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holsteinson · 09:14 AM

Apple has sat on its PB hardware way too long! No SATA HD, very slow Superdrive speed (specially DVD burning), No G5 processor available, ultra slow MPCB bus speed, airport extreme 11g speed and range are very poor compared to 11n speed and range, RAM speed is way slow, Video card memory and chipset are 2 years behind, and the list goes on and on!! Really depressing to see that the WINTEL laptops are leaving us in the dust!

Come on APPLE !! we are supposed to have the best and latest hardware in the block!! get your act together asap and INNOVATE AGAIN!

kmarketing · Apr 25, 2005, 09:13 AM

I'm not too much of a techie so I'm not sure of some of the details that you mentioned. But i do know that the powerbooks have been pretty much the same for quite some time now. That's one of the major reasons, I downgraded to my 2000-2001 pismo.

Bring the new powerbooks on!!

urrl78 · 09:44 AM

Sad but true; I have purchase what I initially considered a toy PC laptop to fool around with on the internet, just a little 10.6" widescreen Vaio T250 with 1.2 Ghz Centrino and 64 MB shared memory because Apple has no offerings at 12" and under with PCMCIA slots. I was surprised after finding this "toy" with its shared memory can capture digital video, edit and burn DVD's, even play the Halo demo at very decent framerates at 1024x600 (for its widescreen). Just yesterday I found this free trial software called Alchohol 120 that can rip games from the CD to your hard drive and it actually works great. But um...yeah, bummer about the Mac hardware.

Voch · Apr 25, 2005, 09:50 AM

I chose "lagging a little", not that I'm going to buy a PC notebook. Watch for this thread to become a nice flamewar shortly...

Voch

osxisfun · Apr 25, 2005, 11:21 AM

Come On Apple! Force IBM to break the laws of physics so they can release a low power G5 today!!!

All these pc laptops that have all the things mentioned above run OSX SO MUCH Faster than our power books!!!

Come on apple innovate!

iREZ · Apr 25, 2005, 11:34 AM

just playin a little devils advocate here...but what do the current line of powerbooks lack that you need? other than gaming...i don't see a real "slow" characteristic, correct me if i'm wrong though.

gururafiki · Apr 25, 2005, 11:38 AM

Yea, they are laggin' a little, but the demand for much more power is not that strong...yet. Now, if nothing is done by 2006, then we should revisit this poll...

threestain · 11:52 AM

My TiBook is now 25 months old, and its only a little behind the times. Comforting in one way, slightly saddening in another. Not sure which is more important...

Commodus · Apr 25, 2005, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by holsteinson

Apple has sat on its PB hardware way too long! No SATA HD, very slow Superdrive speed (specially DVD burning), No G5 processor available, ultra slow MPCB bus speed, airport extreme 11g speed and range are very poor compared to 11n speed and range, RAM speed is way slow, Video card memory and chipset are 2 years behind, and the list goes on and on!! Really depressing to see that the WINTEL laptops are leaving us in the dust!

Come on APPLE !! we are supposed to have the best and latest hardware in the block!! get your act together asap and INNOVATE AGAIN!

Why this argument doesn't hold water:

1. SATA does not improve performance by itself.

2. G5 portable availability is not likely Apple's fault. Talk to IBM (or Freescale).

3. 802.11n won't be official for a year.

4. The only GPU that needs replacing is the FX 5200 Go in the 12". Most replacements for the Mobility Radeon 9700 run too hot or else work on PCI Express only.

songoku912 · Apr 25, 2005, 12:54 PM

Definitely lagging a little, but still competitive.

teknopimp · Apr 25, 2005, 01:09 PM

lagging. imo they should be competitive (equal) with wintel/amd laptops: the latest hardware (hard drives, graphics cards, etc etc) and highest speed possible. i know the technology is there, apple may just be timid in marketing a $4000 laptop again. they can only ride their innovation so far and will never get over the 5% market share hump they've been in for the last 6 years or so if they don't release competitive machines.

Randman · Apr 25, 2005, 01:38 PM

Troll.

SpaceMonkey · Apr 25, 2005, 01:54 PM

I find it hilarious that we have a thread complaining about Powerbook performance "lagging behind" the Windows world, while at the same time we have two threads on the same page in which Pismo owners proudly show off how long they've been able to make their computers usable.

