Hands-On Mini Review--TiBook Rev.B

Apple quietly upgraded the PowerBook G4 Titanium (TiBook) on Tuesday, October 16. The principal new features of the Rev.B are a maximum 667 MHz G4 CPU (up from 500), a 133 MHz system bus (up from 100), more standard RAM, larger standard hard drives, ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, AirPort card included, gigabit ethernet and a new form AC adapter. There's also an optional CD-RW drive and a silent IBM 48 GB fluid bearing hard drive. The new TiBook Rev.Bs are reaching end user hands. Here is a mini review by Chris Cargen, President and CEO of Hospitality America, Inc.,:

"I thought some of you might want a very subjective opinion of the differences between the Titanium PB G4/667 (after a weekend of use) and the PB G4 500 (after 8+ months of heavy use).

Saturday, I purchased a PowerBook G4 667 from a local dealer (MacAuthority, Nashville). It will replace my PowerBook G4 500, which is at Apple for repair of the battery latch (one of the plastic retaining levers chipped partly off, causing it to lose power at the slightest touch).

My PB G4 was an early production unit, which was delivered the first week of February direct from the Taiwan factory. I run my hotel business with it, including relentless air travel between 10 hotels.

I'm no 'techie', but I guess I am a 'power user', having owned a dozen PowerBooks since the PB 170 and using a PowerBook a lot, every day.

I'll try to limit my comments to differences that I haven't seen noted elsewhere. Some are very subtle.

All my comments compare against an early production PB G4/500, therefore some of the differences I describe may have been corrected in successive iterations prior to the PowerBook G4/667.

The PB G4/667 has a slightly better 'fit and finish' than the PB G4/500.

The battery fits very snugly, with the battery edges fitting even with the bottom case. In contrast, the batteries of my PowerBook G4/500 always fit slightly loose, with one edge protruding slightly out of the cavity on one side. I tried several fixes, including 1). swapping both of my batteries with Apple; 2). inserting a piece of double-sided tape along one side of the battery cavity and 3). blow-drying a piece of shrink tube on one of the battery 'thingies'. These attempts helped, but I never achieved the battery fit of the PB G4/667.

My PB G4/500 has a very, very subtle crease in the wrist rest to the right of the touchpad. My PB G4/667 is absolutely flat.

The keyboard of the PB G4/667 has a second Command key located immediately to the right side of the spacebar. The Enter key has been moved one space to the right, eliminating the second Option key. This is a terrific functional improvement. Unlike the OS 9X DVD Player controller which included trackpad activated fast forward/reverse, the OS X.1 DVD Player controller lacks this. The only way to control fast forward/reverse in OS X.1 is via Command-Arrow key combinations. A right side located Command key allows one-handed DVD fast forward/reverse, which unless you have bigger hands than me, requires both hands to simultaneously operate the left side located Command and right side located Arrows on the PB G4/500.

The PB G4/667 keyboard has more uniformly solid support than the PB G4/500, which had some sponginess between approximately the 'I' thru '[' keys and in the lower right corner. The pull of the magnets under the keyboard is stronger and more support has been added under the keyboard, which is why it feels so much more solid and uniform.

The visible 'guts' under the keyboard are quite different in appearance. The basic components are still located in roughly the same places, but there are distinct differences. For example, the keyboard cable is angled differently; the Airport Card is covered; the heat sinks are silver instead of black and are shaped differently. This may account for seemingly cooler operation. The PB G4/667 seems cooler to the touch than my PB G4/500. The Power Button on my PB G4/500 becomes extremely hot after extended use. The same button on my PB G4/677 is just slightly warm after all-day use.

The 20 GB hard drive on my PB G4/500 is very quiet, but to be able to hear the 30GB drive on my PB G4/667, I have to hold my ear a couple of inches from the keyboard. The drive is essentially 'silent'.

The Airport reception is better by about one green dot.

The new AC adapter is certainly better than the flying saucer adapter, but it's still several ounces heavier and about 35% larger than the Madsonline MicroAdapter, which I will continue to carry in my carry case for use on the road.

Regarding speed, the PB G4/667 feels pretty zippy, but since my PB G4/500 is still in the shop, I haven't been able to do any time trial comparisons. My appetite for speed was satisfied by the PB G4/500, but I use Photoshop very rarely and am not the more typical Apple = graphics customer.

I was very satisfied with my PB G4/500 The battery looseness problem was my only real complaint. (I fully expect that Apple will send my PB G4/500 back with this problem corrected).

In producing the new PowerBook G4/667, Apple has tweaked the already outstanding design of the PowerBook G4/500 and conquered nearly all of the minor criticisms of the first design. It is an even better "book" as should be expected in a 'Rev. B' design."

We have a 500 MHz Rev.A TiBook so we stopped by the Apple Store yesterday to check out the 667 MHz Rev.B TiBook and to look for other improvements. We love our TiBook but we are concerned for the durability of the screen's hinges (the new iBook's is best), the loose fitting screen/top when closed and the battery latch which is too easy to open accidentally (again we like the iBook's). Unfortunately, none of these items were improved.

At the beginning of July we traded in our 400 MHz PowerBook G3 (Pismo) for the 500 MHz TiBook. In many ways we still feel that the Pismo is the best PowerBook we ever used. Its black color and curvaceous design is really wicked. However, we were seduced by the TiBook's fabulous screen, its G4 CPU and lighter weight. The Rev.B is even better so we won't be going back.