[seanyepez]

I finally got to get inside one of these today!

According to Apple's specifications, the new battery has 61 watt-hours of capacity. The older TiBooks only had 55 watt-hours, and the original ones only had 50.

Battery life is reported at 5:52 with the processor slowed and the screen dimmed. In DVD playback, the machine scored a respectable 2:59. This is real usage, not Apple claims.

The screen backlight is a new part, confirming my claim of brighter screens. The paint is in fact different, and the heat pipe inside the unit is significantly thicker and more effective.

The fans in the unit are louder, but they seldom activate. Overall, the machine runs cooler.

Sorry, guys. I got DDR memory and DDR cache mixed up. The machine in fact does not have DDR. However, the SuperDrive availability was shocking!

The new release is pretty much everything I cracked it up to be, isn't it?

[Eug]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
I finally got to get inside one of these today!

According to Apple's specifications, the new battery has 61 watt-hours of capacity. The older TiBooks only had 55 watt-hours, and the original ones only had 50.

Battery life is reported at 5:52 with the processor slowed and the screen dimmed. In DVD playback, the machine scored a respectable 2:59. This is real usage, not Apple claims.

The screen backlight is a new part, confirming my claim of brighter screens. The paint is in fact different, and the heat pipe inside the unit is significantly thicker and more effective.

The fans in the unit are louder, but they seldom activate. Overall, the machine runs cooler.

Sorry, guys. I got DDR memory and DDR cache mixed up. The machine in fact does not have DDR. However, the SuperDrive availability was shocking!

The new release is pretty much everything I cracked it up to be, isn't it?

1) Bigger battery. Cool! What percentage did the CPU crank down?

2) Different backlight but same LCD?

3) Better paint... hope it solves the paint chipping problem.

4) Better heat pipe. Great.

5) I wonder why the fans are louder. I wonder how much wattage the GHz chip is putting out. (Why 'book did you test?)

6) DDR would have been pointless with this CPU on a laptop. I'm glad Apple went with practicality instead of bragging rights here.

[justinkim]

Props to you for getting so much right, Sean!

I placed my order for a 1GHz machine this morning. I'm proud of myself that I've only checked order status twice since then

[seanyepez]

Originally posted by Eug:
5) I wonder why the fans are louder. I wonder how much wattage the GHz chip is putting out. (Why 'book did you test?)

I tested the 1-gigahertz PowerBook G4.

Originally posted by justinkim:
Props to you for getting so much right, Sean!

I placed my order for a 1GHz machine this morning. I'm proud of myself that I've only checked order status twice since then

Congratulations. I know it's hard to resist not checking, but hang in there.

Well, it's tough. The thing is, you have to piece information together from many sources. Evidently, I didn't work hard enough to get specifics like the battery right. Information was really hard to come by in the last two weeks of waiting.

[slugslugslug]

okay okay. but, below the screen, does it say "Powerbook" in Apple Garamond or that new Myriad variety? font geeks need to know!

(and I can't tell from the QTVR movie..)

[seanyepez]

It is of the Myriad variety.

[gorickey]

Originally posted by slugslugslug:
okay okay. but, below the screen, does it say "Powerbook" in Apple Garamond or that new Myriad variety? font geeks need to know!

(and I can't tell from the QTVR movie..)

Taken from the PR pictures at Apple....

[skyman]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
I finally got to get inside one of these today!

According to Apple's specifications, the new battery has 61 watt-hours of capacity. The older TiBooks only had 55 watt-hours, and the original ones only had 50.

Battery life is reported at 5:52 with the processor slowed and the screen dimmed. In DVD playback, the machine scored a respectable 2:59. This is real usage, not Apple claims.

The screen backlight is a new part, confirming my claim of brighter screens. The paint is in fact different, and the heat pipe inside the unit is significantly thicker and more effective.

The fans in the unit are louder, but they seldom activate. Overall, the machine runs cooler.

Sorry, guys. I got DDR memory and DDR cache mixed up. The machine in fact does not have DDR. However, the SuperDrive availability was shocking!

The new release is pretty much everything I cracked it up to be, isn't it?

Thanks Sean!!

[mrmister]

Are the batteries compatible with older PBG4's?

[seanyepez]

Yes, they are. However, older PowerBook batteries are about 20% smaller in capacity.

[seanyepez]

As I said in the rumor threads, the keyboard has been rececessed ever so slightly so screen protectors are no longer necessary to keep marks off the screen.

[iBorg]

Tell us about the paint - does it look any different? Feel different? What'd they do different?



iBorg

[Leia Shoots Like a Girl]

For the record I only heard the Ti I use at work fan kick in once when I was running the aquarium screensaver for half an hour. Ya it was loud but as soon as I started working in Photoshop and Quark again it shut off (or went on slow mode). Not a peep since.

