12/10/05
77Waiting for new powerbooks again
I did it earlier this year and now I’m doing it again. Waiting for California to wake up and announce the new powerbooks at 10am. Back in January I decided to buy Dunstan’s 17”, rather than go for the new model. The 17” is lovely (and actually thinner than the 12” or 15”), but after lugging it around SXSW, @Media and a trip to New York this year, I decided its just too much. I now use it with a 20” cinema display, and just don’t need the extra size.
If it didn’t cost so much to upgrade my Titanium powerbook (more than a new one!), I’d have done that. Its lighter than the current models, and I prefer having all the ports at the back where they’re out of the way. It is a little worse for wear though:
And its got a lot worse since that was taken. With only one screw left on the bottom, it does tend to flap about a bit, and to insert CD’s, you have to lift the bent upper casing slightly. The thing is, I loved it. This 15” was the best machine I ever owned – the best balance of screen size and portability.
So, a month ago I decided to go back to a 15” powerbook, and get a new one. Mr Oxton expressed his interest in buying the 17”, so it will have a ‘heritage of sorts – Dunstan, then me, then John. Shortly after ordering the new one, the rumour mills started talking about new models coming soon, but I don’t let that talk bother me.
The new powerbook arrived last week, and was what Apple call “dead on arrival”. A faulty hard drive meant kernel panics everytime it started up, and I was not best pleased. The ritual of opening a new mac is such a wonderful thing (and rare), but the joy soon ended. After it was taken in to be looked at, they wanted 7 days to repair it, or 2 weeks to replace it. Thats no way to start its life, so I asked for refund.
Ringing round mac dealers, many aren’t taking orders for a new custom spec powerbook, as they all expect Wednesday’s announcements to bring new models.
So I’m waiting, and so is John.
Update – The event came and went, with new iMacs, not new powerbooks. Bugger….
Update 2 – According Computer Warehouse, they are still expected an announcement on upgraded powerbooks any day now. Could be today, or early next week…
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Stuart Frisby said 1017 days ago:
I’m in the market for a new notebook too, I’ve been waiting to see what Mr Jobs has up his sleeve. Though I’m not quite sold on the powerbook, I was thinking of getting an ibook, as I doubt I’ll use it for much more than email/browsing and the mundane things like word processing. However, if today they launch a great new product, I can’t promise I wont want one.Mathew Patterson said 1017 days ago:
I am definitely hoping for a powerbook bump today – I’ll be working from home a lot more I suspect and the ibook is not cutting it speedwise. Fingers uncomfortably crossed.Brian Rose said 1017 days ago:
When you work at an Apple Authorized Reseller you quickly learn that DOA machines are far more common than any computer retailer would have you believe.I started keeping track for a few months, and Dell and Apple both suffered DOA returns to the tune of 10%. Gateway ran about half that number. To compound the problem, both companies often take longer to get a new system to the customer than it would take to return the machine, get a refund, place a new order, and receive the equipment.
Bernhard Benke said 1017 days ago:
I hope for new powerbooks too. And I hope they are black again. I loved my G3 Pismo but there is an issue with the graphics card and it’s more or less useless to me. I also liked the shiny upside down apple – That was the satanic appeal.Robin Wright said 1017 days ago:
Last month I bought a new PB 12”. First I wanted a 15”, but the more I think about it, the more drawn me to the 12”.The 15” is quite a nice design, but I rather have a smaller size laptop. (easy to carry)
Also the prize scared me off…
I don’t know what Apple is going to release tonight, but I can’t imagine they going to release a new design, because next year they going to start releasing Intel based systems…
But anyway, we will see…
Jaakko Knuutila said 1017 days ago:
My trustworthy 15” broke down a couple of weeks ago (hard drive went bananas) and instead of getting it fixed I had to order a new one due to some very tight deadlines (laptop being my one and only computer). Well the new 1,67 arrived about a week ago and I have to say I’ve never been more pleased, not even. I wish I could have waited for a while and get a brand new model of Powerbook… Hopefully tonight brings some exciting new models, but I’m waiting for the new Mactel laptop, whatever its name will be.Small Paul said 1017 days ago:
2 weeks for a replacement is pretty lame.Drew McLellan said 1017 days ago:
My 15incher is now 21 months old, although to me it still feels new and sprightly. I’m hoping that by this time next year the Intel Powerbooks will be onto their second revision. I’d have to think long and hard before buying a brand new model of anything from Apple – the track record isn’t good.We bought a 1st rev Mac Mini, and that’s been a total chuffin disaster. The second rev Mini we have is great. The 1st rev of the 15 inch Aluminium Powerbook had all those problems with white spots on the screen, remember those? Ouch.
