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The Titanium PowerBook
2001.01.10 -
Steve Jobs' "one more thing" at the 2001 Macworld Expo pretty much
blew everyone away: the PowerBook
G4.
Sure, thanks to the rumor sites we expected a G4 processor,
assuming Motorola could finally produce a low power version.
And
we all expected something thinner and lighter - that's the ongoing
trend in laptops.
Beyond that, we'd heard rumors of a more compact PowerBook, a
wide-screen PowerBook, a PowerBook that somehow was the portable
equivalent of the Cube. But for the most part, we got more than we
expected with the PowerBook G4.
The first thing you'll notice: the new PowerBook isn't black. It's
a silvery titanium. It's gorgeous.
Your next impression might be that it seems bigger than recent
PowerBooks, especially that 15.2" 1152 x 768 screen. Where Pismo
was 12.7" wide and 10.4" deep, the G4 is 13.5" wide but just 9.5"
deep.
That's not the only way the G4 is smaller: it's just one inch
thick, compared to a bulky 1.7" for the Pismo. The titanium PowerBook
is also lighter, just 5.2 pounds compared with 6.1 pounds for the
Pismo with DVD installed.
Speaking of DVD, the PowerBook G4 has a built-in DVD drive, not a
removable one. That helps keep size and weight down. It also makes
the PowerBook G4 the only new model that can't burn CD-R and CD-RW
with an internal drive.
The screen is a full two-page display, 1152 x 768 pixels. It's not a
monstrous as the 1280 x 1024 displays on a few top-end, high-priced
Windows laptops, but it's also the "best" resolution for a good
quality 19" color monitor. For me, the PB G4 will be an excellent
replacement for my humongous SuperMac
S900 (with G3/333 upgrade) and 19" monitor. I only wish there
were some way to buy one today.
The PowerBook G4 has a full-sized keyboard with a speaker on each
side, since there's no room for anything next to the LCD panel.
The icing on the cake: you still get a five-hour battery in this
thin computer. And, of course, it runs Mac OS 9.1 and will run OS X
when it ships in March.
The features, the design, the capabilities, the looks - it all
adds up to a package that will make a lot of road warriors happy and
may finally give owners of earlier G3 PowerBooks a reason to upgrade.
Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05.
Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04.
Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work
for all. Computers are like that. Please report errors to .
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And
we all expected something thinner and lighter - that's the ongoing
trend in laptops.
