Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by
Dan Knight
- 2005.10.07
This Week's PowerBook, iBook, and Notebook News
General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod news is covered
in The iNews Review. News about
Apple's transition to Intel CPUs and other Intel developments is
covered in The Macintel Report.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News & Opinion
Reviews
Products and Services
News & Opinion
Why You Need FireWire 800 for Your External
7200 rpm Drive
Bare Feats reports:
"Unless you are putting it inside your PowerBook, be sure to get
a FireWire 800 enclosure for your new 2.5" 7200 rpm drive. The 4200
rpm and 5400 rpm notebook drives don't go any faster in FW800 mode
than they do in FW400 mode. But the 7200 rpm notebook drives are a
different story. By moving our 2.5" 7200 rpm Seagate Momentus 100
GB drive from a FW400 case to a FW800 case, we gained 15% in read
speed and 26% in write speed. Compared to the 5400 rpm drive in a
FireWire case, we gained 28% in read speed and 37% in write speed.
Take a look and read our full review of the Seagate Momentus."
Toshiba to Show Slim HD DVD Drive for
Laptops
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Toshiba will this week demo a slimline optical drive for
notebook computers that will provide an HD DVD playback
capability.
"In addition to HD DVD playback, the drive supports 8x DVD-ROM,
24x CD-ROM, 3x DVD-RAM, 4x DVD-R/RW, 4x DVD-R dual-layer, 4x
DVD+R/RW, 2.4x DVD+R dual-layer, 16x CD-R and 10x CD-RW - so it's
got every format covered except Blu-ray, natch."
LG to Ship Notebook Fuel Cell in 12 Months
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"LG will be the first company to commercialise a portable
fuel-cell system for notebook computers within a year, the company
has pledged.
"Developed by LG subsidiary LG Chem, the fuel cell comprises a
reaction vessel and removable 200cc methanol fuel reservoir.
Together, they can generate 25W of power for more than ten hours.
The cell itself lasts for more than 4000 hours - eight times longer
than competing products, LG Chem claimed.
"Designed for notebooks, the fuel cell will also be able to
power handheld devices such as portable media players and mobile
phones, LG Chem said, by connecting to their USB ports."
A Laptop for Every Student
fcw.com's Dibya Sarkar reports:
"Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wants every middle and high
school student in the state to get a laptop computer.
"Under a plan Romney proposed last week, Massachusetts would
also add 1,000 new math and science teachers by creating a teaching
corps to encourage students to enter those disciplines. He said the
proposed bill, which includes other education initiatives, would
improve the national and international academic standing of
Massachusetts students."
Hard Drives: Hardly Extinct
IDG News Service's Martyn Williams reports:
"Hard-disk drive technology is anything but dead and isn't in
danger of being replaced by memory chips anytime soon, an executive
of drive-maker Seagate Technologies says.
"The comment, perhaps not surprising given that hard-disk drives
are Seagate's bread-and-butter, were in response to a prediction
made by the head of Samsung's chip division that flash memory is on
course to replace other forms of data storage technology,
especially in portable devices.
"'When Samsung said hard disks are dead, I think they were being
completely irresponsible, extremely short-sighted and simply
weren't telling the truth,' said Rob Pait, director of global
consumer electronics marketing at Seagate, in an interview at the
Ceatec Japan 2005 trade show here. 'It may be that one day flash
memory will be all that we need, but one day we will be able to
take tourist trips to Mars.'"
Reviews
12" iBook G4 Much Improved
PC Magazine's Cisco Cheng reports:
"The latest Apple iBook
(12-inch) may look the same on the outside, but some
significant changes inside make it all the more impressive.
Upgrades like a processor bump, added hard drive space, and more
memory, along with several features passed down from the PowerBook
- like a scroll touchpad and hard drive protection - greatly boost
the Apple iBook's value, especially considering that the price
remains the same low $999."
14" iBook G4 Almost Perfect
The Sydney Morning Herald's David Flynn reports:
"You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly
judge a notebook by its price tag - even when it comes from Apple.
While there are several brand-name notebooks cheaper than the iBook, few are better. This was
never more so than with the latest version of Apple's laptop, which
is essentially last season's model with every 'optional upgrade'
box ticked. The result is a lot more dash for your dollar.
"Previous iBooks were rightly criticised for their meagre 256 MB
of memory which seriously hobbled the notebook's performance in
even day-to-day tasks, but with this now doubled to 512 MB, the new
machines turn zzzz into zoom."