Anyway, I’m rambling now.
Siddharth Upadhyay said 1017 days ago:
Well today will be the day we all find out, only God Steve Jobs knows whats to come. For all we know this time Job may even show the elusiveApple Tablet or the PB with an intel pentium MJon Hicks said 1017 days ago:
Drew – the 17” had the white spot problem too! The whole screen had to be replaced.Johannes said 1017 days ago:
Hey, my Powerbook looks quite similar to your second pic ;)Andrew K. said 1017 days ago:
I’d like to make a suggestion, if I may :)When John is finished with the Powerbook (whether it be dead or alive), it would be nice to see it auctioned off at @media (or similar), with the benefactor of the profits to be decided by the three former owners. (eg: charity or non-profit)
I’m betting a laptop with its lineage would probably sell well as a collector’s item in a hall full of web geeks.
Just a thought :)
Ben said 1017 days ago:
Well, as much as there seems to be limited scope for the PowerPC machines getting much faster, you might’ve got a mixed blessing if the PowerBooks get more than the increasingly common ‘50Mhz and a stick o’ RAM’ treatment.Peter Venero said 1017 days ago:
Your images are hillarious – I have the exact Powerbook (Titanium edition), which I’ve now retired for my Power PC as the Powerbook just sits collecting dust. I laughed because the paint is chipping in the exact spot. I think it’s from us resting our hands around that area – and now mine is even giving off some electricity – zap!What do we do with these? I was hoping that since it’s the titanium, it will be a collectors item or something!
Mark Lawler said 1017 days ago:
I’d love a new powerbook, mine is looking very similar to your Jon ;-) Although some circuitry in mine is borked somehow that prevents the battery from charging so effectively it doesn’t work without being plugged into the wall. Dropped it one too many times I guess :-(Hopefully the reports are true regarding a higher resolution display, the only thing keeping my back from getting a new 12” is that I’m so used ot the screen real estate of my trusty old (yet broked) 667mhz 15”.
Lode said 1017 days ago:
Anyone knows wether this event will be streamed? Probably not as it’s an “elite invitation only” event.. but you never know.I’m still happy with my 15” Alu Powerbook I got last may. Only problem is that there’s a nasty thing with my screen, causing the lower third of it to go black (or be distorted) when I move the display. I just need to find a moment to bring it in for servicing, because it is really annoying. Other than that, couldn’t be happier with it.
Mark Lawler said 1017 days ago:
Haha Peter I’m gettign electric shocks from mine aswell I forgot to mention that! Keeps the fingers jumping on the keyboard!Colin Frame said 1017 days ago:
I think I managed to choose just the right time to pick up my PB this time last year, there’s not been too many updates to the line and memory costs dropped as well (I just got another gig of ddr through in the post this morning)I’m trying to resist throwing down cash on a mini or saving for a G5 atm just in case the Intel Macs come out sooner rather than later and are even better than their predecessors!
