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http://www.macnn.com/articles/02/10/25/best.buy/

Best Buy laptop to compete with PowerBook G4

updated 01:35 pm EDT, Fri October 25, 2002

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"Best Buy is aiming to take a bite out of Apple Computer with the release of a new, wide-screen notebook designed by Porsche," according to c|net. The VPR Matrix 200A5 ($2,400) includes a 15.2" LCD with 1280x854 resolution, 2GHz Pentium 4-M processor, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, 40GB hard drive, a combo CD-RW/DVD drive, and integrated 802.11b wireless networking. "It all comes in an eye-catching, silver-magnesium case that weighs 6.4 pounds and measures 13.9 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and 1.2 inches thick."

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10/25, 01:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
Whoa...

It's not actually fugly, and the specs are fairly impressive.

Anyone know the difference between a normal Pentium 4 and a Pentium 4-M?

Is it just the mobile version of the processor?

Looks like good competition to the Ti.

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10/25, 01:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
not bad looking...

but it's still not a mac.

hook booga wooga. 1st post.

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10/25, 01:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
yeah right

Without Firewire?
No competition at all...

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10/25, 01:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Whack

it looks ok but its whack no props to bestbuy for copying what the h*** is wrong with these pc makers they all copy Apple they cant think and make up new things on there own.

hahaha comp yeah right

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10/25, 01:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
I'd rather have

an AthlonXP under the hood than a POS Piss4.... Nice try, but if they could use an AthlonXP...

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10/25, 01:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
no firewire?

sure it does -- it has 2 USB and 2 Firewire

but i hate these two-tone windows laptops ... wassup wit dat? i'm happy with my powerbook but the form factor on this thing don't look too bad

isn't it odd that a place called Best Buy had Porche design an expensive laptop for them?

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10/25, 02:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
Maybe

Maybe it's a Porsche design, but still not as slick as the TiBook, and no FireWire on a $2500 laptop? oh yeah it's a pentium based laptop running windoze.
1.2" thick? 6.4lbs?
It does have some nice performance specs but over all it's not as slick and the audio and P4 chip isn't that big a deal.

Same old story, every one will ALWAYS follow Apple.
Valiant effort though.

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10/25, 02:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ugly

It still looks like a peecee. My Ti is much more attractive.

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10/25, 02:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
P4 vs P4M

The P4M chip has additional power management features, as well as a "slow me down by 40%" feature so that you can actually get some usage out of the batteries =). So on a power supply it's 2Ghz, but on battery it's only 1.2.

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10/25, 02:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Whack

it looks ok but its whack no props to bestbuy for copying what the h*** is wrong with these pc makers they all copy Apple they cant think and make up new things on there own.

hahaha comp yeah right

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10/25, 02:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Yeck

Is this a joke? Christ that's ugly. It looks like every other PC laptop that's been released in the last 10 years; corners so sharp you could knock your teeth out on them, big ugly poorly colored ports all the way around th edges, bad color. What the h*** is that jaggy line on the back of the screen? Is that supposed to be some kind of logo? Funny...

Not to mention it doesn't have iTunes, couldn't do iMovie even if it HAD Firewire ports, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it can't run Final Cut Pro either...

Address Book? Sherlock? iCal? iSync? No? Didn't think so.

I've got a place where Best Buy can put their 6.4 pound laptop....

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10/25, 02:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
parallel port

who needs a parallel port anymore? Aren't most printers nowadays USB and parallel? that one port makes it look like a dufus machine. I swea, that port is some lame badge of honor among PC makers.

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10/25, 02:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
wooh

That looks amazing, 2ghz, that will run anything really well.

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10/25, 02:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
Is that Janie Porsche?

...the girl who saved Christmas? I thought she liked Powerbooks.

PookJP
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10/25, 02:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
Tired.

Don't these companies get tired of simply copying what Apples does? I'd get bored stiff if my entire job was to sit around waiting for Apple's newest product, and then to try to copy it at a fraction of the cost.

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10/25, 02:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
the problem is..

.. that Apple releases great looking, functional stuff that we all love, but then gets trapped by the limitations of their processor pimps (Moto), and winds up looking doffy in the eyes of "Joe Consumer".

Aside from parallel ports (what the f?), and the processor choice, some of the stuff is pretty nice (actual DDR, etc.) and hopefully Apple will actually be able to have these nice things soon... real soon.. like now..

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10/25, 02:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
One fatal flaw.....

Windows

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10/25, 02:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
why can't Apple

This PC laptop ($2,400) meets or beats the high-end 800MHz PowerBook ($3,200) in it's specs.

OK, it's a 2.0GHz Pentium instead of an 800MHz G4, and the OS is Windoze XP instead of OS X.

But why can't Apple sell the high-end 800MHz PowerBook (with the same hardware specs), for the same price???

Especially since Apple has been selling these TiBooks for 2 years, and have made their return-on-investment many times over by now.

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10/25, 02:31pm | report spam | close Reply |
The TiBook..

The TiBook isn't new.. it's great, but it's old and flabby in it's hardware.. I think many folks are surprised that more of these Wintel copies aren't around considering that the TiBook is 2 years old..

Just up the PB specs fer chis'sakes and stop makin' us look bad Apple!

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10/25, 02:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
I'll always be Mac

But why would any consumer pay $3200 for a TiBook when you can get this thing for $2400?? I'll never go Wintel because I love Macs... AND HAVE THE DAMN MONEY TO PISS AWAY, but being that apple's stock is trading 2 bucks above rock bottom, maybe Stevie should consider not gouging the faithful and actually try to build some market share.. He's just such an egomaniac jerk.. he's killing the company.. or saving it.. who knows..

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10/25, 02:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Why not?

>But why can't Apple sell the high-end 800MHz PowerBook (with the same hardware specs), for the same price???

Simple - R&D. You have to pay people to develop this stuff. The idiots at Best Buy didn't need to pay so much, did they?

"Competes with..." is a fancy way of saying "Ripped off."

-Styfe

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10/25, 02:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
Firewire

What's with you dumbasses saying this thing doesn't have firewire? Read the article before posting. It's got 2 FW, 2 USB. It doesn't say if it's USB 1 or 2 but I'd bet it's 2. All in all, an impressive machine but not really any better than what Apple had 2 years ago except in terms of processor speed and price of course.

Stupid motorola.

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10/25, 02:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
POSH

The $2,399 system also includes a 2GHz Pentium 4-M, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 40GB hard drive, a combo CD-RW/DVD drive, and integrated 802.11b wireless networking. It all comes in an eye-catching, silver-magnesium case that weighs 6.4 pounds and measures 13.9 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and 1.2 inches thick.
The VPR Matrix 200A5 has many other nice touches, as well. You can load discs directly into the DVD/CD-RW drive slot--no tray slides out to grab your CD. You can also play CDs with the lid closed, using controls on the front edge. You'll also find two USB 2.0 and two FireWire ports.

