apple's macbook introduced

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afireinside I guess you're right about a comparable PC laptop. You can get a killer one sometimes with those Dell coupons that are like 30% off though. I have a 1.2ghz ibook G4 with 1.25gb ram and it was slow to begin with but not that my desktop runs with 2gb ram, a 2.8ghz dual core amd, and 2x 10k RPM raptor drives in RAID 0, it hurts to use the ibook. Oh yeah I completely forgot about how hard it is to find a windows based laptop in the 12/13" size. Most are 15-17

All but one of my laptops (Sony PCG-TR2MP (10.6") / TR5MP (10.6") / VGN-S2XP (13.3") / TX1XP (11") / Samsung Q30 (12") & Dell Inspiron 9400 (17")), are in the 10~13.5" ballpark. I've never had a problem finding laptops with this range of screen size, which I prefer for actually portable use.

 

[lostbobby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik I visited the Apple Store across from work today during lunch. Generally, the MacBook is a pretty good package. It's fast and responsive, and while I generally dislike glossy screens, it's really nice. I was seriously thinking about picking one up, but got hung up by the keyboard. It's terrible, I hated it. It feels awful and looks like a cheapo PDA or kiddie computer.

I spent 20 minutes playing with some MBs today. I'm still primarily concerned about heat before i upgrade from my Powerbook G4
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook.ars/4

People that have bought already don't want to hear it, but a CPU that has to be throttled down and may cook all the components around it, that's a serious QC/reliability issue.

 

[daggerlee]

good article on the new glossy screens:

http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/5/16/4004

between that and the new keyboard, I think I will wait a bit, hopefully apple will introduce a matte option like on the macbook pros!

 

[blessingx]

Funny article. It should be kept in mind some of us have paid more (usually around the price of a certain MacBook color) for glossy screens on our PC laptops. There are pros/cons, but like the PC world I bet most will prefer glossy. If I was buying a MBP I'd be getting the glossy option. As a recent switcher friend of mine said (moving to a iBook about four months ago) "the downgrade in the screen was the only hurdle hard to get over."

On the heat front, there are a lot of MBPs in people hands and so far no "cook all the components" issues reported. I'm concerned about the heat too, but this seems an overexaggeration. At least for the MBPs, it seems there's some work being done on it (aside from what else has been reported in this thread)- http://www.tuaw.com/2006/05/19/macbo...roblems-fixed/

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daggerlee good article on the new glossy screens: http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/5/16/4004 between that and the new keyboard, I think I will wait a bit, hopefully apple will introduce a matte option like on the macbook pros!

don't count on it...apple rarely changes the design of a line of products until a major revision...you'll most likely see the keyboard and case stay the same until the next major revision of the MB, which may be 2-3 years down the road...

 

[flecom]

i went to go see one of these at an apple store, becuase my friend had a 12" G4 powerbook, and I thought this might be similar...

I dont think I could have been more dissapointed...

1st, the glossy LCD... one of the great things about LCD is they dont have glare, so WHY would you put a reflective coating on an LCD? dosent that defy the whole point? sure the colors look more satrated but at the expense of having other light bouncing off the screen... definate loose there..

2nd... its so thin! wow! BUT ITS FRICKEN HUGE!!! this laptop is WAY to big for a 13" widescreen notebook, its HUGE... and the MacBook Pro's are even more huge! I would rather have a thicker notbook that it no wider/longer than the screen like the HP's and the new tiny dell than a super thin notebook that is huge...

3rd is onboard video sucks, period... but for $1000 i dont think i can really complain that much...


all i have to say is apple better make a 12" macbook pro with good video and have it be as small or SMALLER than the 12" powerbook g4...

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flecom all i have to say is apple better make a 12" macbook pro with good video and have it be as small or SMALLER than the 12" powerbook g4...

you're funny, man...demanding a 12" MB pro

according to apple, their line of laptops is complete, so don't expect a 12" MB pro anytime soon.

if the MB's not your cup o'tea, don't buy it. there are many other PC laptops out there that are smaller, lighter, and have the graphics card you want. of course, they don't run OS X...

 

[blessingx]

12" isn't coming.

 

[daggerlee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino you're funny, man...demanding a 12" MB pro according to apple, their line of laptops is complete, so don't expect a 12" MB pro anytime soon. if the MB's not your cup o'tea, don't buy it. there are many other PC laptops out there that are smaller, lighter, and have the graphics card you want. of course, they don't run OS X...

why is he being funny? I don't see any reason for there NOT to be a 12" macbook or macbook pro...a laptop's #1 purpose in my opinion is portability, which is why I bought a 12" g4 pb instead of the 15" one.

just cause steve jobs decided there wasn't going to be one doesn't mean a 12" macbook isn't a reasonable thing to want!

