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Hardware

Porsche Designs a Laptop 688

Posted by CmdrTaco from the now-thats-just-silly dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Cnet is reporting that BestBuy is selling a porsche designed widescreen ultra thin laptop the looks almost exactly like a Tibook. Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work, but it looks pretty cool for minesweeper. Ah, I guess that the TiBook is no longer a status symbol if you can run Windows on it. It has all the trimmings, like those "made for windows 2k stickers" that get the screen all nasty when you close it."
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Porsche Designs a Laptop More

Porsche Designs a Laptop

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  • Will it Save Xmas? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Blackneto ( 516458 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:10PM (#4530315) Journal
    Thats what I want to know before I switch.

  • Pathetic (Score:4, Insightful)

    by waldoj ( 8229 ) <waldo@@@jaquith...org> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:10PM (#4530321) Homepage Journal
    I expect Mac rip-offs from companies like Compaq and eMachines. But Porche? It's bad enough that they've designed a laptop for Best Buy. (What business is Porche in, anyhow?) But to just blatently rip off the TiBook design is pathetic.

    -Waldo Jaquith

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Faggot ( 614416 ) <choads.gay@com> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:12PM (#4530347) Homepage
      Ripping off unique Apple designs is not just pathetic, it's inevitable. I'm glad someone still takes design chances with their hardware -- it comes out quite well very often. :)

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:5, Informative)

      by jackjumper ( 307961 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:21PM (#4530477)
      Uh this is from Porsche Designs GmbH which, like most design houses, needs to make money so they (gasp) design things for whomever pays them.

      It is *not* the same as Porsche cars, although they do design very nice high end stuff.

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:5, Informative)

      by modecx ( 130548 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:28PM (#4530574)
      In all serriousness, I don't think Porche has reallly quite done it. They may have been aiming fot a PowerbookG4 look, but the dimensions just aren't there:

      G4 specs From apple.com:
      Size and weight
      Height: 1.0 inch (2.6 cm)
      Width: 13.4 inches (34.1 cm)
      Depth: 9.5 inches (24.1 cm)
      Weight: 5.4 pounds (2.45 kg) with battery
      Titanium Case.

      Porche book from cnet:
      6.4 pounds
      13.9 inches wide
      10 inches deep
      and 1.2 inches thick.
      Case presumably made from magnesium alloy.

      It's bigger, heavier, and just not as sexy, in my opinion. That said, it looks like enough, and also has some decent hardware. Might be better if it were fire engine red, though.

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:4, Insightful)

      by uncoveror ( 570620 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:52PM (#4530840) Homepage
      What is even worse was that this "news" story was a blatant advertisement. Is Best Buy paying Cnet and Slashdot for it? How about Porche?

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:3, Funny)

      by timeOday ( 582209 )
      Just wait until you see the Packard-Bell 911 turbo.

    • Re:Pathetic (Score:3, Informative)

      by Zeinfeld ( 263942 )
      I expect Mac rip-offs from companies like Compaq and eMachines. But Porche? It's bad enough that they've designed a laptop for Best Buy. (What business is Porche in, anyhow?) But to just blatently rip off the TiBook design is pathetic

      Porche were in the designer PC business long before apple. They did the design for the 'Turbo Pet' back in the early 80s. The design did not sell too well because CBM failled to move up to 16 bit and got crushed by the IBM Pc.

      Porche has always been an outsourced design studion that builds cars on the side. They have also designed bikes and such. They do a lot of design work for VW and other auto makers, their main competitors are folk like Pininfarina in Italy.

  • Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:4, Insightful)

    by timothy_m_smith ( 222047 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:11PM (#4530327)
    It is hard to take this post seriously when all it does is bash Windows. It is fine not to like you Windows, but you don't have to make it that using Windows is the crime of the century.
    • I think it's been determined in court that selling Windows was the crime of the century.

    • Re:Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:5, Funny)

      by blackcat++ ( 168398 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:17PM (#4530405)
      It is fine not to like you Windows, but you don't have to make it that using Windows is the crime of the century.

