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Best laptop for typing

brap said:
It uh, gets warm 😉

Warm enough to cause a little perspiration in warm surroundings. Especially the left side, over the hard disk - battery usually stays below 40c.
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Thanks 😉 Man thats kind of a bummer. That almost inspires me to go with the 15 inch. Or maybe just the 12 inch with an external keyboard for long papers. 😎
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
I live in southern California. Im sure our nights arent nearly as cold as yours. Would it bother you on a warm night? Would the computer be warm enough to make your palms sweat?
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I live in San Diego, and quite honestly, it doensn't bug me a huge amount. But an external keyboard may be a good idea... depends on you quite a bit. I don't have an issue.
 
Mechcozmo said:
Actually, that would be TWO revisions ago... we are on Rev. D PowerBooks now.

My 12" PowerBook has the best keyboard ever. Still waiting for something to top it. (Rev. C)
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Actually, we are only on Rev. D on the 12" and 17" powerbooks. The 15" is now on Rev. C since it did not come out until Rev. B was out for the 12" and 17" models. The original poster was warning about the 15" Rev. B and the keyboard issues so that is why he reffered to Rev. B as the previous revision. However, for the 12" and 17" you are correct that Rev. C was the last revision. Just wanted to clarify becuase someone pointed this out to me on another thread and I never thought about it until then. 😛
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Does the 12 inch pb palm rests get uncomfortably hot or warm when typing on it for lets say 2 hours or so, then resting then typing again for another hour? Your answers are greatly appreciated! Thanks
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Absolutely not. I have a classic 12" (lol) -- 867mhz. It's the hottest of them all and idles at about 135 F. The left palmrest is always warm, but never too hot to touch. It could get uncomfortable based on your environment, and current temperature preference. That's unlikely, however, because not even MS Word or Pages can stress a system that far. Heavy multi tasking during heavy typing... maybee, But I still say it won't get uncomfortably hot. This is, once again, coming from the user of the hottest Al book EVER (damn, I;m down to 126 prosc temp rite now! that's a chilly temp!).

I wouldn't worrk about it.
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Thanks 😉 Man thats kind of a bummer. That almost inspires me to go with the 15 inch. Or maybe just the 12 inch with an external keyboard for long papers. 😎
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Just a note - it's really not a big deal to me, but it does fulfil your criterion of causing perspiration every once in a while.
 
brap said:
Just a note - it's really not a big deal to me, but it does fulfil your criterion of causing perspiration every once in a while.
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Maybee I jsut have temperature hardy wrists or something, but I've never gotten sweaty from my RevA 12" and i push it pretty hard. I'm also not new to long papers (i've written several 15 pagers in highschool, and I'm only a junior...)
 
brap said:
Just a note - it's really not a big deal to me, but it does fulfil your criterion of causing perspiration every once in a while.
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Well if its warm enough to cause ur palms to sweat i wonder what it does to the screen when you close it? 😉
 
well this is a mac forum so.........I have a IBM thinkpad r40 and I love my keyboard...dell's keyboards are bad because the keys are kinda out of place....the delete key is like next to the ctrl and everything else
 
Chrispy said:
Actually, we are only on Rev. D on the 12" and 17" powerbooks. The 15" is now on Rev. C since it did not come out until Rev. B was out for the 12" and 17" models. The original poster was warning about the 15" Rev. B and the keyboard issues so that is why he reffered to Rev. B as the previous revision. However, for the 12" and 17" you are correct that Rev. C was the last revision. Just wanted to clarify becuase someone pointed this out to me on another thread and I never thought about it until then. 😛
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Oh, right... I remember that now that you mention it, and wondering when the TiBooks would become AlBooks....

Of course, it is easier to remember Rev. D in general 'cause I'm lazy 🙂 But thanks for allowing me to remember.

Hopefully the G5 PowerBooks won't be like that 🙂
 
Mechcozmo said:
Oh, right... I remember that now that you mention it, and wondering when the TiBooks would become AlBooks....

Of course, it is easier to remember Rev. D in general 'cause I'm lazy 🙂 But thanks for allowing me to remember.

Hopefully the G5 PowerBooks won't be like that 🙂
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Have you forgotton there might not even be a g5 powerbook?
 
I hate my iBook's keyboard. Way too flimsy/cheap, and typing class I can make a lot of racket with it if i'm not careful and start going too fast. People don't appreciate that.
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
I live in southern California. Im sure our nights arent nearly as cold as yours. Would it bother you on a warm night? Would the computer be warm enough to make your palms sweat?
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I have a 17-inch PB, and boy, when I use several apps at once, the whole room get's hot! (I am NOT joking!); it's nice during winter though...

