Crave’s Most Notable Notebooks from 1H 2008
July 1, 2008
Matthew Elliott hast posted an article about what he considers to be the most noteworthy notebooks to have passed through CNET in the past six months. This isn’t necessarily the highest-ranks of the review notebooks either, but ones that instead introduced something new or that did something that helped differentiate them from others.
Ultraportable laptops listed:
- Apple MacBook Air
- Lenovo IdeaPad U110
- Lenovo ThinkPad X300
- Asus Eee PC 900
- HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note PC
- Asus Eee PC 901
Out of the 10 notebooks listed (including honorable mentions), ultraportables captured six of those positions (with three being “netbooks”).
Read: Crave / CNET
Apple Tablets This Fall? Finally?
May 24, 2008
If Jason O’Grady’s source is correct, Apple could be rolling out Mac OS X-based tablets this fall, in a 12-inch or 13-inch form factor.
Over at The Apple Core/ZDNet, Jason writes about a source mentions a tablet being rolled out Most likely in the September or October time frame. It will run the full Mac OS X and have a slot loading SuperDrive, an “iPhone-type” GPS chip and an Intel Core Duo processor, presumably Intel’s Atom.
He makes some good points:
- Intel’s Germany CEO claimed that some kind of iPhone would be powered by Intel’s Atom CPU (the Atom would be too big for current iPhones).
- Apple has pretty extensive handwriting experience (going back to the Apple Newton) plus OS X has had a lot of touchscreen integration (and the iPhone has increased the knowledge base when it comes to OS X and touchscreen software and how people interact with touchscreens in general.
- Apple has patented a lot of tablet designs going back over a decade, as well as various touchscreen interface designs and concepts (some of which made it into the iPhone, some of which didn’t).
I disagree with his source on two key areas:
1) A 12-inch or 13-inch Mac better have something more powerful than an Intel Atom. There is a reason why Apple moved away from Intel’s Core Solo (yes, financially it made sense, but just as important, if not more so, Dual-Core CPUs made much more sense with Mac OS X, especially with the whole “Mac experience”). The Intel Atom that we are seeing in upcoming netbooks / sub-notebook is not impressing people with its Windows Vista performance, and while Mac OS X may scale down a lot better than Vista, something this large (12″ or 13″) had better have performance that comes close to a low-end MacBook, otherwise the critics will lambast Apple (what am I saying, they’ll do it anyways). A more fitting CPU would be something like what’s in the MacBook Air or the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. Sure, Intel has done custom CPU runs for Apple, and they could do so here, but in this case it would be scaling up a CPU in perfomance, rather than taking an existing CPU and scaling it down (ala the MacBook Air).
2) A SuperDrive? No. Apple and Steve Jobs just convinced us that with the introduction of the MacBook Air, an integrated optical drive is not needed in such ultraportable devices - Apple sells an add-on USB-powered optical drive, as well as making software available that allows you to use optical drives in other machines. A SuperDrive adds too much overhead to such a device, both in terms of power requirements and more importantly, physical space requirements.
Do I think Apple will introduce a touchscreen/Tablet at some (i.e. something bigger than the iPhone), sure. I would even go so far as to say it could hit the 8.9-inch or 10-inch form factor (in which case a more powerful Intel Atom would make sense, but not in a 12-inch or 13-inch form factor).
Read: The Apple Core/ZDNet
MacBook Air - Thinvelope Beyza Case
May 23, 2008
If you are lookiong for one of the thinnest cases around for a ultraportable (and ultra-thin) 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air, then look no further than Beyza Cases.
They’ve produced the ““Beyza Thinvelope for MacBook Air” and Judie Lipsett over at Gear Diary posted a review of the Thinvelope for MacBook Air this morning.
Keep in mind (in my opinion) that this is more of a sleeve to fit inside another larger/normal laptop or notebook bag or backpack (although you could certainly carry your MacBook Air in the Thinvelope on its own.
Going by the review, it’s very impressive and well made.
Read: Gear Diary
All MacBooks to be LED-Backlit in 2009?
May 22, 2008
Are all Apple MacBooks slated to have LED-backlit displays next year?
It certainly seems that way, at least according to an article in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News.
DigiTimes is reporting that Taiwan-based Kenmos Technology will be providing LED-backlit displays for Apple next year.
It would be an interesting move, because the MacBook is a consumer-based economical (think students) 13.3-inch laptop. This would put it, display-wise, on par with the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros, as well as the 13.3-inch MacBook Air, all of which already have LED-displays.
This could also open the door to a new design of the MacBook series. The series is probably due for a new design in the next 18 months, as Apple transitions from plastic / polycarbonate to aluminum / steel - something they’ve already done with their consumer-based iMac desktop line.
Read: DigiTimes
MacBook Air & Wireless Issues
May 21, 2008
Over on GearDiary, Judie Lipsett has posted an article concerning wireless issues she had when restoring a MacBook Pro backup from Apple’s Time Capsule to a new MacBook Air.
The issue she was running into was that she was seeing an empty wireless cone in the menu bar, even when she had wireless connectivity (a problem if you need to know the signal strength).
Turns out this happens (in what numbers, hard to say, some people may not bother fixing it since the wireless is still working).
Rather than reinstalling or reloading a backup, Judie ditched her .plists and reconfigured a new network setting.
In the future, if you happen to be doing such a migration, you might unselect the network settings in the migration/reloading.
Read: GearDiary
Apple MacBook Overhaul, Universal Battery Charger
May 19, 2008
Is Apple getting ready to overhaul the popular MacBook line? Keep in mind that the MacBook was just upgraded to an Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn CPU back in February of this year.
AppleInsider is reporting that the MacBook will be receiving a complete revamp in the upcoming months that will be available sometime after the end of June. Based on information from DigiTimes, as well as AppleInsider sources, AI is claiming that the 13.3-inch MacBook will receive its first structural and aesthetic changes since being introduced as an Intel-based replacement for Apple’s iBook line over two years ago and that Apple will do away with the plastic enclosures (currently available in white or black) for aluminum and stainless steel.
This will follow the overhaul the iMac recently received, and the iMac, like the MacBook, is considered to be more “consumer” oriented versus the professionally-oriented MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
Finally, Macworld has news for those who have either multiple Apple laptops or who carry around multiple batteries: FastMac has announced the U-Charge, a 45-watt universal battery charger that sells for $69.95 (USD) and that should be shipping before the end of June.
It connects directly to the battery (hence the low 45-watt - it doesn’t have to power the laptop while charger), and it covers a substantial number of Apple portables: iBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro and PowerBooks.
