[mattyd]

so, we all know currently has a 12" screen standard 4:3 aspect ratio.

i really wish that instead it came with a 13" widescreen. i think that would really help to differentaite the little powerbook from the iBook (and would provide consistency accross the line).

do 13" 16:9 lcd displays even exist?

[n_lim]

I agree, that would be very cool and more uniform for the PB line. However, I don't think that a wide screen exists in that size and it wouldn't be cost effective for Apple to have a special made screen for what is most likely their low profit model. Some PC subnotebooks have small widescreens, but I am not sure if there are any in the 13" range.

This ultraportable from Fujitsu has both an internal drive and a widescreen, albeit a 10.6". I was seriously considering this pc laptop, if not for the crusoe processor and the lack of a dvd-r drive, but I would definitely say that THIS is the smallest full-featured notebook.

[elmer]

Just curious, what's your beef with the Crusoe?

[icruise]

There's nothing wrong with the Crusoe in its place, but there is no comparison between it and a G4, and I think comparing the Powerbook to the Fujitsu is probably not fair (I have an older version of the Fujitsu and the new powerbook, so I know of where I speak). The Crusoe is a good processor in that it doesn't take as much power as most other processors (although the Centrino notebooks may be changing this) but because it runs intel-based software using a sort of emulation layer, it is a bit sluggish, especially when launching programs.

As for the topic of this thread, I'm not sure that a 13" widescreen screen would be a good idea. Although I'm not sure I agree, many people already seem to think that the screen is on the DPI side for its size. Making it a 13" widescreen would make the DPI even higher, I believe. And of course it would make the notebook itself wider.

[n_lim]

AS Icruise already stated, the Crusoe is phenomenal for what it was designed to do, but it is no G4 or a viable alternative to a 12" PB. I was looking for a compact notebook that didn't sacrifice things like HD size, internal drives, processor and video card. The 12" is one of the few examples of a notebook that does all of this on a compact scale, the Fuijitsu s-series also seems to have a similar design goal. However, the ultraportable that I posted before made too many compromises for me to consider it over a 12" PB.

The PC laptop market is big enough to sustain all of these different niche marketing strategies, but personally I have always wanted a no-compromise laptop with screen size being the only variable that I was willing to give up on (but not resolution!). The 12" is exactly what I have wanted for awhile, but (getting back on thread) a 16:10 aspect screen would make it sweeter, if only for the uniqueness of it.