NOTICE- thats 2 Firewire and 2 USB 2.0 ports...for those of you who are reading challenged.

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10/25, 02:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
margin on PB's

It's not R&D that Apple pays for with $3200, it's steve's "bonus" (read salary).. the margins on PB's are somewhere in the 35-40% range.. does that sound reasonable to you? If margins were normal, then you'd have the PB's at about.. let's see.. well tha'd be around $2400 or so.. just like this new c***-top from Best Buy.. oh, and you'd have something approaching market share, instead of the steady decline that Apple has been in.. People want what Apple has.. they want great looking stuff that just works and lasts, but people, aside from us faithful, do not want to be f*cked on price.. you just can't argue with that..

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10/25, 02:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
Final Cut Poo

thats what it is, a bunch of pooop!!

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10/25, 02:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
JUST ANOTHER WINDOWS MACH

Don't care what it looks like- it is full of WINDOWS!

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10/25, 02:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
Heavy

That's a pretty heavy case. How much weight does the circuitry, drives, and battery add?

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10/25, 02:53pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Firewire

>All in all, an impressive machine but not really any better than what Apple had 2 years ago except in terms of
>processor speed and price of course.

processor, _price_, video chipset, system bus speed, DDR memory, v.92 modem, better audio chipset and built-in speakers, USB2.0, SPDIF jack and Best Buy's "anything happens we'll replace it" warranty

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10/25, 02:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple DOA

We're getting our asses kicked here people..

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10/25, 03:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
good, bad, UGLY

the good
1. plays cds with lid closed
2. combo drive which Apple needs to figure out based on Pioneer's new small size specs which aren't small enough.
3. DDR
4. no floppy drive - (see the bad #8)

the bad
1. runs windows
2. 6.4lbs
3. do i see those cheesy indicator lights above the keyboard?
4. wtf is the logo on the back of this thing?
5. parallel ports need to go bye bye
6. Intel? why not AMD?
7. i wonder how hot she runs
8. cnet did not criticize the lack of a floppy drive
9. still seems to use those plastic thingies in pcmcia slot

i think someone at cnet just needed an excuse to use the phrase "Take a bite out of Apple."

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10/25, 03:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
I'll take it on...

With my ancient PB G4/500 even! The test: it's gotta act as a portable webserver (Apache, PHP, MySQL) for an ad-hoc wireless network of 10 systems, and be able to produce videos in the field from digital cams and stills. At the same time. And be able to change network configs on the fly. An not crash. And actually get almost 4 hrs per battery charge while doing all this. OK - bring that cheap POS on - I'm ready for a duel!

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10/25, 03:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
The people I know...

..that go to Best Buy won't pay $2,000+ for a Computer. They like the $399 Special. I don't think we have much to worry about.

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10/25, 03:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
PowerBook uses desktop G4

Because the desktop G4 uses so little watts, Apple was able to use it in the PowerBook (low volt G4 does not use an L3 cache). Although the PowerBook does not have the topend G4, probably because of power use.

The upcoming G4, made on a smaller .13 micron process, will use about 1/2 the watts of todays equivilant MHz, low volt G4. Considering that this new G4 will also get a speed boost, this should be more than a match for power use/performance to what Intel offers for notebooks next year. The G4 should also cost much less than the topend Intel mobile processors.

Apple cannot afford to drop the price of the PowerBooks too much at this point, because they sometimes lose money on quarterly product sales. They have made up for most of those loses by interest off of savings.

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10/25, 03:18pm | report spam | close Reply |
the truth...

...is that Apple design will never be beat, and that is the bottom line, and the performance and hardware/software integration is always superior on the Mac.

As far as no floppy, Apple led the way the rest will follow.

If Apple survived the worst of times (absence of Steve) then rest assured there is not much to worry about.
2004 will show the true h*** windoze users will face with microslop.

Besides as one post stated, people going to Best Buy for peecees can't fathom anything beyond the $500 mark.
No wuckin furries people.

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10/25, 03:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
a** kicker

i'm glad to see this on the front page, maybe apple will get off their asses and release an updated powerbook before january!!! this is no competition for the powerbook, just a little apple a** kicker! hah!

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10/25, 03:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: a** kicker

with the release of this laptop Brittany Spears' career is definitely over now.

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10/25, 03:34pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let's get real...

It looks very much like the TiBook, costs only half and is about 25 times faster thanks to an up-to-date CPU rather than this pathetic Motorola G4.

So it doesn't run OS X, well it runs Linux.... it doesn't have firewire... so what? Only thing I have running on Firewire is my iPod and there is heaps of other MP3 players out there (e.g. Toshiba).

I may not like it, but this baby is a winner.

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10/25, 03:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let's get real...

It looks very much like the TiBook, costs only half and is about 25 times faster thanks to an up-to-date CPU rather than this pathetic Motorola G4.

So it doesn't run OS X, well it runs Linux.... it doesn't have firewire... so what? Only thing I have running on Firewire is my iPod and there is heaps of other MP3 players out there (e.g. Toshiba).

I may not like it, but this baby is a winner.

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10/25, 03:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
Don't be too envious...

Overall... descent portable. They did basically copy our beloved TiBook, but there are a few things missing. DVI-Outpu, anyone? True design? A fully featured portable UNDER 6 pounds? NO Legacy anything. A really nice, overpriced, really hot, Pentium 4-M (just so you know, Speedstep raises/lowers processor speed based on CPU demand). XP Home? Gimme a break! OS X can do a LOT more than XP Home. NO real software bundle (MS Works and a software DVD Player) SDRAM on the graphics chip (we have DDR)I didn't see anything about audio-in. 10/100 Ethernet? We've got GIGABIT! Just to name a few. Oh, and one more thing, on intel's own website, the show off battery life of the 2.2 GHz processor (http://intel.com/home/notebook/Pentium4-m/p4pm_prodoverview.pdf?iid=ipp_dlc_procp4pm+prod_overview&)
an extensive 147 minutes (2 hours 27 minutes) WOW. Also, I can't really tell from the pics, but it looks like it has 4-pin FireWire, not 6. Difference, 4-pin doesn't supply power. So, to all the Mac users out their, don't be too upset.

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10/25, 03:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
Lame WinBox

Who cares if it has a 2GHz whatever CPU in it? I bet it lasts for 4 minutes on battery power. If I wanted a heavy box with 2Ghz of processors with no battery power, I could duct-tape a 17" LCD to a dual 1Ghz PowerMac and carry it around on a luggage cart.

