Club 15

[retta283]

Completing the circle of PowerBook clubs with one for us 15" owners. Thanks to @Amethyst1 and @eyoungren for starting the other two.

Admission to Club 15 is ownership of a 15" PowerBook G4, Ti or Alu. 2006-08 15" MBPs are also welcome.

I'll go first:
Early 2005 15" PowerBook G4, 1.67 GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD


Best laptop I've ever owned. I found the 15" to be the sweet spot when I bought it, 1024x768 wasn't enough for what I wanted to do, and the 17" was out of my price range, and a bit too bulky.

 

[Amethyst1]

Early 2005 15" PowerBook G4, 1.67 GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD

Does it have the 64MB single-link DVI GPU or the 128MB dual-link DVI one? I have two Early 2005 15ins (need to take a picture of them), one is 64MB, the other 128MB. Another thing to like about the 15in is that the display has a 3:2 or 15:10 aspect ratio that pretty much disappeared after their discontinuation (all MBPs are 16:10) but has made a reappearance in recent years, most notably in the entire Surface lineup. I find this aspect ratio to be nicer than 16:10 because it provides more vertical screen estate at the same horizontal resolution, e.g. 1440×960 vs. 1440×900.

 

[retta283]

Does it have the 64MB single-link DVI GPU or the 128MB dual-link DVI one? I have two Early 2005 15ins (need to take a picture of them), one is 64MB, the other 128MB. Another thing to like about the 15in is that the display has a 3:2 or 15:10 aspect ratio that pretty much disappeared after their discontinuation (all MBPs are 16:10) but has made a reappearance in recent years, most notably in the entire Surface lineup. I find this aspect ratio to be nicer than 16:10 because it provides more vertical screen estate at the same horizontal resolution, e.g. 1440×960 vs. 1440×900.

It's the 64MB. I'm pretty sure it's 3:2, and it is a nice ratio. I find that I need vertical height more than a wide screen for most work. 16:10 or 3:2 really is the best balance. Not a fan of 16:9, and I would never want an ultrawide.

If you compare the size of two displays, one 16:10 and one 16:9, at the same size, the 16:10 will always be larger in overall area. Same goes for 3:2 vs 16:10, 4:3 vs 3:2 and so on. The wider you go, the more you lose.

 

[eyoungren]

The only 15" seeing normal service is my 2009 MBP. Note this pic is a year and a half old and I'm running Yosemite on it now.



I do own a 15" PowerBook, but I've never been able to get it to work properly. It came with an issue I've not been able to resolve.

 

[retta283]

The only 15" seeing normal service is my 2009 MBP. Note this pic is a year and a half old and I'm running Yosemite on it now.

View attachment 891431

I do own a 15" PowerBook, but I've never been able to get it to work properly. It came with an issue I've not been able to resolve.

Does yours have the second revision of the 8600m? If those failures weren't a problem I would've purchased one by now. I may get a 2006 MBP in the future though

 

[eyoungren]

Does yours have the second revision of the 8600m? If those failures weren't a problem I would've purchased one by now. I may get a 2006 MBP in the future though

No idea. It was a gift from @bobesch and I've just been using it and not worrying about any graphic failures. I'd have to look it up.

 

[bobesch]

No idea. It was a gift from @bobesch and I've just been using it and not worrying about any graphic failures. I'd have to look it up.

It's powered by fairy dust and will work forever ... 😀
(and it's from 2008 - thought it looks like coming from a distant future.)

 

[Doq]

A1106 - the OG Aluminum from 2003. This one is the 1GHz variant.


A real trooper; this G4 has seen a nasty drop which dented the chassis around the optical drive (but everything is still functional!), one of the screen hinges snapped in half (which is why the display is slightly off center), and dead bottom RAM slot syndrome. Beyond that, it's not given me any serious or life-threatening issues and is given the distinct title of being the only Mac in the lab (although I want to change that soon).

Above it is a Dell Precision M60 which is hackintoshed with Leopard. Both of these communicate using Synergy, bandages, and duct tape.
These two laptops are the only ones I have that aren't falling apart spectacularly, and the G4 is the one I take with me because it has a smaller footprint and actually fits in my bag. Served me well as a pretty good remote access machine.

 

[Amethyst1]

Both of these communicate using Synergy, bandages, and duct tape.

Good one

 

[bobesch]

Here my two old 15" Books side by side.

Left (intel): early 2008 MBP4,1 - Right (PPC): PowerBook 1,67 DLSD
The displays of the early intels are so much brighter than those of the PowerBooks ...

 

[amedias]

Oh yeah I’m in this club too!

On the left is:

1x A1211 2.33GHz MBP with Radeon x1600 GPU and an LED backlit screen from an A1226 (bloody awkward conversion but worth it!)

2x A1226 2.2GHz MBP with replaced Nvidia 8600 GPUs, one matte screen and one glossy.

On the Right is:

1x A1046 1.0GHz PowerBook G4
1x A1095 1.33GHz PowerBook G4

All working and fitted with SSDs, normal SATA in the MBPs and a mix of IDE and mSATA on IDE adapters in the PBs. all have max Ram they can accommodate.

And just out of shot is another pair of G4s, an A1046 and an A1106 both working but with trashed cases

 

[B S Magnet]

Time to necromance a thread!

Time to bend the opening post’s rules!

There are, at time of writing, two “Club 15” threads. I’m posting to this older one because it permits early Intel MacBook Pros (though this thread began before the Early Intel Macs forum was struck in 2021).

Forty-two days after I found a dead, early 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro with anti-glare display locally for next to nothing, I set out to mend and make it a daily driver.

This is its glow-up.

When I found it, it didn’t power on. It came with a truly dead battery, the wrong MagSafe adapter, two sticks of faulty, 2GB RAM, a cracked clutch cover, a janky OEM HDD, a missing foot, and a (very mild) dent between the headphone port and the battery-check button. The dreaded Radeon dGPU was started to flake, but still pulled up the desktop.

It was dirty inside, but not clogged-filthy bad:



So I set about firmware-disabling the dGPU and physically removing the resistor to the dGPU’s power rail.

I swapped in stuff from my late 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro daily driver: its 16GB RAM, dual SSDs, and an 85W adapter (in lieu of the 60W one which came with the laptop).

I found an A-quality used OEM battery for it. I completely cleaned it out and gave everything fresh thermal paste. I swapped the cracked clutch cover from a parts donor. I tapped out the side dent enough so that the bottom case seated more evenly. And lastly, I swapped the failing speaker set (crunchy-bad sub-woofer).

And suddenly, here’s a peppy daily driver with tremendous life left in it.

The dent isn’t completely gone, but it’s pretty close (evident in the power LED pic).

This isn’t quite the dream 2011 MBP I’ve long wanted (that would be the late 2011 17-inch variant with anti-glare and the 2.5GHz i7), but for years I long hoped to find an anti-glare, Sandy Bridge model locally — one not spindled, abused or completely dGPU-dead, ideally — for well under $100.

So yes. No complaints here.

 

[Amethyst1]

Forty-two days after I found a dead, early 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro with anti-glare display locally for next to nothing, I set out to mend and make it a daily driver.

Awesome machine (that hi-res anti-glare LCD is a gem), awesome Geekbench score to go along with that.