john Oxton said 1017 days ago:
Oh how my iBook is looking forward to the day the PB gets here! You could fry and egg of this ___r by the time my day is done! :o)M.e. said 1017 days ago:
I’m still holding out for the Intel models. Battery life is probably going to exponentially increase. That’s a huge factor for me. My hand-me-down G3 iBook’s sluggishness is still just acceptable enough for mundane work on the road, but it’s old battery only gives me 60 minutes of power. I’m looking forward to a solid 8 hours of wireless working more than I am 2GHz of processor speed. I’ll probably just settle for a new battery for now.Thomas Stache said 1017 days ago:
I wouldn’t be surprised if todays event is concentrated in the iPod, and that PowerBook upgrades are announced later this week. via [url=http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0510oct12b.html]Think Secret[/url].Thomas Stache said 1017 days ago:
Darn markup!I wouldn’t be surprised if todays event is concentrated in the iPod, and that PowerBook upgrades are announced later this week. via Think Secret .
Dave Simon said 1017 days ago:
Jon, I go with the 15” Powerbook and 20” display as my main machine. Works very well.I’m interested to see what they come up with today. Watch Jobs pull another surprise and announce that the color iPods are now video pods thanks to iTunes 5.1 or something like that.
I can’t afford any new toys, so I hope they don’t announce anything that cool!
Stephen said 1017 days ago:
Im interesting in buying myslef a 17” Powerbook also, but is it really better for design? I’ve heard that if you wan’t to design or edit videos, Mac’s are better. But at the moment my Toshiba Laptop is working fine, im not sure if it is worth getting my hands on a Powerbook.So, my question is, are Mac’s, Powebooks, whatever computer from Apple, really better for designing? If so, how?
eric said 1017 days ago:
I’m holding out for the Intel PowerBooks — maybe the second revision — in the hopes that battery life will rock thanks to a more efficient chip. I’ve had a 15” for the past year and a half, and it’s really solid (aside from a hard drive that died about a year in).Stephen, I’ve been a Mac user for around 3 years now, and I feel (but probably am not) more productive. It seems like the interface and keyboard shortcuts let you speed up workflows more than Windows.
Marco said 1017 days ago:
I got the same thing when I got my aluminium 15’’. I ordered it when they jut released new models. After waiting 3 long months I got a unit with a dead screen…. joyy….Luckily the replacement powerbook served me well for two years. I sold it a while ago in favour of a dual 2.7 tower (which is nice too!)
Jeff Adams said 1017 days ago:
Would you be interested in selling off that worn out 15” pictured above?Knut Karnapp said 1017 days ago:
I´m also about to buy a powerbook, but I think we´ll have to wait until the Intel powered Powerbooks hit the market next summer. Sadly.Damian said 1017 days ago:
Sorry. It’s video iPods:http://playlistmag.com/news/2005/10/12/ipods/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
Oh, and (one more thing) ... an updated iMac:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/10/12/imac/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
Yes, the PowerBooks are beginning to look long in the tooth and under-powered. Apple needs to update them so as to open the gap between them and the iBooks if it’s to continue selling at those prices.
Patrick Haney said 1017 days ago:
You may still want to wait a week or two for a new Powerbook announcement. Though we were all hoping to see one today, Think Secret is predicting an announcement sometime in the near future (perhaps a week). While I wouldn’t rely fully on that information, I do put at least some faith in their predictions.badger said 1017 days ago:
Got a brand new G5 and the optical drive was wonky. Apple even sent a new (reconditioned) one that also didn’t work. Instead of getting em to fix I got a refund and bought a 15inch Powerbook instead. Apart from a dodgy pixel it’s great. I love it!Makes you wonder though if Apples quality control is up to it… what with ipods on watchdog and nanos having a rough ride…
Jon Hicks said 1017 days ago:
Good to know I’m not the only one getting electric shocks from a worn out TiBook!Jeff – not for sale, but thanks for asking. Leigh and I did consider it, but we’re too attached to it.
