800 Mhz Ti or 1.33 Mhz 12.1"

[chamberlain]

Hi, I have the opportunity to purchase a brand new 12.1" 1.33 powerbook with 512MB RAM & combo drive for $1450. basically this guy just bought it but lost his job, so...

that is about the absolute most I can spend.

Otherwise I can get an 800Mhz Titanium 15" with 512MB, Airport and a combo drive for $1199.

I would like the bigger screen (I am a designer) but I have a G4 tower at home. I hope that the 12" screen would not drive me nuts. The Ti has gigabit ethernet, a full DVI port and the bigger screen, but I don't know about the delicate hinges and the flaky paint. and of course it is $250 cheaper.

The 12" is the latest and greatest, which I don't necessarily need. I am quite apprehensive about the durability of the titanium powerbooks.

I'm sorry that this is all quite jumbled. To the people here at macrumors, please, what is the better deal. I am in a dilemma.

[QCassidy352]

the 12" is by far the better deal. $1200 for an 800 mhz tibook is crazy. You could get a 1 Ghz ibook for less. yes the Ti still has some nice things, but it's also lacking in a lot of areas - AE, BT, USB 2.0, graphics card, among others. It's also way slower and gets worse battery life.

Since you have a desktop, the case for the 12" is even stronger. A big-screen laptop only makes sense when it's your only computer, IMHO. Since you'll only be using this while on the go, portability is key.

Bottom line is that $1200 for that tibook is nuts. If you really think you won't like the 12", look for a better deal on another 15" laptop, but don't buy that Ti.

[JOD8FY]

Definetely go with the 12". You won't regret it. The screen size won't be too much of an issue. I use mine to play games and do some video editing with no problem. You can also hook it up to an external display if you have one via one of the included adapters.

Best wishes,
JOD8FY

[chamberlain]

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure if that was a good deal on the Ti or not. Ideally I would like to find a 1Ghz 15" Al powerbook for around $1400 - 1500.

The ibook is out of the question because I need those few extra features the powerbook has - monitor spanning, DVI, built in bluetooth (not an extra 50 bucks) etc.