What spawned my discussion about being surrounded by Macs in my day-to-day environment on campus was a friend of mine in my Compiler class (ECE466 for Statefolk). He had a 12" Powerbook and seeing him switch made me wonder exactly how prevalent these things had become.
Today he finds himself in a bit of a pickle, or more like a jar of pickles with a broken 12" Powerbook. His Powerbook will randomly shut off and not turn back on. A call to Apple results in little more than the following two options:
1) Reset your power management settings, or
2) Reinstall your OS
Now he tried the first option, and being that he was in class at the time the second option well, wasn't really an option. His issue has hardware-problem written all over it (at least the PC diagnostic side of me thinks so, but I claim no expertise in the Mac-arts) despite what Apple says. The problem exists regardless of whether or not the Powerbook is plugged in, so it's not a battery issue.
Any thoughts?
What I've noticed from reading the Apple support messageboards is that Apple's hardware is not flawless as some like to think. It seems to either work perfectly (and I mean perfectly), or have some extremely obscure problem (usually with an even more obscure fix). I'm just hoping I have none of the horrible problems I've read about the G5s; I have this bad habit of tempting fate, maybe I should quit while I'm ahead :)
I still keep my stance on Apple's Powerbooks: they are too bulky for my tastes. Make a thin-and-light notebook and I'll be a mobile convert, but sticking a 90nm PPC 970FX processor in a laptop is not the solution. Intel had the right mentality with Pentium M, a mobile processor has to be designed from the ground up to be a mobile processor - it cannot simply be a underclocked desktop part that can go to sleep every now and then. Until other companies decide to dedicate the resources necessary to implement a similar approach Intel will retain their tight grip on the mobile market. Apple isn't in the business of microprocessor design so I'm not faulting them, but there are others out there who are: they're at fault :) (I know it's not easy to design a chip, much less a good one so I will entertain and accept "easier said than done" responses to my comments). Oh and the same "designed to be a mobile chip first" applies to mobile GPUs as well; mobile gaming will not be a reality unless a similar approach is entertained.
It's bedtime for me, goodnight all :)
Today he finds himself in a bit of a pickle, or more like a jar of pickles with a broken 12" Powerbook. His Powerbook will randomly shut off and not turn back on. A call to Apple results in little more than the following two options:
1) Reset your power management settings, or
2) Reinstall your OS
Now he tried the first option, and being that he was in class at the time the second option well, wasn't really an option. His issue has hardware-problem written all over it (at least the PC diagnostic side of me thinks so, but I claim no expertise in the Mac-arts) despite what Apple says. The problem exists regardless of whether or not the Powerbook is plugged in, so it's not a battery issue.
Any thoughts?
What I've noticed from reading the Apple support messageboards is that Apple's hardware is not flawless as some like to think. It seems to either work perfectly (and I mean perfectly), or have some extremely obscure problem (usually with an even more obscure fix). I'm just hoping I have none of the horrible problems I've read about the G5s; I have this bad habit of tempting fate, maybe I should quit while I'm ahead :)
I still keep my stance on Apple's Powerbooks: they are too bulky for my tastes. Make a thin-and-light notebook and I'll be a mobile convert, but sticking a 90nm PPC 970FX processor in a laptop is not the solution. Intel had the right mentality with Pentium M, a mobile processor has to be designed from the ground up to be a mobile processor - it cannot simply be a underclocked desktop part that can go to sleep every now and then. Until other companies decide to dedicate the resources necessary to implement a similar approach Intel will retain their tight grip on the mobile market. Apple isn't in the business of microprocessor design so I'm not faulting them, but there are others out there who are: they're at fault :) (I know it's not easy to design a chip, much less a good one so I will entertain and accept "easier said than done" responses to my comments). Oh and the same "designed to be a mobile chip first" applies to mobile GPUs as well; mobile gaming will not be a reality unless a similar approach is entertained.
It's bedtime for me, goodnight all :)
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The Best - Sunday, March 28, 2004 - link
1) For reference on Mac technical issues, there is none better than MacIntouch (www.macintouch.com). Check that site and you'll very likely find a thread on any prevelant Mac problems.
2) Is the battery holding a charge? Pull out the battery and press the button on it and check the light bar, see if it is holding a charge.
