Powerbook wireless reception

[luminosity]

As someone new to the mac world (not even a member yet; still waiting around to make my first purchase), I've done a good deal of reading up on various mac products, particularly laptops. One thing I've frequently run across is the poor wireless reception/signal strength that powerbooks get. I haven't been able to find any definitive answers as to what the general consensus behind why this is, so I'm hoping to find some info here.

Today at CompUSA, I looked at the Airport program info for four of the five Mac laptops, as they were lined up next to each other. As I expected, the 15 inch powerbook had poor signal strength, the 12 inch powerbook was fair/average strength, and the ibooks were both excellent.

Is there a general consensus as to why this happens?

 

[exeterbohemian]

while i've read much about this problem occuring in powerbooks, i have never experienced it with my 15" rev. d. around my house i get better reception on all floors than anyone else in my family. and by that i mean full signal strength. compared to poor signals on my father's sony laptop or my brother's dell. and the same is true for me when i'm in wireless locations at school. strong, reliable signals. if there is a legit defect with powerbook wireless/airport antennas, not all of them have it. maybe you could test it before you buy?