 

[AlanY]

I'm probably going to buy one of these, pending an opportunity to see the screen. (I'll also wait a month or so, so that some of the wrinkles get worked out.) I like the size, I like the idea of a firmer keyboard, and the feature set is just right for me. The benchmarks on the onboard video have been good (though I don't play games anyway), and I appreciate the extra battery life they got by going the integrated route.

I had been thinking about getting a Thinkpad X41 tablet, but now that the Vista recommended specs are out, it's pretty clear that machine can't run Vista well, and I do prefer OS X generally.

I went to my local computer store on Friday night and they didn't have any Macbooks left in stock, though they had several Macbook Pros. I wandered over to the PC laptop section, and I found it surprising that all but two had glossy displays. I guess that's the way consumer level laptops are going. I have mixed feelings about it. There was some moderate variation among the various displays, so I'm not going to draw any conclusions until I get to see a Macbook in person.

 

[flecom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino you're funny, man...demanding a 12" MB pro according to apple, their line of laptops is complete, so don't expect a 12" MB pro anytime soon. if the MB's not your cup o'tea, don't buy it. there are many other PC laptops out there that are smaller, lighter, and have the graphics card you want. of course, they don't run OS X...

how is that funny? they made a PowerBook G4 in a 12", 15" and 17" package? why would it be unreasonable with them having a 15" and 17" package to ask for a 12" package?

I don't care about osx becuase either macos or xp does everything i ask of it, i just usually love apple's designs, things like the original g3 laptops, the g4 powerbooks, all great designs... but the macbook, huge dissapointment

 

[Wodgy]

A 12 inch Powerbook equivalent would more likely use a 13.3 inch widescreen, making it rougly the same size as the Macbook. (The whole industry is moving towards widescreens anyway, and they're particularly useful on OS X given the UI's use of vertically stacking inspectors.) I just don't think there's enough product differentiation there to make it worthwhile. The only major differences in a 13.3 inch Powerbook would be a better video chipset, an illuminated keyboard, and perhaps 0.8 pounds or so lighter.

The Mac lineup could, however, use an ultraportable. My guess is that Apple will introduce such a thing if (and only if) PA Semi manages to deliver their 7 watt Power chip. That would be a neat machine and unique in the market, since only Apple is in a position to use the PA Semi chips. They might even indulge us with a tablet if that ever happens.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flecom how is that funny? they made a PowerBook G4 in a 12", 15" and 17" package? why would it be unreasonable with them having a 15" and 17" package to ask for a 12" package? I don't care about osx becuase either macos or xp does everything i ask of it, i just usually love apple's designs, things like the original g3 laptops, the g4 powerbooks, all great designs... but the macbook, huge dissapointment

the funny thing is not that you want a 12", but that you DEMAND a 12": "all i have to say is apple better make a 12" macbook pro with good video and have it be as small or SMALLER than the 12" powerbook g4..."

i was just waiting for the "or else..."

a 12" might be a reasonable thing to want, considering their other MBP offerings are still 15 and 17 in. varieties...but like wodgy said, the difference between a 13.3" MB and MBP would be things like dedicated graphics card, express card slot, and a few other minor things. apple probably doesn't see the need for a MBP in that size...you may see the need for one, but apple doesn't.

i'm not sure what apple's plans are for a sub-notebook, though...some have intimated at a PDA/tablet type of device, which could double as a sub-notebook, but i don't think these rumors are very reliable...

 

[grawk]

Except that apple already has the patents for makign tablets great. I think the reason they've said so firmly that there will be no new 12" is that they have a smaller tablet in the works.

 

[flecom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino the funny thing is not that you want a 12", but that you DEMAND a 12": "all i have to say is apple better make a 12" macbook pro with good video and have it be as small or SMALLER than the 12" powerbook g4..." i was just waiting for the "or else..." a 12" might be a reasonable thing to want, considering their other MBP offerings are still 15 and 17 in. varieties...but like wodgy said, the difference between a 13.3" MB and MBP would be things like dedicated graphics card, express card slot, and a few other minor things. apple probably doesn't see the need for a MBP in that size...you may see the need for one, but apple doesn't. i'm not sure what apple's plans are for a sub-notebook, though...some have intimated at a PDA/tablet type of device, which could double as a sub-notebook, but i don't think these rumors are very reliable...

OR ELSE

i wont buy one

simple as that