Recommended Powerbook Stuff
OK, I finally took the plunge and switched from desktop to notebook. I couldn't resist the newest powerbook offerings. I did quite a bit of research and I figure some of you pondering a similar purchase may benefit from my experiences.
Powerbook Purchase
I bought the powerbook from <a href="http://www.macsupportstore.com"; target="_blank">JUMP Systems</a>, an authorized Apple reseller in NYC. Log in with "client" as user name and "jump" as password. They have the lowest prices on powerbooks, without question. I was able to custom congfigure my purchase over the phone. I got a GHz PB with CDRW and 40 GB HD for $2500. They were very responsive to questions. I was able to track the shipment originating from Apple in Taiwan. Five star purchase experience.
Laptop Sleeve
I needed something to safely carry the powerbook. <a href="http://www.pbzone.com/bags.shtml"; target="_blank">Powerbookzone.com</a> has a great page linking to different Apple-friendly notebook bag manufactureres. I really liked the <a href="http://www.booqbags.com/notebooq.html"; target="_blank">NoteBooq</a> from a company called Booq. The bag is only sold online. My shipment arrived quickly. The Booq bag is solid, durable, attractive, and practical.
Wireless Router
I wanted to ditch some cords and the airport card included with the GHz PB made me take the plung into wireless networking. Airport base stations were outrageously expensive, so I looked for alternatives. I settled on the
<a href="http://www.netgear.com/products/prod_details.asp?prodID=151&view="; target="_blank">Netgear MR814</a> wireless router. It was available for about $70 after a $30 rebate. It's one of the only wireless routers that has a nice design as well. Works great, though it is a bit large. Tech support at Netgear was top-notch.
Laptop Stand
After a few days of staring down at the notebook on my desk, I started looking around for a stand. I settled on the <a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/icurve/index.html"; target="_blank">iCurve</a> from Griffin. I got it for $30 from J&R. The item is beautifully manufactured and places the powerbook screen at the exact hieght of my Studio Display CRT. Perfect! The only room for improvement would be some sort of wire/cable management.
Scanner
I needed to be able to scan things, and I wanted a scanner as mobile as my computer. I decided to go with the <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/html/conCprProductDetail.jsp?minisite=10000&item=6633&m odelid=6623§ion=10217" target="_blank">Canon LiDE 30</a>. This scanner is unvelievably slim, light, and very portable. It also gets power from USB, so it has minimal cord requirements. The driver installation is a bit sucky, and the interface on the scanning software has room for improvement. But everything works without a problem in OS X and the scans are perfect. The scanner is a bit slow, compared to my old SCSI UMAX scanner.
That's all I have for you now. I'm considering a wireless print server so I can ditch the cable conection to my printer.
Anyone with similar experiences or recommendations, feel free to add to the list.
Powerbook Purchase
I bought the powerbook from <a href="http://www.macsupportstore.com"; target="_blank">JUMP Systems</a>, an authorized Apple reseller in NYC. Log in with "client" as user name and "jump" as password. They have the lowest prices on powerbooks, without question. I was able to custom congfigure my purchase over the phone. I got a GHz PB with CDRW and 40 GB HD for $2500. They were very responsive to questions. I was able to track the shipment originating from Apple in Taiwan. Five star purchase experience.
Laptop Sleeve
I needed something to safely carry the powerbook. <a href="http://www.pbzone.com/bags.shtml"; target="_blank">Powerbookzone.com</a> has a great page linking to different Apple-friendly notebook bag manufactureres. I really liked the <a href="http://www.booqbags.com/notebooq.html"; target="_blank">NoteBooq</a> from a company called Booq. The bag is only sold online. My shipment arrived quickly. The Booq bag is solid, durable, attractive, and practical.
Wireless Router
I wanted to ditch some cords and the airport card included with the GHz PB made me take the plung into wireless networking. Airport base stations were outrageously expensive, so I looked for alternatives. I settled on the
<a href="http://www.netgear.com/products/prod_details.asp?prodID=151&view="; target="_blank">Netgear MR814</a> wireless router. It was available for about $70 after a $30 rebate. It's one of the only wireless routers that has a nice design as well. Works great, though it is a bit large. Tech support at Netgear was top-notch.
Laptop Stand
After a few days of staring down at the notebook on my desk, I started looking around for a stand. I settled on the <a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/icurve/index.html"; target="_blank">iCurve</a> from Griffin. I got it for $30 from J&R. The item is beautifully manufactured and places the powerbook screen at the exact hieght of my Studio Display CRT. Perfect! The only room for improvement would be some sort of wire/cable management.
Scanner
I needed to be able to scan things, and I wanted a scanner as mobile as my computer. I decided to go with the <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/html/conCprProductDetail.jsp?minisite=10000&item=6633&m odelid=6623§ion=10217" target="_blank">Canon LiDE 30</a>. This scanner is unvelievably slim, light, and very portable. It also gets power from USB, so it has minimal cord requirements. The driver installation is a bit sucky, and the interface on the scanning software has room for improvement. But everything works without a problem in OS X and the scans are perfect. The scanner is a bit slow, compared to my old SCSI UMAX scanner.
That's all I have for you now. I'm considering a wireless print server so I can ditch the cable conection to my printer.
Anyone with similar experiences or recommendations, feel free to add to the list.
Comments
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