Got my NEW 15" Powerbook!!! WOW!

[Paperstreet]

I'm incredibly happy today. I ordered my new 15" Powerbook using my ADC discount from Apple last wednesday. It wasn't supposed to get to me until Friday. But here it is!!!

Anyhow, I got the 15" 1.5ghz. I upgraded VRAM to 128, got the single stick of 512 ram and upgraded harddrive to 5400rpms. I then downgraded to a combo drive. (I had the superdrive on another model and seldom used it.)

With my ADC discount, it was only $1999 plus tax. WOW.

Here's a little background: I've had the iMac DV Special Edition (old, old, old model). Then I got the Dual 1ghz Powermac G4 w/ 17" LCD studio display. Then to add to that, I got the 12" Powerbook Rev.B. That was SWEET.

So I recently sold the 12" and the Powermac for about $1500 each, giving me about $3000 to play with. So I bought this new 15" Pbook, the Canon Digital Rebel, and Adobe CS premium. I feel like a kid in a candy store!!!

First impressions of the 15"- it's BIG. Coming from the 12", this is a LOT bigger. Basically because it's a widescreen display. I'm not used to this. But I LIKE IT. A LOT.

And this thing is FAST. It's not hot. It's not warped. I'm not getting shocked. There are no bugs. (yet.). It's just plain PERFECT.

I think I'm in love. I'm so glad I bought it. It's a perfect desktop and old laptop replacement. This is the ONLY computer I have now. And I have no doubt this will suffice for years to come.

Just had to tell someone my enthusiasm.

Thanks for listening.

Oh- and I ordered a Timbuk2 bag that is like half backpack, half messenger back. I forget its name. But it's well padded and I have a variety of ways I can carry it. So I'm stoked about that as well.

Now if only MacSkinz would get their powerbook skinz up I'd be all set.

[JFreak]

congrats :) i think you begin to fall in love with the widescreen display...

[FuzzyBallz]

DAMN that ADC discount, it's better than the Ed. discount.

Nice upgrade, but at the rate you're going, this new toy won't last long before you upgrade to a 17" G5 PB. :D

[kwajo.com]

i just checked the fedex tracking on my powerbook and it should have been delivered to my house this morning. I can't wait to get off work and go play with it, and hopefully be able to post my own enthusiastic reatic to my (hopefully) awesome new mac :D

btw, it seems like everyone has been getting the new 1.5ghz 15" with 128 video ram and 5400rpm drive, this has to be far and away the most popular powerbook, i think apple could have easily made 128md video ram standard, why they didnt' i'll never understand. also a lot of people, like myself and the original poster, downgraded to combo drives after having previous models which we didn't use very much. i wonder how widspread this is, and if apple is almost seeing a regression of dvd-r use...



anyway, waiting to get home!!! ;)

[yoda13]

That is an awesome machine. Pardon me, I have to go get a towel to wipe off the drool :D

[BrianKonarsMac]

congratulations. i too recently bought a powerbook, 12 incher, and am in love. the screen is a bit small for creative work, but i have a 17 inch. external lcd for that.

[noel4r]

what's the ADC discount?

[sandmann41]

How does it compare to your dual 1gig G4?
That is the exact configuration I am considering.

[kwajo.com]

oh, i forgot to mention, mine was also purchased on ADC discount; i love that thing :D


and i'll let everyone know how it compares to my previous 1GHz Rev.A 17" pbook. hopefully it destroys it, at least hard drive speed and graphics chip (god i hate that silly little nVidia GeForce 440go, it's junk)

[CmdrLaForge]

CONGRATS !!! :D

How about posting some pics ?

[wide]

You're right, everyone is getting new 15-inch PowerBooks...it's too damned hard to restrain myself from buying one right now! The Apple Store is under half an hour away!

[bwawn]

I'm about to do the same thing (15" PB, 128 VRAM, 5400RPM, combo drive) but I'm wondering, is it really worth it to spend $80 (even more when not buying through ADC) to get just one stick of RAM as opposed to two for 512MB? I mean, crucial.com lists one stick of 512 at $125, and you could find memory even cheaper elsewhere. On top of that, you can sell your old 256MB chips on eBay or elsewhere for a fair amount.

