is the 17" powerbook portable enough?

[plinkoman]

i'm going to be buying a powerbook in about 2 weeks, and i'm pretty sure i want to get the 17", but i wanted some opinions from people with them as to how portable they are.

what kind of things can you do with it, bring it to class, walk around the house with it, lie down in bed and use it in your lap? is the pb too big or heavy to do these things with a certain degree of ease?

 

[nospleen]

i'm going to be buying a powerbook in about 2 weeks, and i'm pretty sure i want to get the 17", but i wanted some opinions from people with them as to how portable they are.

what kind of things can you do with it, bring it to class, walk around the house with it, lie down in bed and use it in your lap? is the pb too big or heavy to do these things with a certain degree of ease?

Personally, I have owned the 12, 15, and 17. I say definately go for the 15. It is the perfect medium!

 

[TheMonarch]

17 ALL THE WAY... So awesome. Its been debated so many times, it burns. But the screen is awesome. Plus the 17 doesn't have very many common issues (If any) but I do know the 15 and 12 have had way more issues than the 17 ever did...

 

[Sedulous]

I am also looking into the 17" PB (although I refuse to buy until the next update). The way I see it is, and I am certain this has been stated before, it all depends on your planned use. If you are looking for a desktop replacement then the 17" is your best bet. Looking for something you will be dragging around with you everyday - then the 15" is probably better if it is your only computer. The 12" might be a good match for people always on the go and have a "home" computer as well. Just my opinions here.

 

[sw1tcher]

If you're looking for portability, I say go with the 15" PB. The 17" PB may be nice, but definitely not portable.

Also, Apple has pushed back the shipping times on the 15" and 17" PBs so there may be updates soon.

Next Tuesday?

 

[maxterpiece]

If you're looking for portability, I say go with the 15" PB. The 17" PB may be nice, but definitely not portable.

Also, Apple has pushed back the shipping times on the 15" and 17" PBs so there may be updates soon.

Next Tuesday?

just checked apple store and they say 1-2 days shipping for 15" and 17" powerbooks... You call that pushing back the shipping, or had they changed it to a longer delay and now they switched it back again?

 

[combatcolin]

Plus the 17" doubles as a surfboard!



No, its just too big to be usable in an everyday manner.

Buy a 15" BUT NOT JUST YET!

 

[ctsport1234]

I was thinking about purchasing a 17 as well but decided on a 15 and a 20 ACD. I love this setup, at home I get more real estate than I would have with the 17 and more portable when on the road.

 

[caveman_uk]

just checked apple store and they say 1-2 days shipping for 15" and 17" powerbooks... You call that pushing back the shipping, or had they changed it to a longer delay and now they switched it back again?

The UK store says 2-3 weeks on the 15" superdrive. The other 15" and the 17" have longer times than usual. Both ibooks are at 3 days. All other models 24 hours.

 

[DJY]

I have two suggestions / offerings for you:

1. If you want the 17" - buy it - it is amazing! I love it!

2. Try the forum search option - this question has been asked alot before, and there are a number of threads discussing the differences / benefits / portability / features of the 12 vs 15 vs 17" PBs

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

I like my 17".

I'm not sure about using it in class, carrying it around the house & using it in bed (!!) ... to me it would be too bulky to do those.

I always use mine on an office desk, but have no problems carrying it around (certainly better than my colleagues' Vaio 17" jobbies). If you buy a 17" just make sure you get a good bag - with the power adapter and other stuff you need it can be reasonably heavy. As I said for the way I work - I tend move around a couple of times a day at most, or long haul flights - I am prepared to sacrifice the little bit of extra bulk for the screen real estate.

If you can, find someone who has had a 17" for a while and get a feel for its size & portability.

 

[tekmoe]

i am buying a 17" when the new ones are released soon.

from everything i have read, most of the people who complain about the 17" not being portable enough have never really owned one. the people who say they love it and to go for it are the ones who do own one.

that's good enough for me.

 

[plinkoman]

thanks for all the replies

basically how i talked myself into the 17" (i originally wanted the 12" ) is that 90% of the time, i am going to be using it at my desk, and when i take it places, it's going to be in a big bag filled with so much stuff i'd never notice the 2" 1lb difference.

as far as this supposed update goes, quite frankly, i don't care, i've been saving for along time for this, and i'm tired of waiting(not to mention sick of windows ), when my next paycheck comes in, i'm placing an order

2. Try the forum search option - this question has been asked alot before, and there are a number of threads discussing the differences / benefits / portability / features of the 12 vs 15 vs 17" PBs

i'm not a noob, i did search, and searching for "17"" yeilded no results much to my suprise

 

[DJY]

Glad to hear you have decided on a PB mate!
All are amazing... but I can't imagine not having my 17" PB.

