Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Status of new IFE on 747-400

I am not really sure if my topic is correct on this - conventional wisdom is that you need StudioCX to get empower, and while I have never seen empower without StudioCX, I have seen StudioCX without empower.

In any case, my issue is that I am going JFK-HKG-MNL an a week all on 747 equipment. I am sick and tired of carrying my own weight in batteries, so I was curios if anyone had better information than I on the retrofit schedule.

I am going JFK-HKG this April in F. I can't believe that CX still does not have empower on their long hauls! For a top rated airline, this should have been addressed long ago.

How can they be behind SQ, BA, VS and the likes so badly?

I would swap the caviar for a trickle of power http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by plumbar:
...
I would swap the caviar for a trickle of power http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Amen!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by plumbar:

I would swap the caviar for a trickle of power http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Now lets not get carried away here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

The 'new' IFE, AVOD StudioCX, the WORKS etc... in Business and First Class ... will only be available on aircrafts that have the new Business Class seats.

When each aircraft goes in for NBC reconfiguration, the entire StudioCX is overhauled in First and Business Class. The video8 personal player is removed in First and seats are reconfigured to have in seat power supply and Tenzing outlets too.

So right now, with only half of the 747s configured, you may still be stuck carrying extra batteries about as we don't know which aircraft will be flying which route!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by plumbar:
How can they be behind SQ, BA, VS and the likes so badly?
I would swap the caviar for a trickle of power http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>Can't you afford to buy a real laptop if power conservation is important to you? It is important to me, so I spent oodles of money and got a laptop that lasts 5 hours (and 10 hours with a 2nd battery), plus I have a digital tablet for taking notes (that lasts for about 20 days and will take 50 pages of notes). I back it all up to a Microdrive, so I can lose the laptop while traveling and still have all my data. Never really need inseat power unless I want to watch DVD movies, as the batteries last long enough. But I have noticed that the cheap laptops, even Dell, have mediocre batteries and poor power management (some don't even use a Mobile cpu, to save money).

As for in-seat power, more than half of CX planes have it functioning, which is about the same ratio as SQ (where it seems to be off quite often) and BA. CX got distracted with Tenzing and fell behind (they would be far ahead if that technology had panned out). The only reliable inseat power is by LH (who supply 3-prong AC, rather ironically). All the other Empower-ish systems seem to have reliability problems.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
The only reliable inseat power is by LH (who supply 3-prong AC, rather ironically). All the other Empower-ish systems seem to have reliability problems.</font>

Well, AA has reliable cigarette-lighter-style DC on all its long-haul flights and all other mainline service too, with the exception of some of the 757s. What with all the criticism gets (much of it rightly, of course -- closing two of the Flagship Lounges, for goodness sake...) I like to give them credit when & where it's due.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
Can't you afford to buy a real laptop if power conservation is important to you? blah blah blah </font>

Perhaps he has more important things to carry than all the techno gizmos that you enumerated? Like his checkbooks?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
Can't you afford to buy a real laptop if power conservation is important to you? It is important to me, so I spent oodles of money and got a laptop that lasts 5 hours (and 10 hours with a 2nd battery), plus I have a digital tablet for taking notes (that lasts for about 20 days and will take 50 pages of notes). I back it all up to a Microdrive, so I can lose the laptop while traveling and still have all my data. Never really need inseat power unless I want to watch DVD movies, as the batteries last long enough. But I have noticed that the cheap laptops, even Dell, have mediocre batteries and poor power management (some don't even use a Mobile cpu, to save money).

As for in-seat power, more than half of CX planes have it functioning, which is about the same ratio as SQ (where it seems to be off quite often) and BA. CX got distracted with Tenzing and fell behind (they would be far ahead if that technology had panned out). The only reliable inseat power is by LH (who supply 3-prong AC, rather ironically). All the other Empower-ish systems seem to have reliability problems.</font>


Well, lets see. I have am IBM T30 which is not exactly the WalMart of laptops. Since it is also my primary desktop, I am not willing to skimp on the processor even stepped down for in flight use, the mobile P4 2ghz is a pig. Next, I certainly can reduce my screen brightness to the point that I can hardly see, but that seems to be rather counterproductive. With Bluetooth and WIFI turned off and with the extra cost super cell main battery and the second battery in the ultra bay, I am good for 4 hours of CPU intensive work or 5 hours of normal work. This also precludes use of the DVD drive which would of course go in the Ultra-Bay.

I have been using IBM A and T series notebooks for about 3 years now and would not trade the build quality for anything.

Re the Microdrive, the day that I could hold all of my important data on a 1gig device is a distant memory! I must have 4 times that in my document imaging directory and my OST is almost a 2 gig when the necessary public folders are synced.

PLus, I might just WANT to watch a movie. So, I am not really satisfied that my problem is because I have a junk laptop but rather that power access has become rather ubiquitous - ergo my dual frustration of CX 747's and most UA 777's

FYI - AA is flawlessly reliable for in seat power - it always works and is on every aircraft other than the old TWA equipment - always working is more than I can say for LH power (yes - I said something nice about AA!)