      You're new to Slashdot, aren't you?

    • Re:Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mocktor ( 536122 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:17PM (#4530414) Homepage
      not that i'm particularly pro-ms, but...

      Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work

      Exactly what planet are you living on? Last time i looked the majority of computer users do 100% of their computing in windows.

      Comments like this in the front page of /. jsut serve ro make the linux/open source community look like a bunch of sulky children because *their* os doesn't come installed.
    • I disagree. CmdrTaco's story selection is completely objective, and the anonymous reader's story submission is very well balanced. Now where did I put the rest of that acid.
      Welcome to Slashdot.

    • Re:Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:5, Insightful)

      by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:25PM (#4530538) Homepage Journal
      This is from an anonymous reader. So Taco could of done what some other editors sometimes do. They post the link with their own words, instead of the posters. No one is going to get hurt (hey, if they cared, they woulda posted logged in), so make it a story that doesn't make Linux users look like the whiny children no one wants to listen to.

      Warning: Typical FK rant to follow:
      Honestly, people, if you want people to switch from Windows to Linux, you have to support Linux, not bash MS. All bashing does is make you look immature. Think about it. What does Linus say about Windows? He doesn't care? You mean he hates it right? What? Doesn't care one way or the other? Maybe you should too...

    • Re:Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:5, Funny)

      by Neon Spiral Injector ( 21234 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:35PM (#4530661)
      Bash, Bash, Bash? Don't you mean cmd.exe, cmd.exe, cmd.exe?

    • It is hard to take this post seriously when all it does is bash Windows.

      The article doesn't bash Windows the way Cygwin bashes Windows [cygwin.com]. Cygwin bash is better than the alternative [command.com].

      you don't have to make it that using Windows is the crime of the century

      For the poor, it is. A one-seat Windows XP license costs $300 [microsoft.com]. If you use Windows without paying for it, you have committed either theft or copyright infringement.

      Plus, you're not timothy.

    • Re:Bash, Bash, Bash (Score:3, Insightful)

      by bombdotcom ( 85138 )
      ...you don't have to make it that using Windows is the crime of the century.

      Its close. By buying and using Windows you're validating Microsoft's business model. You know, the business model which says its ok to lie, cheat, and do WHATEVER it takes to win the sale, or stay on top.

      By supporting this company and this business model you're doing a small part to stifle innovation and generally make the computing industry a less-fun industry to be in. And I resent you for that. Microsoft needs to be sent a message that they can't act like an 800 pound homicidal, rabid gorilla, and that message gets muted by people who continue to support them by buying their products.

  • If only you could get OSX emulation (Score:3, Funny)

    by OptimizedPrime ( 558992 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:11PM (#4530331)
    Then you could run OSX on top of you w2k porsche book while the guy next to you runs 2k to manage a server by using Virtual PC on his Ti book.... I'm not touching the recursive possibilities

  • Ummmm... (Score:3, Funny)

    by bricriu ( 184334 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:12PM (#4530341) Homepage
    Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work...

    *coughcough* Zealot! *cough cough*

    • Re:Ummmm... (Score:4, Funny)

      by sql*kitten ( 1359 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:18PM (#4530431)
      *coughcough* Zealot! *cough cough*

      Indeed. I have thought about this for a few minutes, and I am unable to come up with an example of "real work" that can be done on a laptop that cannot be done on a laptop running Windows - altho' I can very easily think of applications that are available for Windows (or Solaris if your laptop is a Tadpole) that aren't (yet) available for MacOS X. Perhaps the original poster could enlighten us as to what exactly they do for a living?

    • Re:Ummmm... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Hal-9001 ( 43188 )
      The funny thing is you could reverse the story poster's statement to describe the TiBook
      sadly, it runs Mac OS so no one will actually want to use one for real work
      and it would make a lot more sense. There is a lot of hardware and software that is only compatible with x86 architectures, and a fair number of those devices or software offering a specific kind of functionality. The complementary set of hardware and software that is only compatible with the PowerPC is much smaller, and to my knowledge none provide functionality that is not available on the x86 platform.

