A Developer's Perspective on Apple's 12-inch PowerBook
Pages: 1, 2
Keyboard
You'll experience one of the real joys of PowerBook computing when you first use the keyboard.
The keys are the same size as those of a regular desktop keyboard, and they are a pleasure to type with. I'm usually very skeptical of notebook keyboards, but this one is a winner.
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However, there were a couple of tradeoffs to get those full-sized keys into such a small space, and a few keys were sacrificed. The arrow keys and the function keys are all much smaller than regular ones. If your development work makes extensive use of them, be prepared for some frustrations.
Quick Reminder: You Now Also Have a $2,000 External Hard Disk. Most Mac users know that you can use your Mac as a secondary hard disk for another Mac when in FireWire target mode. There are times when this trick is quite handy, especially when adding a new computer to your Mac family. Simply connect two computers via a FireWire cable, and when the PowerBook is booting up, hold down its "T" key. Your PowerBook will then appear as a hard drive icon on the other Mac.
Using Multiple Screens
The 12" PowerBook comes with two video output adapters:
- S-Video output adapter
- VGA output adapter
Using the S-Video output adapter, you can connect the output of the PowerBook to a TV monitor, which is useful for multimedia presentations for medium-sized audiences.
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The VGA output adapter is useful for connecting the output of your PowerBook to another computer monitor. It supports video mirroring and dual display mode and allows you to extend the screen real estate of your Mac.
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Both the dual display and video mirroring modes simultaneously support resolutions of up to 1024 by 768 on the built-in display and up to 1600 by 1200 on an external display, both at millions of colors. To toggle between the two display modes, press F7.
One gripe I have with the built-in screen on the PowerBook is its resolution. At 1024 by 768, I would say this would be the minimum that I can accept for a portable computer. I usually run my desktop Mac at a much higher resolution, hoping to squeeze in as much screen real estate as possible. Of course, the answer would be to buy a larger 15" or 17" PowerBook (which both come with higher resolution), but that's not the point here.
One Hot Potato
What happens when you put a G4 processor in a small metal box and run it for hours? The term "I'm really cookin' now" takes on a whole new meaning. Maybe a key part of the PowerBook's design to augment heat dissipation is to use the attached human body as a heat sink. So be alerted that this machine gets toasty with use. I'd have to put this feature in the negative category except for laptop computing in Alaska, Sibera, and both of the poles.
Verdict
Overall, I like the 12" PowerBook very much. With its anodized aluminum casing and the glowing Apple logo on the back of the screen, this machine is quick to turn heads. It also packs quite a bit of computing power into a small package, so I can lug it anywhere and instantly become productive. Thanks to Mac OS X, it plays nice with the other kids regardless of the computing environment I find myself working in. And let's face it, for a G4 notebook with a SuperDrive, the price is good.
The 12" PowerBook is faster than an iBook, but not as fast as a top-of-the-line TiBook or 17" PowerBook. It's a great computer for on the go, but probably not a desktop replacement, as many developers are using TiBooks. I'd like to see a faster hard drive, more RAM capability (which may be coming), L3 cache, and some way to incorporate USB 2.0. A little more screen resolution would be appreciated, too.
One final thought, do not rest this PowerBook on bare skin while working. You've heard the stories!
Wei-Meng Lee (Microsoft MVP) http://weimenglee.blogspot.com is a technologist and founder of Developer Learning Solutions http://www.developerlearningsolutions.com, a technology company specializing in hands-on training on the latest Microsoft technologies.
Return to the Mac DevCenter.
Have you fired up one of these metal hot boxes? If so, tell us how it's working out for you.
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Showing messages 1 through 51 of 51.
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Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-04-28 06:07:23 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I have Sybase ASE 12.5 installed on my PB 12" G4. I use it in conjunction with Apache and the PHP 4 module. No problems here. Great performance from Apache and ASE. I don't get allot of requests for Java tools, but have compiled and worked on a bunch of RealBasic junk - also without problem. Huge performance increase from my PB G3. When in a cafe with WiFi, my AirPort ExTrEaM card was fine (no dead spots). Perl hums along like before (never had a problem and don't have one now). Really, everything works just like before just quicker. I'd give the box about a 60% visible performance hike over what I had.
