Little Mac Tests Out as Big on Value
The wait is over. Apple Computer on Wednesday finally unveiled its long-anticipated Macintosh Portable, becoming the last of the major personal computer makers to release a battery-powered machine.
Was it worth waiting for? I think so. The Macintosh Portable is a first-rate machine that uses state-of-the-art technology. It has an exceptionally good screen and a long battery life.
Although the machine is a pleasure to use, it’s not light and it’s not cheap. The basic unit, with a megabyte of memory and a single floppy disk drive, weighs nearly 14 pounds and costs $5,800. The model with a 40-megabyte hard disk costs $6,500 and weighs just under 16 pounds. With all the key options, the computer can cost more than $7,300.
I spent several hours with the portable and came away feeling as if I had been using a regular desktop Macintosh. In fact, I actually preferred its screen to the one in the regular Macintosh SE.
Apple is the first computer company to use an “Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display.” Unlike other liquid crystal displays, the active matrix screen has a separate transistor to control each of the 256,000 dots or pixels that appear.
The transistors make it possible for the screen to display quickly moving objects without the annoying blur or lag you get on the laptop computers that Apple’s machine will compete against. (Given the Macintosh Portable’s weight, it’s arguable that it doesn’t actually belong in the laptop category, but I think it’s small enough to be considered one.) That’s important for Mac users because the cursor, or pointer, is often moved quickly from one portion of the screen to another. I’ve used mice on other laptops but have always found the blur to be extremely annoying.
The 8 3/8-inch by 5 1/4-inch screen is exceptionally easy on the eyes. It displays dark black letters against a pale green background. The screen can be viewed from almost any angle; it’s not necessary to sit directly in front of it as you do with other laptops.
Another breakthrough is the battery. Apple went back to the future by using a lead acid battery, rather than the nickel cadmium batteries normally used in laptops. The battery is similar to those used in cars, but it is fully sealed and leak-proof.
While most hard-disk equipped laptops run out of battery power after two or three hours, the Macintosh Portable can operate on its battery for up to 10 hours, according to Apple. If that’s not enough, you can install a spare battery without losing any work in progress. A nine-volt battery maintains power while the main battery is removed.
To save energy, the screen dims and the hard disk stops spinning if no one uses the machine for a specified period of time. The machine doesn’t even have an on/off switch. When you’re done working, you select the “sleep” command to shut down the screen and disk or just walk away and let the machine “go to sleep” on its own.
The sleep mode uses very little power, although the memory remains active. Press any key and the machine “wakes up” exactly as you left it. If the machine goes to sleep while you’re running a program, that program is still in memory when you wake it up. Because of this feature, the machine is always ready for immediate use. When I turn on my desktop Mac, it takes about 35 seconds before the machine is ready for use, plus several more seconds to load in my software and data.
All desktop Macintoshes come with a mouse that is used as a pointing device to select commands, highlight data and to manipulate graphics. Users drag the mouse across their desk, causing a ball on the bottom to revolve and send signals to the computer.
Laptop users, however, don’t always have desks at their disposal. So for the portable, Apple built a “trackball” directly onto the keyboard. The trackball is like an upside-down mouse. Instead of having a ball on the bottom, there is one on top that users manipulate with the palm of their hands. I found the trackball hard to get used to. Fortunately, it also comes with a mouse and it can be equipped with an optional external keyboard.
The machine uses a power-saving version of the same Motorola 68000 central processing unit, or CPU, as the Macintosh SE, but it operates at twice the speed (16 megahertz) as the SE. It’s not as fast as the Macintosh II series of machines, but it is fast enough for most business applications, including word processing, communications, spreadsheets and basic graphics.
I tested the machine by connecting it to my own 80-megabyte external hard disk. That way, I was able to use all my own programs. Every one worked except one that requires a Macintosh II. The machine I tested had two megabytes of memory, enough to allow me to run two programs at the same time.
The portable has one expansion slot, making it possible to add a color display adapter, an internal fax modem or another device. To do that, however, you will need an expansion card designed specifically for the portable. The portable machine, however, does have the same ports, or sockets, as other Macs so you can plug in an external floppy disk drive, an extra hard disk, a modem, a printer and other devices such as a scanner or compact disc drive. Like all Macs, the portable also has a socket to connect it to an AppleTalk local area network. Most IBM-compatible laptops can not easily be connected to networks.
The Mac Portable isn’t for everyone. Although I’d consider using such a machine in a hotel room, I wouldn’t want to carry it around with me all day. I generally carry a six-pound IBM-compatible laptop or a four-pound Radio Shack notebook computer. Neither is as nice as the new Mac, but they are a lot lighter, much cheaper and able to exchange data with a Mac or regular PC.
Nevertheless, for some users, such as field auditors, engineers and people who need to make presentations to clients, the machine can be a boon to productivity and well worth the cost and weight.
It could also be an excellent executive computer, even for those who have no intention of taking it on a business trip. It’s quieter than other Macs and PCs (silent when the hard disk is asleep), it doesn’t take up a lot of desk space and there are no ugly cables to clutter your office. What’s more, it’s relatively easy to take home at night, possibly eliminating the need for a home computer. Also, there is something nice about a computer that you can take to the library or use out of doors.
MACINTOSH PORTABLE
Apple’s first laptop computer features a very easy to read screen and runs up to 10 hours on a single battery charge. The machine’s keyboard has a built-in trackball pointing device.
Features: The basic unit comes with one megabyte of memory (expandable to 2 megabytes) and a 1.4-megabyte floppy disk drive that can read from and write to disks from other Macs as well as 3 1/2-inch disks from IBM compatibles and Apple IIs. An optional 40-megabyte internal hard disk is also available.
Exandability: There is one expansion slot (not compatible with those on other Macs) and connectors for two serial ports, external floppy disk drive, stereo sound jack, extra mouse and keyboard and small computer system interface expansion device, such as an external hard disk or scanner, along with a connector for an optional external video monitor or projection device.
Size: 15.25 inches wide and 14.83 inches long. It weighs 13.75 pounds without a hard disk and 15.75 pounds with a hard disk.
Price: $5,800 for a floppy drive only or $6,500 for a floppy drive and a 40-megabyte hard disk.
Manufacturer: Apple Computer, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, Calif.95014. Phone: (408) 996-1010
