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12pb vs 15pb

C

CramSoup

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 24, 2004
50
0
Florida
Ok,
I am stuck between portability Vs. size. I don't want to get the 12 and wish I had the bigger display, I like the 15 but I just don't know if it is worth the extra money.

How many people have the 12 and wish they had gotten the 15 ?

If you have the 12, How ofter do you hook it up to a
monitor?

Thanks
 
The advise i usually give is simple:

If the PowerBook is not going to be your primary computer, go with the 12''. If it IS going to be your primary computer, go with the 15''
 
I've had both and I don't envy your choice - well, actually I do, because choosing can be fun! ;)

I don't find the 15" a huge sacrifice in portability. I carry it around in all the same bags as my 12" and it fits just as snugly. On my lap it feels a bit bigger but also feels more tangible - though the feeling of not having anything (but for heat) on your lap with the 12" was pretty cool too.

If money is relatively not an issue, play around with both and work out whether performance and screen size is more important to you than portability. Keep in mind that the new rev C 12" do scream in comparison to the older models and are not slouches by far when compared to the 15". My main reason for getting the larger Powerbook was the desire for a change after three successive 12" 'books and because I found I could finally afford/use a bit of extra performance.

I have not regretted it, and find this 15" a stellar performer in all respects :)
 
Chaszmyr said:
The advise i usually give is simple:

If the PowerBook is not going to be your primary computer, go with the 12''. If it IS going to be your primary computer, go with the 15''
Click to expand...

Well, I disagree with that. I don't think you can really make a primary/secondary distinction between them. Both work fine as both a primary and secondary machine and I don't really see how either of them distinguishes themselves in each category. But anyway, that's IMHO.
 
OziMac said:
Well, I disagree with that. I don't think you can really make a primary/secondary distinction between them. Both work fine as both a primary and secondary machine and I don't really see how either of them distinguishes themselves in each category. But anyway, that's IMHO.
Click to expand...

i agree

but what you can do is put down the facts

15inch has more real estate that the 12 cannot substitute
the 12 has a little more portability that the 15 can substitute for
the 15 has a little more power (depending which one you get)
but not huge advances over the 12inch

my personal pref is the 15 inch it has all the best features of the 12 and 17 but none of the bad in my opinion

hope this helps the original poster....

what is you MAIN use

edit.. the screen is great btw... absolutly great...
 
It will be my main computer but I will probably be hooking it up to a monator at home.

I appricate eveyone's input on why they went with the 15, but I guess what I'm looking for is, input from people
with the 12in and what their feelings are about the size and if they have any regret.
 
i have the 12" pb. i got it for college and i love the portability. i don´t think the 15" will be any worse though. however, since you´re going to be hooking it up to a monitor, i feel you could save a couple of bucks or get more ram etc. on the 12". i don´t think the extra power is all that much of a difference and certainly not worth the extra bucks. can´t say that about the backlit keyboard though.
 
I've had the 12 inch for 2 months now and love it. I don't use my home PC at all anymore. I don't find the screen to small, and I love it's portability. It's plenty powerful for what I do. I haven't used the 15 inch and would be curious of what it would be like to carry around and used daily, but I have no regrets.:)
 
well really...... for the 1.5 and the backlit keyboard it would be an extra $800 . I don't need the superdrive and lit keys. I can't see spending that much more. the only difference i see with the 1.33 12pb and the 1.33 15pb is the video cart, gig eth, fw800 and mini dvi vs dvi.

LOL.... the funny part is i started out, wanting a 12ibook, i keep moving up...by the time i'm done i'll have a g5 with 30 display =)
 
I have the 12 and use it 85% of thre time hooked to a monitor and external KB/Mouse and it's great- fast, quiet.
The times i unhook it and take it it is very portable, though the size factor "seems" annoying.
I have gone back and forth over selling it on ebay and buying he 15 - (1.33 not 1.5) but haven't yet - can't realy justify the extra few hundred to jump.
Either one will work fine - though the 15 size factor (i owned one years ago) can be a bit annoying too.
 
I bought the 12" pb about 3 weeks back. I have a preference for 12" laptops, earlier I had 12" iBook. So I feel no problem with the small screen.

Portability may not be an issue here, because the 15" one is surprisingly light, and as thin. The one without superdrive is as fast as the 12", 1.33 ghz. Same video memory. With superdrive, you get faster processor 1.5 ghz and an optional upgrade to 128 mb vram.

So IMO, unless you have the dough to get the 15" with superdrive, get a 12" pb. As you said you have an external monitor, so screen size should not be an issue anyways.

cheers
 
al, what i want is the 15 for the price of the 12....lol
I think I would like the 15 better becasue I have a feeling i'll get sick of the 12 display. but I worked it out at another $ 325.
Is the video card any better in the 15?
If I use dvi, is that better than the mini dvi?
 
After using the 12", everything else seems huge. While i'd like a bigger screen on the road (or just a higher resoultion) I couldn't justify having to carry around that much more weight for not very much more functionality. The 12" is amazing (though I also previously owned a 12" iBook G4) and I wouldn't give it up for a 15" at that much higher of a cost. I have *no* regrets.
 