Russ said 1017 days ago:
Ok i just bought a 15inch new powerbook while i was in austin tx at sxsw 2005, i got the top of the line with the superdirve (compusa austin).Now i found my self lugging around the book on my travels, I found it to be a bit big, so i sparatically bought the 12inch a week ago, i love it but the don side is no pc card slot :(
I would be happy if they made a 12inch with a pc card slot, so in closing i have both new 15 & 12 inch powerbooks and love them, if they release a new powerbook you will probally not be substantial enough to remorse about buying it now.
Steve Hubbard said 1016 days ago:
The following article over at Ars Technica might be of some interest. It seems to confirm no new Intel based Powerbooks until this time next year. Keep waiting – unfortunately…http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051012-5424.html
Chris McElligott said 1016 days ago:
I too was one of the ones waiting eagerly for new Powerbooks, I was planning on buying a 15”. Even if they’re going Intel it doesn’t bother me.Tim Houghton said 1016 days ago:
Another flaking-paint TiBook here. The paint is only peeling off where I put my sweaty palms (same places as Jon’s, evidently). And I also get the electric shocks – to the point where I no longer wear shorts while using this thing on my lap!Tim Houghton said 1016 days ago:
Err that sounded terrible :P I should have said I now wear trousers, instead of shorts…matthew said 1016 days ago:
I prefer the white of the ibook over the ti of the PB. I do like the backlit keyboard feature but they don’t offer that on the 12” PB anyway and since I like my laptops small I went with the 12” ibook over the pb. I couldn’t justify the extra cost for the minimal extra features on the current pb. The new ones may make me regret my choice though.Johan Sundkvist said 1015 days ago:
Jon, check out AppleInsider’s recent article It seems as though you only have to wait until next week. I’m in the market for a 15” PB so I’m highly anticipating this update as well.Alistair Holt said 1015 days ago:
I’m personally holding out for the Intel PowerBooks, still the offerings due out on the 19th look pretty good, especially if they have the high definition displays :)Jon Hicks said 1015 days ago:
My personal feeling on buying any Intel-based Mac is to wait a year or two for any bugs and hardware problems to be ironed out. It feels like a bit if leap for them, and this is one case where I prefer to not be an early adopter.Stefan Söllner said 1014 days ago:
I have to agree with Jon. Using 1st revision of new Apple stuff is like a public Beta Test. I prefer to wait until 2nd revision is available.Boris said 1014 days ago:
You need to dip your toes into the mac rumor mills stream once in a while Mr. Hicks…http://www.macrumors.com/
I’d be surprised if we see any major movement in the PowerBook line. They just can’t seem to make the chips cool enough. :(
/me also waiting for a new PowerBook to replace this frying pan of a 15” alu PB.
Jon Hicks said 1014 days ago:
Eh? Boris, I check the rumour sites about once an hour! The rumours are pointing to a powerbook revision, check out this one in particular. ThinkSecret are saying the same. Mac Rumors also suggests this to be the caseeric said 1014 days ago:
I agree with Jon – it’s probably best to wait for the second revision of such a ridiculously new system (intel chipset, new memory, potentially new screens). If this revision gets most of those bumps, though, it could be a very solid improvement.After a year, I’m realizing that while my Dell (which I’ve had the same length as my PowerBook) initially had longer battery life (4-5 hr), it’s now dropped to around 3 hr max – yet my 15” PB is still going strong at 3.5. I’ve always wanted more endurance with it, but it’s certainly longer-lasting than many alternatives.
