[macgeekjay]

I just thought I'd let everyone know that the Apple Store at the Mall of America in MN just got (as of 20 minutes ago) our DISPLAY ONLY 17" Powerbook in!

It's gorgeous!

The keyboard light-up feature is really smooooooooth!

And, NO, we will not turn the store lights off so you can see it light up. Sorry.

:-)

[hipHippy]

cool man, I can't wait until they ship....

[bateman1]

How long does it take to get from Nashville to MN??

[AshUK]

I think Apple are starting their shipments now because they only just released the 17" Manual on the apple support page and now this.

[maelstrom65]

Whooohooo!!!! Sorry..momentary lapse there. I can't wait to get my hands on my 17". Hmm..that didn't sound so good...oh well. Ordered it on the 27th of Jan..supposed to ship the 11th of March. If it doesn't, I may just have a coronary...

[jia_zhuang]

anychance u could post some photos???

[macgeekjay]

I'm just finishing my break now.... And we just put it on display in the window. There's a crowd around it!

It's Sat., so we're pretty busy, but I'll see what I can do!

[Over Achiever]

Does anyone know about the Southdale store?

[kiwioz]

Originally posted by AshUK:
I think Apple are starting their shipments now because they only just released the 17" Manual on the apple support page and now this.

Can you give me a link to it?

I can't see it for the life of me

Thanks

Craig

[iBorg]

Damn! I stopped by the Minnetonka CompUSA today (probably 10 miles from Mall of America), and they don't even have the 12" PowerBook on display yet! (I didn't have time to journey over to MoA today ..... )

Can't wait to see the big guy!



iBorg

[Peter]

Wait another couple of months and it may be somewhere to see in the UK. Hooray!

[AshUK]

Originally posted by kiwioz:
Can you give me a link to it?

I can't see it for the life of me

Thanks

Craig

The link to the post that contains the link is here:
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=146318

[jokell82]

Called the Tysons store, they expect their display model this week, but don't expect stock of them to sell until March 17th.

[slffl]

This hype machine is starting to get real old, real fast. Apple, please stop announcing and marketing products months before they're available.

[CheesePuff]

Originally posted by slffl:
This hype machine is starting to get real old, real fast. Apple, please stop announcing and marketing products months before they're available.

Why? Pretty much any other comapny does.

And if you say thats all that Apple does (announce products and ship them much later)... well the new iMacs announced 2 weeks ago shipped instantly. Same with the new Power Macs.

[Chris Grande]

Originally posted by CheesePuff:
Why? Pretty much any other comapny does.

And if you say thats all that Apple does (announce products and ship them much later)... well the new iMacs announced 2 weeks ago shipped instantly. Same with the new Power Macs.

Well... kind of, the new hi-end PowerMacs won't ship for another 4 to 6 weeks.

[Downinit]

Hey, glad to see some Minnesota people in here. So does 17" feel/look too big?

[mrchin]

Short Hills, NJ in but not on display until possibly next week. Although, you may get a chance to check it out as it may be brought around by employees for customer viewing.

[macgeekjay]

Too tired guarding the 17" (it's only in the display- NO TOUCHIE!) to take pictures today. I DO work tomorrow so I'll see if they let me take a few shots.

My first impressions:

1) The thing is quite big. Thin, but big.
2) The screen is on some sort of new hinge. The screen must be fragile or something because the hinge has some sort of clutch or something in it. It's extremely smoooooooth but feels very light. You have to see/feel it for yourself.
3) the light-up keyboard is damn sweet. VERY subtle and pretty darn instant when the lights go off. You can also adjust (and turn off) the amount of the light. It's not a glowing light... it's ... it looks more like the letter just turn white! It's really strange but very cool.
4) All though the slot-load drive is up high and the palm rest area is flexible, we stuck in a CD and pressed on it with no skipping or noise.

I won't comment on using it as it is still a prepoduction model. It's quirky and not a sellable model. It runs a screen saver.

