12" PowerBook
I'm looking into getting a new PowerBook. My old PowerBook ( 15" 667 DVI ) is 3 years old already and the AppleCare is going to expire on it coming up in mid-july. I'm looking into getting a 12" PowerBook because I would like the smaler size. With student discounts, I can get the high-end 12" down to $1500. There is also a $100 rebate if I buy before June 25 or 26. An equally equipped 15" PowerBook would be around $2000. So here is the way I see things (the 15" vs the 12"):
I'm a Computer Science student (graduating in August). I've been very happy with my current PowerBook thus far. I plan on using this new PowerBook even more as a main computer than I do now. I just need something that will do what I will be using it for. I really only use my PowerBook for the following things:
15" screen @ 1280x854 vs. 12" @ 1024x768
This could be an issue. Since programming is my thing, screen real-estate can be a big issue. On the other hand, I don't know that I really *need* all that screen real-estate to program. I also have a 20" Dell 2005FPW hooked up to my desktop. I can use that as an external monitor to the 12" if I really need the extra screen space at home.
2GB of RAM maximum vs 1.25 GB of RAM maximum
This really isn't an issue for me. I might run GIMP or Photoshop to resize photos or something, but I don't do heavy graphics editing. Being mostly a programmer, I don't see myself needing that much RAM. Until a few months ago I survived OS X on 256 megs of RAM because I was too lazy to upgrade. (btw, it's a lot smoother with 768 now). So this is really a moot point.
S-Video out vs no S-Video out
I've just discovered there there are miniDVI to S-Video/Composite adapters, so this is sort of a moot point.
a PCMCIA slot vs no PCMCIA slot
The only deal with this for me is for wireless. Since KisMAC doesn't support passive mode on the Airport Extreme card. There are supported USB adapters that use one of the prism chipsets. I've posted a question about this part to netstumbler.org as well. The only difference between the PCMCIA cards and USB to me is that there are 200mW PCMCIA cards with external antenna connectors, but you need to hack external connectors onto the USB adapters.
Tiger screen rotation supported vs. not supported
Not a big issue. I don't use that feature even in windows on my desktop with the 20" LCD. It's a cool feature that I probably wouldn't use unless my setup was with 2 20" LCDs (one portrait, and one landscape).
10/100/1000 Ethernet vs 10/100 Ethernet
My desktop has this on-board, but my switch at home is 10/100 and my server only has a 10/100 3COM card, so for now this isn't a big deal. I've also heard that the internal buses on the PowerBook would be a bottleneck to reaching full Gigabit speeds anyways.
15" has Firewire 800 but the 12" doesn't
I haven't even seen any FireWire2 devices, so to me this is a non-issue.
Conclusion:
That's really it. I would rather have stuff like PCMCIA and such, but I don't think that I can justify $500 more just to get an equally equipped 15". The biggest things that I see as drawbacks are the lower resolution and the
lack of PCMCIA. If anyone else can think of any significant differences between the two, please post them. I'd really like to hear what you all think. It would be good to hear from people that have 12" PowerBooks and are in similar positions and such. As a side note, how much do you think that I could get for my old PowerBook (15" PowerBook DVI 667 / 30GB harddrive / 768MB RAM / Combo Drive / New Battery)?
PS: Hope you like the nicely formatted post ;-)
- 15" screen @ 1280x854 vs. 12" @ 1024x768
- 2GB of RAM maximum vs 1.25 GB of RAM maximum
- S-Video out vs no S-Video out.
- a PCMCIA slot vs no PCMCIA slot
- Tiger screen rotation supported vs. not supported
- 10/100/1000 Ethernet vs 10/100 Ethernet
- 15" has Firewire 800 but the 12" doesn't
I'm a Computer Science student (graduating in August). I've been very happy with my current PowerBook thus far. I plan on using this new PowerBook even more as a main computer than I do now. I just need something that will do what I will be using it for. I really only use my PowerBook for the following things:
- Programming
- MS Office to do reports and such
- Web Browsing
- Run Apache/PHP/MySQL to test out PHP/MySQL scripts
- Network stuff (ssh into my server and such)
- Fooling around with iPhoto/Photoshop/GIMP with my photos (have a 5MP digital camera)
- Wardriving (I want to get into this a little)
- Chatting (IRC/AIM/etc)
- Burning DVDs ( have automated backups and such, right now I just use my desktop to burn the DVDs )
- Read manga scanslations (this could be the only thing that would get really annoying on the smaller screen)
- Scanning (I might get a scanner and use this to backup old documents)
15" screen @ 1280x854 vs. 12" @ 1024x768
This could be an issue. Since programming is my thing, screen real-estate can be a big issue. On the other hand, I don't know that I really *need* all that screen real-estate to program. I also have a 20" Dell 2005FPW hooked up to my desktop. I can use that as an external monitor to the 12" if I really need the extra screen space at home.
