Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

PowerBooks in the modern day

Still use a PowerBook?

  • Yeah, PowerBooks forever!

    Votes: 34 24.1%

  • Used to, but upgraded to a MB/MBP/MBA.

    Votes: 38 27.0%

  • Used to, but upgraded to a PC.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I've never had the pleasure.

    Votes: 61 43.3%

  • What's a PowerBook?

    Votes: 8 5.7%
  • Total voters
    141
MultiFinder17

MultiFinder17

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 8, 2008
2,841
2,241
Tampa, Florida
Just out of curiosity, how many of you are still using a PowerBook as your main laptop? If you are, do share your story! If you're not, why not?

Personally, I'm still rocking out with my 12" PowerBook G4. At 1.5GHz, the final revision, it's been a solid laptop for nearly five years now. Bumped up to 1.25GB of RAM, it runs Leopard like a champ, and still does everything I need to do while out and about in the world.

So how about the rest of you?
 
Alas, no PowerBook for me. I didn't need a laptop until after the Intel switch. I'm still using a 2006 MBP and it's still going strong, so a late-model PowerBook would probably still be good for most purposes. Even though the latest OS doesn't run on PowerPC, if 10.5 does what you need them there's really no reason to replace the computer.
 
I still have a 12" PowerBook G4 1.33GHz, although it does not see very much usage. I typically only use it for light web surfing near the TV.
 
I have a 12-inch Powerbook G4 with 1.5 GHZ processor and 1.25 GB of memory (maximum).

I got it in early Feb 2005 right when the last update came out to this model. It has gone through Panther, Tiger, and Leopard.

It's still a nice little notebook. The first year it was my main computer and was used a fair bit, but since then it's only used say a few hours a month, so it still looks really nice.

Actually, I prefer working on my desk with a desktop, so the little guy has remained my notebook computer, for nearly five years. I hope he keeps going. I was scared Snow Leopard would kill him off, but Leopard still interacts with my Snow Leopard macs fine, so the little guy keeps going, knock on wood.

I do have to say the move to Intel sure was needed. It's amazing that in 2005 they sold these expensive notebooks with G4s. The slowest intel machines the next year blew them away, many times over.
 
I have the late and old macs but my favorite all time remains to be the 12" 867. I will never retire it until it's time to die.
 
My MacBook Pro is my "desktop" system, so on the go I use either my 1.5GHz 12" Powerbook or my 867MHz TiBook. Both are great systems, but the 1.5GHz Powerbook is a real powerhouse. Before I upgraded my MBP to 10.6 I compared the Powerbook and MBP against each other, and the Powerbook actually booted faster, and ran Safari, and other Apps just as fast as the MacBook Pro. Only iPhoto seems sluggish on the G4.
 
I have a 1.5GHz 12" with 1,25GB RAM and 160GB HD.

It is four years old now. I REALLY would like to upgrade the second Apple releases a worthy successor. I like my computer to be portable and have a matte screen. Preferably as powerful as possible. Money is not a problem. I will never ever use a glossy screen.

But my 12" is still the latest model Apple has that combines portable and matte screen! :mad::mad::mad:

I have tried several times to like the 15" that can be ordered with matte. My GF has one. And I have been to Apple stores numerous times. But compared to my 12", the 15" is enormously large. Clumsy and clunky. Not the kind of laptop that goes into my backpack every day.

The Air?
I'd love the portability, but compared to my 4 year old 12":
- Air is glossy :(:(:(
- My 12" has 2 USB, firewire and ethernet. Air only has 1 USB, that's it.
- My 4 year old 12" has 160 GB. Air is too thin so it only has (1) 120 GB HD that is MUCH SLOWER than my 12", or (2) 128 GB SSD, nonupgradeable, smaller than my 12"
- My 12" has 1,25 GB RAM. Air only has 2GB. After 4 years, more than 2 2-year cycles of Moores Law (which should double the RAM capacity every two years), the Air doesn't manage to double what I have in my 12". ???!?!?! Come on Apple! RAM is cheap.
- The footprint of the Air is LARGER than the 12". WTF??
- My 12" has optical drive, Air does not. I could live without it though.


I am beginning to be really desperate. I hate glossy screens more that running Windows (and I really hate Windows). I don't know what to do.

I am considering a 13" MBP and letting TechRestore fix it. But the freight from/to Sweden would cost me > $500. Plus $200 to TechRestore. Plus 25% Swedish VAT on top of it all. And what happens if I have a hardware problem? Will Apple still fix it or should I send it to Tech Restore again?

