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Butla99

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 20, 2003
18
0
CA-Bay Area
Ok, so that subject title sucks, but I have some random questions and I didn't know how to phrase the title. Anyway, I have already received lots of feedback from many of you when I wanted to compare the PB's to IBM Thinkpads (thanks much). I have a few more questions about the PB's now. Here goes:

1. For those of you who own a new PB and a PC, how does the screen resolution and brightness look on the PB? I am used to my 19" 1600x1200 flat screen monitor (small icons & text) and the PB's have a relatively lower dpi, yet most comments I read are about how great the screen looks. I haven't been able to compare a PB side-by-side with an IBM Thinkpad or Dell, etc... Some 15" notebooks have up to like 1920x1280 or something like that now.

2. Can you scroll with the touchpad?

3. Problems accessing certain secure websites with Safari?

4. Quality/smoothness of DVD video playback?

5. Speaker quality of 17" vs. 15"?

6. Keynote vs. Powerpoint?

7. Is the backlit keyboard really useful? Is it very bright?

8. Are the PB's significantly slower than an IBM Thinkpad T41p or R50p? The FSB, RAM speed, HD speed, and cache are all reduced compared to the IBM.

9. Can I install a 7200rpm hard drive myself?

10. Ease of transferring files from my Gateway?

11. Average battery life? Time to recharge? Recharge while using?

That's all I can think of (everyone is probably sick of reading this by now anyway). Thanks to anyone who had the patience to read this and provide any answers or suggestions. :)
 

Icekey

macrumors member
Oct 14, 2003
98
0
Melbourne, Australia
1. For those of you who own a new PB and a PC, how does the screen resolution and brightness look on the PB? I am used to my 19" 1600x1200 flat screen monitor (small icons & text) and the PB's have a relatively lower dpi, yet most comments I read are about how great the screen looks. I haven't been able to compare a PB side-by-side with an IBM Thinkpad or Dell, etc... Some 15" notebooks have up to like 1920x1280 or something like that now.

I'm not a big fan of higher resolution = better screen. If resolution is what matters to you, then macs are possibliy not for you.

2. Can you scroll with the touchpad?

Yes, but it's done by a software developed by someone else. Apple hasn't activated the functions available on their touchpads that's all

3. Problems accessing certain secure websites with Safari?
Yes, but that's the website creator's problem. There are other browsers available for the mac

4. Quality/smoothness of DVD video playback?
It is smooth. NO problems viewing. Even better on Panther apparently

5. Speaker quality of 17" vs. 15"?
Same

6. Keynote vs. Powerpoint?
Both are offered on the Mac so doesn't matter. If you're buying office then don't bother spending extra with keynote

7. Is the backlit keyboard really useful? Is it very bright?
Useful at times when you really need it. It's not "very" bright, but it does enough. Hardly need it though

8. Are the PB's significantly slower than an IBM Thinkpad T41p or R50p? The FSB, RAM speed, HD speed, and cache are all reduced compared to the IBM.

You're getting into the Mac VS PC argument here so I won't bother. Numbers aren't everything and they have totally different architectures.

9. Can I install a 7200rpm hard drive myself?
If you're capable of not screwing up then yes. Kodawarisan has posted pictures of himself doing it.

10. Ease of transferring files from my Gateway?

Easy if you've got ethernet on the gateway

11. Average battery life? Time to recharge? Recharge while using?

Around 3 - 4 hours normal use I believe. Obviously if you're connecting the powersupply to the machine while using, yes it does recharge
 
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