I riffed on this topic last fall shortly
after the Unibody
MacBooks were announced, but five months on, having in the interim
bought a 13" Unibody as my main workhorse system, and with many folks
still perceiving a void in Apple's notebook lineup where the 12" PowerBook used to be, I think it's timely
to take another look at whether the 13" aluminum MacBook is a logical
and satisfactory successor to the G4 12-inchers, as well as whether
some of the newer PC machines straddling the netbook/subnotebook
categorization - notably the 11.6" Aspire One announced by Acer last
week - might also merit consideration as a 12" PowerBook
replacement.
Hands on Experience
I admired the 12" PowerBook but never owned one. However, I did use
a 12" iBook as my
main system for more than three years in the same role the MacBook is
serving now, so it's interesting to take a comparative look at that as
well. In short, the Unibody MacBook is easily superior to that old
iBook in just about every way I can think of, other than the as yet
imponderable quality of its dependability and longevity, but so far
(two months), so good. The MacBook has been a rock of stability and
presented no reliability problems whatsoever, although it's early days
yet.
It's much faster (of course), and the screen is bigger,
higher-resolution, brighter, and LED backlit. I find I'm quite happy
with the glossy surface. I'm not especially smitten with the chiclet
keyboard, but it's vastly better than the mediocre (and that's being
kind) iBook keyboard (I would rate the 12" PowerBook's keyboard the
best of the three by a considerable margin). The MacBook trackpad is
many magnitudes superior to the iBook's as well, not just in feel but
also its multitouch capabilities.
The aluminum MacBook's build quality is in a whole different
dimension than the iBook's "Opaque White" polycarbonate housing with
its uneven panel fits. I always liked the looks of the iBook, but it
was just reasonably attractive, while the MacBook is arrestingly
beautiful.
Dimensions
One characteristic that some 12" iBook and PowerBook fans cite as a
caveat in the MacBook's bid to be a satisfactory replacement for those
older machines is the footprint. The aluminum MacBook measures 12.78" x
8.94" while the iBook's footprint was 11.2" x 9.06" and the PowerBook
10.8" x 8.5", so the Unibody wants significantly more desk (or airline
tray) space than the PowerBook, but it is actually slightly shallower
in depth than the 12" iBook and less than 1.6" wider, which doesn't
seem dramatically greater to me.
The MacBook is also thinner at 0.95" vs. 1.35" for the iBook and
1.18" for the PowerBook, and weighing 4.5 pounds, it's nearly half a
pound lighter than the iBook (4.9 lb.), and even a tenth of a pound
lighter than the 12" PowerBook as well as actually being smaller than
the latter in volume (108.5 cu. in. vs. 110.6 cu. in.). It's certainly
very handy to pack around.
Two Inconveniences
I do prefer the internal modem and especially the FireWire support
with the old PowerPC machines, the absence of which is a moderate and
sometimes substantial inconvenience respectively, and those are my
biggest complaints so far with the MacBook - neither unexpected, and
both about as annoying as I had anticipated they would be.
Power to Spare
Performance-wise, it's no contest. Even with its modest, by Core 2
Duo standards, 2.0 GHz processor, the MacBook is in a different class
than the old G3 and G4 machines, and while maxing out the RAM in the
iBook and PowerBook still gave you no more than barely adequate memory
capacity, the MacBook's standard 2.0 GB of RAM is providing very
pleasing performance even when running memory-hungry software like
Dictate, and the headroom is there to double or triple that amount if
need be. Graphics support is also delightfully lively with the
MacBook's Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated chipset.
The MacBook is also a cool runner, and the internal cooling fan has
not cut in so far, even when multitasking Time Machine backups while
dialed up to the Internet and doing other work in the foreground. The
processor temperature actually runs just a few degrees hotter on
average than the 1.33
GHz G4 in my 17" PowerBook, but for some reason the Unibody case
stays cooler to the touch.
The Unibody machine is also superbly quiet. The iBook, with its
little 20 GB IBM hard drive, was the previous champ for quietness of
Macs I've owned, but the MacBook's 160 GB drive is even more
silent.
An Excellent Successor
Personally, my verdict is still that the 13" Unibody MacBook makes
an excellent successor to either the 12" iBook or PowerBook, unless
perhaps there is some compelling reason why the 1.6" to 2" of width
really is problematical. I find it amazing that I paid about $300 less
for the MacBook than I did for the iBook (back in late 2002), although
the MacBook is an Apple Certified Refurbished unit, while the iBook was
brand new.
One point that I would like to note is that since I opened the box,
I haven't regretted for an instant choosing the Unibody machine over
the less expensive, entry-level MacBook White, even in the
latter's latest revision, which has essentially the same processor,
RAM, and graphics configuration and sells for $300 less (it does still
have FireWire). The FireWire consideration notwithstanding, the
tradeoff still favors the aluminum unit, and my recommendation would be
that unless the extra $300 is going to put you into hardship, go with
the Unibody.
11.6" Acer Aspire One
But what about that 11.6" Acer Aspire One I mentioned above? Well,
it actually hasn't been released yet, but I couldn't help but note that
it's display dimension is only half-an-inch smaller than the 12"
PowerBook's.
It was inevitable that the distinction between netbooks and
notebooks would eventually blur, and this 1" (2.5 cm) thick 11.6"
Aspire One is a case in point - technically a netbook, I suppose,
because of its single-core Intel Atom processor (of unspecified clock
speed as yet) and possibly the new Z-series Atom announced last week by
Intel - the 1.33 GHz Atom Z520, the 1.6 GHz Z530, or perhaps even the
new 2.0 GHz Z550, the latter being the same clock speed as the entry
level MacBooks, although the MacBook's Core 2 Duo processors have
substantially more muscle than an Atom. Still, I imagine the 2.0 GHz
Atom will be quite lively for most sorts of routine computing.
The 11.6" Aspire has graphics supported by a Mobile Intel US15W
Express Chipset, comes with a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM, and
a full-sized "soft-touch" keyboard, and will be available in four
glossy colors - white, dark blue, red, and black.
Also included with the "big" Aspire One will be a a five-in-one card
reader, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity, Dolby Pro Logic
sound, and a 1,366 x 768 resolution 16:9 ratio LED backlit screen. The
machine weighs in at just a little more than one kilo (about
two-and-a-half pounds), and Acer claims 8 hours battery runtime on the
6 cell 5200 mAh battery, made possible by Intel Technologies and Intel
Display Power Savings Technology that reduces backlighting with minimal
visual impact. You tap the Acer PowerSmart key to engage these and
other advanced settings to shift the notebook into power saving mode
that Acer claims is up to 40% more efficient than a typical laptop.
There is a digital microphone, an Acer Crystal Eye webcam built into
the display frame, a "multi-gesture" touchpad, three USB ports (one or
two more than any MacBook, save for the 17" MacBook Pro), and VGA
output.
It will be a cool runner, too, because the ULV Atom chips generate
less hear to start with, while Intel's laminar wall jet technology uses
louvered inlets to quietly jet cool air across the notebook's
bottom.
Neither the Acer 11.6" Aspire One's price nor release date have been
announced yet, but speculative estimates are ranging from $500 to $700.
Quite an enticing bargain - at the lower end of that especially - but a
decent replacement for the 12" PowerBook? It's the right size, weighs a
lot less, and should be a much speedier better performer than the old
G4, even with the low-power consumption Atom processor.
What do you think?