That's all for now! I'll see if I can get picks tomorrow!

[jrt67ss350]

The screen is on some sort of new hinge. The screen must be fragile or something because the hinge has some sort of clutch or something in it. It's extremely smoooooooth but feels very light. You have to see/feel it for yourself.

The screen opens so smoothly and with a light touch because it is counterweighted.

[slffl]

Originally posted by jrt67ss350:
The screen opens so smoothly and with a light touch because it is counterweighted.

I was wondering about this. Does it require 2 hands to open (one to hold down the base)? Or with the new hinge, can you open the screen with one hand?

[CaseCom]

Argh! And i was just at the Mall of America store on Friday. Bastards!

[macgeekjay]

Originally posted by slffl:
I was wondering about this. Does it require 2 hands to open (one to hold down the base)? Or with the new hinge, can you open the screen with one hand?

One hand operation, my friend. ONE hand.

Someone said it's counterweighted. I swear.... those industrial engineers are just out for awards these days!

Pshhhh!

[iChristopher]

Well something is not right about the product intro. I don't believe for a second that this was planned. I remain convinced something went wrong early in the production process that caused things to grind to a halt. Could be a parts availability problem, a defect in the machine or a component, who the hell knows.

I just refuse to accept that they wanted this big of a gap between the intro and shipping. I mean they have all this TV advertising for both the 12" and 17", yet if you want that 17" you can't even DEMO one in most cities or even LOOK at one. That tells me something isn't right...

Originally posted by CheesePuff:
Why? Pretty much any other comapny does.

And if you say thats all that Apple does (announce products and ship them much later)... well the new iMacs announced 2 weeks ago shipped instantly. Same with the new Power Macs.

[cwasko]

Originally posted by iChristopher:
Well something is not right about the product intro. I don't believe for a second that this was planned. I remain convinced something went wrong early in the production process that caused things to grind to a halt. Could be a parts availability problem, a defect in the machine or a component, who the hell knows.

I just refuse to accept that they wanted this big of a gap between the intro and shipping. I mean they have all this TV advertising for both the 12" and 17", yet if you want that 17" you can't even DEMO one in most cities or even LOOK at one. That tells me something isn't right...

Well, I really didn't think there was ever a question as to that. I think you can safely assume that a company wants to release things as soon as it can. Considering that a majority of these ordered will (should) not be counted on this quarter's revenue, this is not really something they want. By your logic, if something wasn't right in any part of the design/build process, then the whole thing would be bad. Kind of an odd logic to me. Maybe Apple assigned an aggressive schedule to it and couldn't meet it due to typical problems in the design in anything. When is the last time that any major project from any company went on schedule? I can't think of a single one. So, this must mean that everything on the planet "isn't right".

Additionally, Apple never told us it would be here any sooner than what is still being told. My 'on or before' date has not changed since the day I ordered it. So, as long as it ships by the 'on or before' date, then noone has any room to complain. If you don't like the 'wait', then don't order it and take your chance at being able to pick one up when the retailers get them. Either way, you're still going to have to wait.

[iChristopher]

Huh, what?

1) If something went wrong in terms of their schedule or the design/build process, then something "isn't right", right? That's my whole point, Geraldo. They didn't plan for this huge delay between intro and shipping. How do you make this leap to I think everything on the planet isn't right? What the hell does that even mean? You made my point for me anyway, thanks.

2) So what if Apple never told us it would be sooner than what is still being told? That doesn't mean that something didn't go wrong before MWSF, right? They still had a bunch of 12" PowerBooks ready to move, TV time purchased, magazine ads bought, MWSF was looming - they had to announce right then and there.

Either way, something probably "isn't right", regardless of what that something is or when they discovered it.

Originally posted by cwasko:
By your logic, if something wasn't right in any part of the design/build process, then the whole thing would be bad. Kind of an odd logic to me.

