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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > What Will Replace my PowerBook 12" shoes??

What Will Replace my PowerBook 12" shoes??
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I WAS the One
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Sep 29, 2008, 10:18 PM
 
Ok, I'm a Hard Core Mac fan since 1992. Never used a Windowz Box in my life. But today I'm still using my PB12 for Internet and word processing... and I need to admit it's getting heavy, useless for pro stuff, and for internet it's kind of slow now. (I'm running Leopard by the way) I want to buy a new small laptop, but Apple don't offer me a choice. So I start browsing Amazon.com for the new breed of mini laptops people are calling "NetBooks" and let me tell you sounds good for me, I will not buy a Windowz Mini Laptop or Netbook, but I'm open to buy a Ubuntu remix one or a Linux Lite one soon... Do anybody recommend me one netbook that let me surf the net fast and let me do word processing productively? Some co-worker told me the new EeePC and the Sylvania G Mesa are perfect options, What do you think? Do I keep my PB12 or change to another game?
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ibook_steve
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Sep 29, 2008, 11:05 PM
 
What's wrong with a MacBook?

Steve
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I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 29, 2008, 11:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by ibook_steve View Post
What's wrong with a MacBook?

Steve
Size? Maybe?.. I don't want to upgrade from 12" to huge 13" that looks like a 14" or 15" laptops if you put one side by side to PC brands... I want something smaller for net and word processing.
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SierraDragon
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Sep 30, 2008, 02:01 AM
 
My guess is that we may see something new in the small size range soon.

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mduell
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Sep 30, 2008, 02:04 AM
 
A netbook isn't going to run today's pro apps, or be any faster for internet. It will be about half the weight and screen size.

If you want to run today's/tomorrow's pro apps, you need to move up to a 15" MBP.
     
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Sep 30, 2008, 02:40 AM
 
MacBook Air?
     
I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 30, 2008, 08:28 AM
 
Again... I am using my PowerBook 12" just for the internet (very Slow BTW) and Office. That's it. An MBP it's too much. a MacBook Air it's too expensive and it will do the same thing a Netbook does. If Apple never going to make a product like that then I will go for a netbook. 2 pounds, Internet and word processing to go. I never tried Ubuntu before but I was browsing youtube for Ubuntu Remix, and let me tell you.... it looks pretty cool.
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Sep 30, 2008, 08:56 AM
 
Well, price-wise, the AirBook corresponds to what the 12" PowerBook was. It's not the same thing as a netbook, neither performance-wise nor screen-wise. Of course, if a netbook suffices performance-wise, then you can just stay with your current machine, netbooks are not going to be much faster, if at all (the actual performance depends on the product you have in mind, if it uses a single- or dual core Intel Atom, for instance, or a VIA cpu).

In any case, if you don't want to spend much money, get a MacBook. It weighs 200 g more than the 12" PowerBook, I believe (2.1 kg vs. 2.3 kg) and it does what you ask for.

The problem of netbooks is IMO definitely the screen. The screen size is sufficient for casual e-mails, but many normal desktop apps won't run properly, because they require a resolution of at least 1024x768 these days -- which netbooks usually don't have. They are great for people who want to have a cheap, light secondary machine.
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I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 30, 2008, 09:22 AM
 
an Acer Aspire One cost $329.99 a MacBook cost $1,099.00. I already got a brand new iMac Aluminum 24" Core 2 Extreme max out for my pro apps, a PowerMac G4 MDD Dual for Audio Production, a PowerBook G4 Ti for press publishing and web development needs to go, and this PowerBook 12" for my Radio Station job that require net browsing for latest news, and word processing for scripts and meeting notes. if Apple builds something that fills that gap, I definetly buy one. I'm getting tired of my old PB12, it's heavy and got a lot of stuff that I don't need: Superdrive, firewire ports, 867Mhz Power PC processor for example. I bet a Netbook will run faster than my PB12.
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Sep 30, 2008, 10:13 AM
 
A Netbook WILL feel faster than your PB12.

Since you don't need the additional I/O and ports, its main drawback besides the lack of OS X is the small keyboard IMO. The 1024x600 10" screen is small, but tolerable. However, I the shrunken keyboard makes extended typing quite annoying.

I'd get one for my light usage (surfing, light Word, email, occasional light multimedia viewing, etc.), but not if I had to use it a lot on the road like for lots of Word use or coding (if I were a coder that is).

The MacBook Air has a full-size keyboard, but IMO the extremely high price is not justified.

