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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > New Powerbook: Will Apple "Silver" Trend Continue?

New Powerbook: Will Apple "Silver" Trend Continue?
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templetalker
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May 1, 2005, 04:45 AM
 
I was just thinking about how I can't wait for the new powerbook to come out, like duh, who isn't? Then I realized how much I would dislike Apple's choice to pop out another "Silver" powerbook. Is it just me or is every high budget and low budget tech company painting their TV's and their Computers silver?

Maybe somebody can suggest that Apple will break the mold and go with a new material, a more exciting and suprising one?

PS: This post is painted Neon Green, hopefully not the next Powerbook choice!
     
Randman
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May 1, 2005, 05:07 AM
 
If it's not silver, it'll be black. That would be an interesting choice. I think the iBooks have a better chance of other colors because it seems Apple prefers to keep the PB line professional looking.

Personally, I love the silver color.

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osxisfun
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May 1, 2005, 11:12 AM
 
Originally Posted by Randman
If it's not silver, it'll be black. That would be an interesting choice. I think the iBooks have a better chance of other colors because it seems Apple prefers to keep the PB line professional looking.

Personally, I love the silver color.
agreed and I am not sure if apple wants to go thru another round of paint peeling so i think the material of the PB G5 will dicate the color unless they discover some new chameleon material...
     
nredman
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May 1, 2005, 12:21 PM
 
who really knows what apple will decide to use, personally i'd like to see a dark blue brushed or sanded (whatever you call that) look.

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asodamiac
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May 1, 2005, 12:33 PM
 
you can anodize aluminum to take on many different colors. you can do so much with aluminum when anodizing. if apple wanted too, they could simply have custom orders to get the powerbook anodized a certain color for extra cost. but they probably wouldnt.
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May 1, 2005, 12:36 PM
 
purple!
     
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May 1, 2005, 01:48 PM
 
Copper!

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templetalker  (op)
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May 1, 2005, 03:05 PM
 
Anodized? That sounds fancy. I'm thinking that might look something like the inside of an oyster shell?
     
TailsToo
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May 1, 2005, 03:17 PM
 
Maybe they should make it in translucent colors... oh, wait, this is 2005.
     
wuzup101
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May 1, 2005, 09:23 PM
 
I'd love to see something darker but similar in build. IE a dark metalic color. There was a beautiful color offered by dodge for their vipers a few years back. It was a very dark metalic that reminded you of a cross between silver and black. Beautiful color that would look very classy and professional, and at the same time be quite unique.
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Alezone
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May 1, 2005, 10:19 PM
 
i want carbon fibre or carbon black powerbook. Professional choice.
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May 1, 2005, 11:29 PM
 
How about something radio active, just for a small amount of glow. That would be a great feature. It would totally trump back lit keyboards.
     
SassyPants
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May 1, 2005, 11:34 PM
 
well, considering how easily the Al powerbooks get dented/scratched/bent, i would really like to see soemthing stronger.

Carbon fiber is really nice to work with...a lot of Asus notebooks use them.
     
Abit667
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May 2, 2005, 12:02 AM
 
I think the finish on the al books looks digusting personally. I liked the TiBooks, but the al books I just think looks gross..like even the new ones right out of the box look like there's something on it that is nasty. I hate the feel of it as well, I rather have black or a nice carbon black colored computer made from a nice plastic or metal. As long as it's not like the current ones.
     
asodamiac
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May 2, 2005, 12:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by templetalker
Anodized? That sounds fancy. I'm thinking that might look something like the inside of an oyster shell?
not exactly. when you anodize aluminum, basically what happens is you "electrocute it" under water, which causes the aluminum to oxidize. while youre doing this, you pour in a dye so that it goes into the pores while being oxidized. theres a lot more to preparation and the actual process, but that should give you the jist of it.
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kmarketing
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May 2, 2005, 12:15 AM
 
Hi,

I would love to see widescreen powerbook 13-14 inches with a nice glossy black finish. With the glowing apple, i think that would look absolutely gorgeous.

To make one out of metal is okay, but for me, alway worrying about dents, scratches, warping, etc. really makes me wish it was more durable, even if it is made out of plastic.

Sure it may look somewhat look an ibook, but I've seen ibooks (from the older models) that were painted black from the inside and they looked beautiful. Add to the fact that the wireless range will be better, and cost will probably less, users will have less fear of upgrading themselves, I think it would look great.

No matter what though, I'm thinking that I will probably prefer a different material. To many worries for me with the aluminum.
     
asodamiac
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May 2, 2005, 12:26 AM
 
well aluminum is light and probably helps keep the pb cooler (well it should absorb the heat better.. better on the case then on all of the hardware). the current powerbooks are probably sand blasted then anodized silver. raw aluminum doesnt look this clean. if thats the case you could probably get your aluminum chasis anodized. this will more than likely void your warranty, and im not sure how exact the measurements are (when you anodize, you need to remove the previous anodized layer, which will make the chasis a TINY bit thinner) but you can do it. instead of sand blasting it before anodizing, you can polish it. the thing about a polished finish is that it will pick up finger prints better (even looks dustier too).
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d.fine
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May 2, 2005, 09:16 AM
 
Originally Posted by Alezone
i want carbon fibre or carbon black powerbook. Professional choice.

