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Mallrat · Jan 20, 2005, 05:52 PM

Fellow mac heads-

After salavating over the Mac mini which I keep calling mini Mac, it got me thinking.

How can I justify selling my iMac G4 20inch screen to buy the Mac mini and a 20 inch screen to my girlfriend, just because I think it looks cool? Wait a minute, I did think that, but this is not what the threads about.

It got me thinking:

Is Apple going to go mini when it comes to their portable options?

Something for the writer on the go. Something cool like Sony's small laptops, but maybe with a full sized keyboard.

At the very least, it wwould be cool, i fthey had a cheaper option than the ibook for people that just want to check e-mail, write novels, papers, and of course use iPhoto/itunes. But for people that don't need to edit video on the road or burn a DVD at Starbucks.

I know the ibook at 999 is pretty cheap as far as apple portables go, but I can see them trying to give us one around 799.

Just a thought. The iMac lead to the iBook. Thinking this Mac mini (which i assume will be as well received if not better than the iMac) should lead to more products related to it.

I can see apple having the G4 in the "cheap mac" options while they go on and put G5 in all the top stuff.

I mean the G3 is still doing the job for me as far as a laptop goes, so G4 is more than enough.

thoughts?

thanks.

MARINEOSX · Jan 21, 2005, 04:06 PM

I just hope they make more stuff that I can play with.

drissa · Jan 21, 2005, 06:54 PM

I think 12" is about as small as you can comfortably go. And Apple have pushed the iBook up to a G4 - I can't imagine they'd want to drop it back down in any way.

You can strip away screen/input devices and make something cheap like a mini, but I guess you can't do the same with a portable.

In the UK, the entry level iBook is now �700, which is very competitive.

castle3 · Jan 27, 2005, 05:26 PM

I have to agree... I am a writer/artist/digitalPhotographer....But WHO ISNT THESE DAYS!! A good journal-sized miniBook would be so flippin sweet! I share the same vision as you. Wi-Fi, iphoto, itunes, sarfari, and i chat...im not worried about watching a movie...or editing one for that matter. I just wanna have something I can throw in a bag and go. that way I can travel around and upload photos and browse the sites, email friends, and write my brains away...that would be the perfect artists tool...plus...I would actually start using ical for a change...to keep up with my life....sheesh... Here are my specs for my Fantasy minibook:

$499
1.2 G4 ghz
256 mb RAM
30 Gb drive
8.5 INCH TFT Screen
2 USB 2.0
1 Firewire port
Head phone jack ( for listening to itunes)
DVD ROM
Air port Extreme Built in
Thats it.

As you can see its a very simple set up ...no need for ethernet port b/c its wireless. also, theres no need for a phone jack. The cost of making this wouldnt be as high b/c many of the features (or ports) on our ibook we dont use any way. This is for REAL on the go people...People that frequent the wi-fi shops and use it to take notes and write screen plays. People that travel religiously with their digital camera and want to upload photos to their Blog. and of course you gotta have firewire for the possibility of backing up your precious art to an external drive....MAC Marketing...You need to pick up on this! The DVD rom??? hmmm That ones still a thinker but Im sure that Data cds will soon be on DVDs...I dont know..
You guys have any other suggestion for this 'miniBook' ??

amazing · Jan 28, 2005, 09:06 AM

Look at it from Apple's point of view: How many of those do you think they'd sell?

I've owned the PB 100 and the Duo, where the 100 had an external floppy (everything was floppy in those prehistoric times) and the duo had an external optical or floppy drive, along with a variety of mini-docks and duo-docks.. Everybody loved how lightweight and portable they were, but loading software and doing stuff was a royal pain. If you went somewhere, you had to take all the accessories, in case the OS died. Becoming an equipment manager, trying to remember all the various necessities, just didn't work.

So, Apple's already tried it, and it didn't work too well as a business model.

