12 inch or 15 inch Powerbook?
Hello. I am weighing upon getting the 12 inch or the 15 inch superdrive G4 Powerbook for personal use. I've previously own an Apple Macintosh SE (if I recall the model correctly) way back. Anyway, my main uses for the laptop will primarily be word processing, Internet and music. I am planning to replace this Powerbook over my desktop PC. My questions are:
1) By all means, is it worth spending the extra bucks for the 15 inch over the 12 inch?
2) Is it necessary to upgrade the video card and the hard drive for the 15 inch?
3) Is it a good time now to get a Powerbook? Or should I wait for another Rev?
Thanks!
1) By all means, is it worth spending the extra bucks for the 15 inch over the 12 inch?
2) Is it necessary to upgrade the video card and the hard drive for the 15 inch?
3) Is it a good time now to get a Powerbook? Or should I wait for another Rev?
Thanks!
Comments
I am planning to use the Mac as a 'long term' PC replacement at home and would love a DVD burner, since my current PC does not even read DVD-R (kinda just want to keep up with technology here, you know what I mean?). Also, I would most likely get VPC7 for future work purposes.
-Matt
it comes down to the screen.
My brother has a 12", it is realy nice and he loves it.
When I bought my PB one month ago I was in the same situation as you are now and decided to go with the 15", the additional screen realestate is great. I don't use the backlit keyboard very often, but it is nice to have when you need it once in a while (somehow better than thinking "damn I could use the backlit keyboard now").
I suggest upgrading the HD, check barefeats why:
http://www.barefeats.com/pb12.html
I cannot help you with question 3, my only tip is stop visiting the future hardware thread once you bought your PB.
If I were to go with the 12 inch SuperDrive, should I get the standard 60GB over the 80GB hard drive and add a 20GB or 40GB/60GB iPod to my order? I'm no music fan but I figured that the iPod can be my external hard drive of some sort. Or should I just go with the 80GB hard drive and no iPod? I mean, is there a significant difference in the extra rpm for the hard drive in the PowerBook (60GB 4200rpm and 80GB 5400rpm)?
I recommend an external firewire case with standard Pioneer DVD burner. That way you get:
1. a cheaper (or at least equivalent) option to burn dvds
2. faster writing for the same money
3. a second optical drive for disk-to-disk copies
That is what I did and it is much more convenient. Plus, I can connect it to any firewire equiped PC or Mac to do backups etc.
Cheers
Things that matter (in order of importance):
1. 15" screen is simply more real estate
- This is really what is comes down to. I played a lot with both before buying. Even though the 12" display is great, if you work with more than one window at a time you might get frustrated. (Keep in mind that apps like Photoshop or Word have satellite windows for formatting, etc. You'll want the room.)
2. AirPort reception in the 15" is not good (802.11b)
- I shudder to think of the range on an 802.11g network
3. Battery life is so-so
- Not a big problem unless you take long flights, in which case buy an extra battery.
4. 15" can have 80GB HD.
- You can always get an external for spillover storage, but that defeats the all-in-one idea. I like not having to think about space left.
Things that don't matter:
1. The history of screen problems ("white clouds")
- Issue gone. Different LCD manufacturer. And if you're really unlucky and do have a problem, Apple'll fix it for free.
2. SuperDrive
- As noted, people don't often burn DVDs on the road
3. Backlit keyboard
- Mostly a gee-whiz feature. In the dark, it's actually MUCH better with it off
4. FireWire 800
- Too few peripherals. Besides, unless you're a video professional, you'll never need it.
1 GHz G4/32 MB NVidia
768 MB RAM
80 GB 4200 RPM HDD
Combo Drive
I find the 12" to be great for mobile use. It's light-weight and easy to carry, fits into almost anything (small tote carry-on, backpack, etc.) and is quite speedy for normal tasks. This is my first Mac, however, and I am planning on selling it and "upgrading" to a 15" PowerBook by the end of the year. I am planning on keeping that 15" PowerBook for the next 4-5 years as my primary system, so spending the extra money is ok by me. I think that the 15" screen real-estate will be extremely helpful. The 12" feels "cluttered" much of the time, particularly when you are trying to work with more than one window. The 1024x768 non-widescreen is also annoying at times.
I think the decision comes down to portabiility. The 12" is the most portable notebook computer I've ever seen that actually works without any knick-knacks attached. The optical drive is inside, the wireless card is inside, etc. It's a great system for a college student. However, currently, I don't see much of an advantage in the 12" PB compared to the 12" iBook. Neither have widescreen, the resolution is the same, etc. So, basically you'd be spending more money on the PB for the aluminum and slightly faster/better parts. Not really worth it, IMHO.
