Comparing Macbook and Macbook Pro's to Powerbook

[stevey500]

I started out with apple when I switched from being a hardcore PC (windows/linux nerd) that builds and modifies the shi* out of computers.

Well.. I bought mac.
First one was a blue and white G3 tower... was forever ago.. it still runs as a 24/7 server goin with tiger... LOVE the machine. Absolutely awesome ! No problems!! Perfect.

got my G4 (digital Audio version tower)..... Also awesome. Love the machine to death and pushed it to it's limits and all my buddies were jealous because I could rip DVD's and encode video 4 times faster than their P4 notebooks could ever do... never caused my any problems... ever... Perfect.

Got my 12" Powerbook G4 a couple years ago... put it through HELL every single day... bashed it around in a backpack, dropped it several times, friends spilling their shasta across the room splashing all over it... i maintained it well though, always cleaned it when it needed it, kept the hard drive filesystem cleaned up along with permissions, etc... Ran tiger on it for a year... loved that machine to death also. Zero issues... maybe some little dumb networking issues here and there.. nothing serious, and definitely not comparable problems to any pc laptop running windows when managing wireless networks and network shares. Pretty much perfect... Sold it and my 20" dell monitor January of 2007 and got a 2.16ghz Macbook Pro...

I'm not a year into using my macbook pro... I have loved it... but I wish I could have been loving this one as much as my previous computers....
There's been many times I question myself "is this really a mac?... i mean come on.." I'm just not *feelin* the apple-ness of my macbook Pro.
In the beginning while running tiger, i had a few issues with it, shutting down and starting up issues, keyboard issues, other things... but it was all eventually fixed with a software update/firmware update.

Loved it for a while..

Installed leopard...

Still lovin' it... but looking down on apple a little bit when it comes to reliability of the software. The creativity in their software seems to be falling downhill and the "It just freakin works" part of their software just seems to be falling down a well and they need to get it in gear and pull it back up..

I've never seen so many hardware/software updates on the apple updater app in such a short period of time before... I've never seen garageband start up with so many issues all the time, i've never had to restart safari several times over and over again to get flash player plugin to launch, never had to struggle and GIVE UP in a new release of iMovie before, never had to watch 2 hours of cutting and pasting pieces of movies together in quicktime pro go down the drain as it crashes for no reason at all... Never had to submit 15 crash reports to apple with large self written descriptions in a month before.. never had a beach ball of death for no reason at all before...

until now.

what's up?

Is anyone else feeling this way?

yes I still love apple and appreciate their insanely amazing creativity... I'm still never gonna be switching back to any Pc laptop/desktop as I've always spent more time fixing them than actually make something good out of them.. no matter if its custom built or built by the top brands...

I'm just so use to the "it just WORKS" feeling i had in the first few years of using apple's hardware and software in the past...
I'm just loosing that feeling lately.

 

[funkychunkz]

The thing that gets me is that everything is supernaturally fast and responsive. While I have an older machine at home, I'm accustomed to wait that split second longer before doing anything to consider if I can do something more efficiently since I know if I change my mind latter I'll have to launch a different app, undo a function that took a bit etc. In that way I feel that my use of the computer is more relaxed, less of a race to get everything done. Now obvious sometimes the faster the better, but I've learned to appreciate what I have.

That said, moving around a breakneck speed would emphasize a situation in which my computer failed to do as I expected it to. The faster the response time the more one feels as if the tool is an extension of their mind. (sounds a bit erie...)

In any case, their have always been issues and that's to be expected given Apple's drive to experiment and innovate- and return it to their customers as soon as they can. The updates are also increasingly fast and heavy in response to the growing popularity of the platform and the fact that everything has to be consistent across two distinct architectures.

 

[26139]

Hmm...

I hate to say this, but Apple's recent surge in popularity might have helped their cash flow, but it seems to have hurt the quality of their products.

I can't help but think things are being rushed to market in order to sell to the general public, when long-time apple fans are used to waiting a bit longer for a nearly perfect product.

Many of my friends have issues with their new iMacs, MBPs and MBs, while my 12" Powerbook and G4 iMac are still pulling along with nary a problem.

