Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/3057
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 :)