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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > 3 things I'd like to see in apple's next revision of powerbooks

3 things I'd like to see in apple's next revision of powerbooks
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Dec 11, 2004, 11:04 PM
 
Ok, here we go, G5 or not, there's 3 things I'd really love to see in apple's next revision of the powerbook:

1. Better screens
2. Radeon 9800 Mobile
3. the newer seagate 7200.1 momentus drives available in 80/100gb (they WERE announced).

It'd be nice to see those 3 things especially, even if only as options, wouldn't ya say?
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wuzup101
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Dec 11, 2004, 11:08 PM
 
Those would be my big three also. I'd love to have a large fast hard drive (mine is already 80 so the large part is already partially covered). I'd also love to see a screan like the sony T series (10.6" with very high resolution) on the powerbooks. Higher resolution is definitely necessary in my book

Radeon 9800 w/ 256mb option would be killer... or even something better... is there a mobile version of the X800 yet?
Mac: 15" 1.5ghz PB w/ 128mb vid, 5400rpm 80gb, combo drive, 2gb ram
Peripherals: 20gb 4g iPod, Canon i950, Canon S230 "elph", Canon LIDE30, Logitech MX510, Logitech z5500, M-Audio Sonica Theater, Samsung 191T
PC: AMD "barton" XP @ 2.3ghz, 1gb pc3200, 9800pro 128mb, 120gb WD-SE 120gb
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Link  (op)
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Dec 12, 2004, 12:50 AM
 
The 9800 mobility *IS* based on the X800, they used the 9xxx series name for it because it's AGP instead of PCI-Express.

IMHO It'd be nice to see Powerbook HD (17") -- a *REAL* reason to have a 17", maybe it could go like this:

12" == 1280x1024
15" == 1650x1080
17" == 1920x1200

Yah, that'd be pretty good
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psy111
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Dec 12, 2004, 12:55 AM
 
thatd be cool. exept mine 3 would be 13" widescreen pb, backlite keys on the 12/13", and also, like you, more hd capacity (I mean ive seen 120gb hds on other laptops.)
     
TailsToo
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Dec 12, 2004, 01:04 AM
 
Originally posted by Link:
The 9800 mobility *IS* based on the X800, they used the 9xxx series name for it because it's AGP instead of PCI-Express.

IMHO It'd be nice to see Powerbook HD (17") -- a *REAL* reason to have a 17", maybe it could go like this:

12" == 1280x1024
15" == 1650x1080
17" == 1920x1200

Yah, that'd be pretty good


If they did nothing but increase the screen res of the 15", I'd buy it in a second!
     
lunaticbunny
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Dec 12, 2004, 01:13 AM
 
1. Optical Out for Audio
(1.5) 5.1/6.1/7.1 Audio
2. 4hrs+ Battery Life with Airport/Bluetooth on, half screen brightness and medium use
3. Faster & Bigger HD's
17" PowerBook 1.33GHz
1GB Ram
     
jstein
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Dec 13, 2004, 02:59 AM
 
Originally posted by lunaticbunny:
1. Optical Out for Audio
(1.5) 5.1/6.1/7.1 Audio
2. 4hrs+ Battery Life with Airport/Bluetooth on, half screen brightness and medium use
3. Faster & Bigger HD's
I second that, along with the screen res that link spoke of. But battery life must improve drastically........
     
wilsonng
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Dec 13, 2004, 03:24 AM
 
Well, two things that I'd love to see are:

1. Better screens - the 12.1" is the only PB that is not widscreen. Make it a 13.3" so that you can differentiate it from the iBook 12.1".

2. Expansion Bays - I loved my old PowerBook G3 Lombard with its expansion bays. I can take out the optical drive and slip in an expansion bay hard drive, Zip drive, or another battery! I don't have to carry a loose battery in my bag and I can charge both when both batteries are placed in the PB! I'm sure innovators can also put other devices in there like digital audio I/O or even WiFi. No need to use PCMCIA anymore! Heck, it might start a new industry of PB add-ons kinda like how the iPod spurred on its own iPod add-on industry. You can also put in one of those dummy expansion bay holders to lighten the weight of the PB even further...


