling and window problems, it goes to eBay.
I know lots of people are recommending these, but if you're coming from x86 you are going to be VERY disappointed with the speed. It isn't even as fast as a Wintel 500mhz, let alone 'twice as fast'.
I have here in our office a PowerMac 7100/66mhz w/ OS 7.5. It is faster dragging windows around and scrolling through documents (web pages, long text files) than my iBook2 500mhz.
That kind of performance is a JOKE folks.
I bought into the 'great hardware' myth to the tune of $1200. OS 9 runs fine. LinuxPPC runs fine. OS X moves like a slug.
I'm hoping that Mandrake Linux 8.2 for PPC turns into something usable on this machine, because OS X is NOT. If not, it goes to eBay. Very disappointing.
You should not have to spend $2500 to get a computer that can quickly scroll through a document or maximize a window! This is 2002.
windows 98, me, 2000 and XP all have great multiple monitor support when using more than one video card or using a video card with multi-head outputs (ATI and Matrox make good ones).
IF your vendor has supplied drivers, and that's a big IF. ATI, for example, has not supplied dual monitor capable drivers for Windows 2000 for the M1 card. Keep in mind that although older, this card is still used in currently shipping systems!
The 5 GB iPod has been, and will continue to be $399. The Firefly, with the same 5 GB mechanism, sells for $199. Whether or not the iPod is worth $200 on top of the drive is to the reader to decide.
thats what you get for getting an iBook...those wont be good until they move to a G4 since OS X uses Altivec for the graphics. try a TiBook.....it runs like a Top of the line tower.
Typical Apple apologist. Somehow, it's the USER'S fault that the system they just bought is slow.
I'll just point out that Dell's bottom of the line systems run Windows/Linux FAST. Whereas with Apple "oh, shouldn't have bought that, you really need the top of the line to make OS X fast".
Parent is "+1, informative"? The Smartdisk Firefly is a small portable harddrive that uses the same 5 GB mechanism as the iPod. It sells, retail, for $199.
Once upon a time, that drive cost $400. That time has passed. You can no longer justify the high price by saying "the drive is so expensive".
because the hard drives that are in the iPods are insanely expensive. The 5gig HD that's in the low end model would cost you $400.
Oh really? Here's a link to the Smardisk Firefly, a small portable drive with the same mechanism. It sells for $199, and you can be sure Apple is getting them for way less than that in bulk.
iTunes 2.04 was also (quietly) released, nothing new here except better stability.
iTunes uses 35% of the CPU on my 500mhz G3 (which is supposedly the equivalent of a 1ghz PIII), so no thanks. Remind me again what it does besides rip and play MP3s?
Insult to injury is that it's proprietry ColdFusion, not even a PHP project.
You're just jealous that someone using ColdFusion can do something in half the time it would take using PHP.
Seriously, because it's "closed source" it's bad?
A good analogy would be Apple. Yes, Macs cost money, and OS X is not open source. But a Mac with OS X is far more elegant and easier to work with than a Windows PC.
Similarly, ColdFusion costs money and is closed source, but is easy for new people to understand, and incredibly powerful at the same time. It has a plain-english syntax that actually makes sense, and has tons of built in functionality that let you get work done, instead of chasing down some PHP component that you read on a message board might work if you can track down the guy who wrote it in some foreign country. It's backed by Macromedia, a real, permanent, profitable company that has tech support and a phone number.
Perhaps you're just scared that someone without a CS degree could take your job using ColdFusion?
If you're doing ColdFusion, you should look into the Fusebox programming methodology. Fusebox website
It's not terribly complex, but it does help when you have to pickup where someone else left off by making everyone code in a similar style.
Even if you decide not to use it, it incorporates some interesting ideas that might help you in other ways. (Organizing what the function of each page is, what variables are used, etc.)
(e.g. sell a Rack-Mac with no OS for sub-$1000 price point).
Clearly, Apple could sell a Mac at that price - they already have several small form factor motherboards. However, doing so would almost certainly mean that Apple would sell large quantities of Macs.
Thus, based on Apple's past marketing decisions, we can safely assume that they would price such a system at $3500, thus safely ensuring they never gain any marketshare.
I know PPC and x86 are hard to compare, and apparently PPC's run "faster" at the same clock speed, etc
Don't believe the hype. A 600mhz G3 running OS X feels like a Pentium II 350 running Windows 2000.