Maybe Apple assigned an aggressive schedule to it and couldn't meet it due to typical problems in the design in anything. So, this must mean that everything on the planet "isn't right".

Additionally, Apple never told us it would be here any sooner than what is still being told.

[cwasko]

Originally posted by iChristopher:
Huh, what?

1) If something went wrong in terms of their schedule or the design/build process, then something "isn't right", right? That's my whole point, Geraldo. They didn't plan for this huge delay between intro and shipping. How do you make this leap to I think everything on the planet isn't right? What the hell does that even mean? You made my point for me anyway, thanks.

2) So what if Apple never told us it would be sooner than what is still being told? That doesn't mean that something didn't go wrong before MWSF, right? They still had a bunch of 12" PowerBooks ready to move, TV time purchased, magazine ads bought, MWSF was looming - they had to announce right then and there.

Either way, something probably "isn't right", regardless of what that something is or when they discovered it.

My point is who cares what went wrong before it gets released? If something did go wrong, like things always do with anything, what is the difference? If their schedule was aggressive, than that leaves very little time to make up for it - hence the reason it would be aggressive. You got that Jerry?

You were making it sound like the product is going to suffer due to some problem that you can't confirm. Since you "just refuse to accept that they wanted this big of a gap between the intro and shipping" it is pointless to describe the many other scenarios that could have brought us to this point.

If your only point was "something didn't go according to plan, thats why they did not ship it sooner" - then, how long did it take you to come to that conclusion? I think that was pretty obvious since the announcement 5 weeks ago.

If your point is that something went wrong and it is going to adversely affect the quality of the produced product, then please enlighten us as to what it could be. But, if you can't back this claim up with anything other than your refusal to accept another explanation; then by default of your logic, would have to think that everything that was not shipped when you thought it should be shipped by is going to have sub-standard quality.

[CaseCom]

Originally posted by iChristopher:
Huh, what?

1) If something went wrong in terms of their schedule or the design/build process, then something "isn't right", right? That's my whole point, Geraldo. They didn't plan for this huge delay between intro and shipping. How do you make this leap to I think everything on the planet isn't right? What the hell does that even mean? You made my point for me anyway, thanks.

2) So what if Apple never told us it would be sooner than what is still being told? That doesn't mean that something didn't go wrong before MWSF, right? They still had a bunch of 12" PowerBooks ready to move, TV time purchased, magazine ads bought, MWSF was looming - they had to announce right then and there.

Either way, something probably "isn't right", regardless of what that something is or when they discovered it.

Whoa there. I think cwasko's point was that delays in the development process for a new product are often completely normal and don't necessarily mean the end product is flawed. Your suspicious tone seemed to indicate you thought some kind of extraordinary conspiracy was afoot ("Something is not right ..." "I don't believe for a second that ..." "I just refuse to accept that ...").

Macworld announcements have often been of a "we're telling you about it now but it'll ship in two months" nature. It's part of the reason Apple is getting away from clustering all their product releases at Macworld time. It would be tough for any company to have just two days a year available for product releases.

Heck, how many times have third-party companies promised a new product in "First quarter 2002" and then released it in June? Overall I'd say Apple's track record is pretty good. Heck this 17-inch "delay" is nothing compared with the delays with the early G4 towers. We raised an uproar then.

[DVD Plaza]

What delay????

I desperately want my 17" PowerBooks as well but the fact is Steve Jobs said they'd be available in February - it IS still February.

When we hit March and none have shipped then THAT would be a delay.

[cwasko]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
What delay????

I desperately want my 17" PowerBooks as well but the fact is Steve Jobs said they'd be available in February - it IS still February.

When we hit March and none have shipped then THAT would be a delay.

So far there has not been a delay. The shipping date for my order stated on or before 3.21.2003. So, if it ships by then, I'll be happy. When I ordered it, it also said 7-10 weeks. 7 Weeks will be the end of Feb/Beginning of March. If it ships then, I'll be estatic.

