Powerbook, now or wait

[fjs08]

I have a 2.5 yr old Ti-Book. I never realized how slow it is until I used my wife's ThinkPad today. Boy did that thing zoom. It made me think of getting a new Powerbook, but I don't know whether to get one now or wait for the MacTel units or whatever they are being called. Any advice out there??

Frank

 

[mad jew]

Does it have to be a PowerBook? Would you look at the iBooks because they are much cheaper and almost as fast. The major differences between the two lines are the added features such as clamshelling, screen spanning etc. The iBooks are a much better buy in terms of bang-for-their-bucks.

What do you need/use the laptop for?

 

[fjs08]

>>Does it have to be a PowerBook? Would you look at the iBooks because they are much cheaper and almost as fast.<<


Haven't thought about the iBook since I've always had Powerbooks. But it's mostly an historic thing. I was thinking of the 17" PB. I have a 15" now. I didn't know if it would even fit into my backpack. I'd hate to have to buy a new one. I should take it to my local Apple store and see if it fits (if they let me try to put it in there<g>)

>>The major differences between the two lines are the added features such as clamshelling, screen spanning etc. The iBooks are a much better buy in terms of bang-for-their-bucks.<<

What is clamshelling and screen spanning??

>>What do you need/use the laptop for?<,

Everything. E-mail, spreadsheets, .Mac stuff like HomePage (my favorite), iPhoto, iTunes( to sync with my iPod (2 yr old "huge" 15 GB<g>)), stuff like that.

Frank

 

[Bear]

The 15" PB screen is much better than the 12" or 14" iBook screens.

The 17" does appear to be too big for a lot of things, although the screen is bery nice.

If you do go with the 15", order it with 128MB of VRAM.

 

[mad jew]

What is clamshelling and screen spanning??

Clamshell mode is when you run the PowerBook with the lid closed, an external display, mouse and keyboard. Screen spanning is when you attach an external display and you literally extend your desktop. The iBooks can do both of these but they need third party hacks which are obviously not endorsed by Apple. Plus, clamshelling on an iBook is pretty dangerous because so much heat is dissipated through the keyboard.

E-mail, spreadsheets, .Mac stuff like HomePage (my favorite), iPhoto, iTunes( to sync with my iPod (2 yr old "huge" 15 GB<g>)), stuff like that.

In terms of performance, you wouldn't notice a difference between the PowerBook and the iBook for these. However, Bear makes a good point in that the 15 inch screen is much nicer than anything the iBook range has to offer.

On the flipside, the advantages of the iBook are that you'll get better AirPort reception and much longer battery life.