Wait to buy a 15" Powerbook?

i would get the PB now since the rumors are about the Ibooks with intel coming out in Jan 06, besides why risk getting rev A? Better to buy PB now and later on get rev B intel PB.

Do Not Buy Now!!

I strongly suggest you do not buy the current rev. powerbook, because of the numerous issues/problems with them that Apple is not even adressing. Why would you want to buy a 2000 dollar machine that only has a built in defect, along with a number of ofther problems. (Horizontal Lines, >1GB Ram problems ect.. just to name the major ones) I would much rather buy a machine where what you are looking at for the whole day(the screen) is not filled with distracting lines.

Therefore, waiting untill the new Intel Pbooks, is a good idea. Or you can try to buy the rev. d Powerbooks, the rev. just before the one with the line issue.

Hope this helps

-AAA

i would buy now and that way you can pass through the Rev A. They are a great deal through Amazon.com right now, unless you can use your ed discount at Apple.

I'm also planning to get a PowerBook 15" - one of the ones that was just released. I believe that this release is the last PPC PowerBook build. I hope that it is as good as my PowerBook Pismo that it will replace. The Pismo was the last of it's line and a vastly superior machine to what came after. I would definitely not buy a first or even second revision of the Intel based PowerBooks. Let other people who choose to live on the cutting edge bleed as they figure out how to do it right. I have real work to do and want a machine that is stable.

Another reason I am buying the last of the PPC PowerBooks is that I have some applications that only run in Classic. There is no upgrade path. I have gigabytes of legacy data that I need these applications to access. Given that Apple is abandoning Classic I won't be buying a MacIntel machine as long as I need these programs and their data. By then Apple will have moved on to some other processor platform and abandoned OSX. I'll just skip both transitions.

if you want to pay $2000 for a machine with a defective screen, go right ahead. I'm waiting until they fix this issue, whether it's with a PPC chip or Intel chip.

Don't.. I just sold mine recently for a loss..

It has:
1) horizontal lines issue
2) > 1gb ram issue
3) stuttering sound
4) screen flashes and flickers occasionally
5) USB ports can't power my USB harddrive (works on everything else)

In fact, if that's the best Apple can deliver for a FIFTH revision, I really wonder how bad a Rev-A machine can get!

Besides expertise for designing Intel based motherboards are in great abundance in contrast to the current situation Apple has where they did all their own designs in house.

I'd wait for an Intel PB anyday.

can you get a refurb rev D?

i love my 15" rev d, and am very happy i didn't buy sooner or wait to buy later. it's gotta last me till at least may 2009, and i think i made the right choice.

Im sure you're not buying the Apple 15" from some hole in the wall dealer located overseas and buying it from a credible place where there is a return policy in case the PB has any screen issues. Some of the forum members sound like every single Apple 15" has a screen problem. Is that really the case?

coopdog said:

I have heard about some of the screen problems? So even if it has dead pixel lines or the horizontal lines you are talking about, they aren’t covered under the warranty?

We just got an Apple Store here in Salt Lake City; should I pay the higher price (over amazon) at the store so I can return if it has problems?

Thanks again for all the help!

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Amazon generally has a better return policy I believe, for 30 days if I am not mistaken.

At the end of the day it is your money, so don't say we didn't warn you.. This is truly a crap revision

drsuse said:

can you get a refurb rev D?

i love my 15" rev d, and am very happy i didn't buy sooner or wait to buy later. it's gotta last me till at least may 2009, and i think i made the right choice.

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May 2009? That is kinda overkill isn't it?

Has anyone tried asking the people at an apple store to get the 17" for the price of the 15", since the 15" is wacked out? I really want the 15"....but I wouldn't mind having the 17" either...if it was the same price. It's really easy to talk down dell in their prices...why not try it at an apple store? Has anyone tried this?

supersalzme said:

Has anyone tried asking the people at an apple store to get the 17" for the price of the 15", since the 15" is wacked out? I really want the 15"....but I wouldn't mind having the 17" either...if it was the same price. It's really easy to talk down dell in their prices...why not try it at an apple store? Has anyone tried this?