[DigitalDNA]

Originally posted by gorickey:


Taken from the PR pictures at Apple....

Can anyone post pics side by side for kicks and giggles. I dont remember what the other revisions looked like.

Thanks!

[azark]

Apple Garamond looks better than Myriad!

Anyway, it's the only thing that doesn't please me with this upgrade! Not bad ;-)

Thanks to the rumors forum, specially this one and the Sean's messages, I waited two weeks to buy! Thanks to you guys!

I sold my Ti 550 for a VERY good price (the guy took it the day before the release!! :-).
I just ordered the 1Ghz/Combo/1Ghz RAM now.
500 � cheaper than the 800!!!
Superdrive is not really usefull for me and I don't want to wait the 3-5 weeks (maybe more I guess!).

Apple did a great job on this one!

[robby818]

Sean,
If you learned more about the paint on the updated powerbooks please let us know. From the photos, it seems like the color is a bit more silver.

[rm199]

i wonder if the new 1ghz with its larger capacity battery will have a longer run time or if they will cancel each other out... I can almost get through a flight to nyc with the dvi667 but need to keep another battery handy usually. If the 1ghz can equal or better that theyve done well. my wintel laptop needs two full batteries for the same trip - and its heavy and nasty...

RM

[dr. zoidberg]

thanks sean for those details... and thanks for initially sharing your inside information! i�ve been waiting for months now to be able to retire my good ol' pismo/400, and i�m happy to see that apple didn�t let us down with this great update. the prices are good either, so i think i�ll place my order very soon.

now i wonder how the performance of one of these puppies will be compared to my quicksilver/733...

[jhunt5247]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
The screen backlight is a new part, confirming my claim of brighter screens. The paint is in fact different, and the heat pipe inside the unit is significantly thicker and more effective.

Is there any information about this online? I sure hope your right about the paint and more effective heat pipe.

I got he 1ghz machine with 1 gig of memory, and let the superdrive go since it was 3-4 week wait. I just honestly had no need for it. Besides the combo drive has a faster DVD player - 8x, vs the superdrives 6x. Not a worthwhile note, but I will be much more likely to play DVD's rather than burn them.

Yeah Apple, did a wonderful thing, I am in shock mostly about the video card. Looks like your source was using the 867 model with 32 megs of memory. Seems you were correct about a lot of the specs, just wrong about the dates. It's all moot now though!

[UnixMac]

Sean you have been right on the money (IMHO).

I wonder if you can expand a bit on the tech improvements. Is there "more" metal and less plastic inside to make it dissapate heat better?

Is the CPU cooled differently than the 800?

Have you touched the new paint?

[Podolsky]

The bigger fan, battery, the improved heat sink and video all sound like they anticipate 1.25mhz cpu. Not to be ungrateful over this truely awesome upgrade, but what can we look for in the future

[Eug]

Besides the combo drive has a faster DVD player - 8x, vs the superdrives 6x. Not a worthwhile note, but I will be much more likely to play DVD's rather than burn them.

Well, you only need 1X to play DVDs. Nothing wrong with the combo drive though. I betcha it will be a lot easier to find a region free firmware for that than for the new SuperDrive, for now.

[domymel]

I have two real beginner questions:

1. since Apple says it is a dvd-r drive, is it true that you can burn dvd-rw�s as well, just with another program than idvd (toast for example)?

2. if one wants to make a copy of his own dvd, are there tools to rip movies and compress them(because as far as I know a lot of the movies are bigger than 4,7 GB)?

Thanks in advance

[emerrill]

Originally posted by domymel:
I have two real beginner questions:

1. since Apple says it is a dvd-r drive, is it true that you can burn dvd-rw�s as well, just with another program than idvd (toast for example)?

2. if one wants to make a copy of his own dvd, are there tools to rip movies and compress them(because as far as I know a lot of the movies are bigger than 4,7 GB)?

Thanks in advance

As for DVD-RW it depends on what drive model it is based off of.

On the copy dvd's front, not really that i know of, unless you go like divx

[Robo-X]

Combo drive can read DVDs, CDs and burn CD-RWs.

SuperDrive can read DVD, CDs and burn DVDs and CD-RWs.

//Rob

[emerrill]

Here is a compairison, new on top.

[riverfreak]

From Eug's DVD-R FAQ:

Can I record DVDs on my laptop?

Yes! Generally, to record DVD on a laptop one would need to use an external drive, connected to a Firewire or USB 2 port on the laptop. This port can be either built-in or on an add-in PCMCIA adapter card. Also, new laptops have appeared which include DVD burners as the primary optical drive.

Hey Eug -

Looks like it's time to upgrade your DVD-R FAQ to include those laptops that have slot-loading DVD-R's!!

river

[DigitalDNA]

Originally posted by emerrill:
Here is a compairison, new on top.