And to the nitiwt who says Apple needs to find a way to stick a combo drive in the PowerBook... HELLO? It comes with one now, you dolt.

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10/25, 03:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Must be a .....

I guess it's a slow news day for macnn.

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10/25, 03:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
i agree

Brittany Spears' career is dead now that we have this new best buy laptop.

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10/25, 03:53pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Let's get real

It looks very much like the TiBook, costs only half and is about 25 times faster thanks to an up-to-date CPU rather than this pathetic Motorola G4.

Hmmm, costs half? $3200 vs $2400? OK, guess we don't have to figure out you haven't graduated elementary school yet.

And 25 times faster? Nice over-exaggeration and all, but its probably as fast, and when on battery, its slows down from its 2GHz.

So it doesn't run OS X, well it runs Linux....

It does? Where does it say that? I take no account of any laptop running linux until I actually read that somewhere. Half these things have such proprietary c*** in them that parts don't work until you get someone who can update some drivers for you.

I may not like it, but this baby is a winner.

Please, it has one big problem. Who's seiously is going to spend $2400 on something with a Best Buy logo on it? Come on, get serious...

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10/25, 03:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
Yet More...

Why does everyone try to copy the Titanium laptop? everything now is silver and slick and thin, we all know that apple will always rule the laptop market the only thing that comes close is the sony vaio !

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10/25, 03:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
blarg

to make a laptop that thin, they're options are make it a flat rectangle... it's a little unfair to call them copying apple's design when apple's design is a rectangle. I think it's too expensive for PC users anyway-- people who consider this laptop won't buy a Ti book anyway, so who cares?

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10/25, 03:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
Yeah, yeah

[i]Half these things have such proprietary c*** in them that parts don't work until you get someone who can update some drivers for you.
[/i]

Yeah! Apple really sucks with all it's proprietary gizmos. I couldn't agree more.

This Matrix computer beats the PowerBook to death, like it or not.

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10/25, 03:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
No floppy????

c***, it looked like the best portable out there, but then I noticed it DOESN'T COME WITH A FLOPPY DRIVE!!! How can anyone do any work in this day and age without a floppy drive? This is a piece of c***! At least its got a parallel port on it, and what looks to be a PS/2 port!

And how can you sell a laptop for business users with XP Home on it? And I can't seem to find the specs on the machine, so who knows what kind of graphics card and how much memory...

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10/25, 03:59pm | report spam | close Reply |
Running Linux

Where?
On a PowerBook, you can run OSX and load Yellow dog Linux in 6 minutes without any hardware reconfiguration.
How do I know? Couple of folks sitting next to me are doing it.

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10/25, 04:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Running Linux

if you really can install Linux on a powerbook then maybe Brittany Spears career really is over? hurray!!

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10/25, 04:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Matrix bites Apple?

Article should read: "Matrix takes a bite out of, Dell, Gateway, and Sony". The Matrix is a Windoze machine - the writer is comparing Apple(s) to oranges.

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10/25, 04:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Matrix bites Apple?

Article should read: "Matrix takes a bite out of, Dell, Gateway, and Sony". The Matrix is a Windoze machine - the writer is comparing Apple(s) to oranges.

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10/25, 04:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
Linux

Seriously you can run Yellowdog Linux on a Powebook G4 and the iMacFP and the Towers.
Pretty cool, and in the words of the engineers and programers here, "It simply blows away the Intel chipset"

Yeah Brittney is over , next move p***?

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10/25, 04:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche Design!?!

The builder of fine autos? I would think that they could do better than that. It looks like another bad rip-off to me.

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10/25, 04:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
Lame design

I could have designed that too.

Step one: go to Apple's site
Step Two: copy
Step three: Paste
Step Four: Slight color changes
Step Five :Transform tool and enlarge
Save and name : c*** lap copy.tif

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10/25, 04:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Lame design

step six: add antiquated parallel port.

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10/25, 04:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
In Summary:

Most of you really aren't being fair. For a Wintel laptop, this thing is the best thing going (if you don't mind the weight -- if you do, it's a Vaio for you). I don't blame them for ripping off Apple's design in almost every respect -- you always try to steal from the best.

Taking a cold hard look at the thing FAIRLY, however, does show up several points:

1. A 2GHz P4-M is about a 1.5GHz at best, and the minute you take it off the mains it drops down to a 1-1.2GHz. In short, claiming it's 2GHz is just a flat out lie compared to any 2GHz Wintel desktop. It's misleading at best.

2. You'd think an actual DESIGN house could design something that doesn't look like a pale ripoff of someone else's design. Hope Best Buy didn't spend too much money on the Porsche people.

3. Thus, this machine's actual competitor is the LOWER END powerbook. Which sells for exactly the same price.

Given that, the two machines are pretty evenly matched, (ignoring the ethernet thing because that doesn't affect 99% of buyers) except for four (what I consider to be) fatal flaws:

4. 4-pin FW ports instead of 6-pin. Good luck running an iPod with this. Not serious about video/audio, either.

5. XP Home? Even Microsoft's own ads portray XP Home as sucky compared to XP Pro or Win2000. So figure another $199 (at least) for an upgrade. And it *still* sucks compared to OS X.

6. No Office (so that's another $400 coughed up for most buyers), nothing even remotely like iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iCal, iSync ... I could go on ...

7. Half the battery life, and even THAT comes at greatly reduced processor speed. And it's heavier. And it's uglier.

I'll pass.

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10/25, 04:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Lame design

step seven: put a wavy logo on the hood so that no one will know it's actually a best buy laptop.

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10/25, 04:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
if I recall

The Powerbook 1400 was at least co-designed by Porsche, if that hasn't been mentioned already.

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10/25, 04:31pm | report spam | close Reply |
Well said Chas_m

The most important difference is the OS. Windows XP is just plain ugly and non-intuitive. When you try to imitate the best, then it is simply second best-at best.

Even a bullet proof laptop with a 20 hour battery still does not work as well as a PowerBook G4 with OS X. And that's the way it is.

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10/25, 04:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Just not a match

Lets face it folks, if you configured a windoze laptop or tower to have the same quality of parts and all that, you end up spending a lot more than what a to line G4 is.

We priced out a Dual AMD that had all the hardware and absolute specs to match the Dual 1.25, and it ended up costing $999 more. This was for Audio and film and the bottom line was it still ran windoze XP which I have been testing for a little while.
The gui is obnoxious and the iApp equvilants are really pathetic, especially the movie maker and the ... well ther is no real iPhoto equiv.

