Macopinion

The Road Warrior Mailbag - May 27, 2008

Where do old Wallstreets go to die?
New MacBook Scuttlebutt Complicates System Upgrade Equation
MacSpeech Dictate

Where do old Wallstreets go to die?

From Rob;

Hi Charles

I still immensely enjoy reading your column, especially when there’s any mention of the Wallstreet, and in particular this week’s Archive article with your retelling of how “My new Powerbook G3 Series II 233 arrived last Friday morning”. After reading it, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I recently purchased off ebay a G4 15” 1.67 HiRes SD DL PB because my Wallstreet could no longer meet my requirements on the road.

I’d like to sell my Wallstreet but it appears that these days a working model has virtually zero value. From my research so far it seems it would be better financially if I deliberately pulled it to pieces and sold all the resulting parts separately.
What does one do with an old perfectly working Wallstreet, especially one with the original packing?

Robert

My Wallstreet specs:
Series II (v2.2), 266 MHz, 1MB L2 cache (Family No.4753) 67 MHZ bus, 512 MB RAM(2x256), 14.1" TFT, 20 GB 4200 rpm HD split into 2 partitions: 1st 3.94 GB OS9.2.2 & 2nd 14.4 GB OSX 10.4.8)

___

Hi Robert;

Thanks for the kind words.

I understand where you're coming from. I still have every Mac I ever owned, partly because by the time I, and in some cases other family members who take them over after me, am done with a Mac, it's so fully depreciated that it's hardly worth selling.

If your WallStreet is in better than average condition with all the original packaging and so forth, it could begin to regain value as a collectors item in the future, although so many WallStreets were sold that they're not likely to become rare, relatively speaking.

Parting it out would almost certainly net you more than selling it as a working unit, at least at its current valuation. It's the same with old cars. Some time ago, I had a rusted out Dodge van with a 360 CID V-8 that had only about 70,000 miles on it. If I had gone to the trouble (considerable with a van) of removing the engine and selling it separately, I probably could have gotten $1,000 or more for it. However, I was probably fortunate to get $350 for the van itself.

Charles

***

New MacBook Scuttlebutt Complicates System Upgrade Equation

From Colorado

Dear Road Warrior -

Exactly! I am in a similar position, needing a new laptop. I travel 3-4 weeks a month, constantly in and out of airports, United 1k, and almost enough Hilton points to stay in Hawaii free for a year.

The MacBook Air concentrated all it's juice on what was relatively unimportant to the road warrior: thickness. It's footprint & weight that counts, not thickness. I mean, unless you're talking about a mid-1990's notebook that was 1-1/2" inches thick, this is not a problem. So, the main feature of the MBA was to solve a problem that didn't exist.

While the unit is nice and light, because thickness was the overriding design goal, too many required features needed to be removed. I know it's selling well and I am happy about that but what good does this unit do when you have a 9 hour flight from ORD to CDG or 16 hours from LAX to MEL or 9 hours from SYD to HKG or 13 hours from HKG to SFO? Unlike Steve, I don't have my own jet nor can I often afford to fly First Class, so after about 2-3 hours with an MBA, my work has ended.

Paying $1800 for one USB port is a bit bizarre IMHO. Almost all of my camera/video technology revolves around that 1394 port, as does every external hard drive I own. When in a hotel without wireless (and there are a lot of these, everywhere), how does one connect to the Ethernet network while simultaneously plugging in a software dongle? And don't insult the road warrior by telling us to carry a USB hub; we're trying to reduce what we must schlep, not add to it! Besides, who knows if the MBA's Ethernet functionality even works via USB hub?

I can live without the DVD drive - easily - but without a replaceable battery and reasonable IO to get some work done, the MBA is a very cool toy but certainly not the daily traveling companion and workhorse of the road warrior. I'd love to own one just to show it off in local coffee houses but I would not head to the airport with it.

What I want is a MacBook with a 12" screen (it's all about footprint), better graphics to drive display technology for presentations, and a separate DVD drive (it's all about weight). Keep all the ports.

I do not wish to return to the aluminum MacBook Pros. I've owned a Titanium G4, an Aluminum G4 15", an Aluminum G4 12" and two Aluminum 15" Intels. After my 2nd MBP Intel got worn down, and I got worn down carrying that load all over the planet, I was itching for a new laptop. Just like today, I was raring to buy.

But after 5 metal laptops, I was bored with the whole metal look. I wanted something different, but it just seemed that Apple's whole new strategy was "Think Same." Year after year, the same old same old look. Since 2002 - over 6 years ago - one metal laptop after another metal laptop.

But wait! My wife and I walked into an Apple Store a year and a half ago and much to my surprise, a BLACK MACBOOK. Hey, now, finally - that's something different! Something new! I was wowed.