I've had the 12" PB for 3 days now and IMO I did not make a mistake. I like the small form factor of the 12". (That might be in part that I have a "old" Compaq laptop that is also 12") I looked at 15" laptops and even though they are nice, I thought them to be a little big. Also my PB doesn't get extremely hot. It might cause your legs to sweat from the heat, but every latptop I have used has caused that. I know the Compaq would get hot playing C&C Red Alert and it had a 150 mhz processor. Good luck in your decision though
 
If you plan to have an external monitor/kb/mouse, then a 12" would be perfect. I have my 12" iBook hooked up to external devices at home where I use it 95% of the time, and when I am ready to take it anywhere, I love the small size.

When I look at other laptops they all seem huge and heavy in comparison. If you are NOT planning to go with an external monitor, then go for a bigger screen, just because it would be more real estate and easier on the eyes.
 
Another vote for the 12"

I have the 12" as my sole home computer and have been extremely happy. I switched from a desktop with a 15" LCD (same resolution), and my work computer has a 19" LCD (1280x1024). I haven't had a problem adjusting to the 12" display. Expose makes smaller screens much more workable.
 
I used to have a 12" pb, which I sold recently. It was absolutely great for portability and quite study. But then I saw my friend carry around his 15" and borrowed it for a day and then got the 15" for my self. The 15" is easy to carry, it feels big because all the other pc laptops around are only 15" horizontally in a square. It doesn't seem as study as the 12" because it so long so I get worried sometimes when I lift it from only one side. But that extra screen space, although it may be only 3", is very helpful. the 12" powerbook has the space for a full screen of safari and a small bit left for the dock. The 15" has a more space on the side so is much easier to access stuff (I cant get a hold of Expose because the trackpad is hard to manuver) and I can spread the screen out for garage band (extreme newbie although i tinker with it all the time). My room gets hot with the lights on in the summer so I use the computer in the dark most of the time at home. So I think the illuminating keyboard is a really good feature (only available to the 15"). I dim the screen brightness and the keyboard is really good.

if you get the 15", i think you would prefer using the pb and an external mouse unless you have a lot of external attachments (e.i. external hd, zip drive,...)
 
The 12" PB is really great. Rev. Cs really caught up performance wise with their larger siblings. If you don't need FW800, card bus or backlit keyboard, the 12" offers everything the 15" does. You trade screen size for portability, so I would make my decision based on what it is more important to you personally. I hook up my 12' to a 17" LCD with a 1280 by 1024 resolution. This allows me to use this little baby as my only computer, above all, it is fast enough for everything I throw at it, so there's no doubt the Rev. C would make you happy and allows to save some money, if you get 12", add another 512 megs of RAM.
 
I just bought myself a 12" a week ago, and so far, I don't regret getting it over the 15" at all. I was right where you are, completely torn. The price wasn't as much an issue (Almost everywhere I've worked has "rented" the computers I bring in from me, so it pays for itself in less than a year). In the end, I went with the 12" because the portability was just too nice. It's amazingly powerful for such a small computer, literally no bigger than a couple of legal pads. It's more powerful than most people realize, and packs quite a bit of bang for the buck.

My final decision was that I'm taking a trip to Alaska in a few months, and wanted to portability of the 12" so I could carry it with me when I went out to take pictures so I could load them in from my digicam in a snap.

Good luck with your choice. You can't go wrong with either.
 
Where in alaska are you going? I lived in anchorage for 4 years.

I'm sure i won't regret which ever one i get, but it's sooo hard. I want to buy the 12 but.........There has to be some kind of medication for this!!!! it's just a computer!!!
 
CramSoup said:
Where in alaska are you going? I lived in anchorage for 4 years.

I'm sure i won't regret which ever one i get, but it's sooo hard. I want to buy the 12 but.........There has to be some kind of medication for this!!!! it's just a computer!!!
Click to expand...

I'm moving up the coast, just takiing pictures and steering clear of deadlines and production schedules. I'm sure I'll hit Anchorage eventually. Any suggestions on "must sees?"

Back To Topic: The only thing I can suggest if you're losing it is to go to an apple store and just play around with both of them. Pick them up. Check out the different features on the 12" and the 15". I can assure you, no matter which you buy, you're not going to regret it if you know what you want and what you need.

And please come back to the thread and tell us which you eventually decide on. You can't leave us in suspense.
 
I just recently bought the 12in and its great.The screen seems kinda small at first but after a while u get over it.if u want portablity get the 12in but if u want better performance get the highend 15in.
 
i went through the same dillema, and i went with thhe 15".

my reasoning is this: this will be for university, and i like to have just ONE computer, no extra monitor, nothing. just ONE machine, since i'll be moving around a lot and can do with not having too many stuff to carry around (moving day, etc).

the 15" to me is great because it has a large enough screen, overall better spec, and a backlit KB (i work in the dark a lot). i was seriously considering the 12", but the only thing that gets it going for me was its size, and i figured, the 15" is not that much bigger or less portable. the advantages of bigger screen and not having to need an extra screen to be really productive (for me) gives an overall better score for portability. on top of this, the spec is better, and i love the backlit KB, so i went with the 15".

good luck deciding. either way, you're getting one kick ass computer. :)
 
DONE!!!!

Ok... I did it!!!
I went with the 12pb 1.33 and went with an extra 512 ram. For a total of $1550!!!! No Tax.... No Shipping!!!
I figure the 12 will be more portable and When working at home, If I need the extra screen I can hook it up to the 19in i have for the PC ( which Ill keep around cause my girlfriend will need to check e-mail and internet...LOL...)

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions and helping me come out of the closet and make the switch. I'm sure once it get's here I'll have a million more questions!!!!!
 
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