Thanks... tough call which I like better.

[RoofusPennymore]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
As I said in the rumor threads, the keyboard has been rececessed ever so slightly so screen protectors are no longer necessary to keep marks off the screen.

This is good news indeed. This laptop looks like it will last me a good long time.

[Eug]

Originally posted by riverfreak:
Looks like it's time to upgrade your DVD-R FAQ to include those laptops that have slot-loading DVD-R's!!

river

Heh. Nah, I'll leave it as is. I make no reference to tray loading vs. slot loading in the FAQ.

By the way, for the people who are wondering. We cannot know what DVD formats the SuperDrive supports (besides DVD-R) for burning, until we know what part is being used. However, I'd bet it's the Pioneer, with DVD-R and DVD-RW burning support. No DVD-RAM though.

I guess I will know for sure in 4 weeks...

if one wants to make a copy of his own dvd, are there tools to rip movies and compress them(because as far as I know a lot of the movies are bigger than 4,7 GB)?

Yes, but it's a pain in the @ss, and you potentially lose quality of course. I'd rather spend the $15 on the DVD.

[SOLIDAge]

Originally posted by DigitalDNA:


Thanks... tough call which I like better.

oh please guys
if you're torn between purchasing it and NOT
and the font is holding you up, just buy the damned thing!!
I really hope to get a 1 Gig soon after selling my Ti 400

[Mac Zealot]

OMG! Thanks sean, I sooooooooooooooooooooo want one now!!!!!!!!

It has every single thing I want o_O

[pdagal]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
I finally got to get inside one of these today!

The fans in the unit are louder, but they seldom activate. Overall, the machine runs cooler.

I picked up the 867 model yesterday at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, and it's awesome. Wish I could've coughed up the bucks for the 1 gig, but this thing is quite fast.

The fan comes on more frequently than it did with the 667DVI (esp. when installing software, doing tasks that involve frequent disk access, using Photoshop intensively or playing Civ III). It comes on more when plugged in (I imagine, as with most laptops, it's setup to use the fan more generously when plugged into AC). The fan is quieter than the 667DVI, and I was wondering if it's a 2 speed job, and has so far only kicked in at low speed.

The bottom of the unit does NOT get as hot as the DVI doing comparable tasks. Way cool, er excuse the pun. It runs cooler than my co-worker's 1.1 GHz Compaq notebook, and is much quieter.

[rm199]

thats good news i cant wait to see how the 1ghz goes for heat. I dont usually have it on my lap, more like the tray table on the plane or on a desk. The silence is just perfect, some collegues have thinkpads and they are almost rude to use in a meeting due to the noise.

RM

[MilesWho]

"The screen backlight is a new part, confirming my claim of brighter screens. The paint is in fact different, and the heat pipe inside the unit is significantly thicker and more effective."

How do you know any of this? And how do we know the paint doesn't chip/bubble if these machines haven't been on the market for any length of time yet? Are there any pics to confirm the change in the heat pipe, or the change in the keyboard (I really couldn't tell much of a difference in the pics above)? I want you to be correct about all this, but I need more than a "see, I told you so!" Any help here?

Thanks in advance...

[robbieG4]

Originally posted by pdagal:


I picked up the 867 model yesterday at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, and it's awesome. Wish I could've coughed up the bucks for the 1 gig, but this thing is quite fast.

The fan comes on more frequently than it did with the 667DVI (esp. when installing software, doing tasks that involve frequent disk access, using Photoshop intensively or playing Civ III). It comes on more when plugged in (I imagine, as with most laptops, it's setup to use the fan more generously when plugged into AC). The fan is quieter than the 667DVI, and I was wondering if it's a 2 speed job, and has so far only kicked in at low speed.

The bottom of the unit does NOT get as hot as the DVI doing comparable tasks. Way cool, er excuse the pun. It runs cooler than my co-worker's 1.1 GHz Compaq notebook, and is much quieter.

Thanks for the update on the heat issues.

How about the paint? Does it seem different or anymore durable?

Screen brightness?

Any other observations would be great.

Thanks Rob

[DigitalDNA]

Originally posted by solidage:


oh please guys
if you're torn between purchasing it and NOT
and the font is holding you up, just buy the damned thing!!
I really hope to get a 1 Gig soon after selling my Ti 400

You are a complete retard. No one said anything about buying a Ti based on the font. I merely said I'm not sure which of the fonts I liked better. A simple comparison of fonts, nothing more, nothing less. The blatent use of the smiley should have been your first clue but then again some ppl are not perceptive <--- note the smiley

[slugslugslug]

Hmm. If you look at http://www.apple.com/powerbook/superdrive.html or http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html , there's a laundry list of media presented about the SuperDrive. Both pages mention DVD-R, CD-R, and CD-RW, but don't say anything at all about DVD-RW.