Anyways, I'd just wait until mid-October before deciding. Rumour has it new MacBooks will be released then.
     
OreoCookie
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Sep 30, 2008, 10:35 AM
 
Originally Posted by I WAS the One View Post
I bet a Netbook will run faster than my PB12.
Unfortunately, no. This particular model comes with a 1.6 GHz Atom and 512 MB RAM. So just by the limited amount of RAM (assuming you have more than that installed on your PB), you will run out of memory if you would use it like your PowerBook.

The 1.6 GHz atom is about as fast as a 1.13 GHz Pentium III. The folks at arstechnica have obtained benchmark figures from someone who convinced an Atom-based system to run Leopard. They have obtained XBench numbers which put it in the ball park of G4-based Mac minis and Quicksilver G4s. Since I don't think too highly of XBench, take these numbers with a grain of salt, but cross-platform comparisons are difficult.

In any case, don't expect significantly better performance than what you have now. It'll be smaller alright, though. The performance will probably suffice for what you do, but I'd not get an eeePC at this point. Wait at least for the dual core models.
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Eug
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Sep 30, 2008, 10:42 AM
 
For basic surfing and email, the Netbook 1.6 with XP most definitely feels faster than my iBook 1.07 in OS X. I guess it depends on the PowerBook 12", but esp. if the the PB is an older one, the Netbook will feel faster in light usage.

Part of the reason is the OS. XP seems to be a lot less power hungry than Leopard. And part of the reason is that the G4 is just so damn slow, that even very slow CPUs like Atom can compete favourably with it.
     
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Sep 30, 2008, 11:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Part of the reason is the OS. XP seems to be a lot less power hungry than Leopard. And part of the reason is that the G4 is just so damn slow, that even very slow CPUs like Atom can compete favourably with it.
That's correct, only with Vista, MS has come closer to getting on par with the (graphical) feature set of OS X. Plus, as long as you don't use much RAM, i. e. you restrict yourself to light usage, any system will feel snappier. Are you able to get such an eeePC with XP instead of Vista?

The Atom is, at least if OS X is run, seems to be about as fast as a G4. The main weakness of the Atom is its floating point unit, it almost gets beaten by a 6 year-old cpu (Pentium III), so I think it's rather slow. VIA's new Isiah is significantly faster (about 50 %) when it comes to fixed point calculations and slightly faster with floating point calculations. Granted, floating point performance is not as important for light usage, but with OS X' and Vista's more resource-hungry underpinnings, this will still matter.
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Sep 30, 2008, 12:04 PM
 
XP seems to be quite common on netbooks. The ones I tested in store last week were all running XP. I wouldn't get Vista, not just because it's slower, but also because one of the reasons for me to get a PC would be to run software installers and such that don't run on OS X. However, many of them don't run on Vista either. I'm not a big fan of Vista anyway.

Microsoft to keep Windows XP alive -- but only for Eee PCs and wannabes

I'm not really concerned about FP performance on a netbook.
     
fisherKing
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Sep 30, 2008, 12:47 PM
 
i always show up at these threads...

i just sold my 1.5g 12" powerbook (i have a desktop intel mac still); the pb is my fave mac EVER, and i am greatly disappointed we never got a 12" intelbook.

i had to get rid of it, it will not run Reason 4 well (one of my main apps); so i am thinking of an mbp...

the 12" just had a great footprint; small, light, powerful (enough, for a while anyway).

am not a fan of the air, just doesn't work for me on any level (and not enough ports for real work). i keep hoping for a 12" mbp (but have stopped expecting it).

apple, we need more choices!
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DCJ001
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Sep 30, 2008, 03:53 PM
 
There could be exactly what you're looking for announced by Apple in the next two to three weeks.
     
I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 30, 2008, 05:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by DCJ001 View Post
There could be exactly what you're looking for announced by Apple in the next two to three weeks.
You think? I can wait a little longer then.

and BTW I'm looking forward to buy a Netbook with Ubuntu Remix like the one from sylvania's the G Meso... I hate Windowz... so. maybe I wait a couple of weeks to see what Apple will introduce then...
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darkmatter
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Sep 30, 2008, 06:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by I WAS the One View Post
What do you think?
I would consider twice replacing your aluminum Powerbook 12" and give extra $500 USD to get the internet rendered a few microseconds faster and saving documents a nano second quicker.

