Apple Brings PowerPC Speed -- as Well as New Power Features -- to Its Portable Line.
Jim Shatz-Akin
If, as Henry Kissinger once said, "Power is the great aphrodisiac," you'd certainly be excused for feeling all tingly at the prospect of Apple's newest portable computers. By itself, the mingling of PowerPC technology and PowerBook design in two of the three new models sounds like a fantasy come true; even the new entry-level 68LC040-based model promises mouth-watering PowerPC-upgrade potential. Stir in a host of new technologies -- many of them crossovers from the PC-compatible market -- and you may find yourself craving a new PowerBook. The array of promised delights is staggering: full support for PCMCIA peripherals, wireless infrared-based communications, the ability to leave your floppy drive behind if you don't need it (or to replace it with a variety of alternative peripherals), and new battery technology that promises to double the length of your work sessions.
In the end, however, our encounters with the new PowerBooks left us feeling impressed but less than fully satisfied. For all their prowess and their competitive pricing (the lowest-priced PowerPC-equipped PowerBook starts at $2,199, and an entry-level 68LC040 system costs $1,649), the new PowerBooks started to seem like just more faces in a crowd. A number of their new features are matched by PC notebook computers (and have, in fact, been available on PC-compatibles for years), and the new PowerBooks even look more like PC notebooks than previous products. Maybe we simply can't shake our fixation on the gorgeous (but admittedly overweight) PowerBook 540c. Maybe we've been spoiled into expecting PowerBooks to be groundbreaking. Although the new models are a feast for the senses -- and the wallet -- the earth never quite moved for us.
When they ship in late September or early October, the new PowerBooks will replace all of Apple's older models. Two of the three just-announced models -- the subnotebook PowerBook Duo 2300c and the all-in-one PowerBook 5300 -- are Power Mac PowerBooks. They usher in a new strain of low-cost, power-efficient PowerPC processor, the 603e, which was designed specifically for portable use and runs at either 100 MHz or a speedy 117 MHz. The third model, the PowerBook 190, delivers the same 33-MHz 68LC040 speed of today's fastest PowerBooks -- plus the promise of a future upgrade to the 603e -- in a system that was designed and priced for entry-level buyers. All three new models also require yet another version of system software -- System 7.5.2, which works only with these PowerBooks.
Apple hasn't merely updated the PowerBooks' processors, however. The new Duo boasts a larger screen than the Duo 280c, which it replaces, and it adopts the popular (and newly enhanced) trackpad pointing device. The all-in-one models offer a wide range of new technologies, including lithium ion (LiIon) batteries; PCMCIA peripherals (which are now known as PC Cards); wireless networking and communications based on infrared light; and an "expansion bay," which allows you to remove the floppy drive to lighten your load or swap in a variety of alternative devices. This flexible design lets you mix and match system components easily and ensures that you don't have to carry (or pay for) hardware you don't need. (For more information on what each PowerBook contains, see the "Sorting Out the Options" table.)
Power Mac Portability
The biggest news with the new PowerBook line is the arrival of PowerPC technology in the form of the 603e. At long last, the PowerBook line is benefiting from speed increases similar to those the desktop Macs have seen since the debut of the 601. The 5300-series machines are significantly faster than previous PowerBooks, with the 5300ce being fast enough even for on-the-road graphics professionals (see figure 1). Although the Duo 2300c is potentially as fast as computers in the 5300 series, our tests revealed that a slow hard drive and poor video response drag down its speed. Apple claims that the final shipping Duo 2300c will, however, have a faster hard drive.
Although the 603e performs similarly to the 604, it is a different chip entirely. The 603e was engineered from the ground up for use in portables and differs from other PowerPC chips in several key ways: It's smaller than its cousins, the 601 and the 604; its overall power draw is about 75 percent lower than that of the 604; and it includes a series of new power-management features. In addition to the Sleep mode, familiar to all PowerBook users, the 603e has two more reduced-power modes that are transparent to users: Nap and Doze, which, unlike Sleep, cause only the 603e chip (not all the PowerBooks' components) to power down. Besides having these power-saving modes, the 603e can selectively power down its own subsystems if they are idle, without waiting for the entire chip to be idle.
Features Inspection
The latest PowerBooks have more going for them than just their chips, however. A good way to size up the new goodies in the PowerBooks is to simply look them over -- and an obvious place to start is with the screens.