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1-week into my new 12" PB G4
2003-04-28 06:02:53 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Wow, "love-it". Just replaced an aging PB G3 (14" Wallstreet) with a new PB G4 12". After stopping by the store a number of times to get a sense of screen and keyboard size in addition to feel, weight, and sterdyness. Anyway, I decided to try it. Purchased it about a week ago, and finally transferred my files this weekend.
My thoughts:
- Initially the machine was slow. Lots of little things gave me the technicolor ball. However, when I reformatted this weekend I noticed a hefty performance boost.
- I heard very-very bad things regarding the super drive so I went with the combo drive. Very-very nice! LOVE the slot load, its quiet, and burning CDs on site kicks ass!
- Screen tilt rocks, been on an airplane or train and you know what I'm talking about. This screen tilts in as it opens. So you can tilt it back further.
- No PCMCIA is kinda scary (especially for someone who holds machines for approx. 4-years). I hope my firewire, USB, and ethernet ports stay in vogue.
- Keyboard is mad-sexy! For those asking "What the hell does that mean?", they key feel, size, and spring back pressure are the best I've EVER felt.
- This isn't a desktop replacement. When I need lots "O" screen I use the home box, but for everything else this does the job. Very-very portable! Lots of features. Lots of power.
I would recommend it to friends.
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Sleeping beauty
2003-04-24 01:19:21 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
In the middle of compiling a piece of code, I have to get off the bus, I closed the lid and the PowerBook went to sleep. Arrived home, plug in the power, open the lid and in 2 seconds, viola! the compiling went on as if nothing has happened!
You don't shutdown a PowerBook, you just close the lid.
You don't startup a PowerBook, you just open the lid.
Unless you are days off without a charger.
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12" Powerbook didn't meet my needs
2003-04-09 10:12:25 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I recently upgraded from an iceBook to a 15" Powerbook G4. I really wanted the 12" (I still miss the compact package of my iBook), but it did not have a DVI connector! At the same time I bought the PB, I sold my G4 desktop, keeping the beautiful LCD Apple Studio display. Unfortunately, the only way I can drive this is with DVI output, so I was stuck buying a TiBook.
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SuperDrive
2003-03-30 09:35:02 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
"For external storage, I opted for the SuperDrive over the standard Combo Drive, which allows me to write DVDs at the speed of 2X."
I also have a 12" PB, with a SuperDrive, but, mine only burns DVDs at 1x. Do you have a firmware update that allows you to burn at 2x?
As a side note, the associate who sold me my computer let me buy a DVD-RW disk, but the 12" doesn't support RW. -
SuperDrive
2003-04-06 01:10:43 Wei-Meng Lee |
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Oops....I goofed. The Superdrive writes DVD at 1X and not 2X. Thanks to readers who pointed this out. My apologies!
regards,
Wei-Meng
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USB 2
2003-03-29 20:35:22 bumppo [Reply | View]
Should Apple uncharacteristically reverse course and add USB 2 support, or add a PC Card slot for your USB 2 card, where do you expect to find OS X drivers for USB 2 devices?
USB 2 support doesn't exist on the Mac, not because it poses a threat to Firewire, but because it's redundant in a product line that's featured Firewire from top to bottom for years.
It was inconceivable that they'd roll out any USB 2 support before Firewire 800 was released, and now it's merely not-bloody-likely. -
USB 2
2003-03-30 07:58:59 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
You're wrong.
If USB 2 is "redundant" why bother having USB ports at all? Just load up 3 FW ports. If it isn't redundant, why wouldn't Apple support the fastest version of a technology? It would be like saddling this machine with a video card that's two generations old. Oh wait, they do that too.
Apple's users need USB 2.0. Politics are stupid. -
USB 2
2003-03-30 09:41:16 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
USB 2 is redundant, because there is firewire. USB 1.1 is not because it would be silly to have a Firewire mouse, or keyboard, or anything that is USB 1.1 (except those things that have no business being USB 1.1 like HD's). Apple is doing a good job of promoting slow USB (kinda like ADB) and fast Firewire (Kinda like SCSI) -
USB 2
2003-04-01 15:15:47 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
UBS 2 would only be redundant if every device that could take advantage of the speed boost also supported Firewire. However, that is simply not the case.
