Should I wait for the 15" PB?

cogcog
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Howdy folks...

From the cornucopia of information that is AI I am confident you will provide some much needed guidance for me.



My company will purchase a new portable computer for me and of course, I am getting a PB. My question is should I wait for the 15" with all of the bells and whistles of the current 17? The 17 size seems a bit intimidating for a true portable (I will be traveling a good bit) and it certainly has the power I need, as well as features.



My good ol' Bronze G3 could probably get me by for now, provided the wait isn't more than a couple of months (as rumored).



Thanks in advance...long live capitalism.



Cog
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    I have a 17 and i love it. though the screen is freekin huge, the rest of the machine shrinks around it. it is not too big as you will get used to it. However if you do not use apps that have a lot of pallattes or require screen size. even in Word it is nice to see two screens side by side.



    the question is will you make use of a bigger screen. if you can then go for it. This machine is not as big as it seems. It still takes up the same relative space. such as it still fills your lap as a 15 would. It still takes up basically the same amount of table space and you still have to carry it in a computer bag.



    my opinnion is: ARE YOU CRAZY!!! if your work is going to buy it for you get the better machine. There is no guarantee that the new 15inch will have firewire 800 and a lightup keyboard. don't be shy, be BOLD and brave. Get the PB 17 with a gig of ram, an Airport extreme base station and the special backpack carry case.



    my PB 17 is the most stable machine i have ever had so i do have a biased opinion
  • Reply 2 of 48
    mggmgg Posts: 124member
    My personal opnion is that you should wait until the 15 in. pb comes out. The 17 in. al book is cool, but if your traveling a bunch and don't mind waiting the 15 is probably more practical. I think that it would be well worth your wait. Again-Just my opinion.



    -MGG
  • Reply 3 of 48
    cogcog Posts: 40member
    Okay JC...you are pushing the the direction I am leaning and it is good to hear your perspective...Your point about not truly knowing the upcoming options on the PB is well taken....



    So far, I am leaning toward the 17.



    Thanks for your response.



    cog
  • Reply 4 of 48
    The decision between the 15" and the 17" is a toughie, but if you decide that the 17" is too big, then I would definitely recommend the current 15". Remember, it's always better to have the last of a generation than the first - by the last, they've got the kinks worked out as best they can, but in the first generation they're busy introducing new problems^Wfeatures to the line.
  • Reply 5 of 48
    applemasterapplemaster Posts: 144member
    I'm waiting for the new 15". I don't think it should be too long considering that the current 15" is lacking some of the features of the 12" and 17".
  • Reply 6 of 48
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cog

    So far, I am leaning toward the 17.



    Cog: Have you considered a current (or future) 15-inch PowerBook with a 20" ACD (or other external monitor) for your desk? As nice as the 17-inch PowerBook is, I'd hate to lug around a laptop of that size. Personally, I'm shooting for a Rev.B 12-inch PowerBook with external LCD for later this year. With a (relatively) small laptop and an external monitor you can get a big screen at home/office and good portability on the road. You just have to figure out how much screen you actually need (to work and carry) while you're traveling.



    Escher
  • Reply 7 of 48
    cogcog Posts: 40member
    Okay...Escher and Karma make some excellent points...portability may be more important to me than I first thought...



    Can the 12 crunch video (Final Cut Express) and mirror or pan with an LCD. I know I could do the research but y'all seem to have this information at the tip of your fingers.



    Cost wise maybe a 12 with an LCD is a good option. Of course, Karma's comments on a current 15 are interesting. Perhaps the cost will come down some considering Apple may be trying to clear the channel?



    Thank you all for a great discussion. This is helping more than you know.



    cog
  • Reply 8 of 48
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    The 12" can do monitor spanning (I assume that's what you mean by "pan") with an external monitor, and the external monitor can go up to 1600x1200 IIRC. The 12" PB does lack the L3 cache, so I assme that FCP Express would take some sort of performance hit, but the others can fill in on how much that would be, since I don't work with video.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    the 12" also ONLY has VGA... no DVI output... so keep that in mind when buying...
  • Reply 10 of 48
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anonymous Karma

    Remember, it's always better to have the last of a generation than the first - by the last, they've got the kinks worked out as best they can, but in the first generation they're busy introducing new problems^Wfeatures to the line.



    Normally I would agree with you. But i had a 1Gig Ti with a superdrive and sold itso that i could buy a 17.

    The Ti case on the 15 would flex a lot. if I picked up th Ti with one hand it would crash, If I touched the back of the screen it would dent the image and the machine had a tendacy to crash if i would allow it to go to sleap.