  • Widescreen Possible? (Score:3, Offtopic)

    by waldoj ( 8229 ) <waldo@@@jaquith...org> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:12PM (#4530349) Homepage Journal
    I was in Circuit City the other day (buying a Playstation 2, if you must know :), and I was ogling a Sony desktop with a 23" LCD, widescreen a la the Apple Cinema Display. Everything was all stretchy. I asked the sales clerk -- admittedly not the best source when it comes to technical issues -- who said that the staff there had been completely unable to get the system to handle the proportions properly.

    Does anybody know if Windows can handle dimensions like this? If so, which versions, and is it tricky?

    -Waldo Jaquith

    • Re:Widescreen Possible? (Score:5, Informative)

      by csnydermvpsoft ( 596111 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:16PM (#4530393)
      My Fujitsu Lifebook P-series has a 1280x768 widescreen display, which Windows worked with fine (when I used it).

      Windows will work fine with any resolution that the video drivers support.
    • I've run into this with a widescreen Plasma display. Windows can handle it if the video driver can handle it. We had a Matrox (don't recall exact model) card and drivers that did support the alternate dimensions of the widescreen display. Although I must admit it was somewhat of a pain in the ass to get it to work.

      So just check with the video card maker and be sure they can support 16x9 before you buy the card or the display.
    • Yes, all versions I have delt with would do fine.... Provided that you can select a resolution that is 16:9 proportion. UIs are designed with square pixels in mind (at least on computers), so as long as your screen resolution height to width ratio matches the display's, you are gold. Unfortunately, all the common modes are 4:3, but sometimes the others are selectable...
    • All about the video card. My 4-year-old ELSA is running my Trinitron monitor at a cool 1600x1000.

      Great for multiples documents side by side.
    • Sure, it's simply a matter of matching the resolution to the aspect ratio of the monitor in order to acheive square pixels. (vga expects 1:1).

      You should see a custom res available of something like 1600x1080 or 1280x800 or similar. That's something most every videocard is capable of and those custom resolutions are added by the OEM. If you need to customize your existing computer for a display like that, look no further than PowerStrip [entechtaiwan.com]

  • What's the big deal that it comes with windows? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PeterHammer ( 612517 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:13PM (#4530358)
    And what is stopping you from killing windows and installing Linux on it?
  • A lot more people are quite a bit more productive with Windows software than they are with obscure tools such as vi and joe under a command prompt.

    Even so, if it can run Windows, it can still run Linux with a good reformatting; I don't see why that's such an issue, though Porsche shouldn't quit their day jobs or anything.

  • Misleading (Score:5, Informative)

    by csnydermvpsoft ( 596111 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:14PM (#4530366)
    Note that it is designed by Porsche Design GmbH, not the car company. This is a company founded by the car company's founder's grandson, and appears to have no connection, other than the name.

    If I got that notebook, I'd just install Linux on it, so I might as well get a tiBook and put Linux ppc on it instead, since it looks nicer.

    • Jesus, what is wrong with you L.Z.'s?!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Thud457 ( 234763 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:34PM (#4530645) Homepage Journal
      If you're gonna pay the premium to buy an Apple notebook, why the hell would you put Linux on it when you've got a perfectly crunchy BSD distro in Mac OS X?!! If you're going to put Linux on a notebook, go for the hardware with the most bang for the buck.
      • when you've got a perfectly crunchy BSD distro in Mac OS X?

        Unfortunately, you don't. BSD support on OSX is more like Cygwin on Windows: the command line tools and systemn call interface work, but system management, the GUI, and the kernel itself differ greatly.

        However, I agree: if you are going to buy a Mac, it doesn't make sense to run Linux on it: you are paying a premium for the ability to run MacOS. If you just want a sleek laptop for Linux, there are cheaper choices (like this one).

    • Yeah that's pretty bad. Would you buy a notebook because it said Porche on it? Would you buy a toaster because it said Lexus on it? Or a breakfast cereal because it said Sony on it? This is goofy on so many levels...

