what will the new intel powerbook look like?
 

So i was wondering if the new Intel Powerbook would still be Aluminium?

I think that Apple will change the powebook look for the new platform.
The question is what will it look like. Rumours say that the new 15" will be a skinnier unit. I doubt that the 17" will be, and if so only by about 1 or 2 mm.

But will it come out in some other metal? I don't see them coming out in plastic? maybe we will see a balck carbon fibre unit, that would be nice but im sure carbon fibre might be a bit expensive.

what do you folks think?

I can't guess at what it will look like but I agree that Apple is likely to mark a huge CPU shift like this by showing it somehow with the case designs. Also the current Apple laptop case designs are several years old so they're due anyway. They've gotta have something up their sleeves.

Hey, the new nano and iPod are black... How about the new PB? You know, a shiny black sort of thing. Glossy with a big white apple on the back, that would be cool.

Given how easily the iPod's shiny surfaces get scratched up, I pray they stick with something like the brushed aluminum. I baby my hardware and my iPod is still far from new looking.

It is a good question how Apple can evolve their laptop designs. They have such a clean, minimalist design aesthetic. How many more visible fluorishes can they remove? Or will they start adding some?

Also, as much as I love how my PB looks, I would happily see them emphasize durability a little more, even at the expense of elegance. My PB feels dainty and easily destroyed, relative to my old Compaq PC laptop which was like a brick.

I stumbled one time walking down stairs with that Compaq and my guitar in either hand. In a split second decision, I flung the Compaq so I could save the guitar and my body. The Compaq survived without a nick. Though there was obviously a lot of luck involved, I don't believe I could drop my PowerBook even 12 inches without doing $800 plus worth of damage.

Lessee...Glossy nano black? Scratches too easily. Brushed aluminum? The soft metal dents as easily as a beer can. Black titanium? Hmmm... You know, back when Apple was blabbering on and on about the magical properties of titanium in the PowerBook Titanium G4 (before totally abandoning titanium, as they so often do after they hype something), IBM was using titanium bodies for their durable, well-regarded ThinkPads but without bragging about it.

I wouldn't mind having a sleek, slim, and all-powerful Darth Vader-black titanium PowerBook Intel.
It would look good next to my classic black Pismo.

I took a PowerBook to Iraq, and it came back fully functional. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for all the laptops I saw over there. Two personal laptops, a HP and a Dell, came back with a busted screen, and another Dell came back with a broken video card. That said, someone else there did have an old Compaq laptop, and it was definitely a brick.

A little? How much will that help? How much elegance should they sacrifice? To phrase that another way: on a scale of “current PowerBook” to “Panasonic Toughbook,” where should they draw the line?

Great question I have no answer to. Also, I'm plainly basing my statements on insufficient personal experience and intuition. Not exactly a sound engineering basis.

Did your experience in Iraq convince you PowerBooks are actually more durable than the Dells and HPs you saw?

Also, to anyone's knowledge, has someone ever done practical tests on PowerBooks for durability? Do we think Apple does that secretly?

One has to assume that all laptop manufacturers must evaluate durability as part of their budgeting and planning. You make a decision as to the price to sell your laptop. At that price, you make a decision as to what materials and construction you use. You have to have an idea how durable it is, because you have to plan for how many units will come back for warranty service, which will eat into your margins. If you are to protect your margins you must make the laptop sufficiently durable that most of them will at least make it past the warranty period so that the customer can eat the cost when it breaks later, or, if you're being sleazy, when the customer calls you just deny it's a problem and refuse to fix it, but you'll probably lose that customer. Or, if you can get away with it, you raise the price so you can upgrade the durability through better quality of the materials and construction. So durability has to be a factor because if it is not, the company risks losing its profits if the machines don't last.

I can see aluminum on the outside...similar to the current line-up.

The difference for the x86 design would be a glossy-iPod-ish bezel around the screen. That'd be sweet.

Same here.

Given my previous answer, I'm not sure I can truly answer this…

However, towards the end of our trip, the HP owner pointed out that he noticed that our PowerBooks (two other people had PowerBooks) weren't broken or otherwise dysfunctional…

Also, I saw an older Toughbook there; I'll point out that they are, obviously, very tough.

I think the next PBs should be made of the same stuff their making experimental planes with. That carbon-fiber stuff. Extremely durable and lightweight.

However, if they were to go with a metal, I would like to see a brushed, anodized black. Perhaps even a powdercoated material, which is very durable.