nate said 1014 days ago:
My powerbook seams to be getting slower and slower… i don’t want to buy a powermac because I need the portability but the PB G4 just isn’t cutting it anymore. I loved it when I got it and i’ll always use it, but for video editing and that sort of stuff, it’s faster on my iMac G5! Intel chips will be better in the long run, but for now it’s just holding off much needed PB updates and a speed bump won’t even be good enough. I need intel or a G5, haha. I have a PB 15” 1.5ghz 512 RAM w/ iSight and all those extras. Also an iMac G4 and a G5 that I got just a few days before the new one was introduced. heh, figures.Jon said 1014 days ago:
I was suprised to find a new Apple Store in Cheltenham yesterday (part of the Western Group based in Bristol) and the manager told me that they are definately expecting the revisions to be announced on the 19th October.Erwin Heiser said 1012 days ago:
What I would like is a Pismo (still my main laptop) that weighs half of what it does now and with a faster all-round configuration (processor, ram, hd, graphics).The look/design doesn’t have to change at all, neither does the keyboard and for god’s sake keep those ports at the back where they belong :-)
1981 said 1012 days ago:
This may help your decision to buy your new powerbook: http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/Jon Hicks said 1012 days ago:
Yep, I read that too.eric said 1012 days ago:
I actually prefer the ports in the sides as it helps to keep the overall design thinner — and avoids the nasty broken-port-because-you’re-dumb-and-tilted-it-back issues. ;)Jon – if I may – where in Textpattern do I enable textile for comments? Or is it part of a plugin?
Faruk Ates said 1010 days ago:
Well Jon, only a few more hours before we’ll have our answer. :-)I got my 15” PB a month ago and have been loving it ever since, but as of two days ago it’s started to act up. I’m not sure what the cause of it is, but it won’t get out of Sleep mode properly anymore (or at least, not all the time) and it even hung when I did F11 (view desktop) this morning. Very unsettling… I hope it’s not caused by something I installed, because if that’s the case, I have no idea what app exactly is the culprit. :|
Only 7 more hours… or something like that.
@ Nate: you have 512 MB RAM and you’re complaining about the slowness of your Powerbook? Seriously, put an extra GB in there and your complaints will vanish. RAM is immensely important on OS X, especially when you use Safari. :-)
Mathew Patterson said 1010 days ago:
Looks like HD screens and better battery life are the only upgrades this time – tempting though.http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/10/19/liveupdate/index.php
eric said 1010 days ago:
The new PowerBooks also can be custom built with a 100gb 7200rpm drive – finally!Jon Hicks said 1010 days ago:
Thats what I’ve gone for!Bob Cantoni said 1010 days ago:
Better battery life is a great plus. Do you expect, Jon, that the 7200-rpm hard drive will use noticeably more power than the 5400-rpm? Has there been word on that.Joshua Bryant said 1009 days ago:
The 7200 drives only use more power during the idle stage, during the active stage they are the same as the 5400. On top of that, this difference is really small and will amount to about 3 minutes of lost battery life on a typical PowerBook. Here are the specs for Hitachi drives, but others should be similar:Hitachi 5K100 (5400RPM):
Startup (peak, max.) 5.0W
Read (avg.) 2.0W
Write (avg.) 2.0W
Active idle (avg.) 0.85W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.60W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W
Sleep 0.1W
Hitachi 7K100 (7200RPM):
Startup (peak, max.) 5.5W
Read (avg.) 2.0W
Write (avg.) 2.0W
Active idle (avg.) 1.1W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.85W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W
Sleep 0.1W
Sebhelyesfarku said 1009 days ago:
G4 CPUs are obsolete crap. Fortunately Apple has hardware monopoly so still can sell it LOLSmall Paul said 1009 days ago:
The new PowerBooks also seem to be a little bit cheaper, which is nice. I was hoping all these little things would have found their way into the update earlier this year. Hah well: my trusty 15”er is doing me fine after 6 months. I can live with the slow hard drive.David Barrett said 1009 days ago:
Should be getting the new 17” in about a month. Hurrah!Phil Balchin said 1009 days ago:
I ordered a mid range power mac last week, not knowing they were going to update the whole range!well, now Apple have not only updated my order to including the duel core machines, but have matched my machine with the same, or better parts!!!!!!! AT NO EXTRA COST!!! Not wanting to sound too smug, but my new machine is going to be about 100 squid cheaper,than if you build it online in the shop!!! This ladies and gentlyment, is how a PC fan, is becoming a Mac duffer!! in (stucture + seperation of presentation) style!!
