Help me choose for college!

[Bonnie]

You should wait until next summer to decide and get a cheapie iBook or something to hold you over until then. You want to take the most recent technology to school, right?

Don't get a 17" Powerbook. Are you going to be flying to college out of state or far away? If so, the 17" is a bit too big to take on a plane. I measured it and it is a tad larger then a standard tray table on a plane. It's more of a desktop replacement, you know?

I'm in college and I take my laptop everywhere with me. I have the 15" 1.5ghz right now, but I sometimes find myself wishing I had the 12" instead because it is just SO portable.

I think a 12" Powerbook with a 20" display is the perfect set up for a college student. But if I were you I would wait and see what next year's technology holds.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

Here's some advise. Don't use the laptop to take notes in class. It'd be better to take notes with pen and paper, then retype them. It'll help you remember.

 

[Sven071]

I just got the pb 15 ,and im really happy with it, i cant keep my hands off it for more than 6 hours.....hehe, I would highly recomend the 15.......... i could consider it very portable........ i take it with me everywhere...... i wouldnt know what to do with myself if i had a 20 in monitor......... no matter what you get you will be pleased................ but if you really want to get a g5 pb, get the cheapest ibook then when the g5 pb's come out sell it, and get yourself a screamer.

 

[advres]

My setup worked for me

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

Take a look at what I use. I just graduated this year and majored in Communication Media with a concentration in video editing and 2d compositing. I kept buying different powerbooks and selling my used ones on eBay to keep the cost down and I always had a top of the line unit. The powerbooks have plently of power to do all the video you are going to need if you are just starting out and with all your media on a firewire drive you can always use your schools heavy hitting computers as a render farm. I personally would do all my work during the day and just let my book do all the rendering at night so I could spend as little time in the labs as possible.

If you are going to be doing extensive video work and are thinking of doing ANY graphic design that is intended to be printed I would recommend staying away from an LCD. The resolution on LCD's are just not up to par with a good CRT monitor. Plus they will save you a grand which could go to getting 2G worth of RAM in that powerbook.

I wouldn't spend your life savings on your setup because remember, you have 4+ years to go to school. Your "MAXED OUT" system will probably be obsolete (or somewhat close to it) by the time you are finished so my suggestion is go middle of the road and keep upgrading.

again, for the record, just my $.02

 

[stevietheb]

iBook and a cheapish G5

I do the following with my 12" iBook (at college) and have no complaints:
Word
Email
Web
Photoshop
Final Cut Pro
GarageBand (and SoundTrack)
DreamWeaver
(no games...yet)

How often are you going to want to edit video on the road? I find that I don't usually...well, sometimes--and I edit video for supplemental income.

The iBook FEELS more rugged to me than the powerbook--so I didn't mind stuffing it in my back and toting it all over campus...I might have baby'd the powerbook a bit more.

If money were no object, I might get a 12" powerbook and a G5. But with money being a consideration...I would do 12" iBook and G5 (or maybe a G5 iMac...which is actually what my wife and I are about to do...hopefully)

 

[timsq]

4) without hesitation

That's my current setup and You Will Be Pleased. The 20" is the perfect monitor and the 15" PB is such a righteous size and weight. You will need some good security to keep that monitor safe. It is beautiful. I would have considered the G5 all the way, but it's like nukes to kill mosquitos.