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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=635
Bigger or Smaller Portables? You Choose
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
July 11th 2002
Bigger LCDs, ''desktop replacements'' the trend in the portable world?
Want the power of a desktop in a portable? Ever wish your notebook had the
number-crunching power of your Dual 1GHz? Well maybe you can.
A story at Newsfactor looks at the trend towards larger portables which are genuine
''desktop replacements''. Toshiba is now pushing its Satellite 1955-S801, equipped
with a 16" LCD. Equipped with a P4 at 2GHz, the Satellite retails for $2,500.
A commentator in the story noted that these are ''transportable rather than portable",
meant to be taken from desk-to-desk, rather than around the world.
The story also dicusses the Cybernet Deskbook, which its proprietors argue is
typically "40% faster" than comparable notebook systems. These ''portables'' also pay
the price in terms of bulk: Toshiba''s Satellite weighs a back-breaking 9.6lbs.
Despite the ''desktop'' specification, the battery life is a claimed 2.5 hours.
Analysis: The specs for these ''transportables'' aren''t impressive. Real speed means
a 7,200rpm hard drive (minimum) and a 400MHz bus (virtually standard on even lower-end
x86 systems).
Should Apple go there? We doubt it. There is not a great deal of difference between a
15" and 16" LCD. Higher screen resolutions would be good (even as a BTO option) with
the 15.2" TiBook, although the latest PowerBook G4 represents a step in the right
direction.
Except for the ultra-slim, ultra-small Vaio portables and their ilk, Apple essentially
has the portable market covered: 12.1", 4.9lb iBook for the portable sector; the 14.1"
''Son of Pismo'' iBook for the mid-range, sub-$2,000 bracket; and the PowerBooks for
big-screen work.
Compared to a TiBook - or even an iBook - spec sheet, these PC ''transportables''
appear distinctly unimpressive. Raw CPU clock aside, the hard drives are not
particularly capacious, RAM capacities ordinary (when you consider the Pismo could
handle 1GB in 2000), and equipment mediocre (USB is news?). S-Video? Wallstreets had
that in 1998. DVD? Ditto (as an option). 40GB hard drives? Pass�, when you can get a
40GB drive BTO''d or a Travelstar 48GB (current but old 5,400rpm), or 60GXN from any
mail order house.
Regardless, Apple did it first. In 1990. Remember the Luggable - er, the Portable?
Sure hope we''re not heading back that way.
Post your comments at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=635
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Copyright (c) 2002 Insanely Great Mac. All rights reserved. This article
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