12" + 19" Samsung or 15"pb?

[sikkinixx]

I was dead set on getting a 15" 1.67 w/ 128Vram and that was that. BUt after tax and after student discount that is $3008.46 (canadian) which is so bloodly expensive but oh so nice. But after reading some opinions and asking around it seemed that a lot of people would go with a dell 6000 or a sony vaio for over 1000 bucks less and get a monitor or upgrade my desktop (which i wont bother until dual core AMD's are down below 400-500 US) But after looking at those brands i have decided to remain with Apple (Dell's are big, havea poor reputation for lasting a long time and i just dont like them and Vaio's are just as much as an Apple with a lame shared Gforce graphics card and $379 dollar batteries that only last 3 hours)
BUT! (sorry if im rambling) I was wondering if it may be better to go with the 12" powerbook which after tax is almost a 1000 bucks less and buy a samsung 913P+ 19" LCD monitor that i can share with my desktop and laptop? I have heard very mixed opinions on the 12" pb (mostly regarding screen quality and noise). I dont want to go with the 1.5Ghz 15" because if i got that i would rather get the more expensive version for more power. I'm a university student (isn't everybdody on here? ) so size is an issue but the 15" looks like a nice size to lug around. I do picture editing and some movie stuff and gaming (but since it is a mac I will have to use my desktop for my gaming needs....*sigh*) SO I beg of you, my much more apple educated friend than I, help!

 

[1nsanity]

Hello

How can I begin...
Last year I purchased a 12" powerbook, fully loaded at the time SD and 80gig HDD. For the past year I have used it with an external crt screen and sometime an lcd monitor. It was great, but I was still unhappy with the 12 inch, don't get me wrong it's a nice piece of technology but it didnt cut if for me.
I have a pc, yes I play games and some of my work must be done on pc. When at home I ended using mostly the pc because the 12 inch was too small to be used on its own, since I had no more space for my crt monitor(using dual lcd monitors for pc setup).

I ended up not using the 12 inch a lot, but that is just me.
Last week I was determined to switch to a 15 inch and that is exactly what I did. I looked around finding good deals. I purchased a used Rev'C fully equipped 15'' pbook.
1.5ghz
1.5gig
128 vram
superdrive
80gig
bluetooth mouse and keyboard(new)
applecare
second poweradapter


It was a huge step although I now had more ram, more vram, a slighty better cpu and YES oh YES a 15" screen.

I dont regret my purchase, I love the 15 inch screen and althought its bigger than my old 12" I dont find it harder to carry around campus. I can now use it has a standalone computer, there is no need to get an external monitor.

Off course it's more expensive!!
I live in canada too and I was almost ready to purchase the same 15" you consider at 3000$. I got a used one instead that already had applecare till october 16 2007

I have noticed the following between my old 12 inch and my new 15 inch.

The 12 inch's fan spins at higher rpms than my new 15, when just sitting ona desk.
Also the screen is brigther(maybe its just me)


Anyway having moved from 12 to 15 feel free to ask any questions. I am sure many have gone throught the same process!

 

[Capt Underpants]

I would get the 12", but I'm biased because I have one and it suits my needs perfectly. Right now I'm sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach, and I have no screen real estate issues. I have Safari open, along with adium and the mini itunes player. This is about as hardcore as my portable computing needs get. When I'm back home, this powerbook will be hooked up to a Dell 2005FPW, and it's awesome. Pure heaven. I take it to my friend's house and do some garageband recording for them, and it's all good. They are very jealous. When they saw my 20" monitor hooked up to it, they were awe-strucken.

 

[sikkinixx]

thanks! i just went to Bestbuy (since they are the only stores around who seem to carry powerbooks) and tried out a 12" and i am kind of taken with it. The screen is small especially when the titan of a 17" pb is right beside it but I found the keyboard really nice and it doesnt weigh much at all. the screens on btoh looked pretty similar (except the 17" looks about 5 times the size ) I have heard about fan noise and some people freak out about it, but my desktop right now has 9 fans in it so i am completely used to loud fan noise. So was the screen size your biggest issue with the 12"? Because if i buy the 19LCD I can geta hub sort of thing where i can just switch between my desktop monitor/keyboard/mouse to my laptop with the push of a button (thus negating the small screen at home) I am kind of sold on the small size of the 12" since it is smaller than one of my textbooks!

 

[Kirbdog]

My 12" is my only computer. I love the size of it for school as it is smaller than almost all my textbooks that I also carry around. Expose makes screen realistate non-issue (f9) sure its nice, but the price difference between the 12" and 15" is very steep. And you cannot even compare Tiger to XP, think of what you will spend on anti-virus software and the time you will waste dealing with all that. The Powerbook is the way to go IMHO.

 

[Kirbdog]

If you're in Vancouver, London Drugs also carries Macs. Most have close to the full line(iBooks, Powerbooks, iMacs, eMacs, Mac Minis, Power Macs and Monitors). I know the one on Lonsdale in North Van does.

 

[sikkinixx]

thanks! i'll check in the coquitlam centre london drugs today and buzz out of the north shore tomorrow, im sure my grandma would be happy if i visited her while up there (sigh...)

 

[mcarnes]

I see only one solution for you. 1.67 15" PB w/ 128 VRAM and a Apple 30" CD.

You must have it. You must have it now. You will put it on the credit card... tonight.

Only then will you have peace.

 

[sikkinixx]

I see only one solution for you. 1.67 15" PB w/ 128 VRAM and a Apple 30" CD.

You must have it. You must have it now. You will put it on the credit card... tonight.

Only then will you have peace.

lol! well my credit limit is only 1500 bucks so i think that might cover.... 50% of the ACD (they are nice but respsonse time and contrast ratio are kind of poor) besides 30" is bigger than my tv!!

 

[Capt Underpants]

lol! well my credit limit is only 1500 bucks so i think that might cover.... 50% of the ACD (they are nice but respsonse time and contrast ratio are kind of poor) besides 30" is bigger than my tv!!

That's ok. I have a 20" monitor and a 20" TV!

 

[sikkinixx]

decided on the 12"pb with a Toshiba 26" Widescreen HD Tube tv for my room instead hehe i decided to go this route after watching a dvd and playing warcraft 3 on a demo model and seeing that it seems to run nicely and the dvd lookd sooo sweet on the lil baby screen. I am worried about an update to the line but my uncle has some sway with Simply Computing (a big apple retailer here in BC) so he might be able to get me a good deal or a good trade in deal for when the new models come out! and an hd tv for my small room will rock!