[Ti] Happy 1 GHz PowerBook users!

[alan kastner]

>5). Except for the 2X verses 1X SuperDrive, and maybe a slightly faster
>video card (no relative speed tests yet available), the 1 GHz 17" is no
>faster than my 1 GHz 15".

Chris,

While the tests were done on dark side hardware and the reviews over-emphasized game (3D) performance, last autumn the "Mobility Radeon 9000" both outpaced and consumed less power than the "GeForce4 440 Go" that's in the new 17" model.

A friend ran benchmark tests on a 17" PB at MWSF and found the results to be between 5% - 10% faster than the 15.2" 1GHz TiBook. No big deal. That's mostly due to the faster system bus speed as the implementation of DDR memory gains almost nothing with the current CPU and circuit design.

>My only fear is that they abandon the 15" form factor sometime
>down the road because for me it is the PERFECT form factor.

I think we should start to expect more frequent updates from Apple, and that the 15.2" form factor will be with us for some time yet. Sticking my neck out, I'd venture the next revision of the 15.2" Ti(AL?)Book will appear about May or June and will leap-frog the now similar performance of the new 17" model. Most buyers of the 17" model won't take delivery until March, so that ought to give them a couple of months to have fun before we see the faster next generation 15.2" that employs 0.13 micron technology, better implementation of DDR, the same or revised versions of the illuminated keyboard, BlueTooth, AirPort Extreme, etc. It's very possible the 17" model will be updated at the same time, leaving a number of purchasers cranky over having just received their spiffy new 17" machines weeks or months before. That's also 5 to 6 months after the 17" would have been announced, something that should stifle at least a few would-be whiners; and it allows Apple to keep a machine in 
the lineup that will boot from OS 9 for a few more months. Hopefully this is the year of rapid development and most everyone will learn to embrace it. Note: A new advance and release does not render a recently purchased PowerBook obsolete!

 alan

P.S. Hope you've been enjoying your GigaBook. I've been thinking about you, as bad a correspondent as I can be at times.