I'm just curious why so many people put out so much extra cash to get only 1 SO-DIMM for their 512MB rather than going with the stock two 256MB SO-DIMMs, when it seems cheaper to just buy more memory and replace/resell the 256MBs.

[talltomkat]

a big me too
got the 15 inch, upgraded hard drive and video card
1 gig of genuine apple ram on a single stick
and i've been dreaming of a dvd burner in a laptop for about 10 years so yeah i got the superdrive

but lordy my pismo was a work horse! it wasn't some candy ass commute lap top -- i used that thing almost every day for four years. the electrical cord had burned out in so many places it was mostly electrical tape. the screen was still great -- but the hinges were shot and it would barely stay upright. i had a wireless card for it -- got to where i had to jam the wireless card back and forth before it would recognize. the audio out jack had been mangled long ago. i knocked the corner of the laptop and tore the plastic off the dvd/cd player cover. thing still starts up and works like a champ. os 10.3 was always pretty smooth for me on the pismo.

anyway -- i read these boards for weeks trolling for new powerbook reports so heres mine.

i didn't do the pixel test for a few days -- the screen looked great and i didn't want to spoil it. but it survived the pixel test and i lucked out with a great screen.

all four feet are on the ground -- no rocking.

the laptop came with a piece of thin packing foam between the screen and the keyboard. i'm trying to make it a habit to always put that foam back when i close up the laptop to protect the screen from the keyboard.

for those of you that have a pismo -- this is a 15 inch plus screen. or at least it seems bigger then the pismo screen. and of course since its brand new with a bunch of video ram -- darn these colors are really rich!

the keyboard is very nice to type on.

i am a power lap top user -- its on for hours at a time -- so far the top of the machine has never even come close to being too warm.

the backlight feature on the keyboard is just too damn cool. and its really practical.

i love the slot loading drive -- the way it just grabs the disc and pulls it in. big improvement over the player on rails.

wireless built in -- gotta love that and not having to fck with a card. i'm also an avid bluetooth user so having that built in saves me from that little usb perirphal that i've probably lost already.

anyway wireless reception seems ok compared to the card -- but this is one area where i do have a complaint with apple. apple fckin invented 80211 -- don't you think we should be able to say that apple laptops have better wireless reception then anything on the planet -- especially considering how all over wireless intel is? its just one of those bragging rights that should come with having the best laptop on the planet.

moving on -- the trackpad is ok but the click pad is way too stiff. i don't know if there's a way to adjust it but mine is way too hard to click. but then i found out about tapping the trackpad to click and i'm a happy camper -- tapping is much faster.

theres many little touches -- like the sleep light, the magnetic latch, the little light on the powercord that tells you whether its charging, all the ports on the sides, and the strength of the overall al frame that really add up to one sweet machine.

Joe Bob says two thumbs way way way way up !

:-)

[tamara6]

I just upgraded from a Pismo, too. I loved that thing, but it was showing its age. The dvd player stopped working about a year ago. The battery only holds 20 or 30 minutes of juice. The 2 key sticks. My cat ripped off the ~ key last summer. I replaced the hard drive a while back to a 7200 rpm 40 GB, but now that is full and the thing runs very s-l-o-w-l-y.

The 15 PB's screen is way, way brighter and sharper (1280 by 854 pixels). The Pismo's screen is 1024 by 768 pixels.

I got the "cheap" 1.33 version, but I couldn't believe how fast it started. All my software just screams, compared to the Pismo. Airport range is reduced, but it is still enough here around my apt. And I love having the ports on the sides, not in the back behind a flap.

The trackpad on the new pb is in a totally different place than on the pismo, and it feels very different. It took me a couple of days to get used to it, and I still sometimes find my thumb trying to click where there is no button.

The only thing is that I feel like this aluminum pb is not as rugged - I worry about just plopping it in my backpack. So now I am in the market for a sleeve with a little padding.

