12" powerbook vs 15" powerbook

[RichieZ]

I'm interested in getting a powerbook, but i'm not sure about getting the 12" or 15"

screen size I think i'd definetly prefer the 15" but its so much more expensive. I already have a Thinkpad X31 (12" screen) and the screen is a bit small.

Both are rather heavy, the 12" is freaking 4.6lbs, might as well get the 15" weight isn't an issue.

But the one thing that concerns me is the video card, i suspect the fx5200 is a pos compared to the mobile 9700. Is the next v of OSX (10.4?) going to run a lot better on the 9700, i was reading something about it running better with chips that have core image (?)

Leaning toward the 15" but could settle for the 12" since price is an issue, help

 

[James3shin]

i'd have to say that the 15" isn't worth the extra cash, UNLESS you are a gamer. If you are a gamer, having a 9700 in your laptop is just that much more useful, now if your just a student/dev or doing work, i would have to say that the 9700 isn't being used to its full potential...as for your comment that 10.4(tiger) is supposed to run nicer on a system with "core image" im not even sure what that is, perhaps someone can pick my brain about that, but i doubt tiger will be more dependant on a graphics card then memory.

 

[way]

http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/core.html

Core Image is Apple's new tech for OS X Tiger that will use the video card's GPU to do standard graphical effects in the OS. The video chipsets in all current PowerBooks will be able to support Core Image just fine.

True, your IBM X31 is lighter by a pound than the 12" PowerBook. But the PowerBook comes with combo drive (DVD and CDRW) or a DVD burner (SuperDrive).

On my 12" PowerBook, I have no issues with the screen size, primarily because Expose helps me navigate my windows so quickly and easily. I prefer the 12" to the 15" because of the size and weight savings, and it's just a bonus to me that the 12" costs less.

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: way
http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/core.html

Core Image is Apple's new tech for OS X Tiger that will use the video card's GPU to do standard graphical effects in the OS. The video chipsets in all current PowerBooks will be able to support Core Image just fine.

True, your IBM X31 is lighter by a pound than the 12" PowerBook. But the PowerBook comes with combo drive (DVD and CDRW) or a DVD burner (SuperDrive).

On my 12" PowerBook, I have no issues with the screen size, primarily because Expose helps me navigate my windows so quickly and easily. I prefer the 12" to the 15" because of the size and weight savings, and it's just a bonus to me that the 12" costs less.

i don't really care about the optical drive, i already have a NEC 2510A in a USB2/fireiwre enclosure. I'd prefer they dropped the optical drive and make it external.

The text is physcailly too small to read for long persiods of time on a 12" screen, most of the time I do have my laptop hooked up to a 19" LCD, but I do like the 15" widescreen, it provides more screen realestate than my LCD.

I have a t40 at work and the 1400x1200 screen is just perfect, readable and lots of space. Dilemas dilemas

Gaming isn't really a concern, but it would be nice to be able to play doom 3, 9700m should fit the bill

i am considering the 12" PB seriously now


options:
12" combo/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1406
12" super/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1616
12" super/256/no cram and jam/no printer $1499

15" 1.0/combo/256/no cram and jam/no printer/$1599
15" 1.33/combo/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1889
15" 1.5/super/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $2299

17" 1.5/super/512/no cram and jam/no printer/$2239

Q: does the 12" pb come w/ the DVI adaptor? Whats this mini-dvi? I want to hook it up via DVI to a LCD, can i do this w/o buying anything extra?

 

[RichieZ]

anybody?

 

[Ciber]

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: way
http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/core.html

Core Image is Apple's new tech for OS X Tiger that will use the video card's GPU to do standard graphical effects in the OS. The video chipsets in all current PowerBooks will be able to support Core Image just fine.

True, your IBM X31 is lighter by a pound than the 12" PowerBook. But the PowerBook comes with combo drive (DVD and CDRW) or a DVD burner (SuperDrive).