Bottom line, we got Macs and life is good, and it simply works especially with music and film (high end) software hardware , very seamlessly.

This Laptop will not compare to the TiBook in such performance that we require.

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10/25, 04:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Flattery..

its a dupe! Look at the cooling ribs!

No Athlon XP ??? Phooie.

Where is the Yellow/Black Best Buy Logo???

Hey! Apple legal? This looks damn close to a titanium...ofcourse, it runs hotter ;)

If the case is made out of magnesium, won't the P4 cause it to heat up and burn really bright??? :P

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10/25, 04:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apologizers

Wow, 7 pages of Apple apologizers showing absolutely 0 objectivity, making all sorts of uninformed FUD comments and trashing a product they've never tried. Big surprise there... though truly pathetic.

[I guess your collective defensive vitriol can mean only one thing, you're all shaking in your little Gap-bought, Apple-branded booties thinking about how this TiBook knock-off will continue the erosion of Apple's perpetually diminishing marketshare]

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10/25, 04:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: In Summary

1. A 2GHz P4-M is about a 1.5GHz at best, and the minute you take it off the mains it drops down to a 1-1.2GHz. In short, claiming it's 2GHz is just a flat out lie compared to any 2GHz Wintel desktop. It's misleading at best.

Wait, you mean the 2GHz P4-M isn't as fast as the 2GHz P4? In fact, you say its only as fast as a 1.5GHz P4? But that can't be right. Because I keep reading here on MacNN boards that the MHz myth is a myth of its own, and that MHz does matter. Now I'm so confused. You must be lying, because 2GHz is 2GHz. That's why Macs are twice as slow, as I'm told.

And, from the article:
I'm not an audiophile, but I know high-quality sound when I hear it.

Is that like someone who says "I don't know art, but I know what I like."?

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10/25, 05:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
if I recall

The Powerbook 1400 was at least co-designed by Porsche, if that hasn't been mentioned already.

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10/25, 05:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Apologizers

[I guess your collective defensive vitriol can mean only one thing, you're all shaking in your little Gap-bought, Apple-branded booties thinking about how this TiBook knock-off will continue the erosion of Apple's perpetually diminishing marketshare]

Sorry, but since no one who was seriously looking at a TiBook would go and buy a 'BestBuy' computer. Actually, no one with any sense would buy a BestBuy computer. In fact, anyone with half a mind wouldn't even think of going to Best Buy to buy a computer, unless you're looking for a $399 deal and getting some lame $200 off for signing up with MSN offer.

Now if Dell sold it, you might have an argument. But its not Dell (or Dud, or whatever you want to call the maker of many-returned computers), its BestBuy, best known for their Customer Service from h*** department.

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10/25, 05:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE2: Apologizers

>Now if Dell sold it, you might have an argument. But its not Dell (or Dud, or whatever you want to call the
>maker of many-returned computers), its BestBuy, best known for their Customer Service from h*** department.

What does that make Apple? Considering the fact that Consumer Reports' recent article that used internal data from both companies and polling of their respective user bases determined that Apple sees more returns for defective hardware and hardware failures (the article covered the last 5 years). Dell had the best record in the industry.

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10/25, 05:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Apologizers

Of course, most people with Dells are companies that just go off and replace bad parts rather than deal with incessant idiots on the phone trying to convince you that its not the network card, its your network.

And if you have on-site service, and something goes wrong, does that count as a return?

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10/25, 05:18pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Aplogizers

It wasn't really returns, it was tally's of unrecoverable hardware failures (so bad it's basically unusable) and glitchy hardware (it's doing something buggy so you have it replaced). Dell had the lowest tally for both categories over a five year period and Apple came in second.

Where Apple came ahead was that their tech support line had one of the shortest hold times in the industry. Dell also got lots of kudos for their 24/7, next day onsite repair/replacement warranty.

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10/25, 05:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
I would buy it.

I carry an iBook 600 everywhere I go.

Still, this laptop is pretty cool and it would be perfect for me to use at work.

I hate to say it but I bet it takes full advantage of the DDR-RAM and if the review of the audio system is true. Then this is one slick laptop and the price ain't bad.

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10/25, 05:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
Dell and Gateway cheat

They rank so low in returns for defective parts because their employees get bonuses based on how few replacement parts they hand out.

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10/25, 05:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE:Dell and Gateway cheat

Come on... you have to admit that's pretty sad -- making stuff up to make Apple sound better.

Both Gateway and Dell are very good about sending you replacement parts and doing repairs under warranty compared to AppleCare reps often needing to be harangued into it. They'll often send replacement parts overnight and let you ship back the defective part _after_ you receive the replacement.

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10/25, 05:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple's dilemma

Apple finds itself in 100% contrast of Microsoft: it has an awesome OS on hardware that's borderline hopelessly behind the power curve. OTOH, MS finds itself with a lousy OS supported by the fastest-moving hardware/CPU train ever.

Problem is, MS has the massive luxury of 90% market share, and thus it has a steady influx of revenue to further R&D. Per usual, Microsoft threatens by attrition, not innovation.

Apple is in trouble, folks. I write this from a TiBook G4 667, but I'm very concerned about Apple's future, basically because they are taking too long to kick Motorola to the curb, right where it belongs. Motorola is primarily responsible for the CPU/speed predicament Apple's in, and Apple can't afford to wait another minute in finding a new partner.

I was seriously considering ditching my Windows desktop and getting a Powermac dual 1.25GHz with 23" cinema display, but after doing a ton of research (damn well do research if I'm spending almost $7K), I've decided to wait. I don't know how long Apple will be around, and I want to see what the next-gen CPU brings.

OSX rocks, but Apple can't leverage that forever.

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10/25, 05:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
How cute!

No, not the laptop. It's ugly. What's up with the black interior?

What's cute is how c|net tries to pass off this ad as a new article. This is Internet advertising in the post-boom era.

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10/25, 05:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
Review

There's a review of it here (not very detailed):
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,640273,00.asp

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10/25, 06:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
the squiggle

is an "m" except they put it on uside down so it looks like a "w" when it is open...

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10/25, 06:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche !!!!!!!!!

it's funny, before than I was love Porsche, but I know they just copy an idea, but as we know never same as PB G4 (NEVER)

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10/25, 06:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Are you kidding?

Everybody, sell your Apple stock. This laptop is the end of Apple.

Wish I would have bought it instead of my obviously under-designed, overpriced PowerBook G4-800.

Bullshit! Shut the f* up about how this and that are going to 'take a bite out of Apple'. Come on, how friggin original is that?!?

Please stop trying to compete with Apple Computer. They are the epicenter of design in the computer industry, hands down. PC's are dime a dozen in looks and features and they always will be.

