Powerbook G4

[randomlinh]

good meaning less that $300

my friend just got a 12" powerbook and he's in love w/ it. my roommate is getting his dad's 15" powerbook (and his dad is waiting on the 17"). i want one now too....

 

[Wuzup101]

lol... I also want a pair of thx speakers for the dorm... where the heck am i gonna get $4k??? haha... I need a job!

 

[human2k]

GOD, I absolutely love the apple TI books, too bad poor people like me cant afford macs . Maybe one day apple will switch to x86 and make their prices a bit more realistic.

 

[FlippyBoy]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
lol... I also want a pair of thx speakers for the dorm... where the heck am i gonna get $4k??? haha... I need a job!

you can probably find a good deal in the hot deals forum on the logitech z-560's. for a dorm room, i dont think you can do any better than those.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: human2k
GOD, I absolutely love the apple TI books, too bad poor people like me cant afford macs . Maybe one day apple will switch to x86 and make their prices a bit more realistic.

Assuming you still have to buy the boxes and what-not from them, the prices will be just as high. Their profits are in hardware sales; everything else(except maybe MacOS X Server) is a loss.

 

[RichieZ]

I'm also looking at these powerbooks, I have Thinkpad T20 P3 700 and I'm gonna get a new laptop next year. However I think it will come down to the Pentium-M (banias core) equiped Thinkpad T and the 15" powerbook (are they gonna update the specs on this guy anytime soon?).

I don't think its quite fair you compare the ti book to those desknote computers, a better comparison would be the highend P4-M and the upcoming Pentium-M. As for fit and finish the Thinkpad T series are great, they are also titanium (well titanium composite) but it doesn't look as sexy as the ti book.

 

[swanky]

If you're serious about getting a PowerBook, you should check out the forums at MacNN.com - probably the best place to pick up user's comment.

And another thing; there's not one stupid "Mac sucks"-post here! God, I love Anandtech!

swanky

 

[Wuzup101]

Man ... yeah I have no clue how I got away with out the mac sucks posts. All the searches I turned up were "mac sucks" haha....

My dad talked to a few friends at work that have them... and they also all love them.

And yes... the Z-560's will most likely be the ones going in the dorm, in fact I might buy them this week!

 

[BarneyFife]

If you are a student, join the apple developer club which costs $99 and you will be able to get a developer discount on all apple hardware which is HUGE.

 

[Wuzup101]

How exactly do I go about doing this. When you say huge... how huge are we talking here. I mean the student discount on the powerbooks is like $150... which is some money... but in reality it is like 5%.

 

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by: human2k
GOD, I absolutely love the apple TI books, too bad poor people like me cant afford macs . Maybe one day apple will switch to x86 and make their prices a bit more realistic.

That is not the issue. Even if it were; such a "solution" would yield only heavier, hotter, more power-consuming machines, requiring more ventilation, and therefore less appealing cases, leaving Apple in the same position as the PC vendors.

(I'm from the MacNN forum, linked above, btw - somebody linked to this thread over there).

The Apple laptops are superb. Laptop wise, I've got a 600 MHz iBook and a 1.2GHz P3 Dell machine; both of those are going, and will be replaced by a PC tower (A7N8X, unless I wait for the Opterons), and either a 12" PowerBook (revision B - as a rule, I never buy Rev. A), or a 15" once the machine gets updated.

The difference between the iBook and the Dell is astonishing. I love both machines, don't get me wrong; but the iBook is so much more polished. No portrusions at all; no surfaces to catch on anything, no unconformities in the finish, and everything sitting perfectly flush. The Dell is a much different story, and even has a fan on the bottom.

The iBook has a silent fan (yes, literally, silent - you wouldn't know it had one unless you took one apart - oh, and if anyone wants to see pics of the iBook taken apart, completely, just ask - had to do that a few weeks ago to a couple of machines. I'll do the same as soon as I get the 12"/15" too), and that's it. You wouldn't even know it had one. The only noise comes from the hard drive.

As for OSX, well - I'm still adjusting. It's amazing, don't get me wrong; but nowhere near as polished and refined as OS9 was, GUI wise. That said, it's a completely different beast, and I'm not comparing the two, so let's not get off topic.

The original poster mentioned video editing; I do a fair bit of that myself. The 17" comes with FireWire 800 as well as standard 6-pin powered FireWire (400), which may be relevant in the future, for vid editing. Either way - Final Cut Pro 3 is the most brilliant piece of software, ever. It blows every other video editing suite out of the water.

FCP3 + AE5 == incredible.

You won't regret the purchase, but I *really* suggest you play with a 17" for a while - you need to realise how huge it is.

