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Robster1958 · Sep 16, 2003, 08:44 PM

As way of background, I presently own a 12" iBook, as well as my newest toy, the new little Sony Vaio TR1A. Over the past year, I have owned a TiBook and an IBM Thinkpad. For me, i decided that form factor is key..smaller/lighter the better as long as good battery life. The other key factor I have decided is screen quality.

The new TiBooks (and 15" AlBooks) have great screens, but are slightly large for my liking. The IBM i got had the 1400 x 1050 screen and was slightly smaller/lighter than TiBook but still a little bulky. I have decided that a 12" PB had much better form factor for me...except that it uses the same screen as my iBook.

You see, I have been using the newer generation in my sony vaio. The 10" diag. wide screen format (1280 x 768) has a special finsh giving it a CRT-like brightness and black level. Text is outstandingly readable in small fonts...in fact i can get as much or more usable information on it than my 12" iBook. The actual width of the screen is about the same as 12" PB at 9". So movies are actually the same size despite the much smaller footprint.

Why wouldn't Apple improve the screen on the 12" PB ?? I am very disappointed...i guess i keep my iBook. Does anyone else feel the same?

NYCFarmboy · Sep 16, 2003, 08:59 PM

I agree, I was hoping on a different type of small powerbook. Something with a wider aspect ratio on the screen size, along with increased brightness/contrast.

Rather the 12" powerbook is a poor stepchild relegated to the bottom of the heap of the powerbook line with the least ram, least mhz, least hard drive.

Its basically just a aluminized ibook.

I do like them, don't get me wrong. If I didn't have a white icebook 500 mhz that I have upgraded with a 40 gig hard drive, I would leap at one in a heartbeat.

But like the originator of this thread, I have a 500 mhz ibook, and just don't feel the need to upgrade. After all the screens in our white ibooks are identical to the 12" powerbooks.

I have a 1.42 dual which is my main machine so I can wait. But it sure would be nice to have a REALLY ultra cool small powerbook.

My brother has a 877 mhz powerbook, and quiet honestly it really feels similar to the ibook..yes it is faster, but not earthshattering faster. Also it gets SO HOT when you burn DVD's. And its so sloooooooow. You'll get gray hairs while burning a DVD on it.

But.. my white ibook can't burn a DVD at all..so oh well.

LeeG · Sep 16, 2003, 09:26 PM

Well I just ordered a new 12" - and yeah I hear where you're comin' from, but I still think all in all its a sweet machine, and judging by consumer response, has filled a niche. I anticipate it will benefit most from smaller die size chips, and there will be a revolutionary (contrasted with today's evolutionary) change in the future - slimmer, widescreen, (maybe lighted keyboard), etc etc. I believe it was made by the iBook team, so yeah its the Powerbook ugly stepsister, but it will come into its own, for now, it's still pretty sweet

Overall it seems they packed quite a bit into a small package - here's hoping the heat is improved...

Lee

MSME · Sep 16, 2003, 09:29 PM

Yeah. A new screen on the 12" would have been the final factor for me to place an order today. I haven't totally decided against it, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to upgrade from my iBook just yet. I guess I'm in the same boat as you, Rob.

I checked out that Vaio again this weekend -- that screen really does look great. I hope Apple adopts something like that soon.

todrain · Sep 16, 2003, 09:42 PM

Many pro users went for the 12" Dual USB iBook when it came out just for the size.

While I think my TI is great, that 500mhz iBook was a joy to travel with.

If only Apple would offer top of the line options for the 12" I don't understand why they think that the 17" should have the best of the best and limit every other model. I'll bet there are a lot of people that would pay $2500 for a 1.33ghz 12" with lots of RAM and HB space.