What do you think of a new thinkpad series?

[asiafish]

Apple uses the PowerPC, made by IBM of all people (Motorola has been out for a while, but may come back).

Apple won't port OS X to PC, but then, you could always run it on a PowerBook. The keyboard on my new 12" is just as good as the one on my T22, more rigid actually, and the screen is the equal of an X-series. Wide is really nice on the bigger ones.

[CChoi83]

I didn't mean to offend any Powerbook users when I said that it is an executive's toy. If I did then my apologies. What I meant is that while Apple's are geared more towards the multimedia market (meaning audio/video editing, graphics, publishing, and yes, they use it for science and mathematical computations as well), a TP is geared mainly towards strictly business users. Well, that's how I see it at least (IMO). For me (not TO ME), an PB is sort of a waste of money. I don't really have any uses for it and it would just serve as a really nice, expensive paperweight for my desk (if I had the money to burn, I would definately buy it, even if it was for that purpose, hehe).

[asiafish]

A PowerBook will do everything a ThinkPad will do, and vice-versa. They both have strengths and weaknesses, but to say that you have no use for either means you have no use for a laptop.

Lets see, word processing, email, scheduling, spreadsheets, presentations, hmm, normal business tasks - last time I checked, Microsoft Office for Macintosh was roughly equivalent to Microsoft Office for Windows, with the only glaring exception being the lack of the Access database (though our FileMaker Pro is much better than the PC version).

CAD, image editing, video editing, again, pretty much the same software on both platforms, though Apple's own software is partifularly elegant (Garage band is the coolest low-end music mixer).

Other aspects of using a laptop to get real work done are good battery life, a good keyboard and screen, and system reliability. I'd give IBM the edge on robust hardware and really like the ease with whcih hard drives can be replaced, but on the software side Apple OS X is light-years beyond Windows XP for stability, and thats before you add in the total lack of spyware and viruses and the performance gains from not running Norton, AdAware or all that other stuff to protect yourself (you hope) from all that spyware and all those viruses.

About the only places where the PowerBook really can't compare are games (much fewer titles, usualy 6 months to a year late) and ergonomics. Ergonomics aren't that bad on a PowerBook, but the ThinkPad really is a level above, mainly because of the advantages of the TrackPoint over the touchpad.

One thing is certain, however, and that is that the PowerBook is a very serious computer that is capable of use for serious business tasks. I went through graduate school using a PowerBook, use it as an attorney, and while I use my ThinkPad for military forms, I use the PowerBook when its time to create presentations (Keynote is MUCH better than PowerPoint).

Andrew

[CChoi83]

But there's also the question on the availability of software. The PC market just has so much more. Also, just the fact that I do work in the supermarket/retail grocery business means that I have to keep up with my POS (that's Point Of Sale, not piece of sh*t) software (which is propriertary) amongst other things. Basically, all the points that I have stated are coming from my POV and are the expression of my uses. I'm not bashing Powerbooks in anyway. They're just not right for me. Not to mention that I'd have to learn another system from the beginning is something that I don't have the patience for these days. Apple's have their own list of great things like RISC processors and great displays with exceptional resolution and color, great asthetics and features like the backlit keyboard and all metal enclosures, etc. My first comp was an Amiga 500 in the 80's, then I had a 386 SX, DX, DX2, various 486's, PI, PII, Celeron, PIII, etc. I'm 21 now and I've had a computer since I was in grade school so I've become extremely accustomed to the PC interface. It's also a a psychological thing. You don't like things that you're not used to you know?

Like I said, it all depends on what I use.

[asiafish]

The interface is the easiest part, it is basically the same metaphor as Windows, only far better implemented. As for software, there is plenty of software, just not the mass of crapware that you find lning the shelf at Target.

[manixc]

What are the chances that IBM will start a ultra-portable series? smaller than the X-series, like 10"? I think it would be good for those in the business world who want to travel very, very light.

[daeojkim]

Actually Apple already has a OSX for x86 platform. This is from a my friend who works at apple as developer.

They are not releasing it because when that happens you know their hardware business will die. They get most of their profit from hardware. Unless they can also come up with a competitive office product it will be a suicide for apple to release OSX for x86 platform. Apple still relies on MS for the main office product suite and if OSX for x86 is released and start massively chewing Windows market share, MS will stop development of OSX office suite.

One thing I would like to see is a leak of this x86 OSX and being distributed via p2p... I wonder how many people will get a copy of it and install it on their x86 machine.

I think I might be one of them.

[MobileGuru]

What are the chances that IBM will start a ultra-portable series? smaller than the X-series, like 10"? I think it would be good for those in the business world who want to travel very, very light.

I would highly doubt you would ever see anything smaller than a 12.1 being called a ThinkPad moving forward from IBM. From a market standpoint, the X40 is the ultra-portable.

G.

[mmeier]

do you think we will be see a widescreen TP?

the reason I am asking, I heard that we will see a new TP A-series with widescreen dispaly

[asiafish]

I'll only buy T or X series, A, R and G, at least if they keep their current design philosophy (features at the expense of weight) I'll stay clear.

[AlphaKilo470]

If they could find a way to cram an internal drive and faster processors into the X series without making it bigger, I'd go for that. I'm pretty sure IBM would hold off on anything of that sort though because it'd cut into T series sales.