A cunningly planned move worthery of grandmaster status, or just blind bloody luck?
who cares.. . . . . . . . .... . . . ... .. !
P.S. Yes, Blind bloody luck, oh, and bye the way, i am chuffed as hell to get my FIRST mac!! bring it on.
P.P.S.
Sorrey John, i know this doesn’t really add much to your disscusion, but it had to be said.
Andrea said 1008 days ago:
I ordered a new 15” shortly after the announcement, and had it delivered to my door 22 hours later. I guess that’s an advantage of living in California… :).The first things I have noticed is that the battery life is significantly longer, and it hasn’t got hot at all yet. The higher resolution is nice, too.
Patrick Johnson said 1008 days ago:
Well this is only for my iCandy viewing unfortanatly, althought very nice, but they are fully out now, the new models are very nice!But as I am broke and too young to afford ANYTHING from apple, I will stick with my gold ol’ PC :P
yo mama said 1007 days ago:
zcvcv asdasd adad test test test wow this is greateric said 1007 days ago:
Andrea – that’s awesome that they’ve beaten the heat & battery problems. Can you do a lookup in System Profiler for the chip model? I wonder if they switched to a new model with the same clock speed and didn’t tell anybody… that would sort of go with the DDR2 memory and new chipset, wouldn’t it?Commenting from Flock! It seems quite nice indeed :D
Faruk AteÅŸ said 1005 days ago:
Phil (#61)—damn, that IS really nice! Pretty much just blatant luck, but that’s some damn great luck you’ve got there! :-)Andrea: excellent! I’ll be renewing my (one-month old) Powerbook to a new model in a little bit. This one’s going to my mom and I’ll be getting the new line, good to hear the battery life is noticeably better (and the heat issue is good, too)
karl sinfield said 1005 days ago:
sorry, couldn’t resist it – there’s so much love on here, it’s hard to bearFaruk AteÅŸ said 1005 days ago:
Aww, what’s the matter Karl, can’t stand when people are happy? ;PJon Hicks said 1005 days ago:
Besides, the new powerbooks are cheaper! I’m saving almost £400 for a higher spec model!Andrea said 1004 days ago:
Eric—A the risk of losing some of my cred, I ‘m going to have to admit that I can’t find the chip model… :(olly said 1004 days ago:
I’m longing for a *Power*book with the oomph of a G5 iMac. The recent updates look great (the screen especially) but can they cut it as your only development machine?Jon, do you use a desktop Mac as well as the Powerbook?
EB said 1001 days ago:
I’ve got one of the older, but not the clamshell style PowerBook. And I’ve sent it in once already for a “cosmetic repair” to fix the chipping. Perhaps you should try that?Adam said 1001 days ago:
Alright everyone, I’m in a quandry here. I’m about to make the switch, after months of thinking about it. My problem: I don’t want to buy a 15’’ Powerbook right now at around $2,000, and then be screwed by having the Intel Mac PBs come out next summer with better processing power and battery life. Should I just wait until next summer? I need some advice from you Apple lifers here…J.D. said 1001 days ago:
Adam – I’d say go ahead and grab one up now, which I plan to do myself. I’m not sure I’d want to buy a first run Intel-based PowerBook. Let the kinks get worked out and then upgrade later. My 2 cents anyway.Alun Rowe said 1001 days ago:
Be glad you have a powerbook! Some scrote slipped into my office earlier in the week and nicked mine.Most of my stuff is still PC based so I haven’t lost out on work but I have lost out on a really nice bit of kit to use. Still I suppose it’s a good excuse to buy a funky new one at some point soon…
Shane said 1000 days ago:
I took a look at some powerbooks today in the Apple Store, Albert Dock, Liverpool.I’ve fallen for the 12” model, but I have to save up a little first.
Zaur said 998 days ago:
does this come with Windows or Macintosh?