Portability of Powerbooks

I thin my 15" Powerbook is wonderfully portable! It doesn't weigh nearly as much as my friend's PC's (with worse specs!) and the 15" screen is enough for almost any task. PC Card slot came in handy for me when i needed to add a second Firewire bus to the computer for simultaneous Firewire use. I also love having a DVD-R in my laptop, although I admit that i almost never use it... If you don't do DVD burning on the road, which most people dont, due to difficulty of keeping the computer still (its very sensitive to any bumps) and power requirements, I would suggest saving the money and getting a combo drive internal. Then you can add one of those new 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer burners for about $200 (Firewire) and have much better performance.

 

Hey
I was torn when i began my powerbook shopping several months ago, i wanted a laptop that was portable, but capable at the same time, i didnt need a desktop replacement(i have a dual 2.0 g5 tower with studio display) and was in of a mobile machine. Naturally i was recommended the 12 inch pb by friends and apple store folks who have apple towers as well, but i had handled and played with my friends 12 inch pb for a while and while the size is totally amazing, it lacked the speed, monitor size and extra features(gigabit ethernet, pc card, better cooling, much better monitor quality) that the 15 inch had, naturally at the apple store i see Eye candy and was definetely guilty for oogling the 17 pb, at the time i didnt have a budget constraint, so the 17 would have been fine to buy as well, i love the huge screen on the 17pb, but it came down to a combination of form and function, the 15 pb and 17 pb have exactly the same specs except for monitor size and weight, the 15 is lighter, sveltier and was the eventual choice. Now that i have a 15 inch pb fully loaded, i love it to death, it is ultra fast, yet i can pick it up and run with it(not literally, but travel easily with it) i burn dvd's with it, edit with it and can do almost all the things on it that i can do on my g5 as well, in fact, i love it and do not have any bad things to say about it whatsoever. It is portable, beautiful monitor and a great body, and is backed up with the performance to match. Be smooth. Get the 15 inch PB instead of the 17inch and use that xtra money to load it with a gb of memory and a 128mb ddr ram, u dont need a 5400 rpm hd it doesnt make that big a difference

Good Luck
matt

 

During my three week stint with a 17" powerbook I thought it was very portable. All you need is a good bag and it will go ANYWHERE with ease.

 

The 5400 RPM drive *does* make a big difference. http://barefeats.com/pb12.html

You shouldn't consider buying a PB without it.

-vga4life

 

My 15" is just as portable as the 12". The only thing that is a little rough with the 15" and 17" is that sometimes it is hard to use in cramped places such as airplanes. But other than using them is tight places there just as good as the 12" for portablility. Make sure you get a decent bag/backpack that has plenty of protection.

 

yeah using a 17 incher is coach is a bit of a pain, but in biz class or 1st its fantastic, but i dont really whip out my laptop in flights anyway

right now i love my 17 but i believe the best compromise size/performance is the 15, but the 12s are pretty great as well

i just love larger screens so go for the 15

 

Go 17

I got the 17" about a month or so ago and I have had no problems with portability. I use a regular backpack/sleeve combo for carrying the bag around and it works fine, since I was going to carry the laptop in a backpack anyways size wasnt much of an issue. I love using the laptop a lot, on the desk its great to have the screen space without hooking it up to anything and when I ride the train/bart its not too big too fit, it fits fine on my lap too, the 12" felt a little small to me.

Definitely get the hard drive upgrade and try to get 1gig of ram if you can, you wont regret it.

JRam

 

I also use a backpack/sleeve combo. My whole setup costs $50 and the protection is great. It's a bit difficult to get the sleeve into the backpack while the laptop is in the sleeve. But i know it gives excellent protection.

 

I agree with the Jzz. A sleeve provides great protection and allows you the flexibility of moving the Powerbook around in various different bags.

 

15" for me, and as for upgrades:

Extra ram, up to 1 GB, is a must

the 5400rpm hard drive upgrade is a MUST. Studies have shown it to be the best upgrade besides ram, and it is dirt cheap.

I would upgrade the video ram to 128mb too, but for now it won't make much of a difference at all. The benchmarks I looked at showed at normal resolutions it added a couple of FPS to some games, at higher resolutions it added I think it was 7 FPS more. Not huge leaps and bounds, but as games become more intensive it will make more of a difference.

The HD upgrade, and the VRAM upgrade, are really cheap. The RAM upgrade is more expensive, but worth it.