For what it's worth, though, the corresponding Power Mac pages (here and here) also don't mention DVD-RW, while Eug's post implies that they can write it..

Not sure how important this is to most folks, but it seems like it'd be nice to reuse a piece of media for doing periodic backups..

Maybe seanyepez or JayTi can tell us something definitive..

Originally posted by Eug:

By the way, for the people who are wondering. We cannot know what DVD formats the SuperDrive supports (besides DVD-R) for burning, until we know what part is being used. However, I'd bet it's the Pioneer, with DVD-R and DVD-RW burning support. No DVD-RAM though.

..

[Eug]

Originally posted by slugslugslug:
Hmm. If you look at http://www.apple.com/powerbook/superdrive.html or http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html , there's a laundry list of media presented about the SuperDrive. Both pages mention DVD-R, CD-R, and CD-RW, but don't say anything at all about DVD-RW.

For what it's worth, though, the corresponding Power Mac pages (here and here) also don't mention DVD-RW, while Eug's post implies that they can write it..

Not sure how important this is to most folks, but it seems like it'd be nice to reuse a piece of media for doing periodic backups..

Maybe seanyepez or JayTi can tell us something definitive..

Yeah, it be nice to know what brand and model is being used, so that we can start looking for a region free hack...

[skyman]

Originally posted by DigitalDNA:


You are a complete retard. No one said anything about buying a Ti based on the font. I merely said I'm not sure which of the fonts I liked better. A simple comparison of fonts, nothing more, nothing less. The blatent use of the smiley should have been your first clue but then again some ppl are not perceptive <--- note the smiley

There are a vast majority of people that would be offended by your usage of the word "retard" when insulting someone. You should choose your words more carefully in the future.

[seanyepez]

Just finished taking a test on the computer. I now have some time to answer questions...

The backlight is in fact a new part. I don't have a picture of it. I might be able to get you one, though.

I obviously don't know how the painting process has changed specifically. I know the texture of the paint is slightly different, and it seems as if it was baked on the unit at a hotter temperature. The paint itself hasn't changed in appearance much.

It's a nice machine.

[seanyepez]

Originally posted by Podolsky:
The bigger fan, battery, the improved heat sink and video all sound like they anticipate 1.25mhz cpu. Not to be ungrateful over this truely awesome upgrade, but what can we look for in the future

Please don't start speculating about the next release. I'm really drained from getting you guys all the facts about this release.

I'm not going to start talking about the future of Apple's PowerBook line until I get more definitive information around February or March.

[iBorg]

Originally posted by slugslugslug:
Maybe seanyepez or JayTi can tell us something definitive..

I think JayTi may have opened a "can of worms!" Since he's the only one who already has 2 weeks experience with a new Ti, we're all waiting for his experiences to be posted!

JayTi: I can't remember if your "new" Ti has the SuperDrive - if so, can it do DVD-RW?



iBorg

[DVD Plaza]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
the SuperDrive availability was shocking!

Hardly - the drive itself has been ready for a few months now. Given everyone wants/needs it, that the PowerBook is fully capable of doing graphics/DVD production, and that the PowerBook has everything bar a SuperDrive and built-in Bluetooth it was a smart and obvious addition. Heck if even the iMac has a SuperDrive option then the PowerBook most definitely should.

[jambajooz]

Im actually torn on shelling out the $200 for the superdrive. Is it worth it for a sluggish 1x and a 4 week wait? Superdrive will be great but I think I'm gonna hold off on it and order a combo and get it in a few days

[hook]

I can't really afford to wait any longer, so I went for the 1ghz with combo drive (my PowerTower Pro tends to cough and weeze all day). Hoping to have it by the end of next week. However, according to the Macnn main page, it looks like Apple is getting ready to update these Superdrive's via a download. Might improve speeds and make it even more worthwhile.

[seanyepez]

Jay's PowerBook has a SuperDrive.

[dadder]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
Jay's PowerBook has a SuperDrive.

Hey Sean, is that a Craig Blacklock photograph in your sig from his 'Horizons' collection?

[JayTi]

There is a little trick to get the powerbook to work with DVD-RWs. It can be done alright, you just have to "trick" the machine into thinking its a DVD-R. Its not a hard trick...but if anyone REALLY wants to know, I'll post back.

[btober]

Originally posted by JayTi:
There is a little trick to get the powerbook to work with DVD-RWs. It can be done alright, you just have to "trick" the machine into thinking its a DVD-R. Its not a hard trick...but if anyone REALLY wants to know, I'll post back.

Of course we'd like to know! Why wouldn't you have just posted in this message?

Thanks for all your help, Sean! I've been in the market for a PowerBook for a couple of months now, and I'm glad I've waited. Will be ordering a 1 GHz/1 GB/60GB/SuperDrive as soon as my paycheck is deposited to my bank account! Yay!