Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

Big 'Book, Little 'Book

Dan Knight - 2003.01.08 - Tip Jar

I think Apple took most of us by surprise yesterday by not announcing speed bumped Power Macs, by not making changes to the iMac, and by showing off two new PowerBook G4 models.

Both new models have aluminum cases, support the new "five times as fast" AirPort Extreme protocol, and include the newest mobile graphics processor from nVidia. From there they diverge quite a bit.

17" PowerBook G4

iBook To Go Redux

Steve Jobs unveiled the original iBook as "an iMac to go." The behemoth 17" PowerBook G4 takes that quite literally, using the same 1440 x 900 pixel display as the 17" G4 iMac.

The über-PowerBook offers the same 1 GHz G4 processor, 1 MB level 3 cache, 1 GB memory ceiling, and SuperDrive as the former top-end PowerBook G4. Performance should be virtually identical, except that in the graphics department, the 17" model uses the new nVidia GeForce4 420 Go graphics processor.

Despite the use of lightweight aluminum, the new behemoth weighs 6.8 pounds (3.1 kg), 1.4 pounds (0.65 kg) more than the 15.2" model. It's also over 15" wide and 10" deep, while retaining the same 1" thinness of the TiBooks. You won't be using this on an airline snack tray.

Built into the 17" AlBook (as it has already been unofficially dubbed) is Bluetooth. This model also includes an AirPort Extreme card, which is backwards compatible with plain old AirPort. There's also a FireWire 800 port in addition to a regular 400 Mbps FireWire port.

This is Apple's first model with a backlit keyboard, which almost lead me to dub it the LumiBook (for aLUMInum and ilLUMInation), but I think AlBook (from the chemical symbol for aluminum) is already entrenched.

Besides the size and weight, the only real drawback to the new US$3,299 monster is the 4.5 hour battery life, a 30 minute drop from the 15.2" TiBook.

What about value? For US$400 more than the 15.2" 1 GHz PowerBook G4 you get Bluetooth (a US$50 option), AirPort Extreme instead of AirPort (expect Apple to change that on the old PB G4 soon if they haven't already), and that monstrously big display. If that additional 20% of screen space is important to you and the physical size of the computer isn't a liability, this is as good a value as the 1 GHz TiBook.

PowerBook G4

PowerBook Lite or iBook Plus?

It's a bit harder to know what to make of the 12" PowerBook G4. It has a G4, aluminum case, and nVidia graphics that supports monitor spanning, just like the big AlBook.

But in most other respects, it's a slimmed down iBook with a G4 processor. The thinner aluminum case is 1/6" (4 mm) thinner, 0.3" (8 mm) narrower, and 0.5" (11 mm) less deep than the iBook. This helps reduce the weight by 0.3 pounds (0.1 kg), making it the smallest, lightest 'Book Apple has ever produced.

Like the iBook, there is no level 3 cache in the small AlBook, nor can it be expanded to 1 GB of RAM like the other PowerBook G4 models. Instead, 128 MB is built into the 12" PowerBook, giving it a maximum complement of 640 MB.

Without a level 3 cache, performance should lag behind that of the 867 MHz PowerBook G4. Then again, the US$1,799 12" PowerBook also costs US$500 less. On the other hand, it's also $500 more than the 12" 800 MHz iBook.

It's much harder to place the value of the 12" PowerBook. Until now, the biggest PowerBook draw vs. the iBook was the megawide 15.2" display, not the G4 processor. By taking away that advantage and borrowing the overall design of the iBook, Apple has trimmed the price.

I think both new PowerBooks are going to be niche products. The big AlBook will be phenomenal for presentations, but rather impractical for use in transit. The little AlBook may well be the Cube of the lineup, filling an empty space between the iBook and the 867 MHz PowerBook G4.

I would much rather see a G3-based iBook with a 15.2" screen fill this space than a 12" PowerBook G4, but I really wonder if there's really a hole here that Apple needs to plug.

Still, the 12" PowerBook does have bragging rights as the smallest, lightest PowerBook ever. Maybe that will be the key to driving sales.

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.