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I heard it was offered before, but YMMV

generik said:

I heard it was offered before, but YMMV

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Me being new...and dumb...what is YMMV?

Any new news on intel books?

I've been trying to keep up with all the rumors that are flying, but have admittedly fallen a bit behind lately.

I know it was expected that PB's would be pretty early in the line-up with the first ones running Yonah, which was expected to be a short-term solution until the Merom (that's not quite right, but you know which one I'm talking about) boards are ready.

Is that still the best guess information? Is it still a good idea to steer clear of the yonah books if you can manage?

As "Generik" said the 5th revision of PPC Powerbooks has numerous pbms... so at this stage and with the next annoucements being just a month away I'd be waiting. My 5th gen Powerbook went back after just 3 days... Oh and despite what some people may say, the 5th gen Powerbooks all have the screen issue and more...
I think Apple moved most of their engineers to the Intel platform so I wouldn't be surprised if the Rev A Intel Powerbooks are actually of better quality than the Rev. E PPC Powerbooks.

Just my thoughts.

I used a new one at Small Dog the other day, and it was sick (I decided I wanted the 17" though) and If you can get one thats has no lines, then I'd say go for the current rev. I mean seriously, they have plenty of power, esp. with 128MB graphics, and you can put up to 2GB of RAM ($154 at 18004memory.com for 2x1GB) it has DDR2 memory, and 1.67GHz is plenty fast for most stuff you will do on a regular basis, also the newer Revs have a higher res. screen, and personally, Thats very important to me.

QCassidy352 said:

if you want to pay $2000 for a machine with a defective screen, go right ahead. I'm waiting until they fix this issue, whether it's with a PPC chip or Intel chip.

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I don't have a defective screen and I don't think many others do either... Just the ones who complain.

I think the majority of people don't really NEED a PowerBook for most of what they do on the run, of course with some exceptions.

Right now the smart buy is the 17" iMac G5 with either a refurbed 12" iBook
or 12" PowerBook for portable needs.

The iMac is a far better machine across the board and I feel that most people would benefit from the iMac/iBook combo set-up at about the same price as they would be paying for a properly equipped 15" or 17" Powerbook alone.

I intend to wait out and see what the Rev. A Intel PowerBooks will offer. I almost certainly will get a Rev. A, but if they are complete rubbish, there should be a few older PPC PBs left, (and usually anything up to 10-20% cheaper, brand new, just to shift them). I really don't see it as that hard a decision once we do know what's available. You can see the specs of both, make a decision and if you want to go for the older PPC model, save yourself a few quid too. If there are none available, you get the Intel PB instead.

That's my plan.

I just ordered a 15" PB from Amazon this Friday, so I'm waiting on it before I buy RAM or anything else for it. I really hope it doesn't have those crazy screen lines many people talk about.
If so, I'll return it to Amazon for an exchange.
I wouldn't wait until Apple releases Intel PBs; it may be a little longer than Jan '06, or I'd feel kinda iffy about the performance and issues on brand new PBs.
That's my .03 cents

Once again, has anyone tried asking for a 17" for the price of a 15" since the 15's have the line problem? I'm going to go in the apple store tomorrow and see if it will work. If it does...man, it will be hard to pass up getting one. I need to keep telling myself January 10th is not that far away....

generik said:

Besides expertise for designing Intel based motherboards are in great abundance in contrast to the current situation Apple has where they did all their own designs in house.

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I have to agree with generik. Sure, the RevA models might have some issues, but there are a hoard of designers with Intel expertise now. Keep in mind that the actual fabricators over in Asia pretty much make ALL of the Intel based laptops right now. I would think the new Intel based PBs should be relatively headache free. Most of the new models that come out on the Windows side are pretty much bang-on hardware wise the first time around. The Windows OS is usually the problem.