On my 12" PowerBook, I have no issues with the screen size, primarily because Expose helps me navigate my windows so quickly and easily. I prefer the 12" to the 15" because of the size and weight savings, and it's just a bonus to me that the 12" costs less.

i don't really care about the optical drive, i already have a NEC 2510A in a USB2/fireiwre enclosure. I'd prefer they dropped the optical drive and make it external.

The text is physcailly too small to read for long persiods of time on a 12" screen, most of the time I do have my laptop hooked up to a 19" LCD, but I do like the 15" widescreen, it provides more screen realestate than my LCD.

I have a t40 at work and the 1400x1200 screen is just perfect, readable and lots of space. Dilemas dilemas

Gaming isn't really a concern, but it would be nice to be able to play doom 3, 9700m should fit the bill

i am considering the 12" PB seriously now


options:
12" combo/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1406
12" super/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1616
12" super/256/no cram and jam/no printer $1499

15" 1.0/combo/256/no cram and jam/no printer/$1599
15" 1.33/combo/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $1889
15" 1.5/super/512/cram and jam deal/free printer $2299

17" 1.5/super/512/no cram and jam/no printer/$2239

Q: does the 12" pb come w/ the DVI adaptor? Whats this mini-dvi? I want to hook it up via DVI to a LCD, can i do this w/o buying anything extra?

It comes with a mini-dvi to dvi adapter and a mini-dvi to vga adapter, so yes you can plug it into any dvi or vga input without buying anything extra.

Core Image is supported on the current line of Powerbooks.

I'm posting this from my 12" 1.33 Ghz Powerbook and i can play Call of Duty, BF1942(Desert Combat), World of Warcraft and UT2k4 on it without a problem. I use a Logitech MX 700 for the games.

Just remember to add a 512 MB stick of ram or the games will play like crap. Just don't get it from Apple.

 

[way]

The text is physcailly too small to read for long persiods of time on a 12" screen, most of the time I do have my laptop hooked up to a 19" LCD, but I do like the 15" widescreen, it provides more screen realestate than my LCD.

You are able to set the font size for each application and also for OS X itself (for the icons and menu text), so everything should be readable regardless of the display.

Both the 12" and 15" PowerBooks are great machines. If you want to play Doom 3 and are doing stuff like Photoshop or software development, then the better video card and widescreen and better quality display in the 15" are worth the money.

 

[TJ69]

I chose the 15". I could use the extra screen space for development IDEs. The PC card slot may come in handy later too.

It was a tough decision. If you have an apple store around, go try them both out.

 

[Trente]

I just wish I could affored a powerbook of any size... =/

 

[jdogg707]

I would get the 15", well, since I already did! If you haven't already I would highly recommend going to an Apple store and actually looking at these laptops. I first thought about the 12", but after playing with it at the Apple Store, I knew the 15" was the one. The first bad thing is not the size of the screen, but rather the resolution. Stuck at 1024x768 just make everything so big that it is very hard to multitask, even using Expose. The other bother was the lack of a PCMCIA slot, lack of hand rest space on the keyboard (Keyboards are the same size among all three lines), and no FW800 (Which is awesome when using external storage). The laptop in my sig. is excellent, I love it! Do make sure you get at least 512MB of memory or you'll also be hurting, since memory is like air to OS X.

 

[Wuzup101]

I'm a 15" owner here and I pretty much was stuck between the 12" and the 15" for a while. I chose to get the 15" because power was more of a concern to me than portability. I don't mind the little extra weight/size of the 15. I personally find having a faster GPU, larger screan + larger resolution, faster processor, fw800, standard DVI port, backlit keyboard, expansion slot, etc... a decent trade off for the extra size and price. Both machines are amazing. It's just really a matter of thinking about what you'll use it for. In either case make sure you are running atleast 512mb ram. Getting a 1gb stick off the batt with either model would be idea. Also, accept no less than the 80gb 5400rpm drive, there is definitely a noticeable speed increase (as in any notebook).