Anyway, I didn't think I could give up my Pismo. I didn't think I could love another computer like I loved that old friend. But this new pb, well, let's just say it is the perfect replacement.

[BornAgainMac]

That is a great configuration. It's a great desktop replacement too. I want get one now.

[MrSugar]

oh, i forgot to mention, mine was also purchased on ADC discount; i love that thing :D


and i'll let everyone know how it compares to my previous 1GHz Rev.A 17" pbook. hopefully it destroys it, at least hard drive speed and graphics chip (god i hate that silly little nVidia GeForce 440go, it's junk)

HEY! I like my 17" Rev A!! *rubs computer*

[furrina]

I finally bit the bullet (sticker shock!) and bought a 15" 1.5 PB 1GB (yes i got 2 512s from apple, I'm lazy) ram/5400HD + 20" Cinema LCD display to replace *my* trusty G3 pismo. I do some video editing with FCP and am planning to do a lot more, in addition to ordinary stuff. I was tearing my hair out over whether to go for a G5 dual 1.8 or get the PB, and I feel I made a reasonable compromise: I do appreciate the mobility, and since I'm not doing fulll time paid heavy rendering, this machine is powerful enough for the video, and I've had good luck with buying the last rev. of mac stuff, they seem to have a lot under the hood and "wish list' items of all the other revs.
Has anyone hit a wall with FCP on the Powerbook?

I got the display because since it's a laptop I'd like the extra real estate ( i can run it in clamshell mode w/wireless kbd + mouse or as dual screen), But more importantly I do plan to get a G5 desktop but want to wait til after WWDC as the price may drop on the model I would get or some brand-new architecture or standard might be introduced. So when I do get the G5 PM, I'll already have the display and won't have to worry about that cost.

As far as new displays introduced at WWDC, yes it freaks me out but whatever, as whatever they introduce probably won't ship for another 3 months and I have the cash now, and i find the 20" cinema display to be pretty darn nice, (though insanely expensive).

So all in all I found the 15" PB + 20" display to be the ideal combo, until I feel justified to require the power of the G5 PM, which may be a few bucks cheaper by then.

(I also have a 7200 rpm powerbook HD 60 gig which i may throw in once the warranty runs out.)

[kwajo.com]

HEY! I like my 17" Rev A!! *rubs computer*

yeah me too, i'll be sad to see it go (buyers ? :P ) anyway, i'm typing this from my new powerbook :D

screen= perfect, absolutely perfect, nothing wrong in the least, it's bright and sharp, and i think i can almost notice the higher dpi over my 17". no white spots or pixel problems :D

speed= so far seems fast, right now i'm runnign software update and then i'll reboot and see for sure, but one thing i have noticed is visual smoothness. minimizing, expose, scrolling, etc. all these things are much smoother and more fluid. i'm pleased as punch. hopefully itunes vicuals will follow suit. also, i'm about to try the C&C generals demo which was the last game i played on my 17" to see how it compares

i'm not sure what else to say so far, i need ot run some more things and plug in my external firewire 800 drive to test some more. so far though, fit and finish rock and i have none of the troubles others have with the 15-inch, i'm so relieved and pumped to work this machine to the max

[JFreak]

So all in all I found the 15" PB + 20" display to be the ideal combo.

me too, but i have not yet been able to justify the cost of a 20" display. a thousand euros maybe, but not the 1700 euros that apple is currently asking for...

it's an outrage, really. you know, 1700 euros is FAR more than the average net earnings per month in finland... it's the elite 10% that earn more than that per month.

but give me the apple 20" cinema display (without a single stuck pixel) for 1000 euros and i'd buy it at a heartbeat :)

[talltomkat]

i think people talk too much about the ram savings buying third party and dont talk about why it might be good to stick with apple ram at least to start.

when you are spending 3,000 for a laptop -- do you really want to put mickey mouse ram in it? apple boards are full of horror stories from people saving a few dollars and then getting hours or days of pain and no laptop to work on.

my opinion is that if you can justify it all -- especially if you are expensing out the overall purchase -- try to get apple ram on one stick and get as much as you can. then you have another slot open for third party ram -- but if any problems emerge with the third party ram you arent totally screwed. and this might sound trivial but -- you won't have to crack open the laptop for a while and to me thats just one less thing to worry about.

ymmv

[Capt Underpants]

CONGRATS !!! :D

How about posting some pics ?

