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12" powerbook too small after a while?

CaptainCaveMann said:
I didnt want to start a whole new thread for this. So ill just ask it here. My friend has a ti pb 1gh, and he just recently went to the apple store and got a whole new case!? I didnt know this was possible. He said he got it because the paint was chipping. He paid like 300 bucks i think. Can you do this for the aluminum pb to? Isnt there a lot involved in replacing the whole case of a pb?
Click to expand...

Yes, it can be done, and yes, apparently it is not easy. Search the forums for more info, this has been discussed before a few times. Others have posted their experiences with this elsewhere. Here is a place that sells the parts.

As far as I can tell, there is usually little reason to change the case; it is not a common thing to have to do for any reason other than catastrophic damage, which usually doesn't just damage a case anyway. That applies to all types of cases. The AlBooks do not chip, by the way, with anything approximating reasonable use.
 
ok so here's the story... I've spent the last week going in and out of CompUSA trying to decide which frikin laptop to get. Anyways... the past two days I had left the place really being impressed with the Sony Vaio, and I was positive that I was going to buy one today. I go with my friend into CompUSA today, and for some reason the Vaio just didnt seem that good... so I'm like this sucks. So for the hell of it we head down to the Apple store in Soho just to check the 12" and the 15". I mean they're both pretty impressive computers and I posted here at with the 12". Anyways so... I almost get the 12" but the screen really bugs me so I'm like screw this, I'm going home. I'll decide tomorrow. I leave and its snowing and I'm frikin pissed off because honestly I'll have to comprimise something: screen, OS, or portability. I get on the subway and go home. On the subway I'm listening to Morrissey and I decide to get the Sony. But then I think about my PC that I've had for 6 years and I start to feel sorry for it. I start to get sorta emotional that I would want to ditch my computer that has worked hard for me for so long... I thought about it and considered which laptop would I be least likely to ditch my PC for... The 15" was just too nice and crisp and too fast... I'd use it all the time and never my desktop. The Vaio also was too fast and also a PC so I'd totally ditch my old computer. So I finally decided on the 12" because it wasnt THAT good, and because there would still be areas that my desktop would out perform it. So with complete love and respect for my PC I chose the one laptop that I thought wouldnt outperform it. Thus the 12" powerbook.

I suddenly felt calm that my decision had been made, so I hopped off the subway and went back 40 minutes in the opposite direction back to the Apple store and I bought the 12" powerbook.

Now you're thinking to yourself WHAT THE HELL KIND OF DECISIONMAKING IS THAT $h1T?? Essentially the whole time I was looking for the 'Best' computer when in fact I decided in the end that I wanted the most mediocre of the three. I couldnt LOGICALLY make a decision between the three. I had to go purely on an emotional level, and the love of my PC.

I dont know what the hell it was but my decision made sense in the weirdest sort of way. It might of been I think I was kinda losing it after wracking my brain so much between the three...

So... That being said... I am sitting here typing this on my new 12" G4 Powerbook with Superdrive, which I must say KICKS ASS! (why didnt anybody tell me this computer was going to kick ass?) I really love it. So... although I'm sure all of you will probably disagree with the process of my decision (I'm not sure it makes sense at all) I'm really happy with the outcome. I mean thats what matters... right?
 
congratulations. I have this feeling deep down that you will be separating with the PC in the future. Congratulations... in my opinion you made the best choice... but i'm a little biased. Enjoy the new machine...

I would offer my sugggestions for some accessories...
the BT 500 mouse from RadTech.Us
a ScreensaveRz from Radtech
a PowerSleeve from Radtech
a backpack from Targus
an iCurve from jr.com
an Apple BT keyboard

I also went with a card reader and new external HD. Like i said earlier... congratulations... and enjoy... you know that its going to be more than worth your money and time it took to make a decision...
 
Congratulations...after all that! LOL

I'm glad to hear that you're thrilled with your new machine!

