In this threard you will Convince me to buy a 12"PB

[kelvinz]

Well a friend I know is a dealer for apple and is willing to hook me up with a

12" PB 1.33ghz G4
256 meg ram
60gb HD
Combo Drive
Geforce FX5200 64mb
Airport extreme


Please tell me the advantages and disadvantages of this system, anything I should be concerned about? When I went in to the apple store to look today the 12" screen looked brighter than the 15"?

I can afford a 15" PB right now, but I am primarily a PC desktop user and my notebook will be on high travel duty as in I'll bring it around everywhere.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Belly-laughs]

I have a 15" TiBook. I´ve´also had the pleasure of using a 12" PB for a few weeks, I think it was the rev A 867MHz. The only thing I didn´t like was the small screen, but then again, what i really (!) liked about it was the sheer size of the computer. When I started using my 15" again it felt enormous. So if you´re after true portability the 12" is the Book to get. I would advice you to get a seperate display for it, if you plan to sit in front of it a lot. Ask you dealer friend if he can give you a good deal on an Apple display or just pick up a cheap LCD from somewhere else.

I´m sure you will be pleased with it. The 12" is my next laptop.

[deputy_doofy]

I have the rev. B PB12", 1GHz, 512mb RAM, 80gb hard drive, BT/AE, combo drive.
I am thrilled with this thing. Admittedly, the screen is a little small, but I have found that for now, I prefer the weight (or lack thereof) of this machine. I can take it anywhere and I might as well be carrying nothing. To me, the 15's look huge - that is, of course, until I see the monster 17's. :)
All that said, if you don't mind the smaller size, you will be very happy with it, especially with the rev. C.

[deputy_doofy]

Well a friend I know is a dealer for apple and is willing to hook me up with a

12" PB 1.33ghz G4
256 meg ram
60gb HD
Combo Drive
Geforce FX5200 64mb
Airport extreme

for $1199.

Please tell me the advantages and disadvantages of this system, anything I should be concerned about? When I went in to the apple store to look today the 12" screen looked brighter than the 15"?

I can afford a 15" PB right now, but I am primarily a PC desktop user and my notebook will be on high travel duty as in I'll bring it around everywhere.

Any advice is appreciated.

Now I'm going to address your original title.
In this thread you will Convince me to buy a 12"PB

If you don't buy this machine, I'll be calling Mr. Soprano to pay you a visit. :P~~~~

[denm316]

I got a Rev. C, I love it, I replaced my 900MHz G3 iBook, and I just totally love it. I enjoy using it a little more then my G5 sitting at my desk.

[netytan]

Oh do i have too. Seemingly the only one here to feel this way so i'll make my point of view known. Dont hate me for this ;). Here we go again...

There really isn't an incredible difference between the 12" IBook and the PowerBook right now i.e. both have the same screen, can support the same amount of memory etc. The main difference if you ask me is the price, which is much more reasonable for the IBook. If you must have a PowerBook and god knows how much i want one ;).

I would go with the 12" model simply because its so much better than the 12"; better screen, more expandable, everything is just better on this thing. A few people will complain that the portabilty of the 15" isn't as good as the 12" but then you get people singing about the portabilty of the 17" model. So, how much of a proble, could that exctra 3 inches be!

Dont get me wrong, i love the PowerBooks, they are truly great machines but the 12"... i just dont know, it just doesnt seem to be worth the price tag if you ask me. But if you really can't be swayed by all means get the 12", it is a really nice system after all :).

Sorry about that heheh,

Edit: i'm an ideot, ignore everything i said lol, for that price it is a very good system and well worth every penny! i'm with the guy who mentioned the saprano's heheh... you must get this machine, for the love of god ;).

Mark.

[Belly-laughs]

Well, the 12" PB supports an external monitor at higher res. The iBook only supports video mirroring at native res. And, the PB offer serious looks and is less plasticy.

Go for it man or I´ll beat Mr. Soprano to it!

[Chip NoVaMac]

I have the rev. B PB12", 1GHz, 512mb RAM, 80gb hard drive, BT/AE, combo drive.
I am thrilled with this thing. Admittedly, the screen is a little small, but I have found that for now, I prefer the weight (or lack thereof) of this machine. I can take it anywhere and I might as well be carrying nothing. To me, the 15's look huge - that is, of course, until I see the monster 17's. :)
All that said, if you don't mind the smaller size, you will be very happy with it, especially with the rev. C.

I have this same combo, except it has the SD. I thought the 12" was going to hard on the eyes, but it is not for me.

I just upgraded to 1gb RAM, and recommend biting the bullet and get more memory.

kelvinz, I would suggest you see what sort of deal for the SD version.

[dopefiend]

I can afford a 15" PB right now, but I am primarily a PC desktop user and my notebook will be on high travel duty as in I'll bring it around everywhere.

Any advice is appreciated.

