[jwh_one]

My Ti just arrived today, and I have a few comments now that I've spent so much time reading the weeks of speculation and early reports.

1) Ordered this Ti 500/256/20 immediately on 1/9, shipped on Monday, Arrived today 2/8. Just for the record, for next time SJ says you can have something by the end of the month.

2) I'm typing this post on the Ti right now. I've read complaints about the keyboard. I don't know what the heck they're talking about. The keyboard is fantastic - solid and responsive. At least, my keyboard is.

3) It does get warm. I'd say warmer than most laptops, enough to make me shift it off my legs as I'm typing this. There seem to be two hot spots - one in the center rear, and one in the right rear. It seems perfectly obvious that this is the reason that the casing is not only metallic, but titanium - an excellent conductor of heat.

4) The screen is fantastic - definately brighter and clearer that previous PBs and iBooks. One decision breaker in my buying the Ti was wondering how much of a compromise the screen would be from that wonderful 15" Studio display. I don't think I'll be looking over my shoulder at desktop users' displays much.

5) It does have that new computer smell. I'm not worried about it.

6) The port door does have icons on it, so I don't see a problem with plugging things in w/o turning it around.

7) I don't have and benchmarks for permormance, but it seems just as snappy as the PowerMac G4 450 that I sold to buy it. I would concur that, except for games, this thing is as much computer as I would need. By the way, I'm a Graduate Student in Biology, and I use the computer for analyzing data, so I do use this for more than just word processing. It's shaping up to be a mobile desktop replacement.

8) I love it!

If you have specific questions, feel free to post. As you might imagine, I'l be playing with this thing for a while.

[Ryu]

How about the screen distortion? I heard as you pass your fingers gently on the other side of LCD, you have this serious distortion problem.

[ddiokno]

Originally posted by Ryu:
How about the screen distortion? I heard as you pass your fingers gently on the other side of LCD, you have this serious distortion problem.

No distortion on mine...
dave

[Ryu]

How about the sould quality? Some people have been saying that the audio in Mercury is not that great... well, worse than Pismo anyway...

[misaka]

Originally posted by Ryu:
How about the screen distortion? I heard as you pass your fingers gently on the other side of LCD, you have this serious distortion problem.

I already commented on this comment elsewhere, but I may as well repeat what I said here. I went to check out the TiPB at a local Apple vendor here and decided to see for myself if the LCD does warp. I found that I had to really press to cause distortion, and it wasn't that big of a deal. It certainly didn't look like it did permanent damage in any way, and the distortion was limited to the area right around where I was pressing ... it didn't affect the whole display, or even a large portion of it.

I think that this is a non issue, assuming that there's enough rigidity in the Ti to prevent permanent damage to the display if more weight is applied.


-- Mishka



------------------
misaka at pobox dot com

[Ryu]

Thank you Misaka for clearing that out for me. A friend of mine in Korea saw the prototype or preproduction model of Mercury and he has been telling me that distortion problem is really serious. I was just scared to get a machine whose LCD gets damaged after a week or something.

[jwh_one]

The sound is, I think, what you would expect from two small speakers inside a metal box. Actually, it's really not that bad, just small sounding. I can't compare to pismo, since I haven't used sound one very much.

The screen, as I mentioned, is wonderful - much brighter that I expected. It is however, somewhat sensitive to touch from the back, but not as sensitive as some have made it sound. Then again, poking the screen from the back doesn't seem like a real world test of much. Then again, the screen is thin enough that it's wise to handle it carefully. As far as I can tell, there is no distortion of screen images, even after extensive poking with a finger! (Boy, that didn't sound good)

Cheers

[drg]

I got a stock Ti 400 today. I seem to have misplaced the spare AirPort card I have, but was delighted to see that I could use the Farallon SkyLine with it. However, I also misplaced the SkyLine CD but I was able to directly connect the Ti to the WallStreet G3 with a regular 10-base-T cable and transfer the software. Automatic sensing works so there is no need for a cross-over cable. The speakers are a bit tinny, but I'm used to the Harman Kardons on a cube. The screen does not distort more than the WallStreet or an iBook when I run my finger over it. I did not push very hard on any of them though. I connected to a large VGA monitor (36 inch) to teach a class this afternoon. Worked without a hitch once I realized that the default setting is for the second monitor to display an extended desktop. Love the display, looks and feel. Well worth the wait.

i got mine woo sound ios good screen is good fast but hot

So, I ordered a stock 500 from the Apple Store. It came FedEx from Taiwan. FedEx decided it was more appropriate to deliver it to my local Fry's, however. This is the second time in four months that FedEx misdelivered something I was really eager to get. Blah.