It's a tough decision, I know. I'm waiting as long as I can to get a new PowerBook, and I have even considered getting a iMac G5 since making my decision. When I customized the specs online, the iMac G5 and the 15" PB G4 came out to be almost the same price (iMac was actually a little less) with the iMac obviously having much better specs at the end of it. So, we'll see...
Good luck!
I've used both a 12" iBook and 12" PB and the combination of a better graphics card, faster RAM, and availability of upgrading the HD and CD/DVD player won me over.
Cheers,
Originally posted by adamrao
My current system: 12" PowerBook
1 GHz G4/32 MB NVidia
768 MB RAM
80 GB 4200 RPM HDD
Combo Drive
I find the 12" to be great for mobile use. It's light-weight and easy to carry, fits into almost anything (small tote carry-on, backpack, etc.) and is quite speedy for normal tasks. This is my first Mac, however, and I am planning on selling it and "upgrading" to a 15" PowerBook by the end of the year. I am planning on keeping that 15" PowerBook for the next 4-5 years as my primary system, so spending the extra money is ok by me. I think that the 15" screen real-estate will be extremely helpful. The 12" feels "cluttered" much of the time, particularly when you are trying to work with more than one window. The 1024x768 non-widescreen is also annoying at times.
I think the decision comes down to portabiility. The 12" is the most portable notebook computer I've ever seen that actually works without any knick-knacks attached. The optical drive is inside, the wireless card is inside, etc. It's a great system for a college student. However, currently, I don't see much of an advantage in the 12" PB compared to the 12" iBook. Neither have widescreen, the resolution is the same, etc. So, basically you'd be spending more money on the PB for the aluminum and slightly faster/better parts. Not really worth it, IMHO.
It's a tough decision, I know. I'm waiting as long as I can to get a new PowerBook, and I have even considered getting a iMac G5 since making my decision. When I customized the specs online, the iMac G5 and the 15" PB G4 came out to be almost the same price (iMac was actually a little less) with the iMac obviously having much better specs at the end of it. So, we'll see...
Good luck!
If I were to go with the 12 inch SuperDrive, should I get the standard 60GB over the 80GB hard drive and add a 20GB or 40GB/60GB iPod to my order? I'm no music fan but I figured that the iPod can be my external hard drive of some sort. Or should I just go with the 80GB hard drive and no iPod? I mean, is there a significant difference in the extra rpm for the hard drive in the PowerBook (60GB 4200rpm and 80GB 5400rpm)?
That's just what I did and YES, there IS a difference between a 7200 RPM HD vs. a 4200 RPM HD. Not that much of a difference between the 7200 RPM HD and a 5400 RPM HD though.
Cheers,
This is the first PB I've had (out of five) with which I feel totally satisfied. Sure, I would be happy with improved specs, but this is the first one on which I don't feel that I can't do something because the PB is too limited. I've edited movies, burned DVDs, record programs off the radio, written scripts, created large documents (InDesign), and on and on and it all works. When I need a larger workspace I use DVI out (with an adapter) to drive a 22 inch cinema display. I have yet to find something I can't do because the PB lacks the capability.
Unless you really need the 12" PB then I'd suggest the 15" PB. It's only a pound heavier and since you will mostly use this at home weight shouldn't be a problem.
According to your description of how you will use this you may not need a superdrive. I've used it for both making DVDs and backing up large datasets. However, backups can be done just as nicely to a large, external FW hard drive.
If possible, go to an Apple store and check them out in person.
As to when the next rev is coming, we always wonder about that. Probably something will change at MWSF in January, if not before then. You could wait for the next rev and then if you don't like it you could pick up the current version more cheaply on a close-out. On the other hand, that means three or four more months of living without a nice PB. It is a dilemma, a nicer one is always just around the corner.
tling:
Both the 12 inch and 15 inch PBs have the same size battery (50WHrs). The 12" PB uses a tad less power. Apples rates them with a 30 minute longer battery life.
5.5hrs bat life, great screen light and if you're not getting a superdrive(i agree with the above--get a stand alone system) save some bucks and get the ibook
i was to get the 15 too big, 12 great but too $$$$ i got the ibook for the bat life and not looking back the pb does allow connection to an additional screen. my airport reception is stunning best of all