Generally I would also consider to do a deep review of the Macbook Air and the Netbooks

For the ones that insist to compare the Macbook Air with Netbooks the following analogy may be helpfull

A Mini Cooper S is to a Macbook Air as a
the Tata Nano is to what ever Netbook available on the market (Dell,Acer, etc)

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Sep 30, 2008, 06:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by I WAS the One View Post
I'm getting tired of my old PB12, it's heavy and got a lot of stuff that I don't need: Superdrive, firewire ports, 867Mhz Power PC processor for example. I bet a Netbook will run faster than my PB12.
For web surfing and basic word processing, I find my 12 inch PB 1.33 ghz with 1.25 gb RAM and Tiger is still fast enough. If you haven't already maxed out the RAM in your 867mhz PB, that could improve things.

If a smaller footprint macbook isnt released in October, you might consider a 12 inch ibook 1.33 ghz w/combo drive off of eBay. You can find one for about $300 and that should give you a significant performance boost over 867 mhz with +/- the same footprint and weight.
     
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Sep 30, 2008, 08:24 PM
 
If you're thinking Linux, why not just put Linux on your PowerBook?
     
I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 30, 2008, 10:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
If you're thinking Linux, why not just put Linux on your PowerBook?
I love leopard and all my apps inside of my PB, I just want something smaller... I'm tired of all the weight of it. I know that I can install even Ubuntu on my PB, but I will be using the same heavy Laptop.
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I WAS the One  (op)
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Sep 30, 2008, 10:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by rjt1000 View Post
For web surfing and basic word processing, I find my 12 inch PB 1.33 ghz with 1.25 gb RAM and Tiger is still fast enough. If you haven't already maxed out the RAM in your 867mhz PB, that could improve things.

If a smaller footprint macbook isnt released in October, you might consider a 12 inch ibook 1.33 ghz w/combo drive off of eBay. You can find one for about $300 and that should give you a significant performance boost over 867 mhz with +/- the same footprint and weight.
Update status of my PB:
1) Max Out Ram
2) upgrade hard drive to 120g
3) upgrade OS to leopard

It's a heavy machine now days... I saw people at my work with tiny laptops and they seem to be careless and free... I need to go everywhere with my PB, my cables and my backpack and I feel like a cubscout in a CIA convention lol

if Apple let me use my iPod Touch as a small portable Mac I will be happy enough! but I can't use it at all, all of my network pages are in flash/shockwave so those pages doesn't exist in my iPod Touch at all!!!!!!!
( Last edited by I WAS the One; Sep 30, 2008 at 10:30 PM. Reason: edit: adding more stuff to my comment.)
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Beargrease
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Oct 1, 2008, 01:06 AM
 
I can relate to this thread.
I have my 12" G4 that is full on ram and does have a newer hard drive.
It works fine but it is getting older.
I have been to the Apple Store several times but always come home empty handed.
Nothing they currently sell would fill the shoes of my 12"
     
Simon
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Oct 1, 2008, 03:05 AM
 
In any event those interested in something small and ultra-light should wait till Apple updates the portables. This will likely happen in two weeks.

That said, I am definitely not expecting Apple to release something smaller than a MB. The MB will probably become less expensive (expect $999 or maybe even a $899 entry-level price) and maybe even a bit lighter, but for sure not a whole lot smaller (tapered edges sure, but not less than a 13" screen).

For those of you looking for an inexpensive 3lb 10" netbook I really suggest you buy one from another manufacturer. In all likelihood Apple will not make such a product anytime soon. If you get a PC netbook you can either try to get OS X onto it or use one of various Linux flavors. In any case you'll probably be happier than waiting forever for a Mac that probably won't appear.
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I WAS the One  (op)
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Oct 1, 2008, 08:31 AM
 
Well.. Yesterday I went to Amazon and bought a Netbook with Ubuntu Remix OS, lets see what happen. My Wife told me that she can't believe that a Mac Addict like me paid for something non-Mac at all. I explain to her but she's right, I wont love that mini laptop like my Macs, but right now it fills my needs in a work environment. Maybe I turn a hackintosh of it, I'll keep you updated then with pics and all...
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amazing
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:28 AM
 
This wouldn't have anything to do with the 7-year itch, namely getting a red convertible? Isn't your PB 12"-867 about 5 years old?

Deserting OS X for Ubuntu seems rather heartless: I suppose laptop-relationship-counseling is out of the question?
     
Eug
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:34 AM
 
Good luck. I'm surprised you couldn't wait 2 weeks though.
     
