Hands-On Report--New 800 MHz PowerBook G4

Last evening we stopped by the Apple Store in Tysons Corner (McLean), VA, to check out the new King of PowerBooks, the 800 MHz Titanium PowerBook G4. Yesterday, Apple announced two new TiBook models with the top of the line model running at 800 MHz and the lower level model running at 667 MHz. We couldn't wait to try out the 800 MHz model since we have been using the initial 500 MHz TiBook for the last 9-10 months and it is fabulous.

With one exception, the TiBook's general external appearance has not changed one bit from the first model. No changes were apparent in the finish, hinges, lid bumpers or latch system even though all have received criticism from some owners. Ours, however, has not had any problems with any of them so maybe that is the norm by a wide margin--we certainly hope so.

The only change to the exterior is the lack of an infrared port. This port, available on every PowerBook that we have owned in the past eight years, has been eliminated in the new TiBooks. It's function, we suppose, is replaced by the new Bluetooth technology, just like USB replaced ADB and FireWire replaced SCSI. Infrared is dead...on PowerBooks. Like all technology obsolescence, those with legacy devices like printers and PDAs with infrared ports will feel stuck but Bluetooth is today's wireless technology and it works better than infrared.

In the port compartment, the other differences are the new TiBook's audio-in port and DVI video port instead of a VGA port. The former will be welcome to those decrying the state of the art of USB audio. The latter will allow the TiBook to connect to digital LCD displays like all of Apple's flat panel displays, including the new and incredible high definition 23" display with Apple's new $149 DVI->ADC adapter. Both are significant improvements, especially the DVI port. The Apple Store didn't have any of the new DVI->ADC adapters so we can't report much on them except that the power supply is much smaller than that of Dr Bott's adapter which uses the same power supply as the discontinued G4 Cube.

How fast is the new 800 MHz CPU? It's faster but we didn't run any benchmarks, not just yet. The 667 MHz model that replaced our 500 MHz model did not seem faster when we used it and that was born out in subsequently posted benchmark tests. However, the 800 MHz model with 256 KB of L2 cache and 1 MB L3 cache seems significantly quicker than our 500 MHz model. Watch for a future speed test on Macs Only!

We saved the best for last. The new 15.2" (diagonal) 3:2 screen is truly outstanding. It is MUCH brighter that the older TiBooks' screens. It is so much brighter that it is really hard to believe. We thought our TiBook's screen was clear and bright compared with our former PowerBook 2000 (Pismo) but the new TiBook's screen is off the chart. And its viewing angle is as good as a CRT in BOTH the horizontal and vertical directions--really! We could still see the screen's image from the most extreme angles without a substantial loss of brightness. The new screen's resolution is 1280x854, replacing the 1152x768 of previous TiBooks. This additional screen real estate also provides a much sharper image.

Is the new 800 MHz model enough to trade in a 500 MHz original TiBook? You bet! Like comparing our Pismo with our original TiBook, the screen alone is worth trading up to get. Add in the faster ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics and the DVI graphics port and it's a sure thing.

The Tysons Corner Apple Store has a good supply of both new models but no DVI->ADC adapters yet. They didn't have an ETA on the latter. In addition, they still did not have a supply of Bluetooth adapters.