      What's sad is that most of us would probly look more closely at this thing than some other brand, because it says Porche on it. OOooo Porche! It must be a really nice laptop! And fast too! But I'm holding out for the Ferrari.

      And then, it makes front page on /dot. Ugh. I wonder if it would have made it if the Taco had actually looked at the company description. It's obviously not the same Porche that makes nice cars.

      Yay for /dot, free advertisement for new companies with fancy names. Sad.

      Ugh!!

  • moderating (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Docrates ( 148350 )
    This post is the equivalent of moderating the story as "-1 Troll"

    I mean, come on! you like linux and hate windows (or at least you want this crowd to think you do), the very worst way to make others see things your way is to simply slam the "other system" with absolutely ZERO arguments or logic. Yeah, windows sucks, because, well, it does! and nobody who does REAL work uses it!

    What you think Alan Greenspan doesn't use Excel??????
    • What you think Alan Greenspan doesn't use Excel??
      I don't know. Is there any particular reason that he would? (One would think that Greenspan probably gets to use whatever he wants to, instead of having to follow some policy set by a PHB.)

    • What you think Alan Greenspan doesn't use Excel?

      Only because MS gives him free copies in exchange for keeping the market up. ;-)

    • Re:moderating (Score:3, Informative)

      by John Harrison ( 223649 )
      What you think Alan Greenspan doesn't use Excel??????

      I have no idea what Alan uses personally, but I can tell you that the Fed uses IBM's IMS [ibm.com] to keep track of where all the green pieces of paper are going.

  • Did anyone read this bit? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Drakin ( 415182 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:15PM (#4530376)
    ...Porsche Design GmbH, the Austrian firm founded by F.A. Porsche, grandson of the famous engineer.
    As in, it's not designed by the world famous car designing company, but someone's who's of the same family, and I'm thinking cashing in on the reputation that Porsche brings in this venture.

    • Re:Did anyone read this bit? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Osty ( 16825 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:26PM (#4530542)

      Porsche Design is in the same family as Porsche, but you're correct -- it's technically not being done by the famous car manufacturer. Also, Porsche Design does a lot of things, from sunglasses to pocket knives to bicycles to tobacco pipes. Everything they have is well-crafted and premium quality, but expect to pay a premium for it. Also, many of their items are simply re-brands, like the bicycles (not available in the US) are actually Kleins, just with the Porsche name (Kleins are still expensive, but you might save $1000 if you buy a Klein rather than a Porsche).


      Even so, for the Porsche fanatic that loves anything Porsche, Porsche Design fills a niche.

    • Yeah, the headline should have been:

      Porsche Design Designs a Laptop
    • True, not the car company, but the design company of a similar name.

      They do have a reputation for quite stunning industrial design, though. I have a Fuji camera designed by F.A. Porsche Design. They also design pens, mountain bikes, and just about anything else a customer is willing to pay to have designed.

      I found a F.A. Porsche Design store when I was in Orange County a few months ago. The variety of overpriced shiny objects they had for sale was amazing!

  • what a troll (Score:4, Insightful)

    by PissedOffGuy ( 612092 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:16PM (#4530388)
    from the post:

    Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work

    and:

    It has all the trimmings, like those "made for windows 2k stickers" that get the screen all nasty when you close it.

    what do stickers have to do with anything? and whats the point of saying you cant do work on it? are those comments just so CmdrTaco will put the story up? slashdot is pathetic.

  • Windows- so what (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rgmoore ( 133276 ) <glandauer@charter.net> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:17PM (#4530404) Homepage

    So what if the thing comes with Windows. If you really dislike Windows that much, you can always wipe the hard drive and install your favorite *nix distribution- Redhat, Debian, FreeBSD, etc. I realize that you're still paying the MS tax, but the overall price still works out to less than a TiBook.

    • Re:Windows- so what (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mblase ( 200735 )
      Ah, I guess that the TiBook is no longer a status symbol if you can run Windows on it.

      You can run Windows on a TiBook using Connectix VirtualPC (and many do). Alternatively, as rgmoore pointed out, you can run any number of Linux and BSD distributions on this laptop instead of WinXP if that's your choice.