Products and Services
MCE Ships 100 GB/7200 RPM Upgrade for
'Books
PR: MCE Technologies, LLC has added a 100 GB hard drive
with a fast rotational speed of 7200 RPM to their MobileStor line
of PowerBook, iBook and Mac mini hard drive upgrades. The MCE
MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM drive is the highest performance drive
available at the 100 GB capacity for the Apple PowerBook and sports
an 8 MB cache buffer.
The drive has a suggested retail price of $399 and is available
for immediate shipment.
"Our new MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM drive is the ideal pairing
of speed with capacity and makes light work out of any data
intensive task the PowerBook G4 might give it during video editing,
DVD creation, image retouching or otherwise," stated Arnold
Ramirez, president of MCE.
The MCE MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM PowerBook hard drive upgrade
is compatible with all Apple PowerBook G4 models, and can also be
installed into any iBook G4, PowerBook G3, iBook G3, and Mac mini
models.
The MCE MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM PowerBook hard drive's most
impressive feature besides its sheer capacity is its rotational
speed of 7200 RPM. This gives the drive the ability to have
sustained data transfer rates of over to 75 MB per second with
burst transfer rates of up to 100 MB per second.
The drive is also designed with an 8 MB read and write cache
buffer. This allows the drive to anticipate which data will be
requested next by the PowerBook, and the drive will preload this
data into its high-speed buffer. If the PowerBook does request this
preloaded data then the drive responds immediately, transmitting
the data from its super-fast memory buffer, completely eliminating
the latency involved in having to search for the data on its disk.
The larger the cache, the greater chance the data will already be
preloaded. Since most drives include only a 2 MB buffer, the
MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM's 8 MB buffer gives it a further
performance advantage.
The MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM drive's fluid dynamic bearing
technology reduces acoustic noise by up to 20% over drives without
this feature. The drive also features a low-power idle mode to help
conserve PowerBook battery life during non-hard drive intensive
activities.
The MCE MobileStor 100 GB/7200 RPM PowerBook hard drive upgrade
has a suggested retail price of $399 and includes an illustrated
installation guide and an installation kit containing the tools
needed to properly install the drive. More information can be found
online.
MaxProtect II: Impact Resistant Rigid Case for
PowerBooks
PR: MaxProtect
II is an impact resistant rigid case for the PowerBook 17/15/12
inch models, its unique design offer maximum protection against
shock and impact by restricting the movement of the laptop by
providing just fit cushioned interior space for the PowerBook.
Features:
- Synthetic Leather.
- Lowest Size/Weight Ratio.
- Cushioned Velvet Interior for Scratch Protection.
- Handle for Portability.
- Interior and Exterior Cushioning
- Slim Design.
- Unsurpassed Rigidity.
- Link:
MaxProtect II: Impact Resistant Rigid Case for Apple
PowerBooks
Bargain 'Books
Bargain 'Books are used unless otherwise indicated. New and
refurbished units have a one-year Apple warranty and are eligible
for AppleCare.
There are two different versions of WallStreet running at 233
MHz, the cacheless MainStreet
version and the later Series II
with a level 2 cache. It's not always possible to determine from
the vendor's listing which is being offered, so we've included
links within this paragraph to the two models. The same goes for
the PowerBook G4/667 (VGA) and
G4/667 (DVI), the titanium vs.
aluminum 15" PowerBook G4 at 1 GHz, and 1.25 GHz to 1.5 GHz
15" PowerBooks.
- refurb 12" iBook G4/800
MHz, 256/30/Combo, $649
- refurb 12" iBook G4/1.2
GHz, 256/30/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $749
- refurb 14" iBook G4/1.33
GHz, 256/60/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $899
- refurb 12" PowerBook G4/1
GHz, 256/40/Combo, $999
- refurb 12" PowerBook G4/1
GHz, 256/40/SuperDrive, $1,049
- refurb 15" PowerBook G4/1
GHz, 256/60/Combo, $1,299
- refurb 15" PowerBook G4/1.33
GHz, 256/60/Combo, AirPort Extreme, $1,449
- refurb 17" PowerBook G4/1.5
GHz, 512/80/SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme, $1,949
- used 12" PowerBook G4/1
GHz, 256/40/Combo, Mac OS X, $829.99
- Upgrade to Super Drive, $129.99
- Add 512 MB RAM with purchase of machine (total of 768 MB),
$59.99
For more deals on current or recently discontinued models, see
our best aluminum PowerBook G4
deals, best titanium PowerBook G4
deals, best iBook G4 deals,
best PowerBook G3 deals, and best iBook G3 deals.