2GB of RAM maximum vs 1.25 GB of RAM maximum
This really isn't an issue for me. I might run GIMP or Photoshop to resize photos or something, but I don't do heavy graphics editing. Being mostly a programmer, I don't see myself needing that much RAM. Until a few months ago I survived OS X on 256 megs of RAM because I was too lazy to upgrade. (btw, it's a lot smoother with 768 now). So this is really a moot point.
S-Video out vs no S-Video out
I've just discovered there there are miniDVI to S-Video/Composite adapters, so this is sort of a moot point.
a PCMCIA slot vs no PCMCIA slot
The only deal with this for me is for wireless. Since KisMAC doesn't support passive mode on the Airport Extreme card. There are supported USB adapters that use one of the prism chipsets. I've posted a question about this part to netstumbler.org as well. The only difference between the PCMCIA cards and USB to me is that there are 200mW PCMCIA cards with external antenna connectors, but you need to hack external connectors onto the USB adapters.
Tiger screen rotation supported vs. not supported
Not a big issue. I don't use that feature even in windows on my desktop with the 20" LCD. It's a cool feature that I probably wouldn't use unless my setup was with 2 20" LCDs (one portrait, and one landscape).
10/100/1000 Ethernet vs 10/100 Ethernet
My desktop has this on-board, but my switch at home is 10/100 and my server only has a 10/100 3COM card, so for now this isn't a big deal. I've also heard that the internal buses on the PowerBook would be a bottleneck to reaching full Gigabit speeds anyways.
15" has Firewire 800 but the 12" doesn't
I haven't even seen any FireWire2 devices, so to me this is a non-issue.
Conclusion:
That's really it. I would rather have stuff like PCMCIA and such, but I don't think that I can justify $500 more just to get an equally equipped 15". The biggest things that I see as drawbacks are the lower resolution and the
lack of PCMCIA. If anyone else can think of any significant differences between the two, please post them. I'd really like to hear what you all think. It would be good to hear from people that have 12" PowerBooks and are in similar positions and such. As a side note, how much do you think that I could get for my old PowerBook (15" PowerBook DVI 667 / 30GB harddrive / 768MB RAM / Combo Drive / New Battery)?
PS: Hope you like the nicely formatted post ;-)
Comments
I know that 'purchasing advise' has switched between 'Genius Bar' and 'General Discussion' at least once while I've been a member unless I'm mistaken. If that's the case, feel free to move it to Insider Lounge, mods.
Originally posted by theapplegenius
i think, as a programmer, you should shoot for the 15 or even 17 inch. The screen real estate is great. and the 17" is just damn sexy!
No offense, but personally I think that the 17" is right up there with the Alienware 10 pound laptops. It might not be as heavy, but it's way too big for me. I mean, I like my 20" Dell monitor at 1680x1050, but I don't want to lug a laptop with that as it's LCD around. It may be fine for people that need the screen real-estate like graphic designers that deal with high resolution graphics or something though.
Personally I really like the smaller size of the 12". I already know how much screen real-estate the 15" PowerBook has. I'm just unsure if I'm going to regret getting the smaller screen real-estate though. I'll probably be getting this as my main laptop for the next couple of years (hopefully). I don't want to 'have' to get another laptop, even if I land a job out of college where I can afford it.
I guess the most valuable input to me would be people with similar experiences. People that have downgraded from a 15" to a 12" PB or people that just program on a 12" PB. Like I said, I already have 15" PB and it would be cool if my replacement could be smaller. That, and I would rather not spend the extra $500 unless I'm really going to regret it. If I'm going to regret the smaller screen size and/or lack of PCMCIA, then the entire purchase might as well have been a waste of money. Though I welcome any input people may have on this.