      How can you seriously condemn a computer just because it ships with Windows, as if that was the only choice you ever had or ever will have with it?
    • Let me get this straight:

      > I realize that you're still paying the MS tax, but the overall price still works out to less than a TiBook.

      I'm paying MS for something I won't use, but its alright, because its possible to find a more expensive alternative?

      If I can find more expensive alternatives to things you buy, and you throw another 20$ my way on every purchase? Cause, you know, its still cheaper than the most expensive alternative .. :)

      I'm not so concerned about the price, but its kinda hard to 'vote with your wallet' when you're stuffing the ballot box with votes for your enemy just to get into the polling station.

  • Finally! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:17PM (#4530411) Homepage Journal
    BestBuy is selling a Porsche designed widescreen ultra thin laptop the looks almost exactly like a Tibook. Sadly, it runs Windows

    Finally, I'll be able to crash a Porsche and be able to walk away.

    Any hope of getting an OS free version?

  • Still lacks something... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AIXadmin ( 10544 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:18PM (#4530435) Homepage
    After the iMac came out. Every company did a nock off. They all failed. Now there is a nock off of the Apple Titantium Power Book. I think it will fail too. And not just because this economy sucks.

    Because it lacks that certain refinment that makes the Apple Titantium Power Book so nice. Same with the majority of Apple's products. There is a certain attention to detail that shows up in the product from Apple, that you don't find in other vendors products. That is what makes Apple's products special.

  • Ugly ?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ANTI ( 81267 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:19PM (#4530442) Homepage
    Is it me or is this thing really ugly ?

    I didn't even read the specs.
    The picture just scared me off.

    OK,

    I just read the specs now.
    15" display ?
    1280x854 resolution ?
    Slot-in CD/DVD ?

    No 3D acceleration ?

    Common, for that money I can buy a ThinkPad A30p and that actually looks sleek....
  • Porsche seemed to have a whole bunch of crap 'designed' by them in the 80's. Sunglasses, corkscrews, lamps, swiss army knives, cheap cameras, ect.

    Mostly Sharper Image items if I recall. I remember going into the Sharper Image store in Mpls. and seeing a whole pile of it. It was really shoddy stuff.

    Kind of like all the "Harley Davidson" licenced items. Basically slap a name on something and sell to the rabid fans who will buy anything.

    I'm a fan of the cars, sure. But the licenced stuff is crap. With a capital Crap.

    • Re:Other Porsche items (Score:4, Informative)

      by Dylan2000 ( 592069 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:43PM (#4530747) Homepage
      I don't know anything about the history of this company, founded by the grandson of Porsche, but my bet is most of that cheap crap from the '80s was all made in Taiwan and then someone, somewhere, with the ability to sign the merchandising agreement just authorised them and got a fat payment. Kind of like Krusty the Clown.

      What I do know is that this company works together with Siemens and they make some of the most kickass home appliances I've ever seen...
      blender [siemensappliances.co.uk]
      coffee machine [siemensappliances.co.uk]
      kettle [siemensappliances.co.uk]

      Brushed aluminium, stainless steel, These things look like TiBooks too, I even think they were out before the TiBook was and this laptop looks as much like them as it does the Apple machine.

      TiJuicer?

      So don't judge Porsche designs by those plastic gas station sunglasses, cause they make some awesome stuff!

  • risk offending Apple? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:19PM (#4530451)
    Retailer Best Buy is aiming to take a bite out of Apple Computer with the release of a new, wide-screen notebook designed by Porsche.

    Considering that Best Buy was/is the first retailer to sell iPods (Target having been recently announced as the second), I'd think they'd not want to risk slighting Apple with something like this. Even without the CNet article saying so, this laptop is clearly and squarely aimed at what is probably Apple's highest-margin computer.

    The notebook was designed by Porsche Design GmbH

    More accurately, it was re-designed by them.

