Business Week Heaps Praise On The New PowerBook G4

Business Week has published a review of the PowerBook G4 that is chock full oi praise. The author, Stephen H. Wildstrom, is the same Business Week reviewer who slammed the Cube after its release, but he comes out swinging for Appleis new laptop. Some selected quotes:

At up to $3,500, the Titanium is, like other Apple products, pricey, but this one gives good value. Apple has once again launched a powerful innovation--and could literally reshape the laptop. The Titanium is visually stunning, despite being a basic rectangular box. The difficulty of fabricating the metal ruled out the swoopy curves that have been the hallmark of recent PowerBooks.

Wide-screen laptops have flopped before, but this one makes sense. Itis almost like working with two monitors, as is commonly done in studios. The Titaniumis dimensions pay dividends for business fliers, too, since itis easier to open on a laptop tray when the seat in front has reclined.

Mr. Wildstrom also addresses the processor issue in a very fair and objective manner:

Appleis claim that the PowerPC G4 processor in the top model makes the PowerBook more than 30% faster than the fastest Windows laptop is based on some highly selective tests, but the speed is easily a match for anything Intel can offer.

Even his complaints are tinged with praise:

The Titanium is not without flaws. To save a few precious millimeters, Apple used a slot-loading DVD drive of the sort used in car CD players. Thus, you donit get the option of a CD recorder that a modular design would give. In addition, thereis no way to eject a disk manually if the drive fails. The G4 processor puts out a lot of heat, and the bottom of the case can get quite hot. The keyboard panel could also stand some stiffening--it tends to flex a bit, especially when keys in the middle are struck. But these are quibbles.

Read the full review for more information. We left out a lot of information in our quotes, so definitely check it out.