 

[smp]

Originally posted by: swanky
If you're serious about getting a PowerBook, you should check out the forums at MacNN.com - probably the best place to pick up user's comment.

And another thing; there's not one stupid "Mac sucks"-post here! God, I love Anandtech!

swanky

yes, the absence of any mac bashers in this thread is making me wonder. Better days at AT?

I'm just gonna pipe in with my "I have an iBook and it's the best piece of hardware I've ever owned" comment.. fink, X11, wireless ... dream come true.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Cipher13(I'm from the MacNN forum, linked above, btw - somebody linked to this thread over there).

Heh. That would be me. Welcome to AnandTech. We will slowly corrupt you...

The iBook has a silent fan (yes, literally, silent - you wouldn't know it had one unless you took one apart - oh, and if anyone wants to see pics of the iBook taken apart, completely, just ask - had to do that a few weeks ago to a couple of machines. I'll do the same as soon as I get the 12"/15" too), and that's it. You wouldn't even know it had one. The only noise comes from the hard drive.

Yeah, my iBook was silent too, but my 15" TiBook isn't. I wonder if the new 15.4" Aluminum PowerBooks (not yet announced but expected in a few months, for those who don't know) will sport the new 7457 0.13u chips. If so they may be quieter - less heat output.

As for OSX, well - I'm still adjusting. It's amazing, don't get me wrong; but nowhere near as polished and refined as OS9 was, GUI wise. That said, it's a completely different beast, and I'm not comparing the two, so let's not get off topic.

I have found that Windows geeks in general more often dislike OS 9 but like OS X. OS 9 is fast but unstable. OS X is whole new world.

You won't regret the purchase, but I *really* suggest you play with a 17" for a while - you need to realise how huge it is.

Agreed. Even my 15" TiBook seems a bit big, after I got used to the 12" iBook. I prefer the smaller dpi (bigger text) of the TiBook, but I preferred the portability of the 12" iBook. Had the 12" PowerBook existed when I bought the TiBook, I would have seriously considered it. The lack of PCMCIA would possibly have held me back though, not sure. (The 12" AluBook doesn't have DVI or an L3 cache, either.)

As for the absence of Mac bashers, I think it has to do with the hardware. Post PowerMac info, and you'll tons of Mac bashers. Indeed, while the OS and software is excellent, the bottom line is that PowerMacs are expensive pieces of equipment for the speed. Nice, but VERY expensive. OTOH, laptops are simply expensive in general, whether or x86 or Mac. The Mac laptop pricing is very competitive, especially when you consider the fit and polish of them. To get build quality similar to it with the same set of features often costs MORE in an x86 laptop. (ie. When you consider weight, size, power, connections, built-in peripherals, wireless, etc.) When was the last time you saw an x86 laptop with DVD-R burner, wireless, 15" screen, powered Firewire, 4 hour battery life, etc. for under 5.5 lbs, at ANY price? The closest thing I've found is an IBM T30, but it costs more and weighs more.

 

[MonstaThrilla]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
How exactly do I go about doing this. When you say huge... how huge are we talking here. I mean the student discount on the powerbooks is like $150... which is some money... but in reality it is like 5%.

I was able to find the ADC Store on the apple website. The $1999 12" PowerBook costs $1599. If I log into my school's store, the $1999 Powerbook costs $1889. So for hardware purchases, the ADC seems a better go (even with the $99 membership fee) for students.

 

[SuperGroove]

I love my PB, but wish that I had a 12" PB. The only quibble I have with my Powerbook, is the poor hinge construction. Oh...and the paint...the paint sucks. I've heard the new AlBooks won't suffer from peeling paint.

Paul
-former IBM T23 owner

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: Funyuns101
i'd get a powerbook if i could afford one... along with the expensive software like micrsoft apps. i do like the new os "jagwire" X.2 and the fact that it recognizes a mouse w/two buttons. i think 17" is kinda overkill, but since you're willing to deal w/the weight and might be using as a desktop replacement, then by all means, go for it.
i'm sure it can't be all that loud especially when you're comparing to the other notebooks out there. given the chance, i know i would... i would like to upgrade my little 15" monitor as it's not qutie the same when watching movies, tv-ing, or gaming.

Thats "Jaguar", Mac OS X v. 10.2

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: human2k
GOD, I absolutely love the apple TI books, too bad poor people like me cant afford macs . Maybe one day apple will switch to x86 and make their prices a bit more realistic.

Same here, my budget is far too little to buy a Apple, much less a Powerbook. Then I would also buy Virtual PC. Cash loss is why I stay with PCs.

 

[Eug]

Thats "Jaguar", Mac OS X v. 10.2

"Jagwire" is a pet name for it, since Jobs pronounces it that way for some strange reason.