For the first time, one model (the 5300) will ship with four screen-configuration options: The basic 5300 has a 9.5-inch dual-scan passive-matrix screen that supports 16 shades of gray at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The 5300cs comes with a 10.4-inch dual-scan passive-matrix screen that supports 256 colors at 640 x 480 pixels. The 5300c offers a 10.4-inch active-matrix screen that delivers thousands of colors at 640 x 480 pixels. And finally, for the first time, Apple has produced a PowerBook that uses an IBM PC screen-resolution standard -- the 5300ce boasts a 10.4-inch active-matrix color screen that supports thousands of colors at 600 x 800 pixels (Super-VGA).
The Duo 2300c has an active-matrix color screen similar to the one on the 5300c. The 190 has the same grayscale screen as the 5300, and the 190cs has the same passive-matrix color screen as the 5300cs. Apple will offer screen upgrades for purchasers of 190- and 5300-series PowerBooks, although it had not determined pricing at press time.
Moving past the screens in order to examine the rest of the new PowerBooks' cases, you see that the Duo 2300c differs in appearance only slightly from the Duo 280c -- and with good reason. Aside from its speedy PowerPC, only one new feature stands out on the newest Duo -- it sports a trackpad pointing device instead of a trackball. The electronic pointer, which lacks mechanical parts, looks just like the one introduced with last year's PowerBook 500 series, but the Duo 2300c's trackpad is a little better than the original. It lets you double-click by tapping the trackpad itself (the adjacent button still works for this too) -- something many users of the original trackpad were disappointed they couldn't do.
(Buyers of the 5300-series PowerBooks may be similarly disappointed: The enhanced trackpad will be supplied with the Duo 2300c and the 190 series but not with the flagship 5300 series. Anticipating strong demand for the 5300 series and still smarting from shortages that followed last year's launch of the 500-series PowerBooks, Apple began manufacturing 5300s before the new trackpads were available in quantity. If you're willing to wait a few months before you buy your 5300, you may be rewarded with a silent upgrade to the enhanced trackpad -- although Apple is making no promises.)
Apart from having the trackpad and the new PowerPC, the Duo 2300c is identical to the Duo 280c: It has the same bright, sharp 9.5-inch active-matrix color screen (a grayscale version of the Duo 2300c is not available); the same Type III NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries; and the same internal 14.4-kbps Apple Express Modem II that shipped with the Duo 280c. The Duo 2300c is compatible with the same Apple Duo Dock II and mini docks (from Apple and third parties) that worked with the Duo 280 series. This is all slick technology, but when you get down to it, we've seen most of it before. We find ourselves wondering if the four-generation-old Duo design has finally run its course.
New Case, New Stuff
By contrast, a glance at the new all-in-one PowerBooks reveals a great deal that's new. The machines in the 5300 and 190 series look different from all other PowerBooks except each other. Taking a cue from the 7000-series desktop Power Macs, the 5300 and 190 series have a common case design. What sets them apart is the components packed into (or missing from) the basic setup.
The look-alike models are made of different materials: The 5300s' cases consist of a carbon-free polymer designed to provide low weight but high strength and shock absorption; the 190s are made of more-pedestrian plastic. Aside from this, the cases are identical, and the logic boards inside are nearly identical as well. (The logic-board design of the 190 series is actually slightly more advanced than that of the 5300 series: The power supply of the 190s is soldered onto the board, rather than attached via a separate connector. The connector adds a modicum of extra weight to the 5300s.) In fact, except for the case, you'll be able to turn any 190 into any 5300 -- other than the 5300ce -- through upgrades, although upgrading won't be cheap (see the "Upwardly Mobile" sidebar).
The new all-in-one cases are a shade darker than those of the 500 series, and the organic curves of the 500 series have given way to a somewhat boxier look in the 5300 and 190 series. Gone are the stereo speakers that flanked the upper corners of the 500 series' screens; a single speaker sits beneath the center of the screen, and an integrated microphone dimples the bezel to the right of the screen. We do miss the lo-fi stereo speakers when playing Doom, but at least the new PowerBooks still include 16-bit-stereo output, so you can connect them to a sound system for presentations. Yet there are bigger differences: A closer peek at the case reveals unfamiliar openings, latches, and panels that hint at new capabilities.
