God, someone help me....

yeah, i'm in the same boat. ive been spending some time in the apple store, and i'm leaning towards the 12" PB with more ram, bigger hd, and combo drive. of course, i will also need a display, mouse & keyboard. I'm gonna wait till the last possible moment, and then buy this package...and while i'm posting, does anyone know the cd-r burning speed of the combo drive on the PB 12? i've heard 8x and 24x, but i'm not sure which it is...

Re: God, someone help me....

Originally posted by TheWitePony
I'll get right to the point. I have money, right now. I want a notebook, right now. I want a Mac, RIGHT FRICKIN NOW! I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I'll be going on a trip in two weeks, plus I start school in August. I have enough to buy a nice 15" or a smaller notebook + an additional display. Please, someone help me....

I'm leaning more toward the smaller notebook and an additional display, cause I already have a Dell desktop that is pretty top of the line, so I really want max mobilty. Yet unlike the notebook I can use the display with a G5 tower or any other future Apple purchase I make.

As this will be my first Mac, I have a question about the display. What notebooks would be compatible with the 20" display?? And if so what cables, converters or what ever will I need.

I've been playing in the Online Apple Store with prices (bad idea for me with this much money just sitting there) all afternoon, and I am becoming evermore close to doing something...so please give me some feedback before I do something rash

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I’m in your position, though, I’ll be waiting till the new 15” PB. I have a G4 tower that will hold me until the new PB is released and there is no vacations for me this year; hence, no risk of me spending my money (The new 15” could be released anytime soon, or in a few months, it doesn’t matter, I’m in no hurry). My advice for you, however, is to get a Ti 15” PB or a 12” PowerBook. If you already have a top of the line Dell, you wont use the PB for games as much as you would otherwise; therefore, a 12” PB will do the trick. My GF has one and I’m in love with that little thing. Is powerful enough to do Final Cut (not blasting fast, but fast), PS, Word, PowerPoint, Keynote, etc. Plus, it is really easy to carry around; literally, it’s the most portable computer I’ve ever used. The keyboard is nice and comfortable. The only minus, however, is that you won’t be able to connect an apple display without the use of adaptors because it has a VGA output (I’ve read it’s possible with the use of two adaptors, not sure!) The 15” PB, on the other hand, has a DVI output which allows you to connect an Apple Display. I don’t have a 15” nor I know anyone who has one, but I know it’s possible. I would tell you to wait, but with vacations around the block, there’s a possibility you will spend more than what you are supposed to (it happened to me before). I guarantee the fact that you’ll love the 12” PB.

I'm in the same boat. My iMac 400 is too old, and I'm not going to suffer any longer, so I'm getting a 15" PowerBook for college as soon as the next ones come out. Unfortunately, neither WWDC nor Macworld has yielded fruit there. Classes start August 25, so I'll probably end up taking notes with pen and paper for a couple weeks. I think that's a good price to pay in order to have the next generation, to ensure the paint doesn't chip off or some such thing.

I'm pretty sure Apple realizes we exist, however.

There was this girl at my high school who got a 12" PowerBook. It is one sexy machine. (The PowerBook, not the girl, although she has her attractive qualities as well.) iBooks have a kind of rough hinge, but the PowerBook's hinge, though based on the iBook's, is very smooth. Much like men get cute puppies in order to attract women, I'm sure she's considered using her PowerBook to attract guys.

In other words, PowerBooks enhance your sex appeal, if you're female, and if you're male, you may become very fond of yours, so buy one

The 20" display will work with the 15" and 17" Powerbooks but not the 12" Powerbook without an extra expensive two adapters. Thus I would recommend getting a 15" or 17" Powerbook.

Don't worry too much about the 15" being Titanium. You might though think about putting a sheet of paper between the keyboard and screen as they butt up pretty close to each other and you can get fingerprints on the screen. Get a nice neoprene cover for it so it doesn't scratched in the case. The cover and paper should not be inserted unless the machine is shut down. It is better to travel with any notebook with the machine shut down since the hard drive is very sensitive to movement if the head is not parked, which it won't be if the machine is only asleep. Save up also for an AppleCare protection plan to be purchased before the machine is one year old so you can be sure to be able to replace the power supply, battery or brick, or keyboard, or power management unit should any of those fail. Also buy an external Firewire hard drive for backup as that makes recovering from X much quicker should you suddenly cause the directory to fail.

Actually, the hard disk does park when the PB is put to sleep. It's perfectly all right to schlep it around while asleep, but don't ship it without turning it off.

Combo drive on the 12" is 24x CD-R, 15" is 8x. Other specs, HERE.

The Apple Displays are nice, but you have to use an adapter to go from DVI to the ADC connector on them. I wouldn't recommend trying to go from VGA to ADC. There are other monitors out there. Better, cheaper - some with DVI and VGA. Formac makes one with DVI and ADC, but their service is spotty. Make sure you get a display with more than just analog VGA. Apple's Tower video cards have ADC and DVI connectors, with VGA, S-Video, and RCA through adapters, some included... so you'll be able to connect almost anything if you buy one.

Looks like the new 'Books won't be out until late Sept. Even then, they look to be minor speed bumps. But you can get a rebate on iPods and HP printers through the Apple Education Store, as well as the normal education discount now. Some Apple Stores let you walk in with proof of being a student or teacher, give you the discounts, and you walk out with a new 'Book. Then mail off the rebate.

Just buy AppleCare, and max out the RAM through a third party.

What every you DON'T buy one now unless your job abosolutely depends on it. You will so kick youselves when the new ones come out in a few weeks. They have to come out by October because the 15in will be a year old by then and it will be the longest an Apple product has gone without being updated.

Edit: What is it putting with GOD in the title, if you just want help from GOD whats the point of postings this thread?

Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
Actually, the hard disk does park when the PB is put to sleep. It's perfectly all right to schlep it around while asleep, but don't ship it without turning it off.

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Really? I don't believe you. How did two IBM notebook drives get to the point of sounding like metal needle against tin can during use? I regularly put my hard drive to sleep on a Powerbook G3/233 with 512k backside and both hard drives failed within 6 months. Once I stopped using my computer as a portable and shut down the machine before I moved it, it stayed steady as a desktop, the hard drive lived more than 3 years without a burp. I don't trust notebook drives to take shock unless they can guarantee to be parked when asleep.

You're talking about the PowerBook G3/233. I was talking about the newer (G4) PowerBooks and iBooks. The disk heads park in both. I've had my iBook for a year, hauling it around in my backpack while asleep around campus. Skateboarding, tripping and falling down the stairs... the hard disk hasn't suffered a bit.

Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
You're talking about the PowerBook G3/233. I was talking about the newer (G4) PowerBooks and iBooks. The disk heads park in both. I've had my iBook for a year, hauling it around in my backpack while asleep around campus. Skateboarding, tripping and falling down the stairs... the hard disk hasn't suffered a bit.

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Wait...so it survives sleepwalking?

The iBook is definitely the most durable notebook Apple ever developed.

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
Wait...so it survives sleepwalking?

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The iBook definitely survives sleepwalking.

I, on the other hand, may not, if I walk into traffic.

Now the question is, will the iBook survive being sleepwalked into traffic if it's in a high quality laptop case at the time?

(Yes, laptops have been known to survive this.)