mac ultra portable / tablet

[southerndoc]

I'm not as interested in a tablet as I am a rebirth of the 12" laptop. A 12" MacBook Pro would be ideal, especially if it contains a built-in iSight.

As an international disaster relief physician, I frequently travel to third world countries providing aid. It's easier to tote my 12" Powerbook over the past two years compared to my pre-Mac days (a heavy 15" Dell). The 15" Dell is about as wide as the current MacBooks, so there is no way I'm "upgrading" to a MacBook until a 12" version is made.

 

[szsiddiq]

Silentwave, not sure that your example is really that applicable to what we're talking about.. the issue of vertical vs horizontal mounted drives is not a major design concept IMHO...rather a technical issue that probably at the time that Stevo said it was not worked out well and then later it got solved.

That to me is a much different issue than how one should or shouldn't interact with their computing device, ie keyboard vs handwriting, etc...much larger fundamental philosophical issue of how you can use a computer....

he also said people would never want to watch video on their ipods. hmmm

the dislike for the newton is understandable. As much as some loved it, it was one of the ugliest things apple's ever made. at the time, there was less you could do without a keyboard, and the technology has advanced a lot. Also, a convertable tablet can include a keyboard. IMHO the Sony UX handheld is one of the most amazing peices of tech out there, and is relatively cheap, considering its tiny size. Apple often takes sony products and kicks em up several notches, im sure they could do it here.


also, onscreen keyboard programs, such as keystrokes, make really good keyboard substitutions, for when you'd really need a keyboard on a touch screen. they take up screen realistate, but for me its a good solution.

 

[ero87]

just because Tablets aren't popular now, doesn't mean they can't be done well.

e.g., the ipod! mp3 players really weren't popular in the pre-iPod era, because no one had done it right!

 

[SMM]

PLACE YOUR BETS PLEASE!, ok so, just read something about someone bitching about no 12" macbook / pro, and i thought, it is strange that apple stopped the 12" version, im pretty sure it was a strong seller, anyhow, i got to thinking, this along with the plethora of patents and the coming of leopard with 'secret features' leads me to believe this product, 'ultra portable' or 'tablet', or optical drive-less lappy, will be with us VERY shortly, either spring or jan (if apple decide to surprise us and microsoft with an early release) we all know something is coming right? gonna be a bust year for apple, and a damn expensive one for me lol

I wrote about this a couple time recently. The market is wide-open for a quality, innovative product to come forth. There has been a number of related posts to indicate something may be afoot.

 

[YS2003]

I hope Apple will make the pro-grade ultra-portable which can be competitive against Sony TX series. Sony TX is pricey; but, this is one of the notebook computers I would consider if I am in the market for Windows computer.

 

[szsiddiq]

I hope Apple will make the pro-grade ultra-portable which can be competitive against Sony TX series. Sony TX is pricey; but, this is one of the notebook computers I would consider if I am in the market for Windows computer.

I heart vaio notebooks. I hope Apple buys Sony's notebook division one day.

 

[grafikat]

I know that Apple received a patent for a tablet in 2005. So, perhaps it is not dead....

I would love a UMPC. I'm looking at the pepperpad, as it it Linux based.

 

[SMM]

PLACE YOUR BETS PLEASE!, ok so, just read something about someone bitching about no 12" macbook / pro, and i thought, it is strange that apple stopped the 12" version, im pretty sure it was a strong seller, anyhow, i got to thinking, this along with the plethora of patents and the coming of leopard with 'secret features' leads me to believe this product, 'ultra portable' or 'tablet', or optical drive-less lappy, will be with us VERY shortly, either spring or jan (if apple decide to surprise us and microsoft with an early release) we all know something is coming right? gonna be a bust year for apple, and a damn expensive one for me lol

Very similar to a post I made a couple weeks back. I agree with you that there is good circumstantial evidence this product may be in the works. I think there is a strong market for it.

 

[grafikat]

I knew someone would do it sooner or later:


http://onlyumpc.com/news/mac-os-x-on-asus-r2h#more-394

 

[Gosh]

Mac Mini based 8" Tablet

I think this guy has got it spot on actually http://www.petergreen.org/
His Mac Min Portable Project (tab): MMP mkIII Tablet.

When you think about it it perfectly fills a gap in the range without overlap.