PC Cards on Deck
On the left side of the case of the 5300 and 190 series is a small door that conceals a built-in slot for PCMCIA cards, or PC Cards -- credit-card-sized plug-in peripherals that have been standard on PC-compatible notebooks for years. Unlike the halfhearted implementation Apple offered last year, with the PCMCIA Expansion Module for the PowerBook 500 series, the new slots are fully compliant with industry-standard PCMCIA specifications. This means that beyond the handful of specially designed storage devices and modems the old expansion module supported, the new all-in-one PowerBooks support the full range of PC Cards -- including a variety of modems, networking adapters, wireless-communication cards, and data-storage modules -- now widely available for PCs. Mac-specific drivers will be required for these devices, and Apple is working with major Mac and PC vendors to ensure a large supply. In addition to the flash-memory and modem cards already available for the PowerBook 500 series, new offerings include Type II cards from Global Village and MegaHertz (a longtime PC vendor) that combine 28.8-kbps modems with Ethernet adapters and include a plug-in module from Dayna that turns the PowerBook into a cellular speakerphone. (Check out our Mobile Mac section for information on PC Cards and other third-party offerings as they become available.)
Spin the new all-in-one PowerBooks around to reveal the back panel, and you'll find a plastic door protecting an array of familiar ports -- ADB, SCSI, serial, audio-in/headphone, audio-out, and video-out. (The Ethernet and modem ports available on the PowerBook 500s are gone, with the idea that users who need those functions can easily use PC Cards instead.) The video-out port looks the same as on earlier-generation PowerBooks, but unlike on those models, it's connected to an upgradable video card, not the logic board: The 5300-series PowerBooks ship standard with a card that supports 256-color output to an external monitor at a resolution as high as 832 x 624 pixels (the Mac standard for 17-inch display systems). Third parties such as Newer Technology plan to ship upgrade cards that support more colors and/or higher resolutions. The card will fit into the empty PDS (processor-direct slot) of the PowerBook 190s; for the 5300 series, the card replaces the one Apple includes. Newer Technology estimates that its card will cost $350 to $400.
Look Ma, No Wires
Next to the port array on the 5300 models, you'll see a red plastic lens. This is not a brake light for the PowerBook: It's an IR (infrared) transceiver you can use for wireless communications. The transceiver, which is available as an upgrade option for the 190 series ($49), sends and receives beams of invisible light that carry data between PowerBooks. The transceiver lets you set up a wireless LocalTalk network of PowerBooks for sharing files.
For connecting to hardwired networks -- for example, to share files with desktop Macs or to use printers or other peripherals that are connected to your office's network -- you'll need to equip your desktop Macs with Farallon's AirDock. The AirDock is an infrared pod that connects to desktop Macs. Because the AirDock uses the same communications protocols as the PowerBook IR modules, it can give wireless-PowerBook users access to printers, servers, and other network resources.
Apple is also shipping a new application, IR File Exchange, on all infrared-equipped PowerBooks. IR File Exchange provides a simple, wireless way to swap data without having to go to the trouble of setting up file sharing, privileges, or passwords. It works like this: When you launch the IR File Exchange application, a window containing icons that represent the other users who are within range of your PowerBook and who are running their own copies of IR File Exchange appears on your PowerBook's desktop. To transfer data from your PowerBook to another Mac equipped with an IR transceiver, you simply drag files onto the target icon. A progress bar appears as the files are transmitted.
If the transmission is interrupted (when someone walks between the PowerBooks, for example), the IR File Exchange software behaves intelligently. An interruption of a few seconds is simply tolerated, causing a pause in the transmission but requiring no action on your part. If the interruption is longer than a few seconds, however, then IR File Exchange will flash a dialog box that instructs you to make sure your PowerBook is pointing at the target machine. After a minute, the file transfer ceases and the dialog box disappears, but if you leave the IR File Exchange application open, it will resume the transfer as soon as it's in range of the recipient's computer. When you receive a file, it appears on your desktop (or wherever else you choose) in a folder called, for example, From Jane Doe. Because IR File Exchange is smart enough to ensure that each sender is associated with only one folder, you don't wind up with same-name files from various colleagues accidentally overwriting one another.
The PowerBook IR transceivers are low-power and unidirectional, so sender and receiver must be no more than about 6 feet apart and the IR transceivers must be pointed at one another for communications to work. Despite these limitations, the infrared capability makes it easy to swap messages or create small, ad hoc network workgroups. The IR capabilities should get much more interesting sometime next year, when Apple promises to bring the PowerBook transceivers into compliance with the IRDA (Infrared Device Association) specification for hardware communications, which was incomplete when Apple finalized its transceiver design. The IRDA standard will allow compliant devices -- expected to include televisions, VCRs, PDAs, and computers -- to communicate or exchange data. Apple intends to provide an IRDA upgrade in software for all purchasers of IR-equipped PowerBooks.
