It seems like a lot of people that are switching are buying the 17in PB. This seems like an illogical choice. I personally think it is more of a novelty item than a real computer to work with.
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Why do switchers buy 17" PBs?
- Thread starter garzy
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are you kidding?
if i was buying my first mac, buying into the whole lifestyle thing of apple computing v. the wintel establishment, i'd have to put the 17" at the top of my list. it appears to offer the latest technology (fw800, bt, etc.) and that big monitor, at a breathtakingly lofty price - until you price a tower system plus monitor. seems like big bang for the buck to me. consider also the possibility that for people used to machines that generally look dull and "serious", an imac might not comport with their image of computers, etc. if you were shopping for your first new (v. used/clunker) car, wouldn't you too be awed by the 'vettes, ferrari's, sl55amg's, etc., rather than the ford tempo/topaz and the saturn? this ain't communist china, after all...
of course, far be it for me to look into their minds...
if i was buying my first mac, buying into the whole lifestyle thing of apple computing v. the wintel establishment, i'd have to put the 17" at the top of my list. it appears to offer the latest technology (fw800, bt, etc.) and that big monitor, at a breathtakingly lofty price - until you price a tower system plus monitor. seems like big bang for the buck to me. consider also the possibility that for people used to machines that generally look dull and "serious", an imac might not comport with their image of computers, etc. if you were shopping for your first new (v. used/clunker) car, wouldn't you too be awed by the 'vettes, ferrari's, sl55amg's, etc., rather than the ford tempo/topaz and the saturn? this ain't communist china, after all...
of course, far be it for me to look into their minds...
Postal
macrumors regular
I think that there's a couple of reasons why they get the 17" of all models.
First, it definitely gives off the aura of a luxury item; you can't help but feel that it would be a disservice to dress too casually in front of the system.
The other bit is that it can cover both the role of a desktop and of a laptop, so you don't have to buy two machines (or else leave the old Windows system intact).
First, it definitely gives off the aura of a luxury item; you can't help but feel that it would be a disservice to dress too casually in front of the system.
The other bit is that it can cover both the role of a desktop and of a laptop, so you don't have to buy two machines (or else leave the old Windows system intact).
i have to agree with the above posts... if you're gonna switch, you might as well do it right. and to the outsider, the 17 looks like the grand poo bah of the mac world, the thing that makes everyone drool that houses all of the new technology. and that's kind of an accurate description as it sits.
personally, i always thought the 15 would be the flagship, but since we're still waiting for the new one, the 17 is the jewel...
matt
personally, i always thought the 15 would be the flagship, but since we're still waiting for the new one, the 17 is the jewel...
matt
I think Postal hit it on the nose, it's the mother-of-all-portable-macs right now and you can easily use it as a home system. damn, you could use it as a tv to watch movies in your room. definetly a nice item to switch to.
certainly, anyone spending this kind of money isn't thinking "logically". let's face it, in most computing environments, logic would dictate buying a wintel machine, since everyone uses ms office, etc. on the other hand, there's no machine quite as romantic as an apple computer, is there? and what's logic got to do with romance and emotion, but to get in their way? ;-)
Flowbee
macrumors 68030
A wintel machine doesn't help you work better with people using MS Office. Office runs just fine on my Mac. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who thinks "romance and emotion" are the main reasons people use Macs, has probably never used a Mac. 😕
I suppose it's more logical to put up with crashes, viruses, and endless security updates.
I suppose it's more logical to put up with crashes, viruses, and endless security updates.
you can't forget though - most non apple people don't know half of what we know... they're blissfully ignorant. so to them, it could be totally logical. to me, logic is waiting for the 15 albook, and finding some way for someone to buy it for me (which is never gonna happen, but we can always dream, right?)
matt
matt
I totally disagree. My PB17 (the computer I now use 100% of the time) has allowed me to replace 2 Wintel boxes, a Linux box and a desktop Mac. That frees up about 4 hours per week which are now billable.
By the end of June, it will have completely paid for itself. After that, the additional billable time is profit.
As and added bonus, I no longer have to beg my developer to let me use the TiBook (although she's somewhat ticked that I won't give her the PB17).
WinterMute
Moderator emeritus
The 17 is a serious computer, not a novelty item, it does everything the desktop range does, and it does it it many more locations, audio, video, DVD, design, admin and games, what else do you want?
Plus it draws a crowd whenever I take it out, and everyone in the office is as jealous as hell, and that's an office full of 17 iMacs and DP 1.25 G4's.
I can author DVD's in the cafe, make music in my garden and edit video on the train.
I even tracked the freezing problem down to a bad RAM chip freaking under voltage variations!
Oh, yeah, it doesn't make coffee, sorry😉
Plus it draws a crowd whenever I take it out, and everyone in the office is as jealous as hell, and that's an office full of 17 iMacs and DP 1.25 G4's.
I can author DVD's in the cafe, make music in my garden and edit video on the train.
I even tracked the freezing problem down to a bad RAM chip freaking under voltage variations!
Oh, yeah, it doesn't make coffee, sorry😉
OK, lets face it, my Ibook crashes much more often than my w2k machine. The w2k is also much faster on the GUI, making the working a smooth experience, quite the opposite to the ibook. It seems every click and input has a latency time of half to one second until something happens.