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10/25, 07:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple's dilemma

Apple is primarily responsible for the CPU/speed predicament that they are in, not Motorola. If Apple substantially increased the 3% of the pie that they give Motorola on the desktop, then they would be able to provide Apple with much faster processors. Intel is simply pulling away because of much greater sales and therefore capital.

The danger here is that if Apple's sales do not pickup dramatically very soon, then they will eventually be forced to buy the standard processors for the desktop (x86 processors) and finally they will succumb to using the desktop standard OS, which is Windows, and then what would be the point of their existence?

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10/25, 07:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
Dell = soft steamy s***.

"What does that make Apple? Considering the fact that
Consumer Reports' recent article that used internal data from both companies and polling of their respective user bases determined that Apple sees more returns for defective hardware and hardware failures (the article covered the last 5 years). Dell had the best record in the industry. "

That's rich� even as good as consumer reports is, that article relied on data provided by those makers themselves...

My wife is the IT manager at a large university department, and she has more problems with Dell than with any other vendor; defective parts, improperly sized docks for their laptops, etc.

Let me give you an example of Dell's customer support when my wife ordered 32 Dull laptops and only two of them would fit into their docks... Dell said "try slamming them into the dock 20 or 30 times to get the ports to fit". WTF? Then, they absolutely refused to take the defective units back (that's why they have such a low return rate) and it wasn't until the legal department of our university was called in to deal with Dull that they sent replacement docks that had the proper fit for those craptops... That took another three months while Dull dragged it's a** because they didn't want to admit they make c*** and fucked up.

Get real people... Oh, and you Apple Doomsayers out there can go take a long flying f*** on a short gravel driveway... people like you have been around for 25 years, and none of you have ever been right...

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10/25, 07:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
Dell= ___ _____ ___

For years Consumer Reports has been reporting personal computer user problems from their polling of subscribers. Year after year, thousands of subscribers have reported that Dell has given them the least amount of problems. Apple has come in #2. To me your anecdotal evidence does not stand up to that. For instance, how many of the laptops at your wifes university are Dells?

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10/25, 07:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple Is Coming to an end

Apple is coming to an end. Maybe not tomorrow but soon. The following post pretty much sums up the reason.

--
It has an awesome OS on hardware that's borderline hopelessly behind the power curve.
--

They should have switched to IBM a long time ago. It is not Motorolas fault. It is Apple's fault for not getting off their a** and finding a different company.

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10/25, 07:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
Forgot To Mention

I just got a new DP 1.25 and this thing is so frickin' loud ...it is sad...sad indeed.....

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10/25, 08:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple's dilemma

Wait. Hold on a second. Hypothetically, if Apple is forced to use Intel/AMD x86 processors, that does NOT mean they've sold out and are now just another desktop standard parasite. Apple has always been about hardware design, outstanding OSs, and a higher quality user and ownership experience. OS X is Apple's future, not some mindless dedication to Motorola, a company that, at the moment, isn't doing anything for Apple.

In theory, if Apple jumped aboard the x86 train, what Apple would have is the best OS on the market coupled with the most rapidly-advancing processor technology we've ever seen. Of course, a change like this would come at a price: how many Mac development houses would re-engineer their application codebases again, after they just got done doing major re-authoring for the OS X switch? Answer: probably not many, especially considering Apple's marketshare and thus potential ROI.

All rumors (and yes, I understand they're rumors, nothing more), point to a new CPU (probably IBM's POWER4) making its way into Mac desktops in late 2003 or early 2004. While the POWER4 is an amazing chip, Apple/IBM has to consider where Wintel will be then -- 5 GHz? Approaching 6GHz? Moore's law has never been more evident than it is these days, and Apple simply cannot afford to stay behind the power curve and garner a "slow" stigma.

Back in the day, Apple used to be known for balls-out speed, and it needs to get back the speed crown. If Apple really wants to be progressive, it should consider all processor options, including x86 (even though x86 is the longshot).

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10/25, 08:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple's dilemma

Even if Apple was able to quickly convert to a x86 processor, they still would have the almost insurmountable problem of having to deal with Windows, which has become the standard in the maturing desktop market. Really, changing processor suppliers will not solve the problem for Apple. The problem is that virtually everything in a desktop computer is now a standardized product and that's good enough for the vast majority of people. As one ex Apple executive once said: Apple is trying to sell caviar, while most people are satisfied with cheese and crackers.

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10/25, 08:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
It's not the real thing!

So... Two, going on three years after the release of the powerbook G4 someone releases one that almost looks as good, but still runs windows.

If you want a proper computer that does 'what it says on the tin', you know where to look. Thre rest of you can go to best buy.

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10/25, 11:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
wait til you see them...

...once you see one of these up close, I'm willing to bet you'll smile if you're a TiBook user. It's just like the Sony machines - they look nice in photographs, but when you see them close up and hold them and use them, they're surprisingly cheap-looking and feeling.

These will be the same, and probably worse, coming from Best Buy. The parts won't fit, there will be odd plastic parts here and there, the power brick will weigh another 2 pounds...

The TiBook is an unbelievable machine - it truly is a work of high design. It creates lust in those that see it or use it. Personally, I believe it's the finest computer ever built (yes, better than the TAM). I've been using one for several months now, and it still amazes me. And I'm about the pickiest SOB around.

This thing is nothing more than a compliment to Apple, built for the blue light crowd.

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10/26, 12:17am | report spam | close Reply |
I'll Pass...

Does this machine run OS X? No? Thanks...see ya....

This may attract some buyers (wanna-bes?), but I doubt anyone seriously considering a TiBook would consider this...the reasons you'd buy one vs. the other are just too different - and Apple has been steadily improving at pointing out those reasons.

One thing this does have is USB2 - am I the only one who is dissatisfied by Apple's non-action on USB2? As consumers, having USB2 on our machines would give us options - and we like to have options! :)

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10/26, 12:39am | report spam | close Reply |
If Apple designed cars..

Here's a different perspective:
I own - erm, lease - a '2K Porsche Boxster and I seriously wish *Apple* had designed *it*! Don't get me wrong, I love Porsche technical design - but their aesthetics (esp. their interiors) are generally hit-or-miss, and I cannot stress the (in my opinion) inferior interior design. C'mon Apple, lend a helping hand - after all, my iBook & iPod are the only pieces of hardware that have ever made me feel "cool" using them.

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10/26, 12:42am | report spam | close Reply |
Dell = SSS

"For years Consumer Reports has been reporting personal computer user problems from their polling of subscribers. Year after year, thousands of subscribers have reported that Dell has given them the least amount of problems. Apple has come in #2. To me your anecdotal evidence does not stand up to that. For instance, how many of the laptops at your wifes university are Dells?"