Expanding Power
Completing our walk around the case of the 5300 and 190 series, we reach the right-side panel, which reveals a plain-looking floppy drive and a battery cover. A closer look reveals that this is actually one of the most intriguing facets of the new PowerBook design: A latch on the PowerBook's underside releases the floppy drive so you can slide it out of its enclosure. An immediate benefit of this design is the ability to travel light: If you don't need to use floppy disks, you can replace the drive with a featherweight caddy that holds PC Cards.
But the real value of the enclosure -- dubbed the expansion bay -- is that it allows you to replace the floppy drive with any of a variety of peripherals that communicate with the PowerBook across an IDE (Internal Drive Electronics) interface. Apple and other vendors plan to sell hard drives that fit into the bay; these drives will be larger and cheaper than the ones currently available as PC Cards. Third-party vendors have also announced a variety of expansion-bay devices. Among the most intriguing are a tiny (3.5-inch) 230-MB magneto-optical drive from Fujitsu and an auxiliary internal battery and an infrared wireless modem from VST.
Despite an impressive number of announced devices that will fit into the expansion bay, one of the biggest disappointments about the new PowerBooks concerns a device that won't fit: a CD-ROM drive. Apple has declared that power-usage considerations and size requirements made it impossible to include CD-ROM drives in the new PowerBooks, even though a growing number of PC-compatible notebooks are offering built-in CD-ROM drives (which admittedly draw lots of power and add undesirable bulk). Indeed, the expansion bay is too narrow to accommodate a 120-mm-wide CD-ROM disc, but the prerelease manual supplied with the PowerBooks we tested mentioned a CD-ROM option that apparently never came to fruition.
Adjoining the expansion bay on the right side of the all-in-one PowerBooks is the battery compartment, which accommodates two types of look-alike batteries. The 190s ship with batteries based on the same NiMH chemistry that Apple has used before in the 100- and 500-series PowerBooks and the Duos. These NiMH batteries are bulkier than any earlier-generation PowerBook batteries, owing to Apple's decision to build the batteries around power cells that are larger but less expensive than the ones it has used before. Apple estimates that users will average about two hours of use per charge from the NiMH cells -- or roughly the same life they're used to with previous-generation NiMH batteries.
The 5300-series batteries generate power from lithium ion (LiIon) chemistry. Although they're the same size and shape as the 190s' NiMH batteries, the LiIon models weigh about 1 pound less and are expected to last roughly twice as long on a charge. Apple predicts that with any type of screen, users will get about four hours of useful life from the LiIon batteries if they take care to conserve power. That estimate tracks well with an informal test we conducted using a LiIon-equipped 5300c: A Macromedia Director presentation, which kept the PowerBook 5300c hard drive spinning continuously, ran for more than three hours when we used the default Better Conservation setting in the PowerBook control panel.
When the batteries finally do run out, you'll appreciate a new feature Apple has thoughtfully built into the new all-in-one PowerBooks. An internal backup battery allows you to "hot swap" your main batteries without shutting down. This advance means that you'll be hearing Mac startup chimes a lot less frequently on cross-country airline flights. Another handy feature of the new batteries is a row of four LEDs that serves as a "fuel gauge." When the batteries are fully charged, all four LEDs light up; they blink out in turn as the power drains. This means that travelers who carry extra batteries no longer need to use sticky notes to tell the spent ones from those that are charged.
When it's time to replenish them, the new batteries will, of course, recharge in the PowerBooks when the machines are plugged into AC power. Apple won't supply external chargers, but a number of third-party options -- including a dual-purpose charger from VST that can tell NiMH and LiIon batteries apart and that can charge each appropriately -- were promised to appear on store shelves at the same time as the new PowerBooks.
But Do We Love Them?
The introduction of the PowerPC to the PowerBook line is good reason for business users to be pleased. In addition, the new design shared by the PowerBook 5300 and 190 models brings PowerBook users an unprecedented degree of flexibility: The expansion bay and PC Card slots let you carry only the types of peripherals you need and only when you need them. And IR-based communications will simplify file synchronization and data transfers for many users. For graphics professionals, engineers, and 3-D animators, the PowerBook 5300ce is a viable choice, thanks to its speedy 117-MHz PowerPC 603e and its high-quality active-matrix display.
Although these advances are an admirable boon for confirmed Mac users, the new PowerBooks aren't likely to share their predecessors' success at luring mobile PC users to the Mac camp. Unlike earlier generations, the new PowerBooks do not raise the bar significantly in terms of processing muscle or CD-ROM playback. PC Cards add flexibility, but they've been available on PC notebooks and subnotebooks for years -- as have active-matrix Super-VGA displays. IR communication is nifty, but at least until IRDA compliance is achieved, it won't offer any advantage to non-Mac users. Built-in CD-quality sound capability, which was a PowerBook innovation a generation ago, is now standard on many PC portables. Even the processing prowess of the PowerPC is matched in IBM's high-end ThinkPad notebooks, which also boast a host of new multimedia features: jacks for input from camcorders or VCRs, an integrated CD-ROM drive, and even an optional built-in camera for instant videoconferencing. Of course, that machine costs nearly $10,000 fully loaded, and IBM probably won't sell a large number of them.