As to why 17" PBooks - all those switchers don't really switch, they want a notebook. And the PB17 is quite tempting because of its design, relatively high spped, big display, long battery endurance.
If your iBook is that unstable and you have 0.5 - 1 second delay with every click, you should get that fixed.
Over Achiever
macrumors 68000
Ok, i'm not a true switcher since i'll still use windows whenever i want to but...
With the 17" powerbook, i get a portable desktop computer. I still keep my PC laptop around, when I use PC programs/games, i run RDC and it works just fine. Otherwise when I'm on the road, I've lessened my dependence on PC only apps, but if I still need it, I can fire up VPC.
The main reason I like my powerbook is the ablility to run unix apps via X11. Programs I use all the time like IRAF and Matlab run great on this computer, but I can at the same time run my Office apps like word and excel. You can't do that with a PC laptop...either you're in unix, or you're not. That and the size of the screen were the big selling points for me...saves me time and is extremely convienent.
And yes, after using this computer for months, I do not believe that this computer is too big at all. It's not unportable at all...try lugging a 17" iMac around, just to get the same functionality 😉 It's well worth the cost.
No complaints. 🙂
-OA
With the 17" powerbook, i get a portable desktop computer. I still keep my PC laptop around, when I use PC programs/games, i run RDC and it works just fine. Otherwise when I'm on the road, I've lessened my dependence on PC only apps, but if I still need it, I can fire up VPC.
The main reason I like my powerbook is the ablility to run unix apps via X11. Programs I use all the time like IRAF and Matlab run great on this computer, but I can at the same time run my Office apps like word and excel. You can't do that with a PC laptop...either you're in unix, or you're not. That and the size of the screen were the big selling points for me...saves me time and is extremely convienent.
And yes, after using this computer for months, I do not believe that this computer is too big at all. It's not unportable at all...try lugging a 17" iMac around, just to get the same functionality 😉 It's well worth the cost.
No complaints. 🙂
-OA
Re: Why do switchers buy 17" PBs?
It's only a novelty to you obviously. A friend of mine bought the 17 as his first comptuer. It's top tech, and the closest thing to a portable desktop as you can get.
You have to also bear in mind, this 'is the year of the laptop'. A lot of people didn't read between the lines on that one. And I'd rather have the 17 over the 15 as my only computer any day.
It's only a novelty to you obviously. A friend of mine bought the 17 as his first comptuer. It's top tech, and the closest thing to a portable desktop as you can get.
You have to also bear in mind, this 'is the year of the laptop'. A lot of people didn't read between the lines on that one. And I'd rather have the 17 over the 15 as my only computer any day.
mactastic
macrumors 68040
Heck, my 15" TiBook is a fully functioning desktop replacement, and its got a built in UPS! The 17" IMHO is a perfect computer for those who do most of their work in one place and occasionally have a need to take it with them. Whereas the 12" is perfect for those who take their machine with them almost daily. Not that you couldn't do that with a 17" as well, just more bulky and heavy. Thats why I can't believe we have gone this long without the 15" updates. That is the one for people who want performance and portability. So far the 17" doesn't have anything really useful that the 15" TiBook doesn't have. DDR Ram? Not that great on this chipset. FW 800? Nice, but not widely used yet. Lighted keyboard? Again, nice but not an essential feature. When the 17" has dual 970 processors then we are talking.
The 17" is the undisputed laptop king in PC and Mac world, simply because it has OSX, soon to be Panther, is poised the most toward the future with weight and dimensional superiority to other laptops weighing in at as much as 12 lbs and 2 inches thick, as well as its abundance of new features. Why just today my 120 GIG, type 800 firewire 7200 RPM exterior hard drive with 8 MB buffer RAM came in from transintl.com and it works about 38% faster than my external ordinary firewire hard drive. I carry the 17" anywhere, slipped into a Tom Bihn sleeve and then into an ordinary KMART back pack. To say nothing of the fact when these laptops first came out bug complaints were not swamping the forums as with other Powerbook models. Heat and noise are the very least of my worries. If you are not a 17" owner for at least a week you may never understand. It is all the best in one well built package. Size is relative and now I view the 15.2 inch as just too small for my tastes...
For perhaps 3 more months this will probably remain the hottest laptop in the world.
Can I get an "Amen" my 17" brothers?😱
For perhaps 3 more months this will probably remain the hottest laptop in the world.
Can I get an "Amen" my 17" brothers?😱
gotohamish
macrumors 65816
If these switchers your referring to are so clueless about Macs/PCs, then it's unlikely they'll notice any speed differences because they're most likely not running the high-end pro apps - or else they'd have a clue!
WinterMute
Moderator emeritus
fourthtunz
macrumors 68000
Hey the 17" powerbook is a monster portable, but I can't believe apple isn't pushing the 1 gig emac with the superdrive harder!!
I bought one just for the superdrive,$1300! I would think for anybody wanting to mess with audio or video this would kill any wintel machine, the apps are great and hey it is portable to a degree, not that you'd want your grandma to be truckin it around🙂 but grab the mouse and keyboard and go!
daniel
I bought one just for the superdrive,$1300! I would think for anybody wanting to mess with audio or video this would kill any wintel machine, the apps are great and hey it is portable to a degree, not that you'd want your grandma to be truckin it around🙂 but grab the mouse and keyboard and go!
daniel
