09.20.03
Now The Perfect PowerBook Maybe
Of course, this week, Apple introduced their Wireless Mouse that uses Bluetooth. This is fixes the ‘one step away’ issue I noted about the Kensington PocketMouse Pro Wireless. See, once your laptop has Bluetooth built-in, the receiver dongle goes away completely! So now all I’ve got to do is buy a new laptop. The most recent one I’m drooling over is the latest rev of the 12″ Powerbook.
I’ve talked about why I would not have wanted one of the Rev A 12 Inch PowerBooks:
- same RAM limits (640 MB Max) as iBook
- no DVI connector
Both of these issues have been dealt with. The new 12″ goes to 1.25 GBs and the previous Mini-VGA port that requires an adapter is now a Mini-DVI port that requires an adapter, but also supports VGA.
There’s still no FireWire 800, and no PC Card slot, but I think those balance out with the new items noted above… and below.
From what I’ve read it’s got two things that I *really* want: The first is the Bluetooth built-in (like the last version) in order to get that dongle-less mousing solution. Now that Apple has committed actual hardware to BlueTooth for desktop stuff, I’m ready to hop on board.
But also I saw mention (somewhere) that the 12″ can run while its lid is closed! This is a big deal, because I could use it as a portable music device. And maybe more.
Admittedly, a small MP3 player would be more portable, but the real value comes when A) I have the machine running and in a backpack, B) I plug in a microphone and maybe headphones, and C) I can control the machine with voice commands and have it respond with speech synthesis.
Suddenly it becomes a Wearable computer!
Going beyond that, I could get a VGA headset that would give me the floating screen. How much would that rock!?!
Of course I haven’t seen confirmation of the ‘run-closed’ ability, but I’m looking for it. If I can get it confirmed, I just might have to figure out a way to get it…
Anyone interested in buying a great iBook?
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Update: I found it. Confirmation. I just watched the webcast of the introduction, and both the 12″ and the 15″ have “Lid-Closed” operation specifically noted… drooooool….