There are some pics of my 12 incher on my .mac site(see sig).

[nyprospect]

:p 12 incher.tee hee

[furrina]

when you are spending 3,000 for a laptop -- do you really want to put mickey mouse ram in it? apple boards are full of horror stories from people saving a few dollars and then getting hours or days of pain and no laptop to work on.

ymmv

I think people's point is that Apple ram, preinstalled, really is a lot more than any others. I got the 2 512 sticks because of the same reason you stated, that I was already spending the money on the BTO, but I'm really just lazy (and broke!). And I wouldn't by the 1 gb stick from them, it seems ridiculously overpriced.

It's definitely true that inferior ram can screw you up, never buy it, I know someone who got cheap ram for their g5 and it doesnt recognize it, etc.

That having been said, I believe the ram from Crucial is the exact same manufatcurer that Apple uses for their ram, but just $100 + cheaper. Also reputable places like OWC sell ram that's of the same quality as apple's, just less expensive. So it's definitely not "mickey mouse" ram.

I think it's a matter of how much money you're willing to throw away for the pleasure of getting all you need from the get go in one shiny package. :rolleyes:

[Capt Underpants]

i think people talk too much about the ram savings buying third party and dont talk about why it might be good to stick with apple ram at least to start.

when you are spending 3,000 for a laptop -- do you really want to put mickey mouse ram in it? apple boards are full of horror stories from people saving a few dollars and then getting hours or days of pain and no laptop to work on.

my opinion is that if you can justify it all -- especially if you are expensing out the overall purchase -- try to get apple ram on one stick and get as much as you can. then you have another slot open for third party ram -- but if any problems emerge with the third party ram you arent totally screwed. and this might sound trivial but -- you won't have to crack open the laptop for a while and to me thats just one less thing to worry about.

ymmv

Money is money. If you can save a few hundred, why not? And it's hardly cracking open the laptop. Theres four little screws and a door made especially for RAM.

[Diatribe]

Congrats to all new pb owners.

After some serious arguing over whether to buy the 12" or the 15", I ordered mine yesterday. A 12" SD with 786MB RAM, 80GB HD for 1684€. Life is sweet. I'm counting days now :D

[Capt Underpants]

Congrats to all new pb owners.

After some serious arguing over whether to buy the 12" or the 15", I ordered mine yesterday. A 12" SD with 786MB RAM, 80GB HD for 1684€. Life is sweet. I'm counting days now :D

We have the same macine (besides superdrive). I had enough money to go with 3rd party RAM, a bigger HD, and a combo drive, or stock HD, stock RAM, and a superdrive. I chose the former. If I had had the money, I would've definately got the superdrive with all the goodies you got. You're getting a great machine!

[Diatribe]

We have the same macine (besides superdrive). I had enough money to go with 3rd party RAM, a bigger HD, and a combo drive, or stock HD, stock RAM, and a superdrive. I chose the former. If I had had the money, I would've definately got the superdrive with all the goodies you got. You're getting a great machine!

Thanks. I hope I'll be as happy as I think I'll be. I wouldn't have gotten the stock RAM if it hadn't been cheaper than Crucial and I definitely need the SD to backup my data when I'm on the go. I don't feel like dragging my 250GB external HD everywhere. :rolleyes:
What kind of battery life are you getting with yours? I am coming from an ibook so this is going to be worse but it is smaller and lighter in comparison which is going to rock. :D

[crowdaddy]

Is an extra battery necessary for the 15" Powerbook?