If you are primarily a PC user and want to stick with that, you might want to check out www.averatec.com You can get a 12 incher for less than $1,000 with wireless(802.11g) and everything! ;) Its a bit lighter than the PB, too.

If you decide to go with the PB though, I've heard nothing but great things about it!

edit: Oh yea, don't forget, the 12 inch powerbook lacks a PC card slot.

Averatec laptops include that if it is needed.

[Zaty]

I love my 12" PB and there is no reason why I wouldn't recommend it. If you travel a lot, you will love the compact size as well as the weight of the 12" PB. Besides, it's a plenty fast computer, so go for it, you won't regret it!

[nyprospect]

you're breakin my heart ova hea(new york accent) hey for the price take it.Forget Tony soprano ill send the fat homsexual fella to wack ya :eek: pardon me if i offended any one ;)

[cubist]

You mean "Persuade", not "Convince".

[netytan]

LOL why do you even need convincing, its a great deal. Anyone whos ever looked at the Apple store online could tell you that :). Go for it already, right your friend and go YAY.

Mark.

[Mantat]

I think you dont need much convincing. If you need the PB for when you are outside your house, the 12" is the way to go. Less weight means less strain on your back/shoulders if you have to carry it over long distance like me. And the small size means that you can carry it in your backpack. Personaly, I put it in a seeve and then put the sleeve in my pack and I have enough room left to put my lunch, and some cloths.

I would only recommend the 15" over the 12" if you are planning to play with FCP or anything that need a lot of screen while you are out of home. At home you can always plug it in your PC screen... Other than that, its a beauty!

[OldManJimbo]

I love my 12" PB - switched from a very small DELL after using PCs forever. My only advice is to get more RAM.

[iShater]

I have a G3 800Mhz iBook and I convinced my buddy to get a 12" rev B powerbook. It is a beautiful machine, and for that price for a rev C you cannot go wrong. Portability is a wonderful thing with these machines, and if you get yourself a KVM switch to share stuff with your PC (like your monitor) it would work even better.

For that price you can't go wrong. Get it!!! :D

(P.S. My buddy returned a Dell laptop to get the PowerBook and he absolutely loves it, he named it Precious :p )

[brap]

kelvinz, I would suggest you see what sort of deal for the SD version.
...unless of course you have access you a desktop, whereby you can put in an 8x multiformat dual-layer writer for a fraction of the price increase.

[kelvinz]

I have this same combo, except it has the SD. I thought the 12" was going to hard on the eyes, but it is not for me.

I just upgraded to 1gb RAM, and recommend biting the bullet and get more memory.

kelvinz, I would suggest you see what sort of deal for the SD version.

He would charge me an extra $200 for superdrive, I don't really need superdrive as my pc desktop burns dvd's already. How did you upgrade to 1gig of ram? I thought there was 256megs built into the computer?

I will buy more memory but not from apple ;)

[kelvinz]

If you are primarily a PC user and want to stick with that, you might want to check out www.averatec.com You can get a 12 incher for less than $1,000 with wireless(802.11g) and everything! ;) Its a bit lighter than the PB, too.

If you decide to go with the PB though, I've heard nothing but great things about it!

edit: Oh yea, don't forget, the 12 inch powerbook lacks a PC card slot.

Averatec laptops include that if it is needed.

Thanks for the suggestion, but first of all avertec laptops are not as sexy as apples.

secondly I don't believe their battery lasts as long which I am concerned about as well.

[kelvinz]

I think you dont need much convincing. If you need the PB for when you are outside your house, the 12" is the way to go. Less weight means less strain on your back/shoulders if you have to carry it over long distance like me. And the small size means that you can carry it in your backpack. Personaly, I put it in a seeve and then put the sleeve in my pack and I have enough room left to put my lunch, and some cloths.

I would only recommend the 15" over the 12" if you are planning to play with FCP or anything that need a lot of screen while you are out of home. At home you can always plug it in your PC screen... Other than that, its a beauty!


what's a sleeve?

Thanks :D

[Chip NoVaMac]

He would charge me an extra $200 for superdrive, I don't really need superdrive as my pc desktop burns dvd's already. How did you upgrade to 1gig of ram? I thought there was 256megs built into the computer?

I will buy more memory but not from apple ;)

Oops, you are right i have 1.2gb RAM. I went with OWC 1gb Samsung PC2700 for $359.95.

[dopefiend]

Thanks for the suggestion, but first of all avertec laptops are not as sexy as apples.

secondly I don't believe their battery lasts as long which I am concerned about as well.

You should see it in person, looks great :D (my dumbass still hasn't ordered one yet)

Battery life is probably comparable a bit better on the powerbook(3 hours) to (4ish on the powerbook)

I'd buy a second battery on either if your traveling a lot though.