Nice! I'd like metallic colours.... or a (scratch resistant ofcourse) high gloss finish ...

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iREZ
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May 2, 2005, 12:20 PM
 
doesn't apple use silver in all their pro stuff because it's a neutral color that won't throw you off when working with graphics. make's sense to me...all my design buds have neutral grey wallpapers and 20" silver apple aluminum displays (except for me i got the dell because i'm a poor college student still).
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romeosc
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May 2, 2005, 01:52 PM
 
I wish they would use a powder finish to reduce scratching and prints.
     
PMDaly
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May 2, 2005, 03:45 PM
 
I think anything but silver will just make powerbooks look cartoony. If they're gonna change the color of their laptops, change the iBooks... those are more of a kid laptop anyway.
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Xaero
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May 2, 2005, 05:36 PM
 
Yeah. The silver color of the powerbooks keeps them looking sleek and cool. Anything else would make them less desirable looking

Powerbook 15" coming soon...
     
slffl
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May 2, 2005, 06:45 PM
 
I'm hoping they keep using aluminum. If so then the only way to color it is anodizing it. And from the ipod minis you can see they can do probably almost any color they want. I will take a Black one or Silver like it is now.
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Cheetah223
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May 2, 2005, 08:12 PM
 
I wouldn't buy a powerbook if they went with carbon fiber. The general look of carbon fiber disgusts me. It's so overplayed in the tuner auto industry that it's ventured far from fashionable in my eyes. I love the look of the AlBooks, but durability may be an issue. If you're out to smash and bash your laptop, then I'd say get an iBook. Plastic would be a massive downgrade, no matter what color it was.

I think plastic can also be ruled out, because to make it decently strong, it's going to need to be considerably thicker than it's aluminum counterpart, which would increase the overall thickness of the powerbooks. We all know how dedicated to being thin Apple is, so in my eyes at least, that rules out the use of plastic for a case.

Carbon fiber would make a good choice technically speaking, and would probably attract quite a few PC-based users simply by the look, but at the same time I think it would ruin many large-scale apple fans' enthusiasm.

My choice would be aluminum, with the option to anodize at an extra cost. If you've ever looked into the sport of paintball at all, then you can't escape anodization. There are some extremely complex anodizations on guns, and they all cost more. Many markers have a fade from one color to another, some even have three colors. There's one marker made by WDP called the Rasta Fly, it's anodized from red, to yellow, to green. You can get dust or gloss anodizations, and basically reproduce any color you want.

It's a fairly complex process, which most likely rules out Apple incorporating it, but as the aluminum is required to soak in an acid bath with dye to take on a color, more time spent in the dye would result in a darker shade, less time would make lighter, etc.
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shabbasuraj
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May 2, 2005, 09:04 PM
 
Aluminum and carbon fiber together for the case.
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asodamiac
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May 2, 2005, 10:51 PM
 
carbon fiber is strong in only one direction.. its a strong material.. but its not very practical. i think this is because they have to weave it.. aluminum was probably the best choice (except with the heat/airport issues).
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templetalker  (op)
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May 3, 2005, 12:10 AM
 
Great thread guys! There are some deep thoughts out there, and personally I'm now pondering even more so just WHAT exactly will be Apple's next choice. One material that I think has gotten no coverage would be like that "Gun Metal" or "Grey Smoke Metal". I did a google image search and came out with some interesting images.

http://www.edgeracing.com/images/whe...front_zoom.jpg

http://www.audiocubes.com/category/H...Headphone.html

Click on the image from this link of the head phones to enlarge.


So in conclusion I really enjoy my TiBook's two tone light grey to dark grey, it's very distinct and classy, I also like this part about the second links headphones.
     
kcmac
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May 3, 2005, 12:16 AM
 
Silver for me. I have the rev A 12 inch and it looks as good as the day I received it. Way better than battlescars of my previous icebook.
     
V12
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May 5, 2005, 06:48 PM
 
how about something along the lines of the black razr phone color...?
     
tekno_geek911
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May 5, 2005, 08:13 PM
 
I really hope the new PowerBooks arent black....Just about every PC laptop I see is black,so boring and cheap looking imo. Hopefully they stick with aluminum.
( Last edited by tekno_geek911; May 5, 2005 at 09:05 PM. )
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May 5, 2005, 08:28 PM
 
The problem with the external design of the Aluminum PowerBooks is that it's nearly perfect. Beautiful but austere, and the design doesn't distract from what's displayed on the screen. They really look like a mobile PowerMac G5. If only they were.
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crazeazn
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May 5, 2005, 08:35 PM
 
gun metal or black aluminum would be hot. but i like the silver too
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shabbasuraj
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May 5, 2005, 08:54 PM
 
Carbon fiber keyboard on silver anodized case.

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