    • Re:risk offending Apple? (Score:5, Informative)

      by dhovis ( 303725 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:29PM (#4530583)
      Considering that Best Buy was/is the first retailer to sell iPods

      You mean aside from CompUSA? And Fry's? and Apple themselves?

      Anyway, I'm not convinced that this is quite to the level of a TiBook. It is 20% thicker, at least a pound heavier, and I haven't seen any info about battery life (which makes me think it will be very poor).

      Until someone gets their hands on one to review, I'm not convinced. That C|Net writeup sounds like it was written by marketing people, not people who've used it.

  • Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work

    Oh the monomania runs deep here...
  • While I have a lot of respect for Porche (though I'd never drive one of their cars - I'm just a "back and forth, no need to make up for my small penis size" car guy), I haven't seen much on this laptop compared to the Apple Titanium to make me give up my OS X slim box o' wonder.

    The Porche box does not come with 802.11 b and Firewire installed, and is a pound heavier than the Apple Titanium. (Note I'm not putting in the whole "Runs OS X or Not argument.)

    So while you can give props to Porche for "innovating" (what, hadn't you heard - innovation means "rip off what the other guy did only make it crappy), I don't see myself giving up my Unix command shell for this.

    Just my opinion, of course. I could be wrong.

    Porche Laptop:

  • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Troll (Score:5, Funny)

    by Strange Ranger ( 454494 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:21PM (#4530473)
    CmdrTaco: "I'm bored, heehee watch me start a flame war."

    Posters: "We'll take that flame war! And we'll raise you 40 off-topic posts!"

  • Reverse flamebait! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Freak ( 16973 ) <anonymousfreak@i ... inus threevowels> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:25PM (#4530526) Journal
    those "made for windows 2k stickers" that get the screen all nasty when you close it.

    Uh, doesn't Windows 2k get your screen all nasty when you open it? :-)

  • Good grief. (Score:5, Funny)

    by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:27PM (#4530560) Homepage
    From the article:

    I'm not an audiophile, but I know high-quality sound when I hear it. That's definitely the case with the VPR Matrix 200A5, thanks to the Sonopür Digital Audio system, with its patent-pending 24/192 upsampling technology. This system dramatically enhances digital music and offers very rich sound.

    I'm not a stable hand, but I know horse shit when I smell it.

    I mean, I know I'm supposed to either be 'ooh'-ing or 'aah'-ing, but the best I can manage is a 'hwah?' Sonopür? What, does the umlaut act as a built-in sounding board for the thumping, thumping base this ultraslim laptop undoubtedly cranks out? Upsampling and high fidelity used in the same sentence? Right.

    Hey, cnet! I've got this little Gaussian blur filt--uh, I mean, JPEG Edge Enhancement System, with patent-pending Blürfexxion(tm) technology! Care to give me a writeup?

  • ...that I can correct. It's the choice of CPU that bugs me. Put in an Athlon XP, Best Buy, and we'll talk.

  • Working on Windows (Score:3, Funny)

    by gcondon ( 45047 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:28PM (#4530567)
    Boy, a lot of people have been jumping all over the following quote from the original post ...

    Sadly, it runs windows so no one will actually want to use one for real work

    As many have pointed out, the majority of the world (to their eternal shame) actually does use Windows to do their work.

    However, I will stand by the original poster and observe that precious few of them wanted to use Windows.

    Heck, pretty few of them even wanted to do their work in the first place and using Windows is rarely a satisfying experience in and of itself.

    Just because they did it, didn't mean that they wanted to ;-)
  • Really this doesn't look that different from the Toshiba I bought. Except my toshiba doesn't have a metalic case. Therefor I save some $s and upgrade the RAM. Seems kind of silly to me whatever OS you're running.
  • it actually isn't a bad PC notebook. First off compared to other notebooks, it has a nice form factor, good battery life, slot loading DVD/CD-RW combo, widescreen aspect ratio and both USB 2.0 and Firewire (unpowered though) ports. One of the few notebooks on the market now which combines all these features. Yes, most of the stuff was ripped off from the PowerBook, but if you're a PC zealot then it's worth looking into. The whole Porsche branding is merely a marketing tactic (I'm sure the real Porsche NOT the Astrian Porsche could have come up with a slicker design).