I thought a powercoated laptop would be nice...but seeing as they ditched that look with the iPod mini I don't see it as very likely. It'd hold up much better than lexan (or whatever plastic they use on the ipods)

I have heard that the third prominent feature of carbon fiber is that it's incredibly expensive.

It's also very brittle and can explode with an impact.

I would be happy sticking with aluminum. Looks great, durable.

if it wasnt for things like heat or the fact that the metal dulls pretty quickly a Powerbook in Copper or Bronze could look good.
Probly add 2 or 3 pounds to the current weight though.

You know, polished marble might make a fun exterior... :).

One word... Corian!

I think they should be covered with [Ricardo Montalban]rich Corinthian leather[/Ricardo Montalban]. :p

Oooh, that woult luke maveloos.


"...as good a car as I am an actor." - Dan Akroyd in spoof ad on SNL

I have a 100% transparent PowerBook prototype...but I can't seem to find it...:confused:

...like Wonder Woman trying to remember where she parked her jet. ;)

.

Well, let’s see...

Glass – If there is a rugged type of glass, I would love a frosted glass PowerBook.
Carbon – Hey, that might be cool! But not if it’s as fragile as Carlos suggests.
Corian – I have seen corian used for some really nice things. Unsure about material properties.
Rubber – Yeah, heavy duty rubber. Rugged and it might be ok.
Leather – Corinthian, the Nigerian goatskin preferred by bookbinders, or whatever. I really wouldn’t mind the option of adhering protective leather. Perhaps even tooled by a master bookbinder...

Aluminium – I think it looks nice, elegant, fairly rugged. But mine has received a few nicks and dents.
Titanium – Ok, Apple, but please don’t give it a bad paint job.
Shiny black plastic – Sorry, I realize that Apple is going in this direction, but I just don’t think this fashion will endure.
Other plastic – No, I think that would be a step backward.

Wood – gorgeous, but not very practical to mass produce. But do check out this beautiful wooden iPod!!
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2005...pwizard/1.html

That woody iPod is gorgeous.

I think the aluminum is a good choice, and we should stick with it. It's light, inexpensive, durable, and looks very nice.

One big difference is that I would like to see a keyboard that resembles a common, fullsized keyboard (minus number pad) with retractible touchpad. The screen should be 16x9 widescreen by default. Keep the backlit keyboard--that's always been great!

Give us longer battery life!
 

Yeah, I think the backlit keyboard is great, too. By the way, when I’m on the road, I sometimes turn my screen off completely when I’m writing, in order to maximize battery life.

Profesionally, I’m far more concerned with that – battery life – than the material of the PowerBook casing. I would like to my fully charged battery to last at least 8 hours. A full 24 hours would mean I could take it into the mountains for weekend trips for my next book.


Ah, well, it’s permitted to dream…

With best regards,
ArcticStones

I think multiple slots for multiple batteries would be a good idea. If you only need if for an hour or two, one battery. Need if for a full eight hours of use? Insert three more into the available slots.

Another idea would be to use OLED technology for the monitor--sigh, someday.

It would be nice to have a backlighting control where if you are in a dark location, you can turn the backlight down to 10% to save gobs of energy. In fact, it can be automatic.

You shouldn't need three batteries to get eight hours. Try two batteries. In an existing laptop. The PowerBook G3 FireWire (Pismo) with its 2 module bays. And that is just the realistic expectation. Those batteries were rated at 5 hours each new, but I did see 4 hours out of each. When I "upgraded" to the Aluminum, it was no longer possible to leave the house for the day without packing the power adapter. That, along with the Pismo's superior AirPort reception, is why moving to a Pismo to the Aluminum was a partial shock - in a negative sense - for me.

OLEDs when they can keep them from fading, otherwise no graphics people will use them. Before you see OLEDs you might see a LED-backlit display which if you read the link has imaging characteristics that absolutely blow away today's flourescent-lit LCDs although I don't know if it can be a low-power tech for laptops.

How is your automatic backlight dimming idea different from the screen dimming in the PowerBooks now?

Thanks styrafome for the lead to the new LED backlit display. I had thought of that as a possibility, but never thought anyone was doing anything about it. Also, the fading issue was something I never heard of. Forget that! From the link, it looks like the backlit LED has fantastic possibilities!

As for automatic backlight dimming on todays PowerBooks, I never had one that had anything like that. I was just thinking in terms of many possibilities for saving battery life. I would rather use smaller, more efficient batteries with a power-efficient PB than a power-hog. Here is hoping the new Intels will make that a reality.