Second Impressions...

[Mac Me Up]

For those of you not in the know, I bought a 15 inch Powerbook with superdrive about two weeks ago. My first impressions were literally *wow* this thing is awesome...so I just thought I'd share my second impressions, which can be summarised as *wow...but*.

Firstly let me say that I still love my Mac, but there are some down sides. I have an intel Centrino notebook as well, and compared to it the powerbooks wireless reception is lousy. At distances where my PC easily get's 80% reception, the powerbook struggles around 20%-50% and even keeps dropping out. I can probably fix this by moving my wireless access point, but it's annoying. Heat is also a real issue, this thing heats up like crazy if you're doing anything remotely intensive...and it really is too hot to have on your lap, even with pants on...I haven't tried but I reckon I could fry eggs on the sucker!

The last downer would be getting used to OSX after so many years of windows, in general it is more intuitive and slick, but don't be fooled, it does have it's down sides. I like the thumbnail view in XP better than the OSX one (because it puts too much space around each icon), and things like not being able to create two folders with the same name in iPhoto seem a bit silly (even if the folders are located in two completely different places!).

To end on a good note: I love the iCandy, Spotlight, Automator (though it needs heaps more automations) and most of OSX.

So if you're thinking of buying a powerbook for the first time, make an informed decision, and consider how you'll be using it as well.

 

[Demon Hunter]

...I haven't tried but I reckon I could fry eggs on the sucker!

http://prometheus.idea-digital.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=214

Enjoy.

 

[yellow5]

I have an intel Centrino notebook as well, and compared to it the powerbooks wireless reception is lousy. At distances where my PC easily get's 80% reception, the powerbook struggles around 20%-50% and even keeps dropping out. I can probably fix this by moving my wireless access point, but it's annoying.

This is because the PowerBooks are made out of aluminum which definatly effects their wireless ability. The iBooks on the other hand get great reception...

 

[FFTT]

It will be interesting to see if Apple moves to carbon fiber for the next generation.

Mac Me Up, I've been on a Mac since the beginning and I still learn something new about these machines and the OS almost on a daily basis.

Once you really know your way around and understand the way things are
organized, your general computing experience should be quite favorable.

 

[Bern]

HHhhmm cartoonish looking XP icons or excellent graphics in OS X?

 

[slipper]

Carbon fiber seems like the next step however coming from a corporate standpoint i can never see it working out. CF is extremely expensive and cost around $50 per square foot. Also any type of fiber material is extremely cumbersome to work with especially with a small form factor. Nice to dream though.

 

[SpaceMagic]

Carbon fiber seems like the next step however coming from a corporate standpoint i can never see it working out. CF is extremely expensive and cost around $50 per square foot. Also any type of fiber material is extremely cumbersome to work with especially with a small form factor. Nice to dream though.

Carbon fiber would be a rubbish matterial to make laptops out of. Carbon fibre is extremely strong but only horizontally. That means, yeh, it'll withstand two screaming 12 year old girls pulling over it, but it'll dent extremely easily if it drops.

 

[Chundles]

Carbon fiber would be a rubbish matterial to make laptops out of. Carbon fibre is extremely strong but only horizontally. That means, yeh, it'll withstand two screaming 12 year old girls pulling over it, but it'll dent extremely easily if it drops.

It won't dent, it'll shatter.

And it's a terrible conductor of heat, you'd need a stack more fans and heat sinks inside to get all the excess heat out. The aluminium may get hot but wrapped in Carbonfibre, everything inside would just melt - you'd have the first PowerBook you can pour into a glass.

 

[robcts]

Enjoy your PowerBook

 

[skubish]

Cabon fiber will never happen.
Too expense
Can't mold it as easily as plastic or aluminum.
Needs to be painted to look nice.

 

[FFTT]

Thanks for the feedback on carbon fiber.

So if Titanium and Aluminum are causing scratches, dents and reduced WiFi reception compared to an iBook, would it be better to go with plastic?

One of the major cosmetic attractions to the PowerBook
is the slick professional aluminum casing.

So what material would you suggest?

 

[slipper]

Carbon fiber would be a rubbish matterial to make laptops out of. Carbon fibre is extremely strong but only horizontally. That means, yeh, it'll withstand two screaming 12 year old girls pulling over it, but it'll dent extremely easily if it drops.