I didn't mean to imply you were a n00b... and the search often gives hit and miss results. I used to scan for all the different PB threads - especially when it came to comparing sizes... as I was in your predicament when I was about to buy mine as well.

Torn between a 15" or 17" Powerbook
Another one PB 15" vs 17" - Confused. Help!
15" PB vs. 17"
Stuck between a PB 15" and a PB17"! Help!
Officially gone crazy (12 vs 15 PB)
15" vs 17" PB?
17" PB or 15" PB. I can't decide! (its also my first purchase!)

Hope some of these help... but I'm biased.... I have a 17"!

 

[FFTT]

The subject has been covered for sure, but I would consider a LOADED
15" 1.67GHz and 128 MB VRAM with a nice external display for home/office.

 

[dmw007]

The subject has been covered for sure, but I would consider a LOADED
15" 1.67GHz and 128 MB VRAM with a nice external display for home/office.

My current pre-intel, laptop, dream machine.

 

[caveman_uk]

I have to admit that although I have a 15" powerbook I now don't see the 17" as that much bigger that I'd rule it out in the future. It's a really great (albeit expensive) machine. Also, as mentioned earlier, I can't recall any major defects being mentioned for the 17 inchers...which is more than you can say for the 15 inch machines.

It's probably a little big for a messenger bag but if you use one of the backpack types then it would be fine. I use a 'Base Toucher' by Crumpler for my 15" machine and even with other stuff in it as well as the laptop it doesn't feel heavy when you're wearing it. Also it doesn't scream 'LAPTOP BAG' quite as loud....

 

[Abstract]

Sometimes I think that if you're not going for a 12", go for a 17". The 17" isn't THAT much larger than a 15", and the resolution might be worth it. Of course, you're not going to use a 17" at a lecture, but you're not going to with a 15" either. You won't lose that much portability by going 17" over 15", although the 12" is still my choice.

 

[Michael7k]

i'm going to be buying a powerbook in about 2 weeks, and i'm pretty sure i want to get the 17", but i wanted some opinions from people with them as to how portable they are.

what kind of things can you do with it, bring it to class, walk around the house with it, lie down in bed and use it in your lap? is the pb too big or heavy to do these things with a certain degree of ease?

Four months ago I purchased a new PowerBook 17”. It's a great machine I find myself using over the G5 PowerMac at home. The PowerBook is taken to the office daily, used around the house, and taken on a few trips. I would tend to agree with others the 15” would be more the optimum than a 17”. The screen is nice when working with spreadsheets and databases yet it seems to be bulky. It’s more of a convenience factor as opposed to the 1.3 pounds additional weight. If I were to be offered the PowerBook choice again with cost not an objective? A 15” PowerBook with the 1 GB SDRAM I ordered in this one.

Good luck on your decision and enjoy your PowerBook.
Michael

 

[plinkoman]

Glad to hear you have decided on a PB mate!
All are amazing... but I can't imagine not having my 17" PB.

I didn't mean to imply you were a n00b... and the search often gives hit and miss results. I used to scan for all the different PB threads - especially when it came to comparing sizes... as I was in your predicament when I was about to buy mine as well.

Torn between a 15" or 17" Powerbook
Another one PB 15" vs 17" - Confused. Help!
15" PB vs. 17"
Stuck between a PB 15" and a PB17"! Help!
Officially gone crazy (12 vs 15 PB)
15" vs 17" PB?
17" PB or 15" PB. I can't decide! (its also my first purchase!)

Hope some of these help... but I'm biased.... I have a 17"!

i'm somewhat baffled as to why none of those came up with a search for 17" even though its in the title of all those
in any case i have got to be the worst person in figuring out what to type into search engines in the world

The subject has been covered for sure, but I would consider a LOADED 15" 1.67GHz and 128 MB VRAM with a nice external display for home/office.

i would certainly love to do that, but i just don't want to spend over $3000, i don't have that money now, and after the powerbook i plan to buy a $200 booq case for it, a 1GB stick of ram for it, a new power supply for my pc(running 500w of stuff through a 300w psu isn't without it's problems), i'm going to need usb and firewire hubs, a router etc... so i just can't justify spending an extra grand on a display

 

[steve_hill4]

If you need the extra specs that the 17" offers, go for it, if not, the 15" SD is the best of the lot when all is taken into account.

Either way I would go along with similar comments and wait for another week or two and see what announcements apple make on the specs. If they do nothing to them, it won't make any difference, (as the stores are almost dry and there seems to be quite a wait at the moment). If they upgrade, you can then choose to buy a brand new spec modell, or hunt around for an older spec for a bargain price.