Apple plz fix or do somefink!

holsteinson · Apr 25, 2005, 02:08 PM

I do professional GIS mapping surveying in my PB G4 1.67GHZ 17" with 2gb ram and a friend with brand Toshiba laptop 2.5ghz runs circle around my processing times.....

I would really like to see a real speed boots of at least 30% both in processor,RAM and bus speeds and an internal SATA HD wit 16mb buffer along with a very fast 3D 128mb VRAM card

I love my PB but regretfully it is a slow turkey speed wise they need attention from urgently from APPLE ( a G5 would help)

Originally Posted by iREZ

just playin a little devils advocate here...but what do the current line of powerbooks lack that you need? other than gaming...i don't see a real "slow" characteristic, correct me if i'm wrong though.

Randman · Apr 25, 2005, 02:15 PM

You're a troll and you must be doing something wrong with your system for it to be slow.

Every thread you've posted has bashed Apple.

A G5 is a physical limitation. Size, heat, battery. Don't you get it??

You'd like to see a 30% boost? Who wouldn't? You troll but don't add anything new. Just vague gripes and mindless wishlists and silly comments.

You'll be gone soon enough. Get your jollies and move on. Until then, the ignore list for you trollster.

holsteinson · Apr 25, 2005, 02:17 PM

It may not hold water but there is no way denying we are lagging hardware wise...

Originally Posted by Commodus

Why this argument doesn't hold water:

1. SATA does not improve performance by itself. a faster HD with higher tranfer rate doesnt improve performance? I replaced my Toshiba IDE HD 4,200rpm with 2mb buffer with Hitachi 7,200rpm and 8mb buffer and I measured 27% speed increase in HD intensive applications (such as photoshop!)

2. G5 portable availability is not likely Apple's fault. Talk to IBM (or Freescale). Apple is the computer manufacturer that I buy from not IBM

3. 802.11n won't be official for a year. I am already using it with an Ehternet bridge and router and it is miles better than 11g APPLE Is the risk take and innovator so why doesnt early adoption of this standard ?

4. The only GPU that needs replacing is the FX 5200 Go in the 12". Most replacements for the Mobility Radeon 9700 run too hot or else work on PCI Express only.

Exactly my point this inability to innovate new high performance products and components for our PB??

Stradlater · Apr 25, 2005, 02:18 PM

8x DVD-burning is "very slow"?

holsteinson · Apr 25, 2005, 02:27 PM

Sorry to offend your sensitivity, I thought free speech was the motto in America I believe Apple could be doing a lot better if they would get unbias feedback from us mac users.... if this constructive thread bothers you just read another thread nobody is forcing to rear it or respond to it.... you wont solve this lagging by trying to get personal instead of addressing the problem!

The sad part is that you do not contribute a single comment or idea to improve the debate, so the question is who is the Troll then?

Originally Posted by Randman

You're a troll and you must be doing something wrong with your system for it to be slow.

Every thread you've posted has bashed Apple.

A G5 is a physical limitation. Size, heat, battery. Don't you get it??

You'd like to see a 30% boost? Who wouldn't? You troll but don't add anything new. Just vague gripes and mindless wishlists and silly comments.

You'll be gone soon enough. Get your jollies and move on. Until then, the ignore list for you trollster.

teknopimp · Apr 25, 2005, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by Randman

Troll.

great. why i keep getting sucked into these things i'll never know...

osxisfun · Apr 25, 2005, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by holsteinson

Sorry to offend your sensitivity, I thought free speech was the motto in America I believe Apple could be doing a lot better if they would get unbias feedback from us mac users.... if this constructive thread bothers you just read another thread nobody is forcing to rear it or respond to it.... you wont solve this lagging by trying to get personal instead of addressing the problem!

The sad part is that you do not contribute a single comment or idea to improve the debate, so the question is who is the Troll then?

anyone that has an idea of how ibm can make a pb g5 chip please send your idea to [email protected]

seriously, what do people expect apple to do if the damn chip is not ready yet...

if you think other stuff should be added to the pbs that are in pc laptops fine, but how in the world does complaining about a lack of a g5 chip in the pbs help things?

I am pretty sure apple wants it just as much as we do.

So now i have to ask, how fast does OSX run on a pc laptop?

speed or specs are not everything. its the whole picture. and OSX is a BIG part of that picture.

SassyPants · Apr 25, 2005, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by osxisfun

if you think other stuff should be added to the pbs that are in pc laptops fine, but how in the world does complaining about a lack of a g5 chip in the pbs help things?

