Hands-On Report--New 15" PowerBook G4

and comments on the improved 17" and 12" PowerBook G4s. By the time we got to the Apple Store in Tysons Corner, VA, to check out the new 15" PowerBook G4, the initial shipment was sold out. They were gone before 2 p.m. according to a store employee. Fortunately, they had pulled one aside and were setting it up as a demo so we got to see, touch and play with it. The Store also had a few improved 17" PowerBook G4s left but their improvements are all internal. The improved 12" PowerBook G4s are not due until the end of September according to Steve Jobs in his Apple Expo keynote address yesterday morning. A larger shipment of the new 15' Powerbook G4 is expected in a couple of days.

The new 15" PowerBook G4 (15" AlBook) is virtually identical in appearance to its larger 17" cousin except that it is about 3/4" less wide on each side and from front to back and on the bottom panel. The 15" AlBook is about 10% taller than the 17" AlBook at 1.1." Let's set the record straight on screen size--it is 15.2" diagonal just like the TiBook that it replaces. It is not the much-rumored 15.4". The new 15" AlBook is also about 1/4 pound heavier than the last 1 GHz TiBook.

Every major complaint that we had about the TiBook has been taken care of in the new 15" AlBook:

No more finish worries. The new 15" AlBook looks great. Its anodized aluminum finish will wear much better than the painted finish of the TiBook. Our several-month-old 17" AlBook has nary a scratch on it despite many airport screenings. And its palm rest and front edge are not scratched and nicked by our stainless steel watch band. No more worries about paint bubbles and chips either.

No more cracked screen hinges. The new 15" AlBook has the same hinge as the 12" and 17" that was pioneered by the iBook. The added benefit is that the top of the 15" AlBook's screen, when open, is shorter than the TiBook's for a better fit on an airplane tray table. It should fair reasonably well in coach seats that are not on the bulkhead or in the exit row. The hinge on the 15" AlBook is a little stiffer than on our 17" AlBook so it does not "fall" open when the base it tilted up above 30 degree or so.

No more accidental battery drop outs. The new 15" Albook has the same latching mechanism as the 12" AlBook that was pioneered by the iBook. The battery is held in by a lock that is turned with a coin in its slot. We wish the 17" AlBook had this mechanism even though it is less likely to drop the battery when handled than the TiBook.

The battery looks smaller than on the TiBook even though the 15" AlBook is a bit heavier. It is rated at 46 watt hours, much less than the 61 watt hours of the last TiBook's battery. Apple claims 4.5 hours usage but that is very generous. Apple also claims 4.5 hours for our 17" AlBook's 58 watt hour battery but we get barely over 3 hours of actual use at full conservation while just typing into Adobe GoLive.

RAM is added through a small hatch on the bottom panel. A cover is held in place by four tiny #0 phillips-head screws.

The new 15" AlBook with 1.25 GHz CPU seemed a bit snappier than our ex-800 MHz TiBook and 1 GHz 17" AlBook. The CPU at 1.25 GHz has a faster clock speed and twice the L2 cache at 512 KB but it lacks the 1 MB of L3 cache of previous models. We think the G4 CPU is the new low-power model 7457 but we didn't have software with us to confirm it. The new 15" AlBook also has a faster ATI 9600 graphics chip set so it should be measurably faster all around. We'll conduct our speed tests at a later date to see for sure.

We expect that the new 15" AlBook will be the best seller of the three AlBooks. At $1999 to $2599 with options in between it covers the professional sweetspot on price very well. However, we like the 17" AlBook better because of its larger screen size and because it is a bit faster. Its size and weight differences are not as unwieldy as one might expect from a first encounter--we quickly got used to them. The gloat factor is also in our favor. We believe that the 17" AlBook is easily worth the current $400 difference in price.

For those who want a small and light PowerBook G4, the 12" AlBook just got a whole lot better. Its G4 CPU increased in clock speed from 867 MHz to 1 GHz and the amount of RAM that can be loaded rises from 640 MB to 1.25 GB. The DVI port now allows a digital hook up to Apple's displays and its graphics system is substantally improved from a GeForce 420 Go to a FX Go 5200 but the video RAM is still at 32 MB.

The biggest "unfortunately" for the improved 12" AlBook is, in our opinion, still the lack of a PC-card slot. That slot is needed for a wireless internet card that almost every business person with a small Wintel laptop has. Sure, WiFi is available in many airports, hotels and Starbucks, etc., but Sprint's wireless internet service is everywhere in most major cities. If one needs this service, one will have to buy the larger 15" AlBook. Worse things could happen.

[Update 7:15a EDT] New AirPort Base Station 5dBi Antenna from QuickerTek: QuickerTek, developers of PowerBook(r) antennas for Titanium PowerBooks and external antennas for both the Graphite and Snow wireless base stations, is now shipping their AntennaKit, an external antenna that works with Apple's Snow and both versions of Apple's Extreme Airport Base Stations. They claim that the AntennaKit typically increases signal strength up to 50%, increases line-of-sight distance by an average of 250 yards, and makes it easy for users to install their own antennas, even on base stations that do not provide external antenna ports.

The price of the AntennaKit is $129. The kit includes a 5Dbi Omni directional antenna along with the necessary connections, brackets and illustrated installation instructions. Installation in Snow Base Stations requires drilling a small hole in the cover (a hole guide is provided in the kit).

[Update 7:15a EDT] Your Mac Life at Apple Expo: Your Mac Life host Shawn King reports that YML was the first media outlet to interview Sandy Greene, Apple's Powerbook Product Marketing Manager, Scott Broderick Product Manager for the new Bluetooth keyboard and mouse *and* Ken Bereskin, Apple's Director of OS X Marketing on the show floor of the Expo in Paris. Audio and video of the interviews are available now on the Your Mac Life web site.