The current Apple laptop lineup really sucks.
 
I loved my 1GHz, 512MB TiBook and it served me well for pushing six years. I only upgraded to a MBP 'cause I started uni and needed something with some extra power for editing.

NC MacGuy said:
Just wish they'd run flash better.

No hulu, no Youtube but most everything else I use them for works remarkably well for the amount of RAM and age of the systems.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain: I used to have a PC purely for Youtube and general media 'cause the TiBook couldn't handle it.
 
I have a 1.67ghz with 2gig RAM and an upgraded 250g hard drive. It has a new logic board, so it runs fairly well. The screen is so dim (my eyes are getting old) that I wish I had a new MacBook. Money is the deciding factor at this point.
 
I don't have a Powerbook but a guy I worked with over summer uses his still for video editing and graphic design.

He has a Mac Mini at home and tells me that thing screams compared to the Powerbook. I think he's gonna upgrade soon.
 
I upgraded to a MBP15 from my PB15 about 18 months ago because I needed to run Windows.

I still use my PB15 and like it very much. It's 6 years old and still works fine.
 
For those with problems running YouTube videos on their G4s, there is a small Safari Add-On called ClickToFLash, which disables Flash content on websites (but the can be enabled by clicking on them) and also allows viewing YouTube videos in the .h264 format via QuickTime.

It saves CPU cycles.
 
spinnerlys said:
For those with problems running YouTube videos on their G4s, there is a small Safari Add-On called ClickToFLash, which disables Flash content on websites (but the can be enabled by clicking on them) and also allows viewing YouTube videos in the .h264 format via QuickTime.

It saves CPU cycles.
Click to expand...
any addons for firefox?
 
I switched in 2006, got one of the original MacBooks when they came out. Earlier (2005) I was planning to get a 12-inch PowerBook but decided to wait after I heard Apple would switch to Intel processors.
 
I'm typing from my PB 15in 1.25Ghz. When I got it, I used it for Final Cut Express and photos. Now 6yrs later it still runs better than some PCs I've seen except that the keyboard & battery needs replacing. I will soon get a MBP and probably keep the PB because it runs Tiger. Some of the features I use a lot on Tiger aren't on Leopard or Snow Leopard. Its a shame Apple took away the Bluetooth sync in Address book. I guess they assume that everyone would own an iPhone and didn't need to send vCards to their phones.

I'm not mad though, because I use my PB a lot and I'm surprised that it has lasted this long.
 
pesc said:
I have a 1.5GHz 12" with 1,25GB RAM and 160GB HD.
Click to expand...

Awesome story about your 12"... I often wish I had jumped on the Macs a year or two earlier, and I feel nostalgic for the PPC. lol.

I had a PowerBook 3400 back in 2000, but it saw very little use after 2002 or 2003, was on PCs running Linux until I got a Macbook in 2006.

Gotta say something though:

- My 12" has 1,25 GB RAM. Air only has 2GB. After 4 years, more than 2 2-year cycles of Moores Law (which should double the RAM capacity every two years), the Air doesn't manage to double what I have in my 12". ???!?!?! Come on Apple! RAM is cheap.
Click to expand...

Moore's law isn't about double everything every 2 years.

The original Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can be placed on integrated circuits doubles every 18 months or 2 years or so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law

Now sure that means we can increase the RAM capacity by putting more transistors on a chip, but that still doesn't directly equate doubling up the amount of RAM every 2 years.
 
I'm on my 12" 1.5ghz Powerbook maxed with 320 hard drive and 1.25ram
running a 30" Apple Cinema display at low resolution of course -- right now. My Mac Mini 2009 seems to have a video card issue.

Actually it plays Hulu and You Tube fine.

The next step to keep these matte screen Apple beauties going is a huge SSD Pata drive.

Oh, and I sold this same model powerbook last year to get the new unibody Macbook aluminum.

That thing sucked. Sold it and bought this one.
 
I loved the 12 inch G4, had two of those, amazing machines.
I had the 12 inch until the Santa Rosa MPB came out, and once I switched I realized how dated the G4 chip was.

The 12 inch Powerbook design was awesome tho!!!

I also had quite a few Powerbook Duos (230, 280 and 2300) those was great computers too. Almost like netbooks back then! I remember other people dragging on 15 lbs laptops and when they saw the 4 lbs Powerbook Duo in 1992 most ppl didn't understand how it was possible
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back