Many UBS 1.1 devices are starting to support USB 2 or will support it as the only protocol in the near future. Most digital cameras fall into this category. Not supporting USB 2 as a "digital hub" is ridiculous.
Feel free to talk about the advantages of Firewire while transferring your 5MP photos over USB 1.1. I'll instead take the speed boost! -
USB 2 -- Here's why I think it's important
2003-03-30 08:08:34 Derrick Story |
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I'm actually using USB 2 on my TiBook with an IOGEAR PC Card and the latest drivers from Orange Micro. The reason why I think Mac users should have access to USB 2 is because its important to be able to use any external device you want. If there's a USB 2 hard drive at a great price, then why shouldn't you be able to buy it and save a few bucks? I'm against anything that makes Mac users second class citizens in the computing world.
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HD not slow
2003-03-29 16:24:20 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Look at some Xbench results for this PB. The HD is quite a bit faster than the one in the TiBook. Actually, it performs about as well as the 3.5 inch drive in my G4 tower (QS 867). Probably you could find a faster drive but this one is not slow.
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If I had it to do over...
2003-03-29 13:01:47 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
If I had it to do over, I'd definitely buy the 15", 1GHZ. I've been using mine heavily for three weeks straight, and the performance leaves much to be desired. I maxed it out to the 640MB and am relieved to hear there's a chance it can support more. Hearing all of the things it's missing makes me want a 15 even more. To the person running Visual C++ in a Virtual PC, I can barely stand running a web browser.
I'm pretty demanding when it comes to performance. At one point, I was running BEA WebLogic, Oracle, and a Virtual PC. And, I was building an app. Luckily, I code in vim.
On the bright side, It is cooler looking than the 15. It goes to sleep and wakes up in no time at all. It can sleep for a damned long time (easily overnight). The airport extreme and built-in bluetooth are damned cool. It doesn't wear on my shouler after standing in the airport for 4 hours like my old hunk of plastic used to. I can't emphasize how much I love that about it.
I plug it up to a 19" display and keyboard and mouse at work every day. I run it with the lid closed--haven't had great experiences with running the side by side displays. I guess I should play with it more. I need to figure out how to make the monitor the primary display. I just put it to sleep, plug everything up, hit a key, and it comes up after a few seconds.
-Bob -
If I had it to do over...
2003-03-31 11:08:06 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I just thought I'd post t reply to Bob's note;" If I had to do it Over".
I had plans to purchase a 800mhz i-book. I was at a local Compusa store and spent 2 hours comparing the i-books againt the 12" powerbook. When I found out they still had the 1ghz Titanuim 15" model avail at 2700, I opted for this for the following reasons.
I could not see myself with a 12" for internet use, this would force me into the extensive use of scroll bars. The 15" had had much better responsiveness with the level-3 cache and 1ghz processor. I also thought about Airport Extreme and Firewire 800 not on the Titanium. To me, this is a non-issue since I wouldn't notice the diference in speed using the Titanuim wireless in my home fpr internet use. The only time I would see the benefits would be file transfers between my desktop G4 and Laptop. I'm sure in the near future, Orange Micro or other vendors will offer a USB 2.0/Firewire 800 combo pcmcia card which will fulfill me needs if I should decide this is an option I could not live without.
My last consideration was waiting for the 17" PB which I consider a direct desktop replacement. As for my own needs, the 15" is the perfect portable screen size for portability. I am happy, I purchased the Titanium over the 17" for this reason alone. The 2x superdrive I could live without since most of the time spent between I movie to I-dvd is CPU intensive, with a burn time of 20 mins for a full 90 min DVD. The extra 10 mins saved with 1x v.s 2.x i could live with.
I've got to admit, I did love the keyboard on the 12" powerbook. My only wish is that Apple would build a 15" Titanium with the new 12" type of keyboard, USB 2.0, Firewire 800, 2x superdrive, and a dual processor PB would be awesome.
Ed -
If I had it to do over...
2003-03-31 15:09:11 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Agreed. I think in a few months I'll buy a 15 or 17 and give this one to my mom. The lack of responsiveness is *really* driving me nuts.
I'd try and take it back and exchange for a 15 now, but I'm sure there's a 30 day exchange policy (if that long). My 30 days will be up in a week and I'm stuck in Chicago for two weeks (my box and stuff is at home). Oh well. :(
I'd ship it to a family member, but then I'd be without a computer. I don't think my client would appreciate that. ;)
-Bob
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Slow hard drive?
