This old mouse shares love and concerns about the new Apple G4 Aluminum PowerBook
I love my new 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4! But while getting used to it I'm having to learn some new manners! I'm discovering lots of things I like about it, and lots of things I really liked about my Wall Street PowerBook.
One of the more disheartening things about the new Powerbook is the short battery life. The Wall Street used to run in sleep mode for nearly indefinite periods of time -- left idle sometimes for as long as two weeks. But it's a sinking feeling to return to the Powerbook G4 after just two days to find a dark, inactive sleep light. Even after running the recommended cold-start technique, and resetting the battery memory the most I've been able to get is just over 2 hours.
The Wall Street would keep on pumping from Washington Dulles to San Fran with enough juice to make it to Berkeley. For really long periods, the Wall Street allowed me to pull out the disk or CD drives, and slip in a second battery -- IAD to Tokyo. No such luck with the G4. With the Wall Street, I also had David Pogue's excellent road warrior techniques for using RAM disks, and trimming battery use to a trickle. So far, I've found no references to RAM disks under OS X at all. (With 1.5 gigs of memory, a RAM disk would be a killer!)
The solution I suppose will be a second battery. Newer Technology has a new replacement -- the NuPower AL15 4800mAh (53.3 Watt-Hour) Battery for all Powerbook G4 Aluminum 15" Models, which touts up to 11% more Capacity than Apple's Battery! It costs $129.99 which is about 20 bucks more than Apple's. I must admit that a strong reason for purchasing the Newer is the fact that their batteries are top tier, engineered and manufactured in the USA -- in stark contrast to the arguably inferior battery products produced overseas with cheaper battery cells.
The NewerTechnology NuPower AL15 4800mAh 53.3 Watt-Hour high capacity battery is $129, and I have not found it discounted more than a few dollars. The Apple PowerBook G4 15" Rechargeable Battery M9325G/A is $111.50 from Amazon.com
We'll have to wait and see if the 11% extra time is worth the money, but at least with two batteries I'll probably have four hours of use.
While the G4 is a thing of pure beauty, the aluminum body scratches and fingerprints instantly, demanding super careful treatment. Within the first hour out of the box I had several blemishes just from handling. I immediately had to purchase a "Glove" and now have the added hassle of inserting and removing it for use. (I'm extremely pleased with my RadTech PowerBook Glove - form-fitting neoprene sleeve w/zipper - $29.95 Picture)
I also worry about damage issues. I've dropped the Wall Street twice: once out of the truck seat onto the pavement (bouncing off the sill plate of the truck door), and once knocked off a table when someone tripped over the power cord. There were never any signs of damage what so ever. (Although the events did give me heart flutters!) But, I'd be very afraid of dropping the G4. The case seems thin and fragile.
Just picking it up, you can see the body compress under the grip required to lift it. I have to lift it or handle it with both hands. Opening the lid shows a decided flexing of the monitor when lifting by one corner. I've had to adopt an 'open by both corners together' routine. I've already completely destroyed a Titanium PowerBook when a jar of pennies accidentally fell on its closed top. (An event which would have simply bounced off the Wall Street's tough polycarbonate shell!) So I'm super gun-shy with handling this new baby.
Don't get me wrong -- it is a beautiful piece of engineering -- Apple style. Its smooth, satin finish; elegant, straight lines; and small radius corners, begs to be touched. Everyone gasps in delight when I pull it out of it's sock. But the design lends itself to showing off the least flaw or damage. Definitely not for rough hands or pick-up trucks.
Another worry is the heat issue. After about an hour of use the fan becomes a real annoyance with its off/on/off/on cycle. If the room is quiet, the fan really calls attention to itself, driving me nuts.
More concerning is the surface temperature. Several times already it's been almost too warm to comfortably touch. If the surface is this hot, what must the temperatures be on the inside? It couldn't possibly be good for the electronic parts -- demanding the extra dough to buy AppleCare. The Wall Street never got hot, and I wasn't even aware of any fan at all -- if indeed it even has one.
I now carry a quarter-inch stick to the back to lift it off the desktop. This seems to dispel a lot of heat and allow it to run longer before the rude groan of the fan kicks in.
These problems along with a number of issues with OS X suggests Apple is now more concerned with cosmetics than road warriors or heavy power-users. The positioning of the boot button, positioning of USB ports, and other features unnoticed by most, all demand some adjustments to how the computer is used.
I love my new PowerBook, don't get me wrong. My intention is to make this my desktop and mobile computer, letting one do the job of two. But the battery problem, coupled with the heat and lack of durability are cause for concern.
For my hit-and-run laptop lifestyle -- pounding away in BBEdit, text, html or database editing -- after a half-dozen years, the old Wall Street still says use me. It will be interesting to see what condition the this beautiful G4 Powerbook will be in six years from now. Maybe Apple is trying to tell This Old Mouse to slow down, take it easy and enjoy life. We'll see.
Until next time, happy mousing.
Fred Showker, Editor/Publisher UG Net News
Fred Showker is co-editor of "MUG Info Manager," the User Group Network News service, and a founding Apple User Group Advisory Board (UGAB) member. He was an original founder of the User Group Forum on AppleLink Personal Edition which became America Online in 1988 ... read more
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