[iChristopher]

I don't want to start an uproar. All I'm really saying is that I don't think Apple's original plan was to have a gap that large between the annoucement and shipping. Regarding the cause, as I said in my first post, "who the hell knows"

[mikeylebeau]

I just played with the 17" at the Palo Alto Apple Store for quite some time, and it is quite nice but freaking huge. For my needs I am definitely glad I went the 12" route, but it is a sweet-ass machine. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away.

-mikey

[Kanaeaupuni]

so I guess it'll be another 4 weeks until we get our machines?

[Nikolajf]

Thanx for offering some much needed answers.

1) How responsive does it feel? both with regard to basic processor power, but also video card performance or it's ability to handle more than one thing at a time (virtual memory)...
2) Does the brightness seem comparable to the 17" iMac. A lot was said about how the two share the same display, but backlightning must make a difference.
3) How does the CDROM-drive sound? Some TiBook models sounded as it it was chewing on the thing when loading up.
4) Heat. How hot does it get on top (next to the keyboard), but more importantly how about underneath (lap-use
5) Screen space. How does it actuallu feel? Did most applications seem to take up the whole screen or did it feel natural to have say two Word documents or webpages open at the same time? Or was it more along the lines of one app. (say iPhoto) and then just room enough to mess about with iChat in the corner>?
6) Weight. Did you compare with the TiBook? I remember thinking the 12" PowerBook came close to the TiBook in weight, but that might not be right when looking at the data. So in terms of 'feel' how comfortable would you be logging this thing around (i think the TiBook is too heavy for real portability).

That should do me for now or at least the next couple of seconds ; )

Best,
Nf

[macgeekjay]

Originally posted by Nikolajf:
1) How responsive does it feel? both with regard to basic processor power, but also video card performance or it's ability to handle more than one thing at a time (virtual memory)...
2) Does the brightness seem comparable to the 17" iMac. A lot was said about how the two share the same display, but backlightning must make a difference.
3) How does the CDROM-drive sound? Some TiBook models sounded as it it was chewing on the thing when loading up.
4) Heat. How hot does it get on top (next to the keyboard), but more importantly how about underneath (lap-use
5) Screen space. How does it actuallu feel? Did most applications seem to take up the whole screen or did it feel natural to have say two Word documents or webpages open at the same time? Or was it more along the lines of one app. (say iPhoto) and then just room enough to mess about with iChat in the corner>?
6) Weight. Did you compare with the TiBook? I remember thinking the 12" PowerBook came close to the TiBook in weight, but that might not be right when looking at the data. So in terms of 'feel' how comfortable would you be logging this thing around (i think the TiBook is too heavy for real portability).
Best,
Nf

1) I wasn't able to use it much so I can't answer how responsive it was. At first glance (iTunes, System Prefs, Screen Saver) it seems just as responsive as the new 17" iMac.

2)We held it up to the iMac today. The iMac is still very noticabley brighter. But the angle of view is the same on the Powerbook, just amazing!

3)The CD-ROM seemed to be much better then the TiBook.

4)Again, not much use but it's been on display for two days and didn't get too hot. About the same as the most recent TiBooks... Maybe a bit hotter.

5)Try out the 17" iMac since it's the same layout! It's perfect for anyone out there. Promise.

6)If you think the TiBook is too heavy, stay away from this one. It's really well distributed but still feels huge. The screen is amazingly light but the bottom is quite heavy. It feels good though! Damn thin.

[Nikolajf]

Thank you so much for such precise answers to my stupid questions.

Your information really went a long way to give me a reasonable impression of the 17" PB.

I certainly feel a lot more comfortable shelling out the dough after this

Once again, THANK YOU! You ROCK dude!

Also, please forgive my shameless copy&pasting your answers all over the internet. I sincerely hope I haven't crossed some unwritten law for Forum discussions.

Combined Info on the new 17" PB

Best,
Nf

ps. Thanx again!! That was EXCELLENT!