I love my PB, but wish that I had a 12" PB. The only quibble I have with my Powerbook, is the poor hinge construction. Oh...and the paint...the paint sucks. I've heard the new AlBooks won't suffer from peeling paint.

Rumour has it that the new TiBooks use a slightly different paint process. Time will tell, but I have had no problems with my paint in any case. And the new AluBooks are not painted. They use hard-anodized aluminum.

 

[Wuzup101]

I don't think I want to shell out that $3300 now for a laptop for some reason. I think I'm going to go with a newly built pc desktop with all the goodies. And i'm also going to get either a 12" powerbook or a very compact pc notebook. However, for the money, the apple actualyl seems like a better deal in the notebook feature wise. Most of the ultra compact pc notebooks feature a pIII mobile that is no faster than the G4 mhz for mhz. The fastest I've seen are like 1.13 pIII m's and even that I doubt would be any faster than the G4 867mhz. I'm not sure if I really want the super drive. I might just get the combo drive because in reality I don't need a dvd burner in my notebook, and I could get a faster one in the near future for a decent price and put it in the desktop wich will more than likely have alteast 200gigs of storage and 1-2gigs of ram. I'm also going to opt for the highest end video card at the time... maybe the new radeon's will be out by then (well highest ati card anyway unless nvidia gets on the ball). I have some parts from my current system that will go into the next saving me some money (almost new enermax 431watt psu, pioneer 16x dvd, alpha 8045 hs if i go amd). So a real nice gaming / photo editing rig will be put together.

I kinda sat down and thought about it, and I think I'm just going to worry about using the laptop for taking notes, listening to tunes on the go, watching dvd movies, etc.... The 12" powerbook would make sence because of it's price (which is comparable to other compact pc notebooks), ease of use, and well... looks. Not to mention the light weight and long ass battery life. I think I'm goinig to sign up for that developers program just because I think it would be cool to be in. And it shuld get me a decent price. I'm looking at spending maybe $1500 on the desktop and whatever I need to on the ibook. I'll probably also pick up a nice set of THX speakers, a 19inch flat CRT, and a small external hdd to hold all my music so I can listen to it on both computers.

 

[FlippyBoy]

the only probem with the things you've picked out is how are you gonna study with all those cool toys??

seriously, i think you'll be very happy with those choices.

 

[gsimmons]

I bought my first PC in 1986, it was a 10MHz 286 w/2MB of RAM, and it ran Windows 2.0 (really well I might add!)

Suffice it to say that I've been a PC guy for going on 20 years! I've been a PC/Un*x/Linux guy for nearly 10 years of that.

After I read a review of Mac's OS in Linux Journal magazine last April (an outstanding article by Doc Searls - Senior Editor and a co-worker - that RAVED about OSX,) I decided to purchase an 800MHz TiBook G4 DVI in June. This was also after my getting some time, over the previous year's Christmas, on my brother-in-law's new Power Mac, and being thoroughly impressed by OS X.

I've had buyer's remourse everytime I bought a PC, and I've bought several, including purchasing an Hitachi Laptop 233MHz PII from my employer for $300. I've had this Powerbook for almost a year, and I am loving it more and more EVERY day! I bought it as a business laptop replacement for my Hitachi. It was the first time I was willing to spend REAL money on a laptop. BTW, I still run several Windows boxes here at home including a Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Professional under Virtual PC on my Powerbook. I can't count how many times Windows has crashed on me, corrupting its registry, forcing me to re-load the machine, on ALL these PC's. Windows 2000 even crashed and nuked itself under Virtual PC, although, only once.

My Powerbook G4 hasn't crashed even once. And when I discovered CarbonCopyCloner, I was able to fully back it up to an external Firewire Drive I bought. (The Powerbook even boots from an External Firewire drive!! Try that with a PC!!)

Just recently, I discovered, GIMP-Print, and Open-Source, Free Printer enhancement to OS X from SourceForge. After, a very clean install under OSX, and finding Open-Source Printer Drivers direct from HP, I am able to print from my Mac onto my HP DeskJet 880C attached to my Windows 2000 Advanced Server!!! I can't even get this printer to work this good on a Client Windows 2000 Professional PC. OPEN SOURCE RULES!!

I just can't say enough good things about my TiBook G4, except that I'm working on getting a DVD-R,RW upgrade for it from MCE Tech (www.mcetech.com) through my Apple dealer. In effect, this will breathe NEW Life into my one-year old TiBook for only $299. I just got a Digital Video Camera for Christmas, and I want to burn my own DVD's!

Try it!! You'll never want to go back!!