*sigh* keep dreaming.....
     
sworthy
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Dec 13, 2004, 03:48 AM
 
price drop anyone? The 12" is overpriced IMHO
     
lunaticbunny
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Dec 13, 2004, 06:39 PM
 
Originally posted by lunaticbunny:
1. Optical Out for Audio
(1.5) 5.1/6.1/7.1 Audio
2. 4hrs+ Battery Life with Airport/Bluetooth on, half screen brightness and medium use
3. Faster & Bigger HD's
Forgot the most important one: G5 Rev.B
17" PowerBook 1.33GHz
1GB Ram
     
MrForgetable
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Dec 13, 2004, 07:37 PM
 
Originally posted by Link:
The 9800 mobility *IS* based on the X800, they used the 9xxx series name for it because it's AGP instead of PCI-Express.

IMHO It'd be nice to see Powerbook HD (17") -- a *REAL* reason to have a 17", maybe it could go like this:

12" == 1280x1024
15" == 1650x1080
17" == 1920x1200

Yah, that'd be pretty good
somehow, i doubt that they would up the 12 inch by 260 horizontal pixels, the 15 inch by 370 pixels, and the 17 inch by 480 pixels. but yeah, it'd be nice.
iamwhor3hay
     
Skip Breakfast
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Dec 14, 2004, 02:56 PM
 
1) Numerical keypad on the 17"
2) Built-in camera (like you see on Sony laps)
3) removable optical drive bay
PowerMac G4 Gigabit 1.2GHz, 896MB, 2x 80GB WD SE, Pioneer 107, Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB

Macintosh TV
     
tooki
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Dec 14, 2004, 06:30 PM
 
Originally posted by psy111:
more hd capacity (I mean ive seen 120gb hds on other laptops.)
You haven't seen any laptop with a 120GB hard drive. I know this because as of right now, no 120GB laptop drives exist. Not a single manufacturer makes them (I just checked). What you saw was one of those behemoth PC laptops that has two hard drives. In that case, two 60GB units for a total storage capacity of 120GB.

Considering how tightly stuff is packed into Apple's laptops right now, I don't see twin hard drives happening, except maaaaaybe in the 17". There just isn't enough space.

tooki
     
Phossil
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Dec 14, 2004, 06:39 PM
 
1. Carbon Fiber Case
2. XBrite style screen enhancement (lets you see in sunlight)
3. 100GB+ 7200RPM HDs
4. Optical Out (Audio and Video)
5. G5 - 1.8 - 2.0 Ghz
6. Improved Battery Life
7. Radeon 9800 Mobility w/ 128-256 MB vram
8. Faster FSB (200+ Mhz)
9. Ability to play DVDs without booting to OS X
10. 15" version weighs 3-5 lbs
11. Two Mouse Buttons
12. Scroll Button for mouse

Thats all I can think of right now - I'm not expecting to see all of this, but a guy can dream can't he?
( Last edited by Phossil; Dec 14, 2004 at 08:39 PM. )
     
tooki
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Dec 14, 2004, 07:53 PM
 
Originally posted by Phossil:
4. Optical Out (Audio and Video)
Err... there's no such thing as optical out for video. The current standard for optical or coaxial digital audio only can handle either compressed audio or up to 24bit/96KHz stereo. More channels and/or higher bitrates can't even be transmitted, much less video.

(Yes, it would be eminently possible to do video over optical, but it hasn't been done.)

tooki
     
wuzup101
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Dec 14, 2004, 07:55 PM
 
Originally posted by MrForgetable:
somehow, i doubt that they would up the 12 inch by 260 horizontal pixels, the 15 inch by 370 pixels, and the 17 inch by 480 pixels. but yeah, it'd be nice.
Why not... screans this size exist on the market today. If apple wants to compete and perhaps take some market share it would be in their benifit to compete with even the likes of dell who offer better looking screans with very high resolutions.
Mac: 15" 1.5ghz PB w/ 128mb vid, 5400rpm 80gb, combo drive, 2gb ram
Peripherals: 20gb 4g iPod, Canon i950, Canon S230 "elph", Canon LIDE30, Logitech MX510, Logitech z5500, M-Audio Sonica Theater, Samsung 191T
PC: AMD "barton" XP @ 2.3ghz, 1gb pc3200, 9800pro 128mb, 120gb WD-SE 120gb
Xbox: 1.6, modded with X3 xecuter, slayers evoX 2.6, WDSE 120gb HDD
     
lunaticbunny
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Dec 14, 2004, 08:23 PM
 