For years Apple has been claiming that Macs are twice as fast, per mhz, than x86. Not even close.
Yes, I've used both. OS X, at this time, is slower, clock for clock, than Windows 2000 on x86. Windows or Linux FLIES on even an entry level PC these days, whereas you need a $2000 Mac to make OS X move.
The first movie theater chain that DISABLES all wireless access on their premises will get ALL my moviegoing dollars. No phones, no laptops, no beeping pagers or PDAs.
I'm dead serious. I, and most people I know, would choose a wireless disabled theater every time. I would spend extra money. I would drive further across town to get there.
Someday, someone is going to realize that there is a market for such a theater. If it doesn't happen, I predict that we will start to see "theater rage", and I'm not joking. I don't consider myself a violent person, but I've been on the verge of punching another patron on several occassions, and I don't think I'm alone.
'Last week we put Mac OS X on a Titanium laptop. It blew our minds.
Since, to my knowledge, there is no Linux distribution with out of the box support for Sound, Airport, and the Radeon video card, how exactly did the install "blow their minds"? Perhaps they were blown away by the amount of tweaking they'd have to do to get everything working AFTER the install.
So far, I've tried 2 different distributions on my iBook2. Neither is able to make the internal airport card work via DHCP. There's a lot of promise for Linux on PPC hardware, but honestly, it's not ready yet unless you like tweaking. (Compared to, for example, RedHat on a Dell laptop, where everything "just works").
I'm sorry you have the "-1, bitchslap" because that's actually pretty funny. You're right we don't have to worry about Apple going anywhere...
I even agree with your point about OS X being far more polished. However, the big problem is that it runs like a slug (and I have 640 MB RAM!). Linux runs FAR faster, even when you add in KDE or Gnome, and since it does everything I need with a default install (browser, IM, newsgroups, email, word processor, MP3 player), I'm highly interested in seeing the PPC variants of Linux succeed.
Windows users will not only tolerate, but pay for all of that.
Actually, no. They are willing to tolerate it because Windows is "free", either by boosting a copy from a buddy or coming preinstalled on their computer. I suspect many folks would choose NOT to buy if they actually had to take the box off the shelf and plunk down $199 for it.
Unfortunately, Windows is easily copied and comes preinstalled on every x86 computer which makes it difficult for the average user to get anything else.
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For $1200 I am very disappointed. At that price I can buy a Wintel laptop that will run W2k FAST.
If 10.2 or whatever they call the next revision does not address the scrolling and window problems, it goes to eBay.
I know lots of people are recommending these, but if you're coming from x86 you are going to be VERY disappointed with the speed. It isn't even as fast as a Wintel 500mhz, let alone 'twice as fast'.
That kind of performance is a JOKE folks.
I bought into the 'great hardware' myth to the tune of $1200. OS 9 runs fine. LinuxPPC runs fine. OS X moves like a slug.
I'm hoping that Mandrake Linux 8.2 for PPC turns into something usable on this machine, because OS X is NOT. If not, it goes to eBay. Very disappointing.
You should not have to spend $2500 to get a computer that can quickly scroll through a document or maximize a window! This is 2002.
IF your vendor has supplied drivers, and that's a big IF. ATI, for example, has not supplied dual monitor capable drivers for Windows 2000 for the M1 card. Keep in mind that although older, this card is still used in currently shipping systems!
Yet no love from ATI. They suck.
ATI M1, forget it, it won't work (NT/2k/XP). The card actually has two outputs and it CAN work, but ATI has not (will not) supply the drivers.
The 5 GB iPod has been, and will continue to be $399. The Firefly, with the same 5 GB mechanism, sells for $199. Whether or not the iPod is worth $200 on top of the drive is to the reader to decide.
Can you read? The 1.8 inch drive that only Toshiba makes IS the drive used in the FireFly for $199.
My point is that a "bottom of the line PC" these days is a Pentium IV 1.2ghz! I can assure you that Windows does not run slow on such a machine.
Typical Apple apologist. Somehow, it's the USER'S fault that the system they just bought is slow.
I'll just point out that Dell's bottom of the line systems run Windows/Linux FAST. Whereas with Apple "oh, shouldn't have bought that, you really need the top of the line to make OS X fast".
Of course not! It's called sarcasm...
Seriously, I like my iBook, but with OS X, I'd say it's equivalent to about a PII/350mhz.