Your description sounds just like an iBook, except for the screen size. Just too bad that Apple can't make 'em that cheap, hmm?

ww2junkie42 · Feb 6, 2005, 12:48 AM

Originally posted by castle3:
I have to agree... I am a writer/artist/digitalPhotographer....But WHO ISNT THESE DAYS!! A good journal-sized miniBook would be so flippin sweet! I share the same vision as you. Wi-Fi, iphoto, itunes, sarfari, and i chat...im not worried about watching a movie...or editing one for that matter. I just wanna have something I can throw in a bag and go. that way I can travel around and upload photos and browse the sites, email friends, and write my brains away...that would be the perfect artists tool...plus...I would actually start using ical for a change...to keep up with my life....sheesh... Here are my specs for my Fantasy minibook:

$499
1.2 G4 ghz
256 mb RAM
30 Gb drive
8.5 INCH TFT Screen
2 USB 2.0
1 Firewire port
Head phone jack ( for listening to itunes)
DVD ROM
Air port Extreme Built in
Thats it.

As you can see its a very simple set up ...no need for ethernet port b/c its wireless. also, theres no need for a phone jack. The cost of making this wouldnt be as high b/c many of the features (or ports) on our ibook we dont use any way. This is for REAL on the go people...People that frequent the wi-fi shops and use it to take notes and write screen plays. People that travel religiously with their digital camera and want to upload photos to their Blog. and of course you gotta have firewire for the possibility of backing up your precious art to an external drive....MAC Marketing...You need to pick up on this! The DVD rom??? hmmm That ones still a thinker but Im sure that Data cds will soon be on DVDs...I dont know..
You guys have any other suggestion for this 'miniBook' ??

When you have only an 8.5" screen the price would go up. There is less room to fit everything into the computer, and smaller parts are much more expensive. I don't think there is any way they could make it for $500.

superpabs · Feb 9, 2005, 01:08 PM

I would even say it would be extremely successful if apple chose to price it against the likes of an IBM x30 or sony (not sure of model #...the one with the 10 inch screen). These models hover around $2000 and are extremely good sellers. You'd be surprised how much frequent travelers will sacrafice in the name of a 3 pound laptop. If apple did introduce something like this, it would almost definitely be under the powerbook line rather than i or mini. Apple has long been a company that has offered consumers "less" (in terms of pure hardware capability) for the money, and that strategy is really starting to pay off. It would seem that a sub-4 pound notebook targeted at execs/techies with desktops/affluent trend conscious students would be a serious success. Perhaps by the time the powerbook goes g5 apple will have the higher clocked g4s running cool enough for such a machine. God knows something that small with apple styling and emphasis on functionality would be a serious success assuming they had fabrication/development costs at a minimum - something that shouldn't be too difficult considering the timeframe apple engineers have had to toy with the g4 at this point. Just my two cents..
-Ben

castle3 · Jul 26, 2005, 09:34 AM

Well maybe they can sell it for $899. who knows. its a great idea for apple though....in my opinion of course

dcwasabi · Jul 26, 2005, 12:52 PM

Sounds like you're wishing for something more like a palm pilot than a laptop. Keep your eye on the Internet portable market... and I hope Apple does, too. I'd like to see something land right between the Blackberry and small laptop range.

cavepainter · Jul 26, 2005, 02:46 PM

I agree with CASTLE3's specs adding that it would be a tablet styled touchscreen device.
priced twixt mini and iBook - say US$750-$899.

named "iPAD"!

irockdabari · Jul 26, 2005, 02:59 PM

Damnit, they need to make a friggin WideScreen iBook. Now THAT is something I would actually Like!

castle3 · Jul 26, 2005, 03:41 PM

yeah a widescreen would be great. That would definitely give my eyes a rest when Im editing on the go.

irockdabari · Jul 26, 2005, 07:05 PM

AAAAAAANd it would be SOOO freakin FRESH if they had WideScreen iBooks. I woulda lost it if they had made them WideScreen. I would have.. had to buy one. I think the widescreen makes it more fun, in my opinion. If they put the ports on the back like the TiBook it would have been perfect