Simon
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by amazing View Post
Deserting OS X for Ubuntu seems rather heartless: I suppose laptop-relationship-counseling is out of the question?
Deserting OS X for Windows is heartless. Trying out Ubuntu OTOH is an interesting experiment.
( Last edited by Simon; Oct 7, 2008 at 02:52 AM. Reason: spelling)
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Simon
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Good luck. I'm surprised you couldn't wait 2 weeks though.
Why should he? The type of notebook he was looking for is not what Apple will show in two weeks anyway.
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Eug
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Why should he? The type of notebook he was looking for is not what Apple will show in two weeks anyway.
That's exactly what people told me in November of 2002. "Apple isn't going to release a small PowerBook at Macworld." So, I bought a TiBook cuz I wanted a G4, even though I much preferred the iBook form factor. (All the iBooks were G3s.)

Two months later at Macworld, Apple released the 12" PowerBook.
     
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Oct 2, 2008, 12:42 PM
 
I can relate very well to this thread, wanting a small, light laptop for light use; something I wouldn't hesitate to carry anywhere. I have been a Mac user since buying a Mac Plus in 1989. I have 5 Macs in operation now at home and at work. But I have been frustrated of late with the lack of hardware choice in Apple's offerings, and I started experimenting with Linux as a way around this. When the eeepc first appeared, I started following the reviews on the netbooks that have proliferated since, and I finally bought one a month ago (an MSI Wind). I run the latest version of Ubuntu on it (8.04.1) and I have customized it with available themes, icons and a dock to give it the look and feel of OSX.

It was a good decision. I use the Wind extensively for light duty work (checking email, web browsing and reading or editing Office documents (in openOffice or MS apps run in the program Wine). I could install OSX on it with available hacks, but I have decided not to for now. While there are a few things to learn on Linux if you want to do anything more than run canned applications, I have enjoyed the learning experience and I think it has helped me to better understand how a computer works. This isn't going to convert me away from MacOSX (at least not yet), but it gives me the freedom to choose from more than what Apple is offering these days.
     
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Oct 2, 2008, 01:27 PM
 
i really want a full-featured small notebook (small footprint, not a skinny underpowered 'book).
i miss my 12" powerbook already, but am not holding my breath; doubt we'll see a 12" mbp anytime soon.
may move to a 15" (sigh) because what else? (i HATE the glossy screen of the macbook).
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I WAS the One  (op)
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Oct 2, 2008, 03:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by mfox View Post
I can relate very well to this thread,
Wow I almost get a MSI too! ended up buying the Netbook G Meso Yellow one, thoug. Later I apreciate a PM explaining how to make it look and feel as the OS X.

Yeah. I am waiting for my Ubuntu OS.... weird huh?

but I don't feel bad about this, I mean, if Apple wont make something like this, others will and I need to find solutions rather than ignore everything because it's not from Apple. Let me tell you something, Ubuntu it's getting noticing out there. It's not the ultra Super OS option but it got something that People is not afraid to try... me as an example. I thought I never spend money for other device that's not Apple ever... and look at me now.
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Oct 2, 2008, 05:13 PM
 
A MacBook Air with a Firewire 400 port, a 7200 rpm HD and 4 GB RAM (and a nice price cut) would do it for me
     
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Oct 2, 2008, 05:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
That's exactly what people told me in November of 2002. "Apple isn't going to release a small PowerBook at Macworld." So, I bought a TiBook cuz I wanted a G4, even though I much preferred the iBook form factor. (All the iBooks were G3s.)

Two months later at Macworld, Apple released the 12" PowerBook.
And they might well release a 12" Macbook, but nothing smaller than that. Jobs made such a big deal about how the Macbook Air was a no-compromises laptop, and one big part of that was the full-size keyboard. They're unlikely to turn around so quickly on that one. Apple HAS made 180s on occasion, like the flash iPods, but they always prepare the market a bit before they do that.

Because of other miniaturization and that Apple has moved to widescreen displays, the MB is just about the same thickness and depth as the old 12" G4 (slightly thinner, slightly deeper) and less than 2 inches wider. That does not seem like a dealbreaker to me.

There is this gap in the gadget world between a phone and a laptop that is never adequately filled, it seems. The current batch of smaller laptops is interesting, but I wonder if they will be that long lived. Palm also looked incredibly impressive at one point. In my experience, there are two options: I bring a bag of some sort, in which case a laptop fits, or I don't, in which case even a Palm is borderline too large. A netbook would just be a cramped laptop to me.
     