And it was lighter. And the footprint was smaller. I didn't have to sacrifice a lot - graphics performance, mainly, which has been mildly inconvenient & slightly embarrassing listening to Windows users tease me when the BlackBook couldn't drive the LCD projector - but all in all, it's probably been one of the best laptops I've ever owned. Sturdy and reliable.

And here's the kicker: on that same trip, my wife bought a brand new Aluminum Intel 15" unit. I can sit on our deck and get a strong Airport signal but she gets no signal; nada, zip zilch zero. Turns out metal DOES make a good signal shield .

I have discovered what I've been missing all these years of using metal Mac laptops - superior WiFi performance! I have reveled in this speedy connection for the last 18 months or so. What a great laptop this MacBook has been.

And so, I would not like to be forced to return to limited WiFi range again - I've grown very spoiled - as well as be forced-fed more of the same, old, tired and worn out 6-7 year old metal design (6-7 years in the electronics business is an ETERNITY!). Also, it weighs more than the plastic, and frankly, I grew tired of carrying Apple's extra weight.

It's surprising that the company that became noted and famous for superior external design has grown so complacent over the years and would feed us the same looks year after year after year, resting on their laurels. Hopefully, the company now believes it's time to earn their stripes again, and give us something different for a change.

The perfect Mac laptop for road warriors:

1. High impact, lightweight non-glare plastic case for superior WiFi broadcast and reception.

2. 12" non-glare LCD, LED backlight with MacBook-style hinge, lowering the height factor of the laptop to better fit in airline seat back trays (15" is untenable; 13" is almost too tall and is a problem quite often).

3. External, optional DVD player/recorder.

4. 2 USB 2.0, 1 1394a, 1 mini-DVI, 1-10/100 Ethernet, 1 headphone, 1 external speaker ports (obviously, power port required).

5. 1 security port.

6. Easily replaceable HDD & RAM, just like the MacBook design.

7. Easily swappable battery. I would carry 3 or 4 on long trips.

8. Two-button mouse (it should not take two hands to do in OS X what it takes one finger to do in Windows).

9. Optional iSight camera & built in microphone.

10. MacBook-style keyboard, possibly re-design slightly to provide more room (does the CAPS LOCK key need to be that HUGE, really now?).

11. 250 Gig fastest HDD available.

12. 2-4 Gig RAM.

13. Best in class mobile Intel processor.

14. Optional graphics upgrade to drive high quality presentation equipment and monitors.

15. Work on the power adapter to further reduce the weight, if possible. Think of the system as a package. The current power adapter needs some thought.

16. Low profile (height - with LCD open), lightweight (think of the current MacBook with a few ounces saved using a 12" LCD plus maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs saved with the DVD drive removed), and a small footprint - instead of worrying about the thickness, worry more about the length x width.

This would be my dream machine! I would tote this puppy all over the world, and would generate envy everywhere I went.

Great article, Charles! Thanks so much.

___

Hi Colorado;

Thank YOU for the excellent comments and suggestions.

I would buy one of those.

I agree with you about metal. Plastic is more practical and functional for laptop housings (I have a 17" AlBook), and ther is the WiFi range issue. However, I expect we're probably out of luck on that one, and that the MacBook Air is the styling bellwether for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I'm more abiut vertical depth than width in displays (I hate scrolling), but it sounds like you're going to be accommodated on that one, with the industry scuttlebutt predicting a shift to 16:9 aspect ratio notebook displays from the current 16:10.

Maybe not on size, though. The trend line is bigger rather than smaller, with 15.6", 17.3" and 18.4" displays in the pipe.

Great to hear that you've gotten such satisfactory service from your MacBook.

Charles

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New MacBook Scuttlebutt Complicates System Upgrade Equation

From Alan

I agree with everything in your post, Charles, so closely that I could have written it myself, and with most (but not all) of the two-part first comments posed by Colorado. I disagree about metal, though. Aluminum is OK, and afer more than 4 years of hard continuous use my PB G4 still looks OK and is undamaged. Most of the weight of the laptop is in its components and not in the case, as far as I can tell, so I would be OK with metal, but with larger plastic inserts to improve wireless reception.

My ideal machine would be a slightly lighter quad-core with the optical drive dispensed with in favor of more memory (4 GB minimum total capacity) and optional extra internal hard drive. A return to slower Ethernet would be a huge loss after 4+ years of gigabit ethernet connectivity with my PB G4, so I definitely would keep the GbE capability. Sounds like Colorado wants a machine more like the current MacBook and I want one more like the current MB Pro, but faster and lighter in both cases.

And the sooner, the better! I don't want to have to wait until August -- June or at latest, July would be more like it.