 

The true screen size of the 15 inch is 15.2', and your Toshiba is only 15'. That would explain the screen size discrepancy. I have always believes the 15-inch to have the best of both worlds, i.e. The computer was powerful enough to use as a Desktop, and light enough and small enough to be classed as a portable. Just a thought, sell the p.c. desktop, and buy a new iMac when they come out.

Good luck with your choices though.

 

At my school, we have projectors in every room. They are VGA capable. I can hook up by 12 inch PowerBook, and hey! 50" screen!

If you really need the extra screen space (the 12 inch space is nice. Expose lets me do more with those 12 inches than 15 inches w/o Expose) then the 15 is a good choice. But I have to say, a total of 768 of memory and a 1.33 Ghz processor isn't shabby. I have another screen, at home, that I use and so I can have a linked-desktop thing going, with the 12" and external 15".

I LOVE MY 12 POWERBOOK!

 

yes, but with my 15" and expose, i can do more then a 17" without expose
my 15" is excelent, in for repairs for the 3rd time in 6 mos, but hey. portability is great, i can take it anywhere. i have 512mb of ram with a superdrive, and i love dvd burning. i would get it built in so u can use idvd. then when u have the cash, get a dl 16x burner
good luck buying,
nick

 

15"

I was carting my 15" about yesterday, and after I'd filled up my bag with the A/C adaptor, a couple of books, a DVD, an umbrella and so on I was thinking "Phew! I'm glad I didn't get the 17!"

Having said that, it was still less strain on my shoulder than most PC bricks I've handled. And IMO the form factor of the 15" is perfect. Just the computer by itself is not heavy at all, and maybe you don't carry as much rubbish around as I do...

As you mentioned your idea of a desktop replacement, I thought I should point out that I didn't intend to get this as a desktop replacement, but it seems to have taken over without me noticing. I haven't turned on the desktop in days, and it has only just occurred to me!

 

the 15" is quite portable. i've been taking my 15" TiBook, and now 15" AlPB with me to and from college for almost 3 years now. it's quite a bearable weight with just the PB, but if you carry extra books etc of course it will be heavier, but then i'd just say you've got to do weights.

also, i didn't have a 'laptop' bag, just a regular backpack, not even with a specially made laptop pocket, but it did have a pocket that fit the PB. if you do walk alot and caryr lots of books etc i'd say it's important to get a backpack style bag that you can use on both shoulders. it makes a big difference.

i also use my 15" PB as my only computer, mostly for PhotoShop and now video editing, effects work. it's a 1.25GHz standard config i think, just 80GB drive and SuperDrive. i've also put an extra 1GB stick of RAM in, bringing it to a total of 1.5GB RAM.

the 15" has been really good for me, a good size screen, around A4 size, so it's easy to get a bag for. but now that i'm doing video work i'd really appreciate the extra screen space of the 17", but you can always run a dual-monitor setup, something i might do more regularly now.

i also love the widescreen aspect ratio, i'd never go normal now.

if the 15" is enough for you, i'd say save some money and spend it on extras like more RAM etc.

hope that helps you out some.

 

i agree! the 15" version is very capable and still very portable. needs a case, though, so if you need to carry the laptop with you literally every minute, then the 12" might be much better for you. the screen is however very small compared to the 15-incher.

 

15" is the way to go man !!! Like what all the others have said, save the money for rams!!!

 

Fine, fine. I still have a point.

 

I wrestled with this issue for some time 15" OR 17"

First time switcher here - and am very happy with my 17"!
Take it all over the shop!

Mates have both 15 and 17... and then I quizzed them just before I bought mine over 2/3rds said if they had to replace theirs - without money as a factor - they would buy the 17!

 

I have the 17” and am extremely happy with it. The screen is truly amazing and the performance is perfect for my needs. However this is really a desktop replacement rather than a “road warrior” portable, so you need to evaluate the level of portability you need.

If you require true portability, need to carry the machine around a lot during the day, work off your lap etc. I think the 12” or the 15” is probably the way to go. For me, I am simply transferring my Pbook from a desk at home to my office desk and back each day and for that level of portability the 17” is fine. I get a desktop experience in a machine I can close the lid on and take with me wherever I need to go.

Whichever way you go, up the RAM to 1GB+, its definitely worth it

Finally I would concur with others to get yourself something like the Tucano Second skin (which I have) and pop your Pbook into an anonymous backpack/briefcase etc. I personally feel that a fully-fledged computer bag has “please mug me” written all over it.

Vanilla