2003-03-29 10:19:06 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
The reviewer appears to have fallen prey to the "RPM myth" which is the belief that faster RPM always equals faster hard drive. Apple and others have pointed out that the new 4200 RPM drives have higher density than older 5400 RPM drives and actually have a higher throughput than the 5400s. I haven't tested this myself, but this claim should have been tested by a reviewer.
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.Net Studio
2003-03-29 08:26:36 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Have you tried to run MS .Net Studio in VPC on this 12" PB? How is the performance? -
.Net Studio
2003-03-31 08:00:35 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
if you need to develop using some visual basic env. then why are you using a mac? it seems a bit ridiculous and hypocritical to use a mac when your developing in a mess of some ms programing. your just contributing to your own demise. if you want to develop on the mac, then use one of the many developing enviroments that mac uses.
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12" beauty
2003-03-28 20:04:14 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I've had mine for a month now, and I love it. I'm a college professor and I take it with me to plug in to the projector in classrooms. The video resolution is more than the projector so that's not a problem, and the classes all think it's funny when I'm running Visual C++ via Virtual PC on a Mac!
Bottom line is that I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. -
12" beauty
2003-03-29 08:48:58 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Yeah, that's HILARIOUS!!!
Oh wait, no it isn't. Why is that funny? I think it just proves you're an idiot: You could have spent half as much cash to get a real PC laptop that runs Visual C++ at faster speeds.
Maybe they're laughing AT you. Now, that's hilarious! -
12" beauty
2003-03-29 22:31:18 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
half as much? Really? Perhaps you could point me out a "real" PC laptop for $899... -
12" beauty
2003-03-29 13:26:49 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Maybe Visual C++ is not the most important thing he runs on his laptop, and the most important thing he does use works best on a Mac?? -
12" beauty
2003-04-03 13:48:40 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Quite possibly. I don't do this myself (my 700MHz iBook would probably wheeze trying to run Visual Studio in Virtual PC), but I can see why someone might want to. I develop in Visual Studio during the day, but travel with my iBook, which does everything else I need. If I wanted to, I *could* travel with my Dell laptop, but it's bigger, heavier, and absolutely *sucks* for Cocoa development.
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does it have a fan?
2003-03-28 18:49:30 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
is it loud? -
does it have a fan?
2003-03-30 15:30:14 dwightk [Reply | View]
much quieter than my old iBook 700. I would say slightly quieter than the old iMacs (the ones WITH fans) -
does it have a fan?
2003-03-28 23:18:59 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
yes there is a fan, but it is so quite ! its unbelievable -
does it have a fan?
2003-03-29 08:52:08 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
What's unbelievable is that the fan appears to do nothing. You could cook an egg on the bottom of this dog. A laptop you can't put on your lap? Only Apple could make such a machine, and only Apple's fans would blindly accept this situation with nary a complaint. -
does it have a fan?
2003-03-31 12:40:49 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I have a 400MHz Dell they make me use at work, and it gets really hot & runs W2K about as fast as cold lava. I can't imagine that the newer Pentium laptops are any cooler than a PowerBook.
Having heard a similar comment recently, and digging a little deeper, I suspect that you're running an app that's seriously hogging your CPU. Try running top in a Terminal window to see what's going on; you might be able to pinpoint a problem. In the other case I heard, Classic was using something like 110% of CPU, so it wasn't able to throttle back.
I bought my daughter a 700MHz iBook recently, and it gets just warm enough to notice (she asked me about it). It feels pretty zippy, but then again I'm used to my blue G3 (300MHz).
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Don't much care about USB2...
2003-03-28 18:38:16 sdfisher [Reply | View]
...but I find the lack of a PC card slot pretty troubling. I regularily use memory sticks, so I've got in the habit of just keeping my memory stick adapter in my TiBook. -
I do the same with CF adapter in my TiBook...
2003-03-31 13:34:59 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Here's my list of reasons why I'm resisting the urge to get the 12":
* No PCMCIA slot. I never thought this would be an issue, until I got a digital camera and discovered the joys of CF cards. I have a FireWire CF card reader, but it's one more thing to carry around. The CF PCMCIA adapter just sits in my otherwise unused PCMCIA slot.