I just asked her; 40% of the computers in her department are PC's of which about half are Dull's. She and her staff spend approximately 60% of their time troubleshooting and doing tech support on those PC's (aside from an idiot who regularly slams his PowerBook on his desk). Of that 60% time supporting the PC's, she estimates 75% of that time goes into working on the Dull's.

Contrary to your attempts, this anecdotal evidence is not mere hearsay, but fact. All those service calls are documented... Nice, try, but the law of averages does not dismiss my point earlier, in fact, it approves it.

60% of the computers in her department are Macs. According to her records, she and her staff spend the least amount of time supporting the Mac's, even though they are the numerical majority.

Also, consider this; my wife is an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) fully qualified on NT and 2K, and her computer and OS of choice is a TiBook with OS X 10.2. I think that says it all about what c*** Windows is.

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10/26, 01:41am | report spam | close Reply |
To the doom-sayers ...

WHEN are you going to get it through your thick skulls that Apple has NO INTEREST in overtaking the Pentium-based world? If demand for Macs rose dramatically the company wouldn't even be able to handle it! They have a STRONG interest in holding on to (and growing) their 12% marketshare (yes, 12%. Someone finally did the math and Apple has 11.6% share).

Sure Apple would LOVE to see themselves own 20-25% of all the personal computers in use, but frankly they have NO INTEREST in growing beyond that, and even that's pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. Apple **wants** to be the Cadillac of computers, it does *not* want to be the Best Buy of computers.

Furthermore, it **does not need** to be appeal to more than 5% of the buying public to make money and do great things, as WE'VE SEEN FOR YEARS NOW.

Do you get it yet? Apple wants to sell to rich people, their kids, their relatives, graphic/music/video profesionals, private and WELL-FUNDED public schools, scientists and a few other markets where excellence is king. They are not interested in selling to feebs in cubicles, and have failed miserably every time they've tried.

That's why Apple puts it stores in ONLY the rich-b**** malls. That's why Apple's ads are poetic and elegant (and as non-threatening as possible), not in-your-face. That's why Apple is aggressively courting the UNIX/Linux crowd, while the only product that seriously threatens the Windows market is the iPod.

We will *never* see a time when Apple rules the desktop. Forget it, it's never going to happen. Apple's processor is *never* going to blow Intel out of the water. Apple is never going to pull something out of it's hat that is so much better than a PC that ever loser with some room on his credit card is going to *have* to purchase it. None of this will ever happen.

And the engine in a Mustang can kick a** over a VW Beetle. But I know which one is driven by cool people, and which one is driven by obnoxious a*******.

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10/26, 04:03am | report spam | close Reply |
Not built by Porsche

So the BB machine was "designed" by some guy at Porsche that probably wipes off toilets and runs a vacuum. Big deal. The TiPB IS the PORSCHE of Laptops, and it was designed by actual computer designers that clearly know what the end user wants. I like Porsche's cars (the ones they build, not the ones Audi built in the past). I don't like Porsche sunglasses, cologne, underwear, pens and now their computers. The Boxster is a brilliant driving machine for those who enjoy the feel of the ultimate driving experience. And who doesn't slather over the 996 Turbo? 15k mile oil changes, variocam, tiptronic for the women, monobloc brake calipers, fully galvanized shell, real carbon fiber, leather dash and door panels, custom paint schemes - all reason why Porsches are incredible vehicles. Unfortunately, the BB laptop is just a pile parts for the average ding-dong windows user to get excited about for no reason.

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10/26, 04:26am | report spam | close Reply |
Dell's are s***

The last Dell I had to throw out at work had only 1 drive bay but room for 3 floppies. The displays are s*** too. The keyboards and mice are s***. They ship with too little ram and the dates on the parts inside are sometimes several years old. We no longer use Dell Tech Support because those Tech supporters have never fixed any of the problems we have had and we have had to resort to fixing these things ourselves (ie. throwing them out when multiple parts fail simultaneously). The local schools won't accept the units as donations anymore, either. Dell is going to tank soon, it appears.

I wouldn't buy a Best Buy computer, just as I wouldn't buy a TV that says Best Buy. I would rather have a computer with the label "Radio Shack". No savvy computer user, even those who just have to have a Winbox because everyone else does, will buy that machine. Best Buy is going to tank soon. I hope.

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10/26, 04:55am | report spam | close Reply |
Nice when off/lid closed

The Porsche laptop is going to be a nice machine - slim design, interesting color scheme, plenty of ports to be mesmerized by. Unfortunately, the euphoria surrounding the thing dissapates the moment you boot up and hear the "Microsoft Organ Pipes" welcome tone. They play the organ when you get married (the start of a bad experience), and as such Microsoft fittingly plays the organ when you start up windows.

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10/26, 06:18am | report spam | close Reply |
RE: To the doom-sayers .

Someone finally did the math and Apple has 11.6% share

I think you moved the decimal - it's more like 1.16%. Who, exactly, is the "someone" who did the math? A retarded monkey?

Keep dreaming/lying to your self.

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10/26, 08:29am | report spam | close Reply |
RE:To the doom-sayers ...

12% Marketshare??? are you mad? Apple's worldwide share is down to 2.25% and their US share is down to around 3.8%.

See here:
http://www.pegasus3d.com/macmarketshare.gif

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10/26, 08:33am | report spam | close Reply |
RE: Dell's are s***

>The local schools won't accept the units as donations anymore, either. Dell is going to tank soon, it appears.

Heh, yeah right. They're so crappy that last quarter they once again gained a bunch of marketshare in edu and are by far the leading edu supplier. They also gained a bunch of general marketshare and have surpassed HP/Compaq as the #1 OEM.

They're doing much better than any computer manufacturer right now -- their computer shipments are way up.

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10/26, 11:21am | report spam | close Reply |
No Surprise

Markets follow winners. The Ti Powerbook is clearly a winner. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's like creating a copy of a Leroy Nieman, or a Ferrari GT....unoriginal and with far less value.

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10/26, 11:31am | report spam | close Reply |
Nice try

Even if another vendor could design the hardware to be as good as Apples (which they haven't), They still will all have one major failing:

No Mac OS.

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10/26, 11:40am | report spam | close Reply |
Basic economics

"WHEN are you going to get it through your thick skulls that Apple has NO INTEREST in overtaking the Pentium-based world?"

Hehe, that's funny. Apple would love to make every computer on the planet. The goal of every for-profit company is to increase revenue and profits. Period.