I hope i will be too once i have mine!! 🙂
 
dferrara said:
Yeah my bad, it does ship with the 9600XT... but the 2.0 GHz still ships with the 5200.

I don't know the exact differences, but the desktop version has a higher clock (5200 Ultra). It's the same with ATi; for example the 9700 Mobility has 4 pixel pipelines and the 9700 desktop version has 8 I believe. The 9700 Mobility translates to a 9600XT on a desktop card, for example.
Click to expand...

Oh thank you.
but how much difference is there in the two cards
 
Southbridge said:
So... That being said... I am sitting here typing this on my new 12" G4 Powerbook with Superdrive, which I must say KICKS ASS! (why didnt anybody tell me this computer was going to kick ass?) I really love it.
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Ok, who slipped this guy the kool-aid?

Congratulations, I hope it works out.

I'll second h0e0h on the iCurve. Search this forum for more comments on it and that BT500, if you're interested, they've ben discussed a lot. Do be sure to pick a good case or sleeve from the many options.
 
I am in trouble? I undersand your twisted logic. That is how I usually make purchase decisions, with my gut. I do all the research, then pick out the information that supports what I want. Any facts that don't support me are incorrect or over exagerated anyway. Congrats...

I believe we did try otell you how nice that machine is. 😀

Now what are the odds that he hooks the PC's monitor to the PB and the PC starts collecting dust? Maybe just a KVM switch since he like his PC a lot.

Enjoy.
 
Jsmit said:
I am in trouble? I undersand your twisted logic. That is how I usually make purchase decisions, with my gut. I do all the research, then pick out the information that supports what I want. Any facts that don't support me are incorrect or over exagerated anyway. Congrats...

I believe we did try otell you how nice that machine is. 😀

Now what are the odds that he hooks the PC's monitor to the PB and the PC starts collecting dust? Maybe just a KVM switch since he like his PC a lot.

Enjoy.
Click to expand...

nah... I like having two computers and two monitors... (I'm posting from my PC right now) I also like to do gaming and stuff, so my PC is great for that... Thats the beauty of having both platforms. I can pretty much do everything than one can do with computers. If my PC doesnt do something well, my mac will... if my mac doesnt do something well, my PC will... I mean I really do love the PB because it really is beautiful... 😀
 
Southbridge said:
oh and I found a link about the 12" screens for mcgarry

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2005/02/is_apple_using.html

the screen definately isnt as good...

not that I'm complaining. I love my 12" PB...
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ummm, I'm not sure what you mean. What exactly did I say about the screen to which this responds? I never said it wasn't the same screen as the iBook (the article doesn't say that it is, by the way). In fact, I've said in the past that I think it is (but I have about as much direct evidence as that site). I have also said the video card being used can have an effect on how the display looks: this would at leats partly explain how the 12" PB would look better than a 12" iB, but not as good as a 15" PB, and so on.

What I have also said is that screen quality has major subjective elements. Not everyone likes x-brite etc. or resolutions above 1024x768 on a 12" screen. And that's still true.

[EDIT]: I just followed the links form the link you posted. It first refers to a French site, which says it heard the news from xlr8yourmac.com. That site had nothing more than a couple user reports (site was down, but cached), including this gem: "As for screen brightness it seems very similar to the iBook, as I have not had much experience with the powerbooks I can't really say if it is much better or worse than other powerbooks." Wow, there's some real investigative reporting.

I think this is a non-story. The news would be if the rev. Ds were getting worse screens than the rev. Cs, in other words if there was a C-->D downgrade, but there is no evidence in any of these posts to support that idea. More likely it is people disappointed with the screen.