Once upon a time, that drive cost $400. That time has passed. You can no longer justify the high price by saying "the drive is so expensive".
Oh really? Here's a link to the Smardisk Firefly, a small portable drive with the same mechanism. It sells for $199, and you can be sure Apple is getting them for way less than that in bulk.
iTunes uses 35% of the CPU on my 500mhz G3 (which is supposedly the equivalent of a 1ghz PIII), so no thanks. Remind me again what it does besides rip and play MP3s?
"component price increases"? Uh huh, more like we realized demand is high so we can stick it to you.
More importantly, who is buying these things?!?
Wouldn't a more rational plan be to drop the iPod to $299 and sell this new version for $399? (which is what it's going for now)
$500 seems like an AWFUL lot of money for a product with a 90 day warranty.
You're just jealous that someone using ColdFusion can do something in half the time it would take using PHP.
Seriously, because it's "closed source" it's bad?
A good analogy would be Apple. Yes, Macs cost money, and OS X is not open source. But a Mac with OS X is far more elegant and easier to work with than a Windows PC.
Similarly, ColdFusion costs money and is closed source, but is easy for new people to understand, and incredibly powerful at the same time. It has a plain-english syntax that actually makes sense, and has tons of built in functionality that let you get work done, instead of chasing down some PHP component that you read on a message board might work if you can track down the guy who wrote it in some foreign country. It's backed by Macromedia, a real, permanent, profitable company that has tech support and a phone number.
Perhaps you're just scared that someone without a CS degree could take your job using ColdFusion?
It's not terribly complex, but it does help when you have to pickup where someone else left off by making everyone code in a similar style.
Even if you decide not to use it, it incorporates some interesting ideas that might help you in other ways. (Organizing what the function of each page is, what variables are used, etc.)
Clearly, Apple could sell a Mac at that price - they already have several small form factor motherboards. However, doing so would almost certainly mean that Apple would sell large quantities of Macs.
Thus, based on Apple's past marketing decisions, we can safely assume that they would price such a system at $3500, thus safely ensuring they never gain any marketshare.
Don't believe the hype. A 600mhz G3 running OS X feels like a Pentium II 350 running Windows 2000.
For years Apple has been claiming that Macs are twice as fast, per mhz, than x86. Not even close.
Yes, I've used both. OS X, at this time, is slower, clock for clock, than Windows 2000 on x86. Windows or Linux FLIES on even an entry level PC these days, whereas you need a $2000 Mac to make OS X move.
I'm dead serious. I, and most people I know, would choose a wireless disabled theater every time. I would spend extra money. I would drive further across town to get there.
Someday, someone is going to realize that there is a market for such a theater. If it doesn't happen, I predict that we will start to see "theater rage", and I'm not joking. I don't consider myself a violent person, but I've been on the verge of punching another patron on several occassions, and I don't think I'm alone.
I'm sure it could be made to work fine by dicking around with it. My point is that it should work out of the box.
I think you're right! The funny thing is, someone moderated me up! Unbelievable.
Since, to my knowledge, there is no Linux distribution with out of the box support for Sound, Airport, and the Radeon video card, how exactly did the install "blow their minds"? Perhaps they were blown away by the amount of tweaking they'd have to do to get everything working AFTER the install.
So far, I've tried 2 different distributions on my iBook2. Neither is able to make the internal airport card work via DHCP. There's a lot of promise for Linux on PPC hardware, but honestly, it's not ready yet unless you like tweaking. (Compared to, for example, RedHat on a Dell laptop, where everything "just works").
I even agree with your point about OS X being far more polished. However, the big problem is that it runs like a slug (and I have 640 MB RAM!). Linux runs FAR faster, even when you add in KDE or Gnome, and since it does everything I need with a default install (browser, IM, newsgroups, email, word processor, MP3 player), I'm highly interested in seeing the PPC variants of Linux succeed.
Can anyone confirm/deny that it will be a later release? I have high hopes for using it as the daily OS on my iBook.
Actually, no. They are willing to tolerate it because Windows is "free", either by boosting a copy from a buddy or coming preinstalled on their computer. I suspect many folks would choose NOT to buy if they actually had to take the box off the shelf and plunk down $199 for it.
Unfortunately, Windows is easily copied and comes preinstalled on every x86 computer which makes it difficult for the average user to get anything else.