[This message has been edited by B Watson (edited 01-13-2003).]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8000. When I bought it a year ago, it was their top or the line laptop.

The problem is that I like do work and also play dvds on the computer. The standard battery only lasts 1.5 hours playing dvds. I tried purchasing a battery extender but they were not compatible with my computer. Also, it just adds on so much weight which I try to avoid.

I have a pioneer portable dvd player which gets around 3 hours of viewing. I use this for leisure trips only. However, I still need the empower for long haul trips.

Money is not the issue, portability is!


[This message has been edited by plumbar (edited 01-14-2003).]

Just bought a Fujitsu 2120 which is 3 pounds with DVD/CDRW as an integrated module with plenty of RAM and nice size hard drive just for this reason. I travel SO much and need the DVD player as well. Battery is much better than Inspiron which I also have

X30 would give you 8 hours battery life (10+ if you stretch it) and probably indistinguishable performance from your T30 (also 2 pounds lighter!). I also have a T30 (97U, sounds like same model that you have) and don't usually travel with it -- not up to snuff for my taste. It isn't my primary desktop (that is a dual xeon intellistation). I view the X30 and equivalent machines as an adequate solution to the battery problem, thus I'm sorry but I have no sympathy (the solution is within your control). As for not having a backup while you travel, you will be happy to know the T30 is spec'ed to take a 3 foot drop with the drive running and no damage (thanks to its unique drive bay cushioning -- don't know of any other notebook that has that). Microdrive 4GB version is announced, will ship in a few months. I've had to solve the version control problem long ago as I use multiple computers, and find I almost never have more than 50MB of work to back up, and that is all the microdrive needs to hold. Most of the time it gets used for taking photos instead.
Good point about AA having reliable power. I've had several BA flights with the inflight power not working, so I view it as not something to count on and CX not really being behind the rest of the industry. Sorry for the diatribe, but battery life happens to be a pet peeve of mine (along with lack of 802.11b, soon to be .11g).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
X30 would give you 8 hours battery life (10+ if you stretch it) and probably indistinguishable performance from your T30 (also 2 pounds lighter!). </font>

My wife has one of these - are you KIDDING! a 12" screen and a dog processor - of course it has great battery life!

50meg is a fantasy for me – I carry scans of docs from single deals that exceed this and I could never deal with having them offline on CD’s since I need to scan the OCR index of several documents at a time. Plus, the last time I tolerated the hassle of a separate desktop and mobile is when Compaq introduced the Deskpro P60 and I was carrying a 486LTE – that was 10 years ago and there is no way I would consider that hell again.

My conclusion is that access to power in a first class seat is a reasonable expectation in the context of today’s marketplace. I am not willing to compromise my productivity in order to accommodate the lack of power when I can always select a different carrier.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:

Well, lets see. I have am IBM T30 which is not exactly the WalMart of laptops. Since it is also my primary desktop, I am not willing to skimp on the processor even stepped down for in flight use, the mobile P4 2ghz is a pig.</font>Just got my new T40 (Centrino based). Faster than a P4 2.4 GHz. Spec is 7 hours battery life, but I'm getting 9-10 hours. Weighs 4.5 lbs. 80GB high-speed drive (AV rated). Fast video card. Gotta love this technology, Intel and IBM have done a superb job. Oh, and the 802.11a/b range is more than double that of my T30 (how did they manage that? must be a better antenna). So finally there really is a laptop which doesn't need inflight power and can do anything that a desktop can do.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by number_6:
Just got my new T40 (Centrino based). Faster than a P4 2.4 GHz. Spec is 7 hours battery life, but I'm getting 9-10 hours. Weighs 4.5 lbs. 80GB high-speed drive (AV rated). Fast video card. Gotta love this technology, Intel and IBM have done a superb job. Oh, and the 802.11a/b range is more than double that of my T30 (how did they manage that? must be a better antenna). So finally there really is a laptop which doesn't need inflight power and can do anything that a desktop can do.</font>


Is the Centrino chip really that much faster - I was looking at the clock speeds and just could not justify the move - although I would really love the 32meg increase in video RAM.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:

Is the Centrino chip really that much faster - I was looking at the clock speeds and just could not justify the move - although I would really love the 32meg increase in video RAM.</font>It is a brilliant design, and the 1.6 beats a P4 2.4 in every benchmark, not just specmarks. My T40 is easily 30% faster than the T30!!!! Very amazing, Intel did a superb job in balancing the bus/caches/pipeline and it shows (also in real world usage). You can get 64MB video card for another $300 (this is the Fire GL 9000, but I couldn't get this and have the Radeon 9000 mobile with 32MB and it is great). All the P4 laptops are now obsolete, and even the "deskbooks" are unable to compete. What a breakthrough design.

if this was in the aa forum tyhe "british" moderator would have closed this thread LONG ago.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by azmmza:
if this was in the aa forum tyhe "british" moderator would have closed this thread LONG ago. </font>

Which has what to do with this thread??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

OK - they ordered me a 1.6 with the 64meg video, 80 gig HD and 1 gig RAM - ALSO - a combo CD-RW - DVD-RW - now THAT is cool. I hope I get it something this year!