Led my macrumors member maya, who some months ago reported that someone who should know the truth told her that the 12" laptops use the same screen, this forum seems to have at least tacitly accepted as fact that the screens are the same. I haven't seen anyone argue based on actual technical knowledge whether or not that is true, although I may have missed it.
[/EDIT]

I'm glad you are enjoying your new purchase. It was well-researched.
 
mcgarry said:
ummm, I'm not sure what you mean. What exactly did I say about the screen to which this responds? I never said it wasn't the same screen as the iBook (the article doesn't say that it is, by the way). In fact, I've said in the past that I think it is (but I have about as much direct evidence as that site). I have also said the video card being used can have an effect on how the display looks: this would at leats partly explain how the 12" PB would look better than a 12" iB, but not as good as a 15" PB, and so on.

What I have also said is that screen quality has major subjective elements. Not everyone likes x-brite etc. or resolutions above 1024x768 on a 12" screen. And that's still true.

I'm glad you are enjoying your new purchase. It was well-researched.
Click to expand...
I dont really know what hes talking about either. Or why he felt the need to show you that. Its been said time and time again that Apple uses the same screen for the 12 inch ibook and PB. The better video card in the PB might contribute to the idea of the PBs screen looking "brighter", but like mcgarry said its all relative and subjective to each individual user. Everyone sees color and light levels differently. Thats just a fact of basic human anatomy. Personally ive had the 12 inch PB and my 12 inch ibook next to eachother several times and they look exactly the same to me.
 
i'm happy that you're happy.
but what happened to all the "the resolution is bad" comments from before about the 12" (not that i agree(d) with you) ?
how do you go from "bad resolution" to "i love my 12" powerbook" ?


re: pb vs. ibook screens.
i will say that my new 1.5ghz 12"'s screen is indeed much brighter than my girlfriend's 1 year old ibook G4 800's screen. That could be because her backlight is dimming. i've compared them side by side, and with three different color calibration settings that match each other on both 'books, i'd say hers is about 2/3's the brightness of my 1.5ghz PB. Could be the newer screens, could be they are diff screens, could be a dimming backlight, could be the fact that she's a smoker... i dunno its just an observation, nothing more nothing less.
 
The fact is I made a tradeoff. The tradeoff was a screen that wasnt as nice as the 15" or the X-Brite. Overall the decision was great because I love the PB 12" and after a while the screen doesnt bother me as I thought it would... If the screen on the 12" had looked like the 15" I think there wouldnt be any thought put into which computer i wanted... but as it is I really had to think about each of them and consider which I really wanted. The 12" was the perfect compromise between the three.
 
mcgarry said:
ummm, I'm not sure what you mean. What exactly did I say about the screen to which this responds? I never said it wasn't the same screen as the iBook (the article doesn't say that it is, by the way). In fact, I've said in the past that I think it is (but I have about as much direct evidence as that site). I have also said the video card being used can have an effect on how the display looks: this would at leats partly explain how the 12" PB would look better than a 12" iB, but not as good as a 15" PB, and so on.

What I have also said is that screen quality has major subjective elements. Not everyone likes x-brite etc. or resolutions above 1024x768 on a 12" screen. And that's still true.

[EDIT]: I just followed the links form the link you posted. It first refers to a French site, which says it heard the news from xlr8yourmac.com. That site had nothing more than a couple user reports (site was down, but cached), including this gem: "As for screen brightness it seems very similar to the iBook, as I have not had much experience with the powerbooks I can't really say if it is much better or worse than other powerbooks." Wow, there's some real investigative reporting.

I think this is a non-story. The news would be if the rev. Ds were getting worse screens than the rev. Cs, in other words if there was a C-->D downgrade, but there is no evidence in any of these posts to support that idea. More likely it is people disappointed with the screen.

Led my macrumors member maya, who some months ago reported that someone who should know the truth told her that the 12" laptops use the same screen, this forum seems to have at least tacitly accepted as fact that the screens are the same. I haven't seen anyone argue based on actual technical knowledge whether or not that is true, although I may have missed it.
[/EDIT]

I'm glad you are enjoying your new purchase. It was well-researched.
Click to expand...


all I'm saying is that I love my PB, but the screen really is not as nice as even the 15" PB. You'd really have to go and put your 12" next to the 15" to really get a sense of it...
 
