MacPrices.net

Why Apple Notebooks Are The Logical Mac More Than Ever

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

by Charles W. Moore

I have long contended that Apple ‘Books are the “logical Mac” for most users, and it seems that the market increasingly agrees with me. Apple’s notebook sales passed desktop machines in volume more than four years ago and have opened up a commanding lead over desktop units in sales volume. Notebook sales overtaking desktops is a trend across the industry, but particularly so for Apple, and by early in 2006, notebooks accounted for about 60 percent of total Mac computer sales, although the introduction of the hot-selling aluminum iMac last summer, which spiked a 31 percent year-over-year growth in desktop systems sales drew that back to about a 50-50 split for a few months, but reportedly notebook sales are pulling ahead again, and last quarter figures reveal that Mac notebook sales are up a whopping 37 percent year-over-year, and represent 62 percent of Macs sold.

As noted, laptop sales are also booming on the Windows PC side of the market, although they just broke the 50 percent North American market threshold in Q3 2007, during which notebook shipments (presumably including Apple) represented 52 percent of the market overall, vs. 48 percent for desktops, with the gap expected to open up further during the Christmas runup or at the latest in Q1 2008. Outside North America, desktops are still ahead, but that is expected to shift before 2010.

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All this makes perfect sense to me. It took me about half a day after I bought my first laptop - a PowerBook 5300 - back in 1996, to recognize that portables were the way I wanted to go with computing, and I’ve never really looked back except for a brief dalliance with a G4 Cube in 2001. At the outset I hadn’t expected the laptop to essentially replace my desktop Mac, but that’s what happened virtually overnight, leaving me wondering whether there was any logical case for most people to own a desktop computer at all. I’m wondering more than ever these days. Never say “never”, and I do think that aluminum iMac represents a tremendous value for the money, but I don’t perceive much likelihood that I’ll ever buy another desktop Mac, at least as my main workhorse computer. I’m really not comfortable anymore using a machine that doesn’t support battery-powered, portable operation.

But it goes for other than the convenience and security of battery power. Desktop computers just seem so excessively large and cumbersome for what they do compared with a notebook. The iMac and Mac mini are partial exceptions,given that both are relatively small and incorporate a lot of notebook computer engineering but even they require wall current, an external keyboard, and pointing device, unlike laptops, which constitute a completely self-contained package that can run completely untethered to peripherals as long as the battery holds out.

Laptops are so delightfully compact. Even my 17-inch PowerBook, which is a middling - large laptop, packs around very comfortably and conveniently in a one inch thick package with the screen closed, as opposed to a hulking 40 lb. lump or collection of lumps connected with a tangle of cables. The appeal is partly aesthetic, partly conceptual. It just seems more, well, logical. Laptop computers don’t dominate a room the way a desktop machine does. They are more SUBTLE, a quality that appeals to me greatly.

Ever tried using a desktop computer in bed? I like computing while reclining, and keep one of my Pismo PowerBooks by my bed most of the time, parked on a Laptop Laidback stand - not a mode that lends itself to practicality with a desktop computer - even a Mac mini. The Laptop Laidback actually positions the computer and keyboard in a near ideal ergonomic placement, with elbows at the prescribed 90° and the display at a viewing height that minimizes neck strain - much better than when using it on your lap or on a desk or table.

If you prefer of course, you can convert your ‘Book into a virtual desktop Mac for workstation use. Just plug in an external monitor, a standard keyboard and mouse, whatever Ethernet, USB or FireWire peripherals you need, and voila! This sort of set-up costs substantially less than buying separate portable and desktop computers. I use an external keyboard and pointing device(s) most of the time with my production ‘Book at my office workstation, but am quite content using the built-in monitor, with the machine on a laptop stand that elevates it to a comfortable and more ergonomically healthy viewing height. This is effective, and switching back to portable mode is just a matter of disconnecting a few cables.

One objection to laptops is that you do get more power and in some instances expandability for your money in a desktop, Even though the price gap is not the factor it used to be, with machines like the Core 2 Duo MacBook available for just $1,099.00. By the time you trick out a Mac mini with a decent monitor and input devices, you’re not going to be much short of that figure. and the MacBook will still be the better performer. The iMac does give you more performance for your dollar in a low-cost Mac, and is smallish as desktops go, but you still have to plug it in and it isn’t much more expandable than a MacBook.