1. Better speakers (current ones sound really hollow)
2. When buying PB, option to choose different screen resolutions (1600 and higher would cause my eyes to melt out of their sockets)
3. Either 2 button track pad or built in Sidetrack feature
17" PowerBook 1.33GHz
1GB Ram
     
Mike Pither
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Dec 15, 2004, 06:26 PM
 
I think that the current PB screen resolutions are about right. We had some high resolution compaq portables in our office a while back and everyone hated them. I suppose it depends how old you are and what your eyesight is like
iMac DVSE 400 640mb + AL PB 15" with 1 gig + iMac 2,8 with 4gb + MacBook Pro 2,53 with 4gb
     
f1000
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Dec 15, 2004, 06:35 PM
 
1. SD/MMC card slot. I'd love to have a PowerBook, camera, cell phone, PDA, and iPod that all used this same format. Get rid of the modem and one of the USB slots and make this happen, Apple!
2. Thinner case.
     
Hairllama
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Dec 16, 2004, 02:24 PM
 
I'd like to see the PBs go back to a non-metal case. IMHO plastic is more durable than metal for a portable. I'd love to see a "Widescreen Pismo" style PB with all the latest go fast goodies + I want a user upgradeable HD.
Powerbook G4 15" 1.67GHz, 128MB VRAM, 100GB HD, 1.5GB, SD
Powerbook G4 12" 1.5GHz, 80GB HD, 512MB, SD
G4 500 Pismo 40GB HD 512MB RAM, Combo Drive
     
iREZ
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Dec 16, 2004, 03:29 PM
 
I love it but for the 12" I'd like to see:
-switch to a 13" widescreen (still plenty portable and the could keep res. at the same but have more horizontally to pipe down all the people who claim they need more)
-FW 800 or maybe two RAM slots
-New GPU, I wouldn't mind the current 9700 on it but would love the 9800

(maybe placing the HD under the keyboard instead of handrest so that nobody would notice as much of the heat that most users coplain about)
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
Voch
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Dec 16, 2004, 05:02 PM
 
Gigabit ethernet on the 12" PowerBook (and iBook too)...it's handy for big file transfers between my Gigabit-equipped PC. I'm considering the ultra-portable 12" form factor for my next purchase but not having Gigabit is a minus for me.

Other than that, the usual speed bumps ("dual core" G4 with better video sounds like a winner). I need something compelling to upgrade from my trusty TiBook, though...
     
fisherKing
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Dec 17, 2004, 12:42 AM
 
12"...
a little thinner, lighter
less heat.
backlit keys!
better screen..!
larger, faster hd
2 firewire ports

and of, course speed speed speed
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
MilkmanDan
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Dec 17, 2004, 01:53 AM
 
Frickin Laser beams on the laptop for killing secret agents. Just as probabal as a lot of these ideas.
     
wilsonng
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Dec 17, 2004, 02:52 AM
 
Yes, I loved my old G3 Lombard. It was tough and didn't ding easily like my TiBook 400.

However, it does not conduct heat very well and may cause the fans to turn on a lot more than the current models.

The metal PBs acts like a heat sink and draws heat to the outside. The plastic cases wouldn't be very good at it.

Maybe carbon fiber will be more durable? I dunno.

I remembered the marketing campaigns which said Titanium was used in the space shuttle and anodized aluminum is made for storm shutters. I was still disappointed when my TiBook was bent out of shape after a short drop. My Lombard was one tough cookie.


Originally posted by Hairllama:
I'd like to see the PBs go back to a non-metal case. IMHO plastic is more durable than metal for a portable. I'd love to see a "Widescreen Pismo" style PB with all the latest go fast goodies + I want a user upgradeable HD.
     
   
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