Where the hell did you get that from? CF will not shatter, it'll crack but beyond the threshold of when aluminum or steel of the similar weight collapses.

 

[emoore3]

Where the hell did you get that from? CF will not shatter, it'll crack but beyond the threshold of when aluminum or steel of the similar weight collapses.

I agree. I use a carbon fiber softball bat. It has not broken or cracked in over 2 years. I think the softball bat will get more abuse than a powerbook. Granted the carbon fiber of the bat might be reinforced but so could a powerbook.

 

[FFTT]

I know zip about carbon fiber, but wonder if the comment above about painting is true or if color can be infused into the material.

It would be great if you could gently polish out any
flaws in the finish.

I've also toyed with the concept of a polished aluminum exterior with turned brush metal accents
around the keyboard.

Very much a machined look.

I would also like to see at least a prototype PowerBook using exotic woods such as birds eye maple, burled walnut, rosewood, teak and ebony.

 

[Mac Me Up]

That post about Bacon is pretty funny!

Don't get me wrong, like I said I really do like my Powerbook, but it would be silly of me to pretend that in some ways my centrino notebook is not superior. I guess I was a bit shocked to find that some things are easier to do in Windows than OSX, but I shouldn't have been, it only stands to reason that they both have their good and bad points, with OSX obviously having a lot more good than Windows.

 

[FFTT]

One benefit you have will be knowing both Windows AND OSX.

The hardware will always get better as well as the continued growth
of cross platform applications.

In a few years when you're ready to replace your Powerbook,
what you're learning now will be invaluable when you make your next
purchasing decision.

If the upcoming Intel based product are truly dual bootable, there's no limit to what you'll be able to do on one machine.

What applications are you trying to work with currently?

What is the Windows verson?

There's probably an OSX alternative for most anything a normal user needs to do.

 

[Mac Me Up]

What applications are you trying to work with currently?

What is the Windows verson?

There's probably an OSX alternative for most anything a normal user needs to do.

I'm using Windows XP, and strangely enough I'm having issues with iPhoto on the Mac. On my windows machine, I'd make a new folder for each month, and then categorise my folders how I wanted. I'd also make the equivalent of iPhoto Albums by taking a copy of those folders and deleting all but the most interesting of photos. I'd use the thumbnail view to get something pretty similar to how iPhoto shows photos on the right hand side. If I wanted to quickly resize and email them, windows XP would do it for me automatically (allowing me to choose the resolution) when I right-click and choose send as mail attachment, and leaving my originals intact.

Now I've come to import these into iPhoto, and there seem to be a few down sides:
- iPhoto doesn't let you create 2 folders with the same name, even if they are in different places. Same for albums. This is pretty annoying.
- I can't seem to find a way to delete something directly from an album. If I drag it to the trash, it's removed, but stays in my library.
- The thumbnail view in OSX finder is not as good as XP's, and if you resize the window you're working in, the icons don't automatically fill the newly available space.

Perhaps there's a workaround for these problems? Does anyone know where I can find a good iPhoto tutorial...I'm sure I must be missing something.

 

[FFTT]

You have a great free app in your Utilities folder called Graphics Converter.
Grab a few photo's and give it a try.

I'm not very familiar with iPhoto cataloging but ChipNova should be able to help you with any photo related questions.

There's probably a good solution out there.

Try PMing him.

If you currently are licensed to own Adobe Photoshop, Adobe
should be able to provide you with a Mac version for cost of shipping.

I just went to MacUpdate.com and searched "photo"

you might want to check out a few of the offerings.

http://www.macupdate.com/search.php?keywords=photo&os=macosx&button.x=0&button.y=0

 

[slipper]

I know zip about carbon fiber, but wonder if the comment above about painting is true or if color can be infused into the material.

Carbon fiber looks great unpainted. in fact most people add aftermarket carbon fiber parts to their cars unpainted, its almost sacrilegious to cover it. besides its too much work to paint CF properly. the carbon fiber weave leave a bumpy pattern on its surface and requires a lot of prep work.

heres a race car made completely of carbon fiber. it shattered a previous record at the tsukuba race track ofjapan on its first run by 2 seconds and has since been retired.