The entry-level iMac sells for a hundred dollars more then the entry-level MacBook, and has the same 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, but it does give you plenty of extra spec. for the extra money, with a bigger 17-inch 1440 x 900 resolution display, a 250 gigabyte 7200 RPM hard drive vs. the MacBook’s little 80 GB 5400 rpm unit, an 8x SuperDrive as opposed to the MacBook’s poky combo drive, and perhaps most importantly of all has a real ATI Radeon HD 2400 XTGPU with 128MB memory, as opposed to the MacBook’s Intel GMA X3100 integrated video support that annexes 144 MB of your system memory. You also get an extra USB 2 port and an extra FireWire 400 port, but the same memory ceiling and no expansion slots.

It’s a matter of taste I suppose, but at 20 pounds, the iMac is a superb value, but it's nearly four times the weight of the MacBook, I can live quite happily with The MacBook’s 13.3-inch 1280 x 800 display, and personally I think portability is a fair trade-off the other compromises. in fact, I think the middle price point 2.2 GHz MacBook that comes with a SuperDrive and a bigger hard drive are well worth the extra 200 bucks they cost. Value in a computer must be rationally measured but much more than a low-ball up front price.

if you do require the ultimate in raw computing power and/or PCI and AGP expandability, with multiple RAM expansion slots, and internal drive bays, then of course a Mac Pro tower is the way to go, but seriously folks, what percentage of Mac users really need those capabilities? My guess would be fewer than 10 percent. For most of us, today’s Santa Rosa MacBook Pros have more performance potential than we will ever need and an ExpressCard 34 slot facilitates a degree of expandability as well. Four gigabytes of RAM capacity should satisfy the requirements of most users and then some.

One area where desktop advocates do arguably have a point is ruggedness and reliability, qualities not enhanced by miniaturization and the hard knocks encountered with portability. In general, desktop machines with their larger, usually better-ventilated internal components have a durability advantage, and the first generation of Intel powered Mac portables have not exactly shone in the reliability department, although the later revisions of both MacBooks and MacBook Pros seem substantially improved in that context

On the other hand, my last four Apple ‘Books have been completely reliable and trouble-free, even after, in the case of my older Pismo PowerBook, seven years of workhorse service. Based on personal, anecdotal experience with these machines, laptops have given me very little to complain about, and even that old PowerBook 5300 still works.

And if you live out in the boonies like I do, working on a notebook eliminates worry about data loss due to all-too-frequent power outages. I can happily keep on computing, and even Web surfing through blackouts as long as my batteries hold up, and run almost indefinitely from a car battery or 12 volt power pack which is better than the five to 15 minutes or so typical Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) units used with desktop computers can provide.

This fall in this neck of the woods we’ve already had four major power failures, one that lasted nearly 48 hours. With a desktop computer, I would have been literally out of business for the duration. With my notebooks, I was able to carry on as normal without even a hiccup, and while I did turn down display backlights to the dimmest level that was practical, I took no other extraordinary power economy measures except for logging off the Internet when I didn’t really need to be dialed up. If I used a desktop computer, I would have missed some deadlines, and it doesn’t take much of that to justify the higher purchase cost of a laptop computer, not to mention the peace of mind.

Another big practical advantage of using a notebook for me is that while broadband Internet is not available where I live, there is a WiFi hotspot operated by our local library 12 miles away, so if I really need high speed access for a big software update download or some such, I can just hop in the car with one of my ‘Books, and drive in there, park out front 24/7, and go online, which wouldn’t be a practical proposition with any desktop.

But even if you live where blackouts are rare, the laptop computing experience commends itself in a constellation of other ways, which doubtless accounts for why so many more users choosing portables these days. I expect the notebook market to continue and expand, with an associated crossover trend epitomized by the aluminum iMac with desktops becoming smaller, more imaginatively designed, and in general more notebook-like. It’s just logical.

CM