    If it supports FreeBSD or Linux it's worth a look. It would have been nice if it used the ATI Mobile 9000 chipset instead of the Gefore 4 GO but...

    I'd still probably rather get a real PowerBook though :)

  • When did Porsche start designing boxes? (Score:5, Funny)

    by sjonke ( 457707 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:30PM (#4530607) Journal
    Rather, boxy things. Every porchse car is curvy, arguably even too curvy. This laptop is all sharp angles. It's a pizza box. I don't see "Porsche" in it at all, except perhaps in frequency of crashes.....

  • Cost comparisons... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Elfboy ( 144703 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:31PM (#4530618)
    So now that the Windows World has put out something comparable to the TiBook, where are all the rabid "Macs are too pricey compared to PCs people..."

    Oh wait. Maybe the $2399 price tag shut them up.

    I guess the $100 dollars more for TiBook nets you firewire and gigE.

    I'll try not to gloat. honest.

  • Enough already with the MS bashing (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I come see here every day... MS that MS this...what is the point of coming to this site.

    I really don't think the type of bashing going on here is healthy for the community as a whole, and its spreading to real life. I seriously cant stand talking to someone who has to roll his eyes everytime I say the word Windows to them.

  • I know, seriously... (Score:5, Funny)

    by CaffeineAddict2001 ( 518485 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:36PM (#4530669)
    I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a date in my porche to have them run out of the car screaming when the onboard computer boots up windows.
  • Isn't magnesium pretty flammable? I mean, I know in a high-oxy atmosphere nearly any metal will burn but I recall Magnesium being one of the easier-to-get-going ones. That combined with a faulty Lion battery could be kinda fun...
    "My Best Buy / Porsche laptop just crashed & burned!"

    Kinda makes we wanna go out and get one now... Naw, still drooling over Apple's TiBook.

  • People, read the damn article... and pay attention (Score:4, Informative)

    by Gruneun ( 261463 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:43PM (#4530755)
    Porsche Design GmbH, the Austrian firm founded by F.A. Porsche, grandson of the famous engineer

    This is not designed by Porsche (the car company responsible for some incredible cars), but rather Porsche Design [porsche-design.com] the design company founded by a not-nearly-as-famous grandson. The only car-related work was a start-up project designing a plant that built 911's, not the car itself.

  • Does it have... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by alispguru ( 72689 ) <bob,bane&me,com> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:43PM (#4530756) Journal
    TiBook battery life?
    TiBook operating temperature?

    Considering it's based on a 2 GHz P4-M, I seriously doubt it.

    TiBook sleep and wake behavior?

    If it's running Windows or any Linux, I doubt it. One of the reasons I use an iBook is its wake from sleep time (two seconds) and its reliable sleep and wake behavior. I have NEVER lost work due to failure to wake from sleep, and my uptime is routinely in the multi-week range - I only reboot to install OS upgrades.

    They can copy the chassis, but hardware/software fit and finish is MUCH harder to copy.

  • Porsche Crest? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by JTFritz ( 15573 ) <jeffreytfritzNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:44PM (#4530766) Homepage Journal
    Ok, I give...

    Most laptop manufacturers put their logo on the case of the laptop. Take a look at the Apple, Dell, or Compaq badges on many notebooks. So, the question is:

    WHERE IS THE PORSCHE [porsche.com] SHIELD? I would love to have one of these with that famous shield emblazened on the top.

    If I want to ultimate in sexy notebook computers, it better dress the part!

  • It Really **IS** a Porsche (Score:4, Funny)

    by dbretton ( 242493 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:48PM (#4530796) Homepage

    It's ugly as all Hell.
    It's too damn expensive.
    I betchya it's lots of fun to play with.
    And when I turn it on, I'll have lots of SEX

    Probably with myself most of the time...