Southbridge said:
all I'm saying is that I love my PB, but the screen really is not as nice as even the 15" PB. You'd really have to go and put your 12" next to the 15" to really get a sense of it...
Click to expand...

I'm glad you love your PB. I have used the 15", the previous rev (top at 1.5 GHz). I liked the extra screen space, but as for picture quality I didn't notice a difference. Maybe with more time, use, and/or tests I could tell a difference; I am not denying there is one.

More importantly, the link you posted compares to the iBook ... thus I addressed that comparison, not the one you just mentioned, in the bulk of my post.
 
mcgarry said:
I'm glad you love your PB. I have used the 15", the previous rev (top at 1.5 GHz). I liked the extra screen space, but as for picture quality I didn't notice a difference. Maybe with more time, use, and/or tests I could tell a difference; I am not denying there is one.

More importantly, the link you posted compares to the iBook ... thus I addressed that comparison, not the one you just mentioned, in the bulk of my post.
Click to expand...

😛
 
mcgarry said:
I'm glad you love your PB. I have used the 15", the previous rev (top at 1.5 GHz). I liked the extra screen space, but as for picture quality I didn't notice a difference. Maybe with more time, use, and/or tests I could tell a difference; I am not denying there is one.

More importantly, the link you posted compares to the iBook ... thus I addressed that comparison, not the one you just mentioned, in the bulk of my post.
Click to expand...

but seriously... you have to put one PB next to the other and run some video or something... and you'll see a richness of color and detail on the 15" that you wont on the 12". Same between the 15" and the X-Brite although it's a little more subtle... I'd say the 15" is like between 90-95% as good as the X-brite.
 
12" powerbook too small after a while

12" powerbook too small after a while?

My 12" powerbook is a year old and has not changed size 😱
 
12" portability

I could have purchased any one of the 3 sizes,...
I "LOVE" my 12", Powerbook that is.
Because of it's size, I take it everwheres I go, even if I am not "planning" on using it. Kind of like a an oversized iPod. Then, when I have a few
minutes of waiting for something to happen, I surf if I can or whatever, pack it away and off I go. Besides, the POWERbook has much more suave than an 12" iBook. I once had a cute waitress run her hand over the lid and comment; "Mmmm,...smooth" To which I quickly came back with; "Not as SMOOOOTH as the owner to which she giggled at my flirting. Sweet!
 
great... I found a defect in my 12" screen... the top row of pixels from the center to the right hand side of the screen flickers whenever I go to fullscreen mode (Like in a slideshow or when playing WCIII FT). It looks like a thin flickering bar at the to right hand side of the screen...

Now I have to decide if I want to take it get fixed, get a new one or just suck it up.... 🙁
 
speleoterra said:
I could have purchased any one of the 3 sizes,...
I "LOVE" my 12", Powerbook that is.
Because of it's size, I take it everwheres I go, even if I am not "planning" on using it. Kind of like a an oversized iPod. Then, when I have a few
minutes of waiting for something to happen, I surf if I can or whatever, pack it away and off I go. Besides, the POWERbook has much more suave than an 12" iBook. I once had a cute waitress run her hand over the lid and comment; "Mmmm,...smooth" To which I quickly came back with; "Not as SMOOOOTH as the owner to which she giggled at my flirting. Sweet!
Click to expand...
Hahaha thats awesome! Did you get her number? Was she hot? Nice job!
 
Go 12!

I've had a 12 for 6 months -- I take it EVERYWHERE and love it. I have a crumpler school hymn sleeve for it, toss that in my briefcase & go. I can't say, because I haven't tried, but I think the powerbook would be a pain to put inside another bag -- in other words, you'll probably want to haul that separately. If that means carrying 2 bags, it will suck. Otherwise you'll have to throw books, etc in your laptop bag. You decide.
 
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