Apple is currently focused on increasing their marketshare to the 10% range or so, but rest assured that they won't stop when the get there.

And yes, you're right. Apple won't do anything that will suddenly compel everyone to start buying Macs. It's more likely that Microsoft will do something that will compel people to look elsewhere for their OS. Something like forcing users to pay a yearly fee to "renew" their OS, or just consistently putting out crappy software.

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10/26, 02:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
it's just like a TiBook.

except it crashes a lot and isn't as s***.

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10/26, 02:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
Mac Marketshare

" 12% Marketshare??? are you mad? Apple's worldwide share is down to 2.25% and their US share is down to around 3.8%.

See here:
http://www.pegasus3d.com/macmarketshare.gif"

What kind of source is this? It's some stupid science fiction website. Any idiot can type numbers into an Excel spreadsheet, add a graph and export it as a Gif file. There was nothing else on the site to substantiate this claim.

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10/26, 03:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Mac Marketshare

It's based on the # of PC's sold by Apple each quarter which Apple releases as a percentage of the number of PCs sold overall each quarter which is reported by places like IDC.

See here for the IDC figures:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-962423.html

and here for Apple's figures:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2002/oct/16earnings.html

Now you can confirm that the chart is indeed accurate.

And just to add a little flame to the fire, from a Business Week article from yesterday entitled, "Learning to Dump the Losers".

"Q&A with Schwab -
Q: Now, this one is sure to really make some shareholders angry: Apple (AAPL ) is a company that people love, and you dare rate it an F!

A: People certainly are emotionally linked to Apple. However, emotions are the enemy of the objective investor. Per our analysis, Apple is pretty unattractive across the board. It's still selling at an above-average multiple of earnings and cash flow. Management is issuing shares (as opposed to buying them back), which we mentioned before that we don't like to see. And short-sellers are selling more and more of Apple short.

Its fundamentals aren't great either, when you look at free cash flow growth and free cash flow return on investment. Its earnings quality is very poor. We come to this conclusion by looking at the difference between operating cash flow and reported net income. There is some management discretion as to how you report your net income, but in the long run, operating cash flow and net income must converge. If net income is much higher than operating cash flow, the tendency is for net income to fall back in line. Apple looks particularly poor on that measure."

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10/26, 03:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
not designed by carmaker!

just to make this clear, porsche-design is not even related to the porsche carcompany. the nephew of ferry porsche, who designed the 911 in the late 60s opened his own designcompany in austria. they're still doing cool stuff, like watches, digicams, home-appliances etc, but have nothing to do with cars.

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10/26, 03:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple and the desktop...

Apple, in a perfect world, would love to be the de-facto computer provider to as much of the world it could. However, knowing full well that Windows is entrenched to an almost irreversible point, Apple is doing exactly what it should: selling premium computers that offer a superior ownership experience to those who need and can afford it.

As far as Microsoft goes, Apple isn't even on their competitve radar. Apple is a non-entity. Microsoft, from their perspective, beat Apple down LONG ago, and they've become a biteless adversary since. If Microsoft considered Apple any real thread, you would NOT see Microsoft Office on the OS X platform. You don't see MS Office for Linux, do you? Answer: no you don't, and you probably won't for a long while, if ever. Linux is a competitive threat to MS, and MS is trying to do to it what it did to Apple years ago. Problem is, Linux runs on the exact same hardware as Windows does, so MS can't exclusively leverage its relationship with hardware vendors anymore.

I would LOVE for OS X adoption to be so strong that Apple starts posing a threat again -- not for world domination, but to rob MS of a significant slice of the market action. Possible? Yes. Probable? Not unless Apple can (a) fix its CPU conundrum and (b) do something about its statospheric prices.

--Jeff

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10/26, 04:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: Dolt

I could see how my post could imply what you inferred. To clear anything up, I was referring to an article posted at MacMinute about a new superdrive that may not fit in the Ti. The cool thing is, this new drive also writes DVDs, so we'd be one step up on a lot of laptops out there.

http://www.macminute.com/2002/07/31/20020731105000

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10/26, 04:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
competition

and what is with all of this competition talk? gateway brings out this all in one lcd to knock the imac and now best buy brings this slim laptop to knock the powerbook g4. shouldn't they be concerned with other hardware manufacturers?

oh and here's a thought. will best buy tell their staff to try to sell fewer laptops made by other companies and try and show of this thing? time for dell, compaq/hp, etc to yank their supplies to best buy to put it back in its place.

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10/26, 05:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
Scared

Judging by the reactions on this site I'd say that most of the Mac users get scared when they see something from the other side that they like.

A lot of people use Windows, like it or not.
This is definitely one of the best looking PC laptops.
WinXP is fairly stable and while it's not heaven, neither is OSX.
I like it.
A lot of PC users will like it as well.
The design is good, and it fits in better with other corporate designs than the TiPB does.

To the guy who asked if I could run Apache, PHP and MySQL on my PC Laptop.: I can and I do. Starting and stopping Apache and Mysql is as easy on WinXP as it is on OSX. I love my old G3 PB and will probably get a TiPB next year when Apple finally upgrades the hardware to real DDR and decent speeds. OSX is fantastic but I work with WinXP all day and it is pretty good in spite of all the negative c*** written about it by people here who have never used it.

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10/26, 07:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
hmmmm

As I sit here on my TiBook 800 running 10.2, typing in a Chimera window, listening to iTunes cranked through my new Monsoon speakers, rendering a huge queue in After Effects in the background for broadcast TV, with no noticable slowdown,... i can only smile...

If anyone has one of these, I'll trade you my TiBook for it....
When you pull it from my cold dead fingers...

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10/27, 01:05am | report spam | close Reply |
BLT - why?

Why would Best Buy, a store that carries plenty of laptops already, come out with the BLT? The article says that Porsche showrooms will also display and sell the BLT. I used to work in a Porsche showroom. Nobody looks at all that Porsche branded c*** in the showcase. People would come in one after another and plunk down $100,000 for a car day in and day out. What salesperson is going to bother trying to sell a $2300 BLT when he won't make any money? Sell a $100,000 car and make a fat commission; sell a BLT and make squat. It just doesn't make sense. Somebody at Porsche marketing really blew it. I don't care if XP is the first decent version of Windows (it took them how many years to get something decent out there?). I don't care if someone wants to buy a laptop because it says Porsche and they think they'll get laid. OSX is very good. My 400mhz Ti Book does what I need it to do, and although I like it when Apple comes out with faster hardware, I must say that even this wimpy 400mhz G4 is fast enough for iTunes, iMovie, iSync, iCal, Office, Internet Exploder, Mail, iChat, iPhoto, Acrobat, Filemaker, Quicken, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and so on. It sucks at 3D games, but that's what an Xbox is for ( I'd rather spend $200 on an Xbox to play games than spend an extra $1200 for a game capable TiBook).