___

Hi Alan;

Alas it may be more like September, but I hope I'm mistaken about that.

I think you're right about weight. Apple did go with aluminum for the MacBook Air which is the lightest laptop they eve made, although the monococque case design has a lot to do with that. They could probably build a monococque polycarbonate case, but it would have to be thicker to attain equal rigidity than with aluminum.

For me, it's more about function. As I said in the article, I want FireWire and Ethernet, and more than one USB port, and a replacable battery, and an easy acces hard drive. And as Colorado noted, decent graphics performance is welcome too.

Charles

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New MacBook Scuttlebutt Complicates System Upgrade Equation

From Jim

Charles, Colo, SM,

You all three nailed it for me! Especially Colo; you perfectly described the MB I need. Can you please elaborate a little more on your projector problems? I have never read of that kind of problem, but it would surely be embarrassing for a 'Doze user to witness that!

Wife's G3 iBook just died on our present Asia trip, and my 8 year old Pismo, although still going great, is definitely due to be semi-retired. I even still have my PB 180 (remember those?) and my Kanga PB.

We absolutely must get something soon, but I really want to at least wait until the WWDC to see if any newly designed MacBook will be introduced. What to do, what to do...

___

Hi Jim;

Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray thinks there is a 60 Percent chance of new Mac laptops being announced at WWDC on June 9, and an 80 percent chance by fall.

I'm very doubtful about a WWDC announcement, as Intel has pushed back the "Montevina" chip rollout to late June, and I can't imagine them releasing another update, let alone a major redesign, that isn't Montevina-based at this juncture.

Good news is that the portable Montevina chip draws just 25 watts as opposed to 35 watts for the Santa Rosa C2D, which should translate into substantialy lower heat and longer battery life.

Charles

***

MacSpeech Dictate

From Jim

Charles:

I am thinking about purchasing MacSpeech Dictate.

Do you have an opinion on how useful and effective it is?

Thanks,

Jim

___

Hi Jim;

I'm still using a Power PC based Mac, so I haven't been able to check out Dictate yet, since it only supports Macs with Intel chips, but everything I've heard about Dictate is pretty positive. It's built on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech engine, which is acclaimed as the best voice recognition software in the industry.

My colleague at MacOpinion, Marc Zeedar reviewed Dictate a couple of months ago, and you might find checking that out helpful. The two parts of the review can be found here:

http://www.macopinion.com/index.php/site/more/writing_with_speech/

and here:

http://www.macopinion.com/index.php/site/more/dictate_round_two/

I have been using MacSpeech's Power PC dictation product since the early betas nearly ten years ago, and have found it very good, but by all accounts Dictate is even better.

You can find my review of the latest 1.8 version of iListen here:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/more/checking_out_leopard_compatible_ilisten_18_os_x_odyssey_902/

I don't recall which model Mac you have. Apple started releasing transitional models in January, 2006. If it's older than that, it's definitely a Power PC and can't run Dictate. Make sure which platform you have before you purchase.

I'm hoping to be able to upgrade to a new MacIntel system later this year, and look forward to switching from iListen to Dictate.

Charles

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Re: MacSpeech Dictate

From Jim

Thanks for the prompt reply, Charles.

Here are the specs on my G5:

Machine Model: iMac G5
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.6 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 533 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.2f2

I guess, from what you say, I do not qualify for dictate.

Do you know if there an inexpensive way for me to upgrade this machine?

I suspected possible limitations when it would not run this year's version of Turbo Tax.

Thanks again,

Jim

___

Hi Jim;

Your G5 is one of the last of the Power PC Mohicans, so you're in the same boat as I am with my PowerBook and unable to run Dictate.

While Apple's customary backward compatibility (for example the copy of MS Word 5.1 that I bought for my prehistoric Mac Plus back in 1993 still runs fine in Classic Mode under OS 10.4.11, which was released last November!) has made the Intel transition mostly painless for us Power PC holdouts, there is an inevitability that we are going to be getting shut out of more with the passage of time, now nearly 2 1/2 years into the MacIntel era.

Actually, Dictate is the first piece of software I've wanted to run but couldn't. The reason is that the Dragon speech engine was never ported to PowerPC. MacSpeech's other speech recognition product, iListen, is based on the Philips speech engine, which is a completely different piece of software.

Unfortunately, there is no hardware upgrade path to convert Power PC Macs to Intel machines, so the only recourse is to trade up.

In the meantime, iListen is still available and should run great on your G5. Dictate is a superior product, but might not be enough reason to change computers if the G5 is otherwise serving you satisfactorily, although if you're serious about using dictation software, I would strongly recomment that you upgrade to at least 1 GB of RAM and preferably more than that. I have 1.5 GB and could use more.

Charles

*** cmoore@macopinion.com

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