[Capt Underpants]

Thanks. I hope I'll be as happy as I think I'll be. I wouldn't have gotten the stock RAM if it hadn't been cheaper than Crucial and I definitely need the SD to backup my data when I'm on the go. I don't feel like dragging my 250GB external HD everywhere. :rolleyes:
What kind of battery life are you getting with yours? I am coming from an ibook so this is going to be worse but it is smaller and lighter in comparison which is going to rock. :D

I'm getting about 4 hours. I wish it was closer to five, but the max I can get is 4.

[FuzzyBallz]

1 gig of genuine apple ram on a single stick


Apple don't make RAM, but they are good at slapping the Apple logo on everything, included Memorex brand DVD media. Apple uses Samsung RAM, or should I say overpriced Samsung RAM.

[Rower_CPU]

Apple don't make RAM, but they are good at slapping the Apple logo on everything, included Memorex brand DVD media. Apple uses Samsung RAM, or should I say overpriced Samsung RAM.

Apple's getting better about RAM pricing.

They're on par with Kinston on the memory talltomkat got.
Apple (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/72301/wo/Bd1tOucA8umQ2IO9GteH6rfTKMg/3.0.7.1.0.5.17.1.2.27.3.1.1.0?57,9) - $600 on top of regular price for 256MB
Kingston (http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/modelsinfo.asp?SysID=+16683+&distributor=0&submit1=Search) - $713 - $86 for the 256MB you would have gotten = $627

[talltomkat]

Money is money. If you can save a few hundred, why not? And it's hardly cracking open the laptop. Theres four little screws and a door made especially for RAM.

just another point of view for those cruising the boards
the problem is compounded by the fact that there are shady companies selling ram
so maybe you know who to avoid and where to go but other people dont
also -- i've heard bad ram stories from major mail order companies who arent even giving that much of a discount
maybe these problems have all gone away...?

so its cool if you know who to go with but for a newbie buyer -- even one with an apple laptop already -- its a think twice issue
remember how apple did a system upgrade and suddenly a bunch of third party ram wasn't recognized? and this wasn't grey market ram. there was a patch that someone did -- it saved me and a lot of other people from having to replace the ram -- but i don't really want to go through that again.

[Paperstreet]

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted.

But to answer some questions I've read...

I think it's definitely on par with how my dual 1ghz Powermac G4 was. Maybe it's a bit slower, but I sure haven't noticed it yet.

The screen is a little smaller than the 17" Studio LCD I had, but way bigger than the 12" laptop. So it's a nice compromise I think. For the record though, the 12" was easier to type on. My arm hits the side and bottom of this laptop. It'll take a little getting used to I guess.

As far as why I get 1 stick of 512 built in, I do it so I can add another 512 and have a total of 1gb instead of having the 256 wired in and ending up with 768 when I add a 512. I already ordered a stick of 512 from Crucial, so I'll be up to a GB. That'll be nice.

So far, so good. I just love this thing. Seeing how big it is, the 17" would be WAY too big for me. For some people, I'm sure it would be fine. But even the 15" is big. So no 17" in the future. 15" will be as big as I go.

Next purchase is another desktop. By that time, it might be a G6. Hehehee!!!

[stockscalper]

This is the exact configuration that I got a month ago. I can tell you using it only gets better! :)

I was in a Best Buy yesterday and couldn't help but look at the laptops there, out of curosity since I had just bought a new one. A sales rep saundered over so I asked him to print off some specs on a couple of their top of the line Centrinos for comparison purposes. The hard drives were only 3600 rpm's, the video they were using was the old ATI card Apple used in the ibooks a couple of years ago with 32 megs of ram and they were clunky and thick as a brick. 7.5 lbs for the "sleek" (their words) Centrino and almost 11 lbs for a P4 (really huge) 15" screen laptop. These were the VAIO's, the HP's and Toshibas. Horrible, absolutlely horrible compared to the specs on my new PB. Two out of three of these machines had the old wireless technology, the same as my 3 year old Titanium. Except for the VAIO the screens on them were terrible. They had crude disk loading trays for the cds and the keyboards had a cheap feel to them. When I commented on the poor screens and keyboards I was told that "most people buy an external monitor, keyboard and mouse...". Why? I've been using Mac laptops since 1994 and the screens and keyboards are excellent and you don't need anything else. Next time I hear some clown pronounce that Wintel laptops are superior, cheaper or better in any way to Macs I'm going to slap them. :eek:

[Megaquad]

I am looking to order 1.33GHz 15" with 4200 rpm drive next week.
Can anyone tell me how is the speed of above machine? I am very concerned that 4200 rpm drive will ruin everything, and I can't get faster drive at the moment since this machine costs around 2500€ (3000$, it sucks) where I live...