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
And they might well release a 12" Macbook, but nothing smaller than that. Jobs made such a big deal about how the Macbook Air was a no-compromises laptop, and one big part of that was the full-size keyboard.
They could trim the 1" border off the MB/MBA screen/keyboard for a considerable footprint reduction.
     
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Oct 2, 2008, 11:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
They could trim the 1" border off the MB/MBA screen/keyboard for a considerable footprint reduction.
that would certainly make me happy...but i still cannot accept the glossy screen, so i will probably go for a mbp in 2 weeks.
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Simon
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Oct 3, 2008, 03:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
And they might well release a 12" Macbook, but nothing smaller than that. Jobs made such a big deal about how the Macbook Air was a no-compromises laptop, and one big part of that was the full-size keyboard. They're unlikely to turn around so quickly on that one. Apple HAS made 180s on occasion, like the flash iPods, but they always prepare the market a bit before they do that.
Nailed it right there.

Sure you could trim the MBA to an inch less width (what's that huge bezel there for anyway?). And you could probably reduce its price by $300 too. But it's still far from a netbook. And of course making it smaller would even further reduce the options to get a FW or Ethernet port.

The thing is Apple doesn't like the netbook because they consider it too much of a compromise. The whole idea behind the MBA was to reduce volume and weight w/o doing away with things like a full-sized KB or decent resolution.

Could Apple do a 180 here? Sure. Have they done so before? Yep, on occasions. Are they under pressure to change their strategy? With their sales numbers, not really. Do we have any reason to believe they have changed their strategy? Nope. Tiny rumor? Nada.

Getting your hopes up now for something that is as unlikely as an inexpensive netbook from Apple is setting yourself up for a big disappointment on Oct 14.
( Last edited by Simon; Oct 3, 2008 at 03:42 AM. )
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darkmatter
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Oct 3, 2008, 06:54 AM
 
The only update to the MBA that I see is SATA and more HD capacity, an optional non glossy display would be great.

My hope is to see all the Macbook family mind blowing thin, including a 15" Macbook Air, a black option would
replace my still high productive Pismo, if this doesn't happen yet, my Pismo will be updated with a SS PATA HD

@The ones still believe in the 12" PB (I was one and gave up):
have you actually experienced a real close encounter with a Macbook Air?
     
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Oct 3, 2008, 08:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by darkmatter View Post
have you actually experienced a real close encounter with a Macbook Air?
Yep. Slow and despite missing a bunch of ports, it basically has the same footprint as a MacBook. The light weight is nice, but the very high cost is not.

P.S. I don't believe in the 12" MacBook Lite. I just want one. I don't expect anything spectacular to arrive in 2 weeks, but nonetheless I am waiting. I think it's foolish to buy right now unless you absolutely need it immediately.

For small and light in the interim I just bought a cheap G4 iBook. It's very slow, but obviously it was extremely inexpensive. Of course, I have a presentation today and I was in such a rush this morning I forgot the damn thing at home.
     
I WAS the One  (op)
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Oct 3, 2008, 10:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
The thing is Apple doesn't like the netbook because they consider it too much of a compromise. The whole idea behind the MBA was to reduce volume and weight w/o doing away with things like a full-sized KB or decent resolution.
MacBook Air ? No Firewire, No SuperDrive, Can I keep going?
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Oct 3, 2008, 11:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by darkmatter View Post
have you actually experienced a real close encounter with a Macbook Air?
a friend got one, and i played with it for about 20 minutes; felt like the mattel mac! lack of ports, speed, power...an issue. i'm in that group of macusers that values a small footprint over simply being "thin" (and want a 'pro' ie matte screen)...

hard loving os x, but having limited choices to run it (and i DO prefer apple's hardware...)
"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)
     
darkmatter
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Oct 3, 2008, 03:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by fisherKing View Post
a friend got one, and i played with it for about 20 minutes; felt like the mattel mac! lack of ports, speed, power...an issue
And which mobile meets now the needs of your friend?
     
fisherKing
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Oct 3, 2008, 03:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by darkmatter View Post
And which mobile meets now the needs of your friend?
not sure what you're asking: she has a macbook air (mostly email and surfing); i need a more-powerful mac (music production, graphics, etc). she LOVES the air (but again, her needs are simple).
"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)
     
darkmatter
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Oct 3, 2008, 06:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by fisherKing View Post
not sure what you're asking: she has a macbook air (mostly email and surfing); i need a more-powerful mac (music production, graphics, etc). she LOVES the air (but again, her needs are simple).
Sorry, I thought your friend replaced the MBA after feeling it --like the mattel mac! lack of ports, speed, power...--
I also thought the MBA was good processing iLife stuff (Music,Movies, Pictures), even videoconferencing.