* No DVI. I have a 17" Apple LCD, and I have no desire to spend three or four hundred dollars on a VGA to DVI adapter.
Ed
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Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-03-28 18:19:56 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
This article is ok, but why is it titled a developer's perspective?
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Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-03-29 04:49:51 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Yeah i was wondering this as well. Its more like an overall review of the system rather than the developer's perspective. -
Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-03-30 08:13:28 Derrick Story |
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Generally speaking developers are interested in things like hard drive performance, connectivity, expansion, etc. as opposed to how it runs the iLife suite. That's not to say that power users and others don't care about these issues either. By titling the article that way, though, you do have some sense as to where the reviewer "is coming from." It's nothing to get hung up on, just trying to be helpful :) -
Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-03-31 15:56:56 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Crap. I want to know how ProjectBuilder runs. How does the JVM perform, what's Postgresql like, what's the memory management like, etc etc etc. That's a developer perspective. This article was a joke - come on O'Reilly. We expect more of you. -
Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-04-01 06:15:27 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I run Project Builder, Oracle, Postgres, and do some iMovie stuff on it as well. My 12" model has the 640 mb of RAM and the 40gb HD. It's an excellent box - very fast and has a small footprint.
I can run Oracle in the background and do my Project Builder compilation without a drop in speed. I think its actually the perfect developer laptop -- light, easy to read monitor, nice speed, inexpensive.
I mean, 640mb of RAM on a G4-867 is a desktop replacement. I haven't had a desktop since I picked up my original Ti Book-400. If I could do everything on that, the speed bump here is marvelous.
And I get to carry it in a smaller courier bag now too. -
Where is the "developer's perspective"?
2003-04-28 06:07:26 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
I have Sybase ASE 12.5 installed on my PB 12" G4. I use it in conjunction with Apache and the PHP 4 module. No problems here. Great performance from Apache and ASE. I don't get allot of requests for Java tools, but have compiled and worked on a bunch of RealBasic junk - also without problem. Huge performance increase from my PB G3. When in a cafe with WiFi, my AirPort ExTrEaM card was fine (no dead spots). Perl hums along like before (never had a problem and don't have one now). Really, everything works just like before just quicker. I'd give the box about a 60% visible performance hike over what I had.
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DVI
2003-03-28 18:12:47 Jason Deraleau |
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The only PowerBook without a DVI port as well, so you can't hook it up to one of those purty 20" Apple Cinema Displays.
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TiBook faster than iBook?
2003-03-28 17:27:52 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
From what I have read from barefeats.com and other sources a comparable MHZ ibook performs about the same as the TiBook. Compiling programs and other developer tasks will take the same amount ot time. There are some benefits with altivec on the G4 but most tasks don't use altivec. -
TiBook faster than iBook?
2003-03-29 08:50:51 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
It's about the same as the 867 MHz TiBook. But there is a 1 GHz TiBook too, and that performs mcuh more speedily than the AlBook 12-inch. The TiBook also includes L3 cache, which makes Virtual PC actually run well, unlike on the AlBook 12-inch described here. (and the so-called professor running Visual C++ inside VPC on this machine is indeed a dope).
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I love mine
2003-03-28 16:43:06 mike3k [Reply | View]
I've been using my 12" as my primary system for more than a month and I love it. It's much faster than my old iBook 500 and also quite a bit faster than my G4/500 minitower. -
I love mine
2003-04-07 16:38:06 medavidson [Reply | View]
Agreed... I recently moved to OS X from Windows/Linux and I absolutely love it. I went and bought a brand new 12" Powerbook to be my main machine at home. I did order the special version with the 60 GB drive, SuperDrive and had Apple bump the RAM to 640 MB (the current max), and it's a dream.
I can develop, use Quicken for my finances, use my digital camera... all at once, and in a machine I can pick up and carry with me.
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I love mine
2003-04-07 06:46:31 anonymous2 [Reply | View]
Same here.
I switched from working in Windows to RedHat, and
now I bought my first Mac.
Although I'm not a developer, but an end user,
I used EMBOSS on the terminal for DNA and protein sequence analysis and Illustrator and Photoshop for figure drawing for my publications.
I have the best of both worlds, in a cute laptop.