[kwajo.com]

my powerbook was running so well last night that it completely slipped my mind that i was running off battery to calibrate the battery. :rolleyes: and i had the processor settings for battery to "reduced" and i still thought it was killing my rev.A 17-inch.
so i plugged it in when after it went to sleep and have it on "highest" for power adapter use, and WOW! i didn't think the difference would be this great, and i had my 17-inch well maintained, and a pretty clean system. i switched over my extra 512 ram later last night (bringing me to 1GB), and installed final cut pro this morning before work, so i'm anxious to give that a real workout with a documentary i'm doing right now.

a question for all you other new 15-inch owners: is your screen really stiff in operation? mine is incredibly so, and i was worried about overly tightened screws in the back, so i took a glance at them and there was a white mark on the aluminum between the 2 screws on either side, almost like stress marks in the metal. i was alarmed and took a screwdriver and slightly loosened them, just marginally mind you. any thoughts on this?

and a tip for those of you moving to a new system, and your previous one isn't very old, use firewire target disk mode with a firewire 800 cable (assuming both machines have one). it's BLAZING fast! copied my gigabytes, and gigabytes of data at amazing speeds :D oh, and how sweet a link is a 15-inch pbook connected to a 17-inch pbook, through a firewire 800 external 160GB hard drive :cool:

[citizenchunk]

btw, it seems like everyone has been getting the new 1.5ghz 15" with 128 video ram and 5400rpm drive, this has to be far and away the most popular powerbook, i think apple could have easily made 128md video ram standard, why they didnt' i'll never understand.
well, as someone who DIDN'T upgrade to 128MB VRAM, i can tell you that i don't feel like my pbook is a piece of ****. there are plenty of people like me who use it for things like music and graphics (photoshop, not 3D motion graphics) whose demands are mainly CPU, RAM and HD, and for whom 64 more megs of VRAM won't mean ****. from the barefeats benchmarks, it seems as though you might expect anywhere from a 1-7% increase in performance with the upgrade, and only with the most recent, bleeding-edge games. perhaps the gap would increase when using external displays with high resolutions. but basically, for most professionals, the upgrade is overkill.

THAT BEING SAID... i do really wish that they had made it more public that the upgrade is ONLY $50! had i known this, i would have definitely ordered the upgrade, if only to increase resale value down the road. in retrospect, i feel stupid for not checking. but i placate myself by placing some of the blame on Apple for not making it effing obvious that the upgrade is only $50.

[jazzmfk]

...snip...
the laptop came with a piece of thin packing foam between the screen and the keyboard. i'm trying to make it a habit to always put that foam back when i close up the laptop to protect the screen from the keyboard.
...snip...
:-)

Other World Computing makes these little leather thingies that are perfectly sized to your keyboard. I use mine on my little iBook - got it AFTER I noticed the key imprints on the screen, not before. In retrospect, I probably just should have gone to a fabric store or something for a slice of leather and cut it myself - but then I wouldn't be contributing my fair share to the global economy, now would I?

Have fun with your new 'Book. I'll be in the market soon - early fall, maybe. Can't wait to see the choices then!!!

MFK

[JFreak]

I am looking to order 1.33GHz 15" with 4200 rpm drive next week.
Can anyone tell me how is the speed of above machine? I am very concerned that 4200 rpm drive will ruin everything, and I can't get faster drive at the moment since this machine costs around 2500€ (3000$, it sucks) where I live...

the 7200rpm drive really gives a huge performance boost - make a change when you can. it's more than worth it.