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10/27, 01:44am | report spam | close Reply |
Competing vs excelsior

Sorry, being a pc user I have to agree that this pc laptop is great! its gray! it has pointy edges so it can easily get banged up at any time! Its shiny metallic gray contrasts its easy to stain black making it a true pc machine...

And about the OS! wow with xp I can easily create my favorite blue screen errors!!! jsut install a nvdia detonator driver!!! fro that 420, and thanks to its 'slick' design I can brag that I have the biggest portable mp3 player when I close that shinny lid. Ooh did i mention that nice contrasting trackpad? wow, colors so bright, MARCEL MARCEAU would be proud :/

Did i mention the ethernet? in addition to the onboard wireless, it has a great 10/100 connection! who needs 1000? its like loving the model-t cuz its 10 times slower... who need those blazing speeds anyway...

I do like the attempt on innovation with the upstreaming capabilities ... wish they had more innovation though...

i give it a 6 out of a 10 month life span....
stick with the dell pc users

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10/27, 02:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Piece of s***

That laptop looks (and is) like the biggest piece of s*** I've seen in a long time. I can't believe the morons at Best Buy (of all places... Best Buy... puh-leeaze) actually think they're going to sell a lot of these useless pieces of junk. I also didn't know until today that the people at Porsche Design were such idiots. God, what a bunch of fucked up a*******... they should all go to h*** for this s***.

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10/27, 02:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
ex-Apple b****

> As one ex Apple executive once said: Apple is
> trying to sell caviar, while most people are
> satisfied with cheese and crackers.

Wow, you're seriously full of s***. The reason he's an "ex" Apple executive is because he's an idiot. Of course someone who was fired because of incompetence is going to go around shooting off his mouth about c*** he doesn't understand. "Cheese and crackers," god, what a moronic comparison.

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10/27, 05:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not as nice as the Ti

They should stick to designing droolworthy cars. This laptop is not really that special looking.

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10/27, 06:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche Design

Has nothing to do with the Porsche Automobile Company. Porsche Design makes Sunglasses.

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10/27, 11:52pm | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche will last...

in the computer market for about the same time it requires me to reach self sexual satisfaction. I imagine this is a response to the Jaguar nickname given to Mac OS X 10.2.

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10/28, 03:38am | report spam | close Reply |
Once a pc always a pc

The Titanium has been out for what a year and half (since the original G4/400)? All that time to develop something comparable and the best that can be done even with Porsche's help is 6.4lbs and 1.2 inches thick!

In all honestly too -if the article hadn't mentioned Porsche had designed it I would have never guessed. There's nothing there that's revolutionary or uniquelly engineered.

And as for features: no 6-pin firewire (boo), no gigabit ethernet (doh), analog monitor connector (welcome to 1980 best buy), no floppy (in the windows-world I would want one)

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10/28, 06:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
It looks like s***

no fw, no competition.
Did they say it was designed by Porche?
They guys who make cars? The car, Porche?
Then whyyyy, why didn't they put one of their good designers on this task?? This could be designed by bill gates grandson for all I know. It looks really boring and ordinary.
And why must they have the ugly Windows and Intel stickers visible on it?

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11/01, 10:24am | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche Laptop

I'm a Mac fan for sure, but I don't see how this is copying @ all? You're all really biased. Sure its a windoze machine, but aside from that, it offers a lot of good features-- yes it does have firewire ports (2) unlike what seems to be the general consensus (do you people actually read the articles?), plus decent memory and an awesome screen. whoopdeedoo about the 2.0ghz P4m. m (mobile) chips that run that high are inefficient and extremely hot! with that small of a laptop its gonna burn a whole in your lap because it isn't big enough to house enough heatsinks to keep it cool when its running full tilt. oh well, c'est la vie.

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11/01, 10:24am | report spam | close Reply |
Porsche Laptop

I'm a Mac fan for sure, but I don't see how this is copying @ all? You're all really biased. Sure its a windoze machine, but aside from that, it offers a lot of good features-- yes it does have firewire ports (2) unlike what seems to be the general consensus (do you people actually read the articles?), plus decent memory and an awesome screen. whoopdeedoo about the 2.0ghz P4m. m (mobile) chips that run that high are inefficient and extremely hot! with that small of a laptop its gonna burn a whole in your lap because it isn't big enough to house enough heatsinks to keep it cool when its running full tilt. oh well, c'est la vie.

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11/07, 01:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
it doesn't stand a chanc

The new powerbook that apple released yesterday (the 6th Nov) aka the 1Ghz superdrive one! beats it hands down. it faster, lighter, thiner, made of titanium and far superior aesthetically plus it runs OS X there is no os in the world that beats OS. so it looks like apple rasied the bar again and as usual the rest fell short!

Can't say i'm surprised! keep it up apple

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01/02, 12:18am | report spam | close Reply |
Whats Whack Is Apple

Every single person on here keeps downing the new computer when they don't even have all the facts. The new computer has a firewire port. It even has two. It has two USB ports. It has two PC card ports and wow. The sound system on it is amazing. Then what does porsche do. They come up with the first wide screen laptop computer. Wow. What do apple computer users have to say about that. Well nothing yet. You can say that APPLE is easy to use and user friendly but what the heck is happening to there stock and sales figures. It keeps going down. I wonder why. There the only company making the type of computer and still there not making more money. Then we have splinter companys like best buy that come up with there own computer and they seem to be getting the raves. What happened to all of apples raves. I don't hear you. Most of all. Every single one of your bad comments seemed to have no grounds. One person even said that a VPR had a Athlon XP in it. What was that. People. Do the research before you do teh dissing. And don't be so one minded. Apple may be easy. But guess what. There slowly guetting phased out. There bodys may look cool. But it dosen't matter about the body, it matters what's inside. Sounds corney but hey. It works for me. Thats why my computer works for me. LA TE DA...................... Later Dudes

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Best Buy laptop to compete with PowerBook G4

updated 01:35 pm EDT, Fri October 25, 2002

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no firewire?

Maybe

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wooh

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the problem is..

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POSH

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Final Cut Poo

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Let's get real...

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blarg

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No floppy????

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re: Lame design

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re: Lame design

if I recall

Well said Chas_m

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Flattery..

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Re: In Summary

if I recall

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Re: Aplogizers

I would buy it.

Dell and Gateway cheat

RE:Dell and Gateway cheat

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How cute!

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the squiggle

Porsche !!!!!!!!!

Dell= _ _ _