Anyway, I've got it now.

More negatives than I was expecting.

I have quite a few noticable fit-and-finish problems. The bottom of the case sticks out a millimeter or two, creating a Titanium lip on the front. Some other people reported this as well. Also, the big dark titanium block on the inside is "tilted" within the plastic white edge material. In the upper-right and lower-left corners, there's virtually no space between the two, and in the upper-left and lower-right, there's quite a bit of space. It looks like there's supposed to be a moderate amount of space all around. Lastly, the little rubber "bump" on the lower-right of the bottom half, that keeps the screen metal from hitting the bottom metal, hasn't been installed quite right -- the top half is sticking out quite a bit. I tried to push it down into place unsuccessfully.

I installed an Airport card, and while getting the case back on was a bit tricky, it was relatively easy to get back on the way it came -- which is to say, not very well. Everything is packed in really tightly, and it doesn't always seem like it's packed in /well/.

The keyboard is okay. There's significant flex around the R and T keys, directly above the processor. It's more noticable by sight than by touch. Other than that, it's pretty solid. A little more pressure required than I might have liked, but keyboard feel is very subjective.

The trackpad is huge and fantastic.

The screen seems pretty solid. The best-built part of it all, I'd say.

The screen is considerably brighter than my Cinema Display, and has a significantly narrower viewing angle. The view angle seems typical of PowerBooks that I've used. The Cinema Display has a phenomenal viewing angle.

Two dead pixels, both near the lower-right. One blue, one green.

Airport works well for me, but I only really need to use it about 40 feet away from a software base station machine.

Everything else that everyone's said is pretty accurate. It's very fast, relatively hot (uncomfortable for lap use of any real length), tiny speakers, good battery life, etc.

Alex

[hardcat1970]

I went to my local store today and finally saw the new pbg4 in person for the first time. Here is the good and bad that I observed.

Good

The case is solid, much better than the pismo that I have. I always complain the pismo case because it has a cheap plastic feel. But this new pbg4 is really solid and I can feel secure grabbing it with one hand.

The hinge (clutch) is better than the pismo as I tested it with many different holding angle.

The screen is gorgeous and wider.

Bad

Does anybody feel uneven how the new powerbook looks? Because the new powerbook is wider on both side, but not on proportion, so it actually looks smaller but wider than the pismo. When you open it up, you actually feel the display is shorter than the keyboard part. well, maybe i will get used to it if I have one.

there are a lot of wasted spaces on both sides surrounding the keyboard. I prefer the speaker on top of the keyboard, like pismo, than on the sides now. In between the latch and the trackpad, there are a lot of wasted space again! perhaps it is good for resting hands when typing but somehow you feel these little tiny things make some funny and unbalance look on the new powerbook g4.

Well, like i said, perhaps i will get used to it if I have one.



[This message has been edited by hardcat1970 (edited 02-08-2001).]

[mercuryman]

I had about an hour with a TiBook last week and here's my thoughts on stuff that has been bounced in this thread and in different forums:

STURDINESS
A+ here; did not have (IMHO) the 'flimsiness' some noted; felt very sturdy to pick up, move, etc.

KEYBOARD
Excellent feel and response, would prefer some keys to be a tad larger though.

CASING
This model was being held behind a counter (i.e. for guarded demo) and yet have a few *very noticeable nicks already. Probably nothing can be done to prevent it; maybe a good use for apple stickers once there are lots of 'em!

SCREEN
Shocking in its hugeness! Did not seem as bright/crisp as I would like even though brightness was maxed out and contrast clear. This might relate to the many flourescent lights overhead. This being noted, I will be very happy to look at this display! Also, I checked and checked to see the slightest evidence for any kind of keyboard touch on the screen and found none which is encouraging.

HEAT
Hate to say it but it was pretty hot to the touch in the rear center after scant moments of use. It had been in sleep mode in the display cabinet -- Yet it should be noted that it may have rec'd lots of use before I arrived.

DVD
No the slot load isn't fast but not as slow as some have implied. It is fine. On another note, my first attempt to load a DVD (the mummy) caused the DVD thing to freeze, requiring a reboot. The DVD playback was acceptably smooth IMHO as well.

Overall, I left the store being more excited about receiving my TiBook than before I went in!!!!!! Now if would only arrive......

Does it come with a cable for FireWire Target Disk Mode? I'd rather use this than futz around with turning file sharing on then back off(I like it off most of the time for net security). Or do I have to buy an 6 pin to 6 pin FireWire cable?

[Yuri1419]

You can put a CD or DVD in it, then press down on the wrist rest area directly above the disc, and hear it "clicking" as it spins by. That's not reassuring.