IMP case I like the MBA very much, the size, handling, storing it, and usability for mobile purposes is great.

Now that you comment about processing music and graphics, I really wonder how Netbooks behave in those tasks (i.e. importing music, mega pixel pictures, etc).

Hopefully everyone gets what everyone wants with the next Macbook family update

Best Regards and nice weekend
     
fisherKing
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Oct 3, 2008, 06:58 PM
 
i know, for my needs, i want a full macbook pro...i just want it in a 12" powerbook size..
i want to win the lottery too, of course, so, no, am not holding my breath.
"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)
     
0157988944
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Oct 3, 2008, 11:07 PM
 
Don't have time to read the whole thread, but my $0.02:

The fact that Apple hasn't replaced the 12" PB with a 12" MBP tells me they never will. We might get something similar in size (MBA/MB) But I don't think we will see the full fledged notebook in a 12/13" frame again. I also doubt Apple will be adding yet another product to the MacBook line. In fact, I think it is more and more likely that they are making it all one line, with the expection of the MacBook Air, and adding a low cost at the bottom end:

"MacBook Cheap" - Today's lowest end MacBook in a smaller (10"?) case
MacBook Air - Same as Today
MacBook - Ranges from low end 13" with integrated graphics up to 17" with 512 MB graphics, with a narrowing of the models in between. maybe two 13", one 15" and one 17" with a BTO 15/17" option online only. All aluminum casing, only appearance difference being size.

Purely speculation, but I think it would be cool.
     
hempcamp
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Oct 4, 2008, 12:18 AM
 
I'm actually torn between getting a used 12" PowerBook (w/ Tiger) and a Lenovo S10 netbook (on which I'd install Xubuntu) as a second computer. I'd almost rather have the old PowerBook despite the added weight.

Tough choices.

--Chris
Current: iMac 20" 2.4/4/320 / iMac G4 800
Portable: iPhone 3G White/16 / 12" PowerBook 1.5/1.25/80
Former: PowerMac G5 Dual 1.8 / iBook G3 700 / PM 7500, 3G iPod 10GB, 5.5G iPod 30GB
     
OreoCookie
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Oct 4, 2008, 05:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by adamfishercox View Post
The fact that Apple hasn't replaced the 12" PB with a 12" MBP tells me they never will.
Officially, the successor of the 12" PowerBook is the MacBook. It also fits if you look at the specs, with the 12" PowerBook you had to make compromises, especially in the beginning (only VGA out in the first one or two revs, slow graphics card, no PC card slots, no backlit keyboard, only 100 MBit ethernet). The present MacBook is only slightly heavier than the 12" PowerBook (2.1 vs 2.3 kg).

So spec-wise, the 12" PowerBook has long been superseded by the MacBook. Money and idea-wise, IMO the AirBook is the replacement.

I don't think Apple will make larger MacBooks, I expect the two notebook lines to merge even closer. With all the attention on using the gpu to do certain calculations, I expect that the next MacBook will have a decent, dedicated gpu with its own memory again.
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mfox
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Oct 4, 2008, 11:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by I WAS the One View Post
Wow I almost get a MSI too! ended up buying the Netbook G Meso Yellow one, thoug. Later I apreciate a PM explaining how to make it look and feel as the OS X.

Yeah. I am waiting for my Ubuntu OS.... weird huh?

but I don't feel bad about this, I mean, if Apple wont make something like this, others will and I need to find solutions rather than ignore everything because it's not from Apple....
There are a number of themes that will give you the look and feel of MacOS X on Ubuntu. One I have been using is Munics OSX, which you can get here. But you can google OSX themes for Ubuntu and get many more.

Also, there is a relatively new Linux distro called gOS 3 that is derived from Ubuntu, intended for netbooks and has a lot of the look and feel of OS X with the addition of google apps (that you can delete if you don't want them). I've played with this a bit and I highly recommend it. You can see what it looks like and download it from here.

Finally, there is a Ubuntu add-on that is intended for netbooks. It is called Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It is presently in the development stage, and consists of a few apps, applets and utilities that you add on to your existing Ubuntu distribution to give you a different type of menu and window structure that is very good for working on small-display laptops. You can read about it and see what it looks like here.
     
 
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