I switched 3 years ago and the Mac has been a god send. So don't give up on it. Everything has problems, but long term you'll come to appreciate how few the Mac has.
qiranworms - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
Cannot say Dell is any better. My Dell Inspiron 8200 just randomly shut off and will not even respond in any way to the power button. Have tried reseating RAM, using different power arrangements (battery present, batter not present, battery only, different outlets), etc. I've sent it back. When I mentioned this to a friend, he said that his mother's Dell laptop (a bit older) had died twice and the LCD backlight died once. Interestingly enough, before then I had heard she was considering a Powerbook.By the way, for most people the Powerbook is more then thin and light enough. Try carrying around my 8.5 pound Inspiron. I personally am not interested in the untra portables you like because of the higher pricing and often lower specifications. According to CNet, there are four streams of laptop build classes: Mainstream, Desktop Replacement, Thin and Light, and Ultraportable. Apple's laptops often cross over the borders of the DRs, TLs, and Mainstreams.
Colin Richardson - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
Hmm...at least Mac isn't like Windows in that reinstallation is the answer to a good 60% of the problems on the PC.Anonymous - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
Dell's puters have problems also from time to timePicture of smoking Dell Poweredge emerges
Alarm bells ring, but it's not the power supply
By INQUIRER staff: Saturday 27 March 2004, 09:41
A READER has sent us a picture of one of his PowerEdge 1650 servers that went up in smoke.
But, as he points out, in his case the ATI Rage chip appeared to be the place where things started getting smoked, not the power supply.
He tells us that this server had a four hour service on failure contract with Dell. The firm told him "under no circumstances" to use the RAID card or disk array to try and recover the data. The option was to send it to OnTrack, who for a piffling $8,000 to $18,000 would attempt to recover the data.
Dell has promised him a PowerEdge 1750 as a replacement but he's still to see it.
He wonders if Dell is struggling to replace a lot of such systems. µ
http: //www.theinquirer.net/?article=14995
Everyone is looking at the price/performance of Apples new Xserve G5, and loving it!
Anonymous - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
I am not a power user but I plan to switch to Mac. I like the mini iPOD and bought Apple stock. After reading up on Apple I am learning some very interesting things. I would have to say Apple is back on track. I think that Steve Jobs sees the whole picture and is craftfully integrating many things digital with the computer. He the first to see this and now Microsoft, Intel, and Dell etc are jumping on the bandwagon. Anand may has some valid criticisim of Apple but I think Steve Jobs is on the right road because they control both the operating system and hardware in one concentric circle. I am not positive on this but it is a hunch and I going to be a switcher. Yesterday purcahsed $5,000 worth of Apple products (PowerBook, iPOD, printer, digital camera for my daugther college graduation present) and soon as the new iMAC models are out, I am buying one of them for myself. I also have read enough reviews of iLife to believe that I will have a top digital computer as compared to a Dell or HP system.I have never use an Apple product, but I will tell you something, I am very worn out with my Gateway/Windows environment. Just today somehow a program installed itself on my desktop without my permission. The darn thing is really disrupting my system. It installed itself in the startup directory.
Eug - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
To those posting Mac OS Rumors stuff. Please note that they are the laughing stock of Mac sites, even compared to other Mac rumour sites.Sometimes they are just so far off I have to wonder if they're making predictions seem idiotic intentionally just for their own amusement.
voline - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
In your March 22 macdate you mentioned that you'd like a quick and easy way to unclutter your screen when you are working in just one app (Word was your example). Next time try the application menu (name of the active app) and select "Hide Others" or use the keys Command+Option+H.Ghengis Bush - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
Off topic:There is worthwhile tutorial on hidden Panther features here:
http://www.macworld.com/2004/03/features/pantherse...
Louis - Friday, March 26, 2004 - link
It struck me as odd that Anand would think the PowerBooks are *too* bulky; but he does moderate it with 'for his tastes', so it becomes an opinion thing. It's also very amusing to hear that Intel has a tight grip on the mobile market because of the Centrino...I was under the impression that the Centrino was a decided reaction to the power thrifty Transmetas and G4s/G3s, which had the battery life crown for the longest time. PC laptops with 4 hours on one battery were nearly unheard of until Centrino... right?
aristotle - Friday, March 26, 2004 - link
Have you tried reseting the PMU? I sound like the settings on your Power management Unit are buggered up. If that does not help, it might be a heat sensor as others have said.As others have said already. The current 970 does have some downclocking functionality and the 970FX. I would say that the 970 would compare quite favorably against the Pentium M processor actually. It will have nowhere near the same heat output of the original G5 and it will have better Power management features.