    The 17 is a upgrade of the 15, they have fixed all of these problems. I have had the 17 for more than a month It has never crashed once, The machine does not flex at all as they gave it a magnisuium frame which makes it really stiff.



    mechanically speaking the only things new on the 17 is bluetooth, firewire 800 and the backlit keyboard. Everything else has been tested to death in the TI and they have been able to address issues from the ground up by redesignining the PB case as a 17. the larger case also allows them to place components farther apart which allows for better cooling



    The 17" is 15.4" X 10.2" X 1"

    The 15" is 13.4" X 9.5" X 1"

    The 12" is 10.9" X 8.6" X 1.18"



    I wanted Portability then I would get the 12" As 4 inches savings in width is substantial. Though I do not like the idea of needing a second display to work in my apps with all of my pallets. The idea of a portable is to be able to do your work anywhere. Today I have several Headshots (photo retouching) to do. I plan to do it my favorite cafe down the street. I would not enjoy serious photoshop on a 12inch screen. However, portability is important and the 12 inch is a deal, I would love to have a 12"



    However, the 15 is only 2 inches smaller and the 17s screen is 2 inches bigger. And so far I have not had any problems with the extra size of the 17. Except for gawking, ooohs and awes.



    Though It is true that the Apple PB17 has the biggest screen, as it turns out, it is not the biggest laptop.

    I saw Del's new 15.4 wide screen computer and it looks huge compared to our 17, it is an inch and a half thick (compared to less than an inch), it is 10.8 inches deep (compared to 10.2) and our powerbook is only one inch narrower even though our screen is two inches bigger. Plus it was a lot heaver and had far fewer features. and the funny thing is this is a popular machine and nobody seems to complain about it being too big. The 17 only looks huge when it is open.



    get a big sheet of paper and draw two squares in the deminsions of 15.4" X 10.2" and 13.4" X 9.5" and see the difference.



    If it were me I would eithor get the 12" or the 17" The 17 is a true desktop replacement and the 12 is truly portable (its smaller than an 8.5 X11" sheet of paper!). The 15 is in the middle and is neither.
  • Reply 11 of 48
    cogcog Posts: 40member
    If it were me I would eithor get the 12" or the 17" The 17 is a true desktop replacement and the 12 is truly portable (its smaller than an 8.5 X11" sheet of paper!). The 15 is in the middle and is neither.



    This just about sums it up...Thanks JC for the insight and commentary. All of my research thus far fully supports your position and I think it is going to be the 17. While the Apple discussion boards certainly list some problems with the 17, it seems Apple is working to rectify them and that the vast majority of the early adopters are truly thrilled with the machine.



    Again, thank you to all who participated...a lively debate and very, very helpful.



    cog
  • Reply 12 of 48
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cog

    If it were me I would eithor get the 12" or the 17" The 17 is a true desktop replacement and the 12 is truly portable (its smaller than an 8.5 X11" sheet of paper!). The 15 is in the middle and is neither.



    This just about sums it up...Thanks JC for the insight and commentary. All of my research thus far fully supports your position and I think it is going to be the 17. While the Apple discussion boards certainly list some problems with the 17, it seems Apple is working to rectify them and that the vast majority of the early adopters are truly thrilled with the machine.



    Again, thank you to all who participated...a lively debate and very, very helpful.



    cog




    Your welcome
  • Reply 13 of 48
    bperkinsbperkins Posts: 110member
    I have had a 15" Powerbook 1Ghz since November 2002 when they were released (Loved it). I never considered the 17" until I saw it this past weekend at the Apple Store in Durham. I bought it on the spot, and put my 15" Powerbook on ebay this past Sunday. I was really concerned it would be "too big", but it is perfect. And it even fits in my breifcase bag (Legal Size Bag) that I had for the 15". I suggest that if you have not tried the 17" go to CompUSA or an Apple Store, and compare them. They are so much better in person.



    I had a 12" iBook, great laptop, but after I got the 15" I could not go back to the 12" again.



    If you decide on the 15" you may want to wait at least until the end of this month.
  • Reply 14 of 48
    cogcog Posts: 40member
    BPerkins:

    Again...your points are well taken and I am so pleased to hear from folks with experience with the 17. I am sold on it. Thank you for the feedback. Certainly you speak with an excellent breadth of knowledge considering you have owned the whole stable of PBs.



    Thank you for the feedback.



    cog
  • Reply 15 of 48
    bperkinsbperkins Posts: 110member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cog

    BPerkins:

    Certainly you speak with an excellent breadth of knowledge considering you have owned the whole stable of PBs.

    cog








    Your welcome. Please let us know when you get it, and what you think of it. I forgot to mention the keyboard on the 17 is much, much better than the 15. Good luck to you.
  • Reply 16 of 48
    jcjc Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cog

    [B]While the Apple discussion boards certainly list some problems with the 17, it seems Apple is working to rectify them



    What kinds of problems are people having?
  • Reply 17 of 48
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Well, I'm kinda in the same boat. I'm DEFINITELY getting a laptop, and after much thinking, I'll probably go with a PowerBook. I could go tomorrow, basically, and get the $999 iBook or maybe even the $1299 12" Combo Drive model.



    But I just think I'm going