[JFreak]

Is an extra battery necessary for the 15" Powerbook?

if you can live with the less-than-three-hour battery life, then no. if you need more, then you need more batteries. thank god powerbook battery can be changed on the fly without a reboot ;)

[tamara6]

I am looking to order 1.33GHz 15" with 4200 rpm drive next week.
Can anyone tell me how is the speed of above machine? I am very concerned that 4200 rpm drive will ruin everything, and I can't get faster drive at the moment since this machine costs around 2500€ (3000$, it sucks) where I live...

I have this machine and it feels very fast to me. I came from a 400 MHz G3 Pismo. There is really no comparison. Even just rendering web pages is a lot faster.

I don't know what you are used to, though. Go to http://www.barefeats.com to see speed comparisons.

[furrina]

switched over my extra 512 ram later last night (bringing me to 1GB), and installed final cut pro this morning before work, so i'm anxious to give that a real workout with a documentary i'm doing right now.


I'd love to know how anyone is doing editing video with FCP on the 15" PB.

I just ordered 1.5 + 1 gig ram/5400 rpm (+ large fast external FW HDs) and eventually 20" display. I chose this instead of g5 desktop and I wonder how well it will perform for video editing since I hope to be doing a fair amount of it. I have editor friends who seem so disappointed that I didn't get the g5 (waiting for WWDC on that one :confused:

[JFreak]

I'd love to know how anyone is doing editing video with FCP on the 15" PB.

people are doing fine even on the 12" powerbook. believe me. it's not the equipment that does it, but the user.

[Paperstreet]

I gotta agree with you about the 12". It IS all about the user. I edited some videos on my 12" using FCP, and it was more than adequete. You learn to work around any shortcomings of the equipment.

Sure, the 15" gives you more screen real estate, but the 12" is REALLY a godsend for portability. The 15" is good in that area, but nothing beats the 12" for how small the thing is and how easy it is to just take anywhere.

The bottom line is you can't go wrong with ANY powerbook. THEY ARE ALL SUPERB MACHINES.

And they ALL kick Window's @ss!!!!

Way to go Apple.

[furrina]

You learn to work around any shortcomings of the equipment.


Like, go have lunch while your files are rendering?

[dweebert]

Other World Computing makes these little leather thingies that are perfectly sized to your keyboard. I use mine on my little iBook - got it AFTER I noticed the key imprints on the screen, not before. In retrospect, I probably just should have gone to a fabric store or something for a slice of leather and cut it myself - but then I wouldn't be contributing my fair share to the global economy, now would I?


I'd be careful what I put in there. I've seen some put some pretty heavy material in there, which I would worry would stress the hinge or the catch that keeps the lid closed.

I just put a Swiffer cloth in mine. It's thin, fits the keyboard perfectly, and has done a great job of keeping the screen clean for over two years now. (Every couple of months I rinse it in plain water and hang it to dry.)

BTW, the "imprints" are just a transfer of grease (or something) off the keys onto the display. They come right off by rubbing them with a damp, soft cotton cloth, using firm circular motions. (I've used my Swiffer for this purpose a couple of times, but I would really recommend a 100% cotton T-shirt instead.)

-g

[cubist]

Hey, you guys with the 1.5GHz are getting 3 times the CPU speed of my old TiBook. :eek: But the wide screen is still wonderful. Somebody with the 128 vram and 5400 drive, get an xbench score...

[nyprospect]

Has anyone every come from a p4 3ghz and switched to a g4? im interested in a pb but im kind of worried i wont be as happy as you all are .

[yeungdoug]

Good to know that someone's ordering the same configuration I'm getting. I wasn't sure downgrading to the combo drive was the right decision or not but that saved be $ for something else plus I don't really think I'll be burning DVDs.

I decided to switch to the Powerbook and I cannot imagine looking at one of those windows laptops again (although I have to use one at work).....

[Godfather]

I think I got a score of 138 on xbench on my new pbook superdrive with 1 gig of ram/5400 RPM drive/ 1.5 gighz/128MB VRAM. It's the 15" model.
(Aimed @ nyprospect)