The new PowerBooks are designed to have broader appeal and are priced for mainstream buyers. Although this may make good sense for Apple's business, we're sorry to see the company relinquish its role as innovator among portable-computer vendors.
When not covering PowerBooks, senior editor Jim Shatz-Akin may be found eating power breakfasts, strumming power chords, and avoiding Power Rangers. Associate lab director Nathan Garcia and senior project leader Jeffy Milstead performed the testing for this report.
Perform the same tests as MacUser Labs by using your own copy of MacBench 2.0, available online on ZD Net/Mac. See How to Reach Us for instructions on accessing ZD Net/Mac.
The Duo 2300c has slick new technology, but when you get down to it, we've seen most of it before.
Open 'Book / under the hood of the 5300 and 190
The shared case design of the PowerBook 5300 and 190 offers relatively painless access to the inner works: Remove two No. 8 Torx screws from the underside, lift the keyboard, and lean it against the display screen -- and you'll be in.
Display
IR transceiver
Floppy-disk drive
Logic board
Hard-disk drive
Memory daughterboard
Video-out card
Power supply
Backup battery
Keyboard
Lithium ion battery
Photography / Steven Underwood
Upwardly Mobile / Upgrade Step by Step
THE ENTRY-LEVEL POWERBOOK 190 and the high-end PowerBook 5300c share a common modular design. This means that for the first time ever, you can upgrade the lowest-cost PowerBook incrementally until it equals a full-featured 5300c. (You can't upgrade to the top-of-the-line 5300ce, because Apple isn't selling an upgrade to the Super-VGA display. And upgrading doesn't get you the 5300c's lightweight polymer case, but it gets you all of its functions and features.) Here's how to do it -- and how much each step costs:
One Big Disappointment About the New Powerbooks Concerns a Device That Won't Fit: a Cd-rom Drive.
PowerBook 190 (4/500) estimated street price: $1,649
PowerBook Logic Board Upgrade (includes 8 MB of soldered-on
RAM) estimated street price: $1,199
Video-Out Upgrade Kit estimated street price: $149
IR Upgrade Kit estimated street price: $49
PowerBook Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery estimated street
price: $199
PowerBook 10.4" Active-Matrix Color Display Upgrade Kit
estimated street price: $1,599
Total Upgrade Cost: $4,844
PowerBook 5300c (8/500) estimated street price: $3,699
The red plastic lens on the 5300 models is not a brake light for the PowerBook: It's an IR (infrared) transceiver.
Plenty of Speed / Powerpc Gives Powerbooks a Boost
The wait has paid off. The PowerPC 603e used in the PowerBook 5300-series machines gives them a definite speed boost over Apple's previous top-of-the-line PowerBooks. The 5300ce is especially fast, due to its processor's 117-MHz clock speed.
The low-end machines, the PowerBook 190 and 190cs, performed as we expected. They held their own in the productivity tests but stuttered in our MacBench 2.0 tests. These low-cost PowerBooks are based on the 68LC040, which does not include an FPU.
We were, however, disappointed that the PowerBook Duo 2300c couldn't keep pace with any of the 5300-series machines. In fact, for our productivity tasks, the Duo 2300c ran at the same speed as the Duo 280c, which it replaces. Apple claims that the Duo 2300c will ship with a faster hard drive than the one we tested, but even so, we don't expect to see tremendous speed gains in the shipping product.
The productivity-tasks scores indicate how much faster a product ran than the reference machine, a PowerBook 540c, which is assigned a score of 1.0. The productivity-tasks test suite consists of a variety of tasks in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and the Finder. MacBench 2.0 scores are relative to those of a Quadra 630 with an IDE hard drive, which is assigned a score of 10 for each test. Products are shown in order from high-end to low-end.
Sorting Out the Options / comparing the new PowerBooks
Battery type NiMH NiMH LiIon LiIon LiIon LiIon NiMH
Infrared transceiver no+ no+ yes yes yes yes no
PC Card support yes yes yes yes yes yes no
*Apple Express Modem II (14,400-bps data/9,600-bps fax). +These capabilities available via hardware upgrades. [[section]]Requires Duo Dock for these capabilities.