I'm really surprised how hot my PB can get... it's like having a personal heater! I am begining to wonder whether or not mine has a defect, or if most/all 17-inch PB's have this issue as well.

BTW: My palms get REALLY sweaty 🙂
 
18thTomorrow said:
I hate my iBook's keyboard. Way too flimsy/cheap, and typing class I can make a lot of racket with it if i'm not careful and start going too fast. People don't appreciate that.
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Haha! I can completely relate to this. I had a G4 1.2GHz 12" iBook for awhile and it was really fast and overall I really enjoyed it. However, when I was in class the keys clicked so loud that I would get dirty look if I did not take extreme care to press quietly when I typed. The powerbook keyboard is more quiety but is also not easily replacable like the iBook if something was to happen to it. But man was that iBook fast for the price.... 🙂
 
CaptainCaveMann said:
Well if its warm enough to cause ur palms to sweat i wonder what it does to the screen when you close it? 😉
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Nothing, the two never make contact (even if I did leave it to oxidise - which I don't). I've never had keyboard marks on the screen, either. 🙄
 
ibilly said:
Absolutely not. I have a classic 12" (lol) -- 867mhz. It's the hottest of them all and idles at about 135 F. The left palmrest is always warm, but never too hot to touch. It could get uncomfortable based on your environment, and current temperature preference. That's unlikely, however, because not even MS Word or Pages can stress a system that far. Heavy multi tasking during heavy typing... maybee, But I still say it won't get uncomfortably hot. This is, once again, coming from the user of the hottest Al book EVER (damn, I;m down to 126 prosc temp rite now! that's a chilly temp!).

I wouldn't worrk about it.
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I have owned a 867 12" before, and boy did that thing get hot! I honestly was scared to touch the left side of it after doing processor intensive work. I ended up getting an iCurve and an external keyboard though, so that remedied the problem.

Now I am on a Rev. C 12", and this thing runs cool! 🙂
 
I have an albook and man, I think this is the second best keyboard I have ever typed on. The spring and resistence are perfect, and the keys just *feel* good beneath my fingers. And I type A LOT.

Of course the best keyboard I've ever typed on is the Tactile Pro by Matias, so if you want an external give it a go.
 
Chrispy said:
....However, for the 12" and 17" you are correct that Rev. C was the last revision. Just wanted to clarify becuase someone pointed this out to me on another thread and I never thought about it until then. 😛
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Oh snap! Never thought about it either. 😛

Okay, the iBook keyboard feels like a trampoline, but that's in comparison with a Powerbook. Compared to laptops from other companies, its pretty much the same. There are some companies that have started offering laptop keyboards that "don't suck", as they realized that people type on their machines, but generally, the iBooks' isn't poor in comparison. 🙂

IBM Thinkpad T-series keyboards are supposed to be tied with the Powerbook in terms of super fantastic-ness. They offer the 2 best keyboards in the business. Not sure about IBM's other series (G or R or X series), but they're a safe bet. They make some fine machines.

The Alu Powerbooks are either the top, or tied with the IBMs, so yeah, they're great if you haven't used one before. And ALL the PB models share the same keyboards, so I don't think the 15" ever had a problem with THEIR keyboard. Maybe people just kept poor statistics. 😉

I'd get a new iBook, or possibly a rev B or C Powerbook. I love my rev B Powerbook and yes, the palmrests get a bit warm.
 
I have a 15" Rev. A AlBook and I must say that the keyboard is awesome. It feels so solid. No flimsyness at all. As far as palmrests, mine don't really ever get that warm, but the hinge by the screen does, it gets pretty toasty, as does the bottom side of that section as well. And as someone stated earlier, there is a decent gap between the screen and the palmrests when the book is closed.

Overall, I think the PowerBook is the way to go if you are totally going for typing. The keyboard isn't removable which is why it is more solid and feels so nice.
 
I haven't checked back to this thread in a while, and might I say: this is one of the most ridiculous conversations I've seen on these forums. A whole back and forth dialogue on the *proper* REV names and the temperature of palm rests: very funny stuff. At this point I think I'm just going to keep looking until I find either a powerbook or iBook for very cheap. I decided to stick with mac as I have fallen in love with the Word 2004 for mac.
 
Best for typing...??

Thinkpads have always been my all time favorite for typing. Have owned 3 of them in the past and just LOVE the feel of that keyboard.

RS
 
supergod said:
I haven't checked back to this thread in a while, and might I say: this is one of the most ridiculous conversations I've seen on these forums. A whole back and forth dialogue on the *proper* REV names and the temperature of palm rests: very funny stuff. At this point I think I'm just going to keep looking until I find either a powerbook or iBook for very cheap. I decided to stick with mac as I have fallen in love with the Word 2004 for mac.
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Umm ok 🙄
 
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