Very good point. I'll make my suggestion here :-P

Swappable modular bay items. Most pc laptops have the ability to swap items out of their modular bay, like their optical drive for an extra battery to give them even more battery life. Right now, battery life for the Powerbooks could be better IMO. If we sacrifice the slot-loading superdrive for a regular drive that could be swapped out, i think we'd make a lot of happy people. We'd have the option of getting a better battery, among other things, like additoinal hard drives. What's not to like?

Also, what about a trackpoint? All the IBM's have trackpoint sticks, in addition to the touchpads, and imo they're much better than touchpads.

Dunno, just my 2 cents i guess.

trip · Apr 25, 2005, 04:40 PM

Let me start with I love Apple and have no intentions on switching back, but my like for the Mac is due to OS and feel. NOT Hardware.

1. Apple is clearly falling behind in hardware capabilities. I can buy a PC for half the price with double the hardware features.

2. It is Apples' problem if they have cornered themselves into technical problems whether IBM does or doesn't make chips. This is Apples business, no excuses here and Stevie knows it. You don't get an 'A' for effort. It's the ability to execute and execute well.

3. There's no reason why Apple could not increase the bus, harddrive, video card, default ram ect. ect., but they don't because they get us to pay for the OS and the hardware style/fashion (which is a pretty big investment on their part).

I love Apple, but I'm not delusional. They are behind and hardware quality has been going downhill.

Did I mention I love Apple ?

iREZ · Apr 25, 2005, 04:46 PM

i want you to post a pc notebook that's half the price and double the hardware right now.

osxisfun · Apr 25, 2005, 04:49 PM

and it needs to run an OS that is as elegant and productive, non virus ridden, non spyware hosting as OS X.

mhuie · Apr 25, 2005, 05:00 PM

It's not all about packing as much tech stuff in a laptop as you can.

You'd be hard pressed to find a 15" or 17" notebook that is the same form factor as the Powerbooks. You want modularity? You add size. There is always a tradeoff with features/heat/battery life. If your friends 2.4ghz runs circles about your PB its probably because it has a desktop P4 in it which eats battery and generates lots of heat.

I can't believe the OP is complaining about RAM speed. Trolling at it's best.

madmacgames · Apr 25, 2005, 05:05 PM

The funny thing is, here I am about 2 years since I bought my 12" 1Ghz powerbook, and the machine still runs like new, and still looks like new. That is far more than I can say for any PC I have every had.

So while your friends brand new top of the line PC may "run circles" around your powerbook, check back in 6 months to a year to see how well his PC is fairing... I would be willing to bet it will have slagged off quite a bit, if he even still has it or if it is even still running.

Granted, a majority of this may well be due to the operating system, but you cannot really separate the two. You have to talk about the machine as a whole.

Also Apple seems to put machines together with components that work well together and generally last. That is more than I can say for your typical PC manufacturer, who generally will slap a machine together with the cheapest parts they can find, and very little concern over how well they will work together or how long they will last.

trip · Apr 25, 2005, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by iREZ

i want you to post a pc notebook that's half the price and double the hardware right now.

Ok that might be overkill, but

This laptop is 64 bit (I know they don't have the OS, but we are evaluting hardware feature costs)

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...5753&langid=EN

$1,399 CDN (farily sure this includes 7200 RPM)

For a 15 inch pB I'm looking at $2699-2899 CDN

YES they are not on apples to apples, but I don't have time to search for a better match right now (since I should be working). It should be a good enough check to show the disparity. And note: the disparity grows alot when looking at desktops.

benwhanlee · Apr 25, 2005, 05:35 PM

some of the things you say are true...but the bottom line is these are products for consumers, which means you hold the ultimate vote in the matter: what you buy. if you think apples have fallen behind, then buy a wintel. if you think wintels aren't for you, buy an apple.

i'm guessing you stick with apple for some reason(s). why not list those so we get a balanced view of your situation? and with technology today, falling behind happens in days or weeks so it's almost impossible to avoid. i'd take a computer with some outdated capabilties that works intuitively over one with all the latest extras that was frustrating to use.

one good thing with powerbooks is resale value. so if you find it too far behind the times, post the sucker on ebay and take advantage of that. then enjoy the irony of using the proceeds on a far 'superior' wintel...

tooki · Apr 25, 2005, 05:39 PM

The original poster is a troll. Ignore.

tooki