  • I buy a Porsche to get chicks... (Score:3, Funny)

    by kyoko21 ( 198413 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:55PM (#4530864)
    My car isn't a Porsche, but my computer is. Does this mean I will have hot chicks now?

  • The Comparison (Score:5, Informative)

    by Equuleus42 ( 723 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @12:55PM (#4530871) Homepage
    I know this is comparing apples to oranges (or something like that), but here goes:

    BestBuy price: $2,399
    Apple's price: $2,499

    BestBuy size: 1.2 x 10 x 13.9"
    Apple's size: 1.0 x 9.5 x 13.4"

    BestBuy weight: 6.4 pounds
    Apple's weight: 5.4 pounds

    BestBuy case: Silver-magnesium
    Apple's case: Titanium

    BestBuy battery life: 3 hours 15 minutes
    Apple's battery life: 4 hours (realistically)

    BestBuy CPU: 2GHz Pentium 4-M
    Apple's CPU: 667MHz PowerPC G4

    BestBuy RAM: 512MB DDR SDRAM
    Apple's RAM: 256MB SDRAM

    BestBuy HD: 40GB hard drive
    Apple's HD: 30GB IBM hard drive

    BestBuy wireless: Integrated 802.11b
    Apple's wireless: 802.11b ready

    Bestbuy video card: Unknown
    Apple's video card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, 32MB

    Bestbuy video out: S-Video-out
    Apple's video out: DVI/VGA/S-video

    Bestbuy Ethernet: Probably 10/100 Apple's Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet

    Bestbuy external ports: 2 Firewire, 2 USB
    Apple's external ports: 1 Firewire, 2 USB

    Shared items:
    BestBuy and Apple LCD: 15.2-inch LCD, 1280x854 max
    Bestbuy and Apple's modem: 56k
    BestBuy and Apple optical: CD-RW/DVD drive

    • Re:The Comparison (Score:3, Informative)

      by Rastor ( 8752 )
      Bestbuy video card: Unknown
      Apple's video card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, 32MB

      Bestbuy video out: S-Video-out
      Apple's video out: DVI/VGA/S-video
      Actually, that should read:
      Bestbuy video card: nVidia GeForce4 420 Go, 32MB
      Apple's video card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, 32MB

      Bestbuy video out: VGA/S-Video
      Apple's video out: DVI/VGA/S-video
      Source: Best Buy [bestbuy.com]

  • Gee THAT wasn't biased and flame bait! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Cyclone66 ( 217347 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @01:24PM (#4531161) Homepage Journal
    ...Slashdot Bias 1, Journalistic Integrity 0!

  • in other news... BMW makes a skateboard! (Score:3, Informative)

    by SethJohnson ( 112166 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @01:28PM (#4531193) Homepage Journal


    Not to be outdone in whoring a corporate icon, BMW is marketing a
    skateboard [popularmechanics.com].

    This waste of engineering is a little different than the laptop in that it looks like it was actually designed by the car company, and not a family member.


    Seth

  • Problem with car company laptops (Score:3, Funny)

    by Ilan Volow ( 539597 ) on Friday October 25, 2002 @01:50PM (#4531389) Homepage
    The value of the laptop goes down by 20% the second you drive it off the Best Buy lot.

  • The thing I think most people over look with the TiBook(and other Apple hardware) are all the hardware tricks like:

    1.) target disk mode(the ability to boot up in a external hard drive mode) and be directly attach to a another computer via firewire as an external hard drive. That's a much faster way to transfer GBs of files between computers than over a network.
    2.) being able to directly hook up to another computer via ethernet with either a straight through OR cross-over cable
    3.) somewhat hot-swappable batteries(you only have to put it to sleep and you have about 2-3 minutes to switch the batteries),
    4.) better battery life than any Intel laptops I've dealt with
    5.) the first laptops, even though the switches are still a little pricey but getting close to affordable by the every man, with gigabit ethernet stock.

    I don't know of any Intel laptops capable of all(or even most) of those things.

    As far as PC laptops go it looks pretty nice especially if it supports, Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD well but once you touch and feel it it could have a cheap feel like some PC laptops like Toshiba.

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