Not that I won't upgrade as soon as I have the money, but it really does seem that Apple is becoming a little more about their bottom line as "just another company" rather than the small quality computer manufacturer we've come to know and love. I can't blame them, but I feel a bit of remorse, like looking back to your hometown or remembering just how good things were "back in the day."

Namaste!

 

[shoppy]

I totally agree with that sentiment, I remember when my first 15" apple powerbook cost me £2450 plus at Microanvika. A lot of money but I loved the machine then I went on to buy a few 12" and 17" powerbooks. I think it was the whole package to me form the joy of opening that big box and the whole packaging, QC was a lot better back then. These days , I feel that since apple have gained in popularity they have started to skimp on there machine's.

Thus a new 17" MBP fully specced out cost me less then my first 15" powerbook, and only a few hundred more then a specked out 12" powerbook. These days they do not feel the same.

Some photos down memory lane.

 

[mildolvws]

Yes, if we're reminiscing about our old PowerBooks this soon after their demise, can you imagine how we'll be in a few years time!

I've had 12" and 15" Alu PowerBooks and loved them. Last year I finally gave in and bought a MacBook 'cos I wanted to run some Windows apps. The MacBook does the job well and it's neat and nippy all round but somehow... it's just not the same.

I'm looking forward to seeing what MacWorld will bring, what with all the rumours about the Nano/miniMacBook/sub-compact. Hopefully it will fill the gap left by the 12" PB.

Only a few more sleeps and we'll know for sure.

 

[iW00t]

I totally agree with that sentiment, I remember when my first 15" apple powerbook cost me £2450 plus at Microanvika. A lot of money but I loved the machine then I went on to buy a few 12" and 17" powerbooks. I think it was the whole package to me form the joy of opening that big box and the whole packaging, QC was a lot better back then. These days , I feel that since apple have gained in popularity they have started to skimp on there machine's.

Thus a new 17" MBP fully specced out cost me less then my first 15" powerbook, and only a few hundred more then a specked out 12" powerbook. These days they do not feel the same.

Some photos down memory lane.

You gain some you lose some... considering your MacBook Pro is cheaper today than your PB taking into account the effects of inflation, perhaps it really is unfair to have such high expectations on Apple.

Besides, MacBook Pros are actually comparable in price to "high end" Dell laptops, if such a thing exists...

 

[shoppy]

You gain some you lose some... considering your MacBook Pro is cheaper today than your PB taking into account the effects of inflation, perhaps it really is unfair to have such high expectations on Apple.

Besides, MacBook Pros are actually comparable in price to "high end" Dell laptops, if such a thing exists...

Are you joking inflation normally drives prices up, Not down. I am a disappointed apple consumer, if I consider the amount of money I have spent on them over the years the price is almost 6 figures.

Just out of interest I have been been browsing mac rumours for a few year now before joining. I have noted in the short time that I have joined that your remarks are sometimes off. Out of interest when did you get your first mac?


To be blunt and I am going o be blunt, the problem we now have in the mac world as such is the number of pc switchers, who are used to lets say having some what inferior machines. I would welcome gong back to the days of paying almost £3000 for a decent specced 17" apple laptop. Look at the ipod you used to get every thing with them , fire wire, usb cable, dock charger etc. Now my wife's new ipod came with a usb cable and some utter piece of junk box.

I have no problem paying for what I get.

I am not trying to offend anyone,

 

[26139]

Yep

To be blunt and I am going o be blunt, the problem we now have in the mac world as such is the number of pc switchers, who are used to lets say having some what inferior machines. I would welcome gong back to the days of paying almost £3000 for a decent specced 17" apple laptop. Look at the ipod you used to get every thing with them , fire wire, usb cable, dock charger etc. Now my wife's new ipod came with a usb cable and some utter piece of junk box.

I have no problem paying for what I get.

I am not trying to offend anyone,

I agree. It's almost as if Apple realized their products were MUCH better than the competitions and said to themselves "Well, our products don't have to be THAT much better, do they?"

While I agree Apple compares favorably to other brands at the same price, it used to not even be a comparison. Apple's products were better, hands down.

And I don't care if it's less money now to buy Apple products. I've paid for quality in the past and would expect to do so in the future.

Siiiigh...