[kelvinz]

You should see it in person, looks great :D (my dumbass still hasn't ordered one yet)

Battery life is probably comparable a bit better on the powerbook(3 hours) to (4ish on the powerbook)

I'd buy a second battery on either if your traveling a lot though.


haha stop trying to confuse me :p

Avartec's are plastic right :p

[dopefiend]

Avartec's are plastic right :p

Nope.

edit: hehe, Magnesium Alloy case

[micropop]

What do you plan on using it for?

[ShaggyLR]

I have a new 12" iBook G4 and absolutely love it. I could never go bigger on a laptop at this point because I love the portability of the 12" size so much. If the screen size is all that worries you, buy the 12" PB and buy a screen. That way, you get the best of both worlds!

[kelvinz]

What do you plan on using it for?

Photoshop, Word, Watching DIVX, wireless internet yep that's about it.

[kelvinz]

I have a new 12" iBook G4 and absolutely love it. I could never go bigger on a laptop at this point because I love the portability of the 12" size so much. If the screen size is all that worries you, buy the 12" PB and buy a screen. That way, you get the best of both worlds!

I already have a powerful desktop, the laptop will only play laptop duties.

I just want to make sure that a 12" screen is adaquet for on the go usage when I'm stuck on campus (University of Washington)

[micropop]

Photoshop, Word, Watching DIVX, wireless internet yep that's about it.

The 12" would be good for those things except for Photoshop, unless it's just pretty basic stuff. For any serious PS work, you'll definitely want more screen.

[Chip NoVaMac]

The 12" would be good for those things except for Photoshop, unless it's just pretty basic stuff. For any serious PS work, you'll definitely want more screen.

I am not so sure, I am pretty happy with PC and ID on the 12" screen. If I really want more space I use a second monitor (an older CRT type) for the pallets...

[rueyeet]

Your PC may burn DVDs already, but can't use Apple's iDVD program, which from what I've read is much more usable than the PC equivalents. If you're not going to use the Mac for its unique strengths (i.e. iLife, etc) you might as well buy another PC for basics like Photoshop, Word, and WiFi. There's more to the Mac than just its looks!

As to DIVX, I don't know if Apple's DVD player will play that format. You might have to download VideoLAN Client for VCD and DIVX playback.

The only caveats to the 12" PowerBook that I know of is that it's basically the iBook's guts with a faster processor and aluminum enclosure. That means less screen resolution than the larger PowerBooks, and no PC card slot. I think it might not have audio-in, either.

You really kind of might as well get the iBook, now that they're G4 too. The iBook will get better wireless reception and its polycarbonate enclosure stands up to abuse better than the PowerBook's aluminum.

Your friend's price IS a great deal though, and you'd have money left over to jack up the RAM a bit (Crucial ("http://www.crucial.com/) is a good place to get good memory (cheaper places can sometimes sell you crappy memory, to which OS X is very unfriendly). Maybe you could ask him what an iBook would cost you....

OK, so I'm not being convincing. Sue me. :p

[kelvinz]

thanks so much everyone I bought it!

brand new and extended the warrenty purchasing it with my BOA platinum card.

I'm gonna go open it now just wanted to stop by and say thanks so much :D

[Crikey]

Nice choice! And great deal. I hope you have as much fun with your Mac as I'm having with mine!


Crikey

[nyprospect]

Wow congrats .Give us an update.Tell us how you like it and try to persuade or convince me :D

[KingSleaze]

what's a sleeve?


A sleeve is a tight fitting padded insert to your bag. Check out the Brenthaven bags at the Apple Store. Ask your friend at the store to show you. It provides extra protection.

[OziMac]

Kelvin - just have a few responses to rueyeet's generally very good answers to your demand -

The only caveats to the 12" PowerBook that I know of is that it's basically the iBook's guts with a faster processor and aluminum enclosure. That means less screen resolution than the larger PowerBooks, and no PC card slot. I think it might not have audio-in, either.


Perhaps this was true with the rev A, but I think that by rev C, the 12" Powerbooks are more powerful enough than the iBooks to justify the cost. Having said that, I reckon the 12" iBook is still a winner, great performance for the price - but the functionality and added performance make the 12" Powerbook equally worthwhile.

Having said all that, I still splurged on the 15" - make of that what you will ;)


You really kind of might as well get the iBook, now that they're G4 too. The iBook will get better wireless reception and its polycarbonate enclosure stands up to abuse better than the PowerBook's aluminum.

Firstly - "really kind of might as well" - that is the most impressive sequence of qualifiers I've every heard!

And like I said above, I agree that the iBooks' performance now is substantially the same as the rev B Powerbooks, which is terrific - just that the rev C is much better if you are prepared to pay a little extra for it.

Wireless is better, but the Powerbooks aren't crippled by their wireless performance by any means - still receive it plenty well. And abuse-wise, well, just try to look after it, will you?



Hope you are convinced.
[EDIT] Obviously you were - great job, you'll love it!!!