Powerbooks Questions
Is it posible to take the keys off a QWERTY PB 12" and rearrange them in dvorak?
If I want to use an external monitor it must be VGA, right? Which is a good VGA monitor? What's the maximum resolution the 12" PB can handle? Can you mirror with the lid closed?
Do you think the 12" PB will be updated before August this year? Is a 867 MHz fast enough for typical college usage (I am studying Physics) for about 2 years?
Should I order the PB with the RAM maxed out from Apple or would it be better to add it later? Is AppleCare a good investment? Is an extra battery a good purchase?
How good are the Benthaven (sp?) backpacks Apple suggests for the powerbooks? Will I be able to carry anything else besides the laptop?
Thank you.
If I want to use an external monitor it must be VGA, right? Which is a good VGA monitor? What's the maximum resolution the 12" PB can handle? Can you mirror with the lid closed?
Do you think the 12" PB will be updated before August this year? Is a 867 MHz fast enough for typical college usage (I am studying Physics) for about 2 years?
Should I order the PB with the RAM maxed out from Apple or would it be better to add it later? Is AppleCare a good investment? Is an extra battery a good purchase?
How good are the Benthaven (sp?) backpacks Apple suggests for the powerbooks? Will I be able to carry anything else besides the laptop?
Thank you.
Comments
You can use it with a VGA monitor, the PB itself is 1024x768, max res on external monitor is 1600x1200. I think it can do mirroring with the lid closed I believe (12" PB owners can verify this or not).
12" may be upgraded before August, as it'd be right around the 6-8 month usual interval for Apple updates, but I wouldn't count on it 100%. A 12" PB prob could last 2 years of college without too much trouble.
Max the ram immediately, but buy it from an outside source afterwards, not from Apple. Apple charges crazy amts for memory upgrades. Applecare is definitely a good idea if you keep the PB longer than a year. Extra battery? I suppose if you need greater than 3 hrs battery at a time, but I don't really see a need for it.
No clue on the cases.
Is it posible to take the keys off a QWERTY PB 12" and rearrange them in dvorak?
I'm not 100% sure, but if the keyboard is anything like the one on my iBook, you should be able to pop the keys off and rearrange them. You'd have to set a different keyboard layout, and I'm not sure how to do that, but I expect you'll be able to fairly easily.
If I want to use an external monitor it must be VGA, right? Which is a good VGA monitor? What's the maximum resolution the 12" PB can handle? Can you mirror with the lid closed?
The monitor must be VGA, although you can buy adapters (for quite a bit of money) to allow you to connect a DVI or even an ADC monitor. But the connector uses VGA, so generally that's all you can use. A good VGA monitor if you have enough room would be basically any good 17" or 19" CRT - both provide a lot of screen area if you want a bit more than the built in 12" LCD provides. You can have up to 1600x1200 resolution on an external display. And although the machine will go to sleep upon closing the lid, I think (not sure) it will work if you connect an external keyboard and press the space bar to wake it up after closing - this works with my dad's 15" PowerBook, I just don't know if it applies to the 12".
Do you think the 12" PB will be updated before August this year? Is a 867 MHz fast enough for typical college usage (I am studying Physics) for about 2 years?
Well, it was released in January so August will be eight months later - I believe it will get a minor update sometime in the summer. It might possibly take longer, but I doubt it. The current model should be fine for typical use for a couple years. Think about this - two years ago, the original Titanium PowerBook G4s were released. They are still quite usable today, although some people might want to replace them around now. But I definitely think you'll get two years of use out of it.
Should I order the PB with the RAM maxed out from Apple or would it be better to add it later? Is AppleCare a good investment? Is an extra battery a good purchase?
Get the maximum amount of RAM, but don't order it from Apple. They charge an extra $50 to replace the 128 MB SODIMM with a 256 MB one - but NewEgg.com has 256 MB SODIMMs for only $35, and they're a good brand, Kingston. You can also get a 512 MB DDR SODIMM for about $100. AppleCare is DEFINITELY a good investment and you should get it sometime. You can buy it up to one year after you buy the computer. As far as an extra battery - only get one if you think you'll be using your computer on the road without a power source for a long time. Batteries tend to lose their ability to hold a charge, even if they're not in use, so you shouldn't get another one until your first one dies. And if you have AppleCare, you can get a replacement battery for free.
How good are the Benthaven (sp?) backpacks Apple suggests for the powerbooks? Will I be able to carry anything else besides the laptop?
Really don't know on this one, I've always kept my iBook in my regular backpack.
I'd say get a regular laptop bag from Brenthaven or Timbuk2. Their bags come with padded sleeves you can insert into a regular backpack.