Powerbook 12" or 15"?

[Kipper]

I'm dead set on buying a powerbook, so don't try to talk me out of it. The only problem is my budget is around $1800 (roughly what a PB costs after student discount).

The only question is do I get the 12" with the superdrive or the 15" with the combo drive? I could see myself burning DVDs in the future, but I know off the bat it probably won't be the case - but who knows a year down the line? I suppose I could always add an external burner for ~$100 in either a USB/Firewire enclosure so I'm leaning toward the 15".

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact I will be traveling and will need portability. I don't mind lugging the 15" around, it doesn't seem like it would be too much trouble (I've seen the 17" and that is just ridiculously big).

Generally this will be used for watching movies, some website design, some graphics work in Photoshop, word processing, internet, the usual. I don't expect to play too many games with it (it's a mac and a laptop) but some gaming power would be nice, which drives me in the direction of the 15" again.

What should I do? O laptop gods of AT, tell me!

Edit: Bought the 15" Combo at the Christiana Mall store in Delaware today. No tax!

 

[jdiddy]

The 15" has a beautiful screen and is actually very portable in itself. That being said I own a 12" with a super drive and could not be any more happier with it. Being able to burn DVDs on the fly without lugging around a external burner is great. Gaming and Macs seriously don't mix. Games like Warcraft 3 play well but if your looking for HL2 type games the selection and performance is just not there even with the 128mb 9700 in the 15". All in all its up to you. If I had the chance to do it over I would pick the 12" every single time.

 

[Kipper]

The superdrives can't do DL discs, can they? Or does that require a firmware hack?

 

[jdiddy]

Nope none of the Powerbook SD's have the ability to burn DL disks and as far as I have seen there is no firmware hack for it. You could check MacNN.com or Macrumors.com those are 2 fairly busy Apple forums with alot of information good luck on your decsision.

 

[cheesehead]

The 12" PB is a micro-notebook. It's pretty fast, but perhaps most importantly, it's TINY. You can carry it anywhere; it's hard to find a more portable notebook. (Actually, there are paper notebooks that are less portable.) Battery life is very good for both versions, from what I've seen.

 

[hopejr]

The 12" is good. As can be seen from my sig, I have a 12" iBook. Very portable.

 

[keeleysam]

12"

 

[Liver]

I would choose portability every time. 12 incher.

Is there any difference in the screen type? Like are they from the same manufacturer?

Liver

 

[uOpt]

I'd get the 15" if you have the money.

It is much lighter and handy that you think because it is so small. The screen is great, IMHO, the only widescreen notebook in its class without going to extreme DPIs.

Other advantages:
- pcmcia
- backlight keyboard
- faster CPU
- 512 MB in one memory module
- better graphics card
- option for dual-link DVI

As for the DVD writer, since none of the Apple drives have dual-layer capability I'd skip that and either use an external one or get a DL drive for the Powerbooks on ebay later.

 

[RichieZ]

12"

 

[Illusio]

12" if portability is a concern. 15" if its not a concern. superdrive is nice, but so is the extra screen space.

 

[ironcrotch]

Totally depends on what you want it for.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

u look like a man who wants a sexy tiny white notebook. MSI S260. Not built for gaming but CS 1.6 should run fine. Forget it if u want to play HL2 or UT2k4 though. Pentium-M 725 1.60GHz ? 512MB (2x256MB) ? 60GB ? DVD+/-RW ? USB2.0/Firewire/Modem/LAN/WLAN 802.11b/g ? 12" WXGA TFT (1280x800) ? 1.80kg no bluetooth

http://www.tigersclaw.de/prod/s260/s2601.jpg
http://www.tigersclaw.de/prod/s260/s2602.jpg
http://www.tigersclaw.de/prod/s260/s2603.jpg
http://www.tigersclaw.de/prod/s260/s2605.jpg
http://www.tigersclaw.de/prod/s260/s2606.jpg

sweet, eh? found a 24 page long thread with couple of users who already bought one and they seem to be very happy with their buy. The only complaints was about speaker sound quality, the missing bluetooth, and a lil noise of the fan in some of the books. One guy turned off the fan completely and temperatures would never went higher than 68°C. Batterylife was 4 hours when surfing.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

and naked http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=159&t=71018&img=1&p=1

 

[NeBaWONG]

where does one buy these MSI notebooks? I can't find any stores in the U.S.... ones that have websites.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

They are new and it seems MSI is focussing the european market with the Megabooks series(S260, S270 with great onboard RX480 and M635 with X700) first before it comes to the States. Gotta buy them in a european shop. there are about 10-20 shops in Germany selling them starting at 1100 Euros. http://www.geizhals.at/deutschland/?fs=Msi+megabook&x=0&y=0&in=

i seen the black version, which isnt half as beauty as the white model in a shop located in UK for 750 pounds and in a NZ online shop for 2200NZ$.

 

[govtcheez75]

I have a 12" with combo drive. I had a laptop with a Dual Layer DVD burner, and never really used that to burn any DVD's, so i couldn't justify getting a Superdrive. Microcenter had a deal of a century a while back, where they were selling brand new Rev.C 12" powerbooks (1.33ghz) for only $1000 after rebate. I couldn't pass up. I used to have the Rev.A model, which I loved too, but ran too hot for my liking.

 

[jdiddy]

Looks like the 12" is the laptop of choice OP.

 

[BRObedoza]

just bought a 12" powerbook with superdrive. burned plenty of dvd's already. i love it

 

[Zukatah]

12" because portability is a must for a laptop and buy a nice LCD to go with it if you plan to use it for long periods of time at your desk. You'll have more screen estate that way when working at home and better portability!

 

[jammur21]

Kipper, be sure to get the keyboard screen protector to prevent the keys from leaving grease marks on that beautiful screen of yours.

I miss my 1.25 G4, 15" Superdrive Alum Powerbook.
The 1.0 15" Superdrive TITANIUM before it sucked.

 

[SLCentral]

I say 15". I have had a 12 and 15" in the past, and right now I am using the 15". The backlit keyboard is awesome, as is the better video card which helps for various things such as Core Image. Plus, the extra real estate REALLY helps in Photoshop. It's not big at all either, much less then I thought it would be.

 

[Hacp]

For some reason, the pbs "Seem" much heavier than regular intel notebooks. I compared a 4.5 pound sony viao to the 12 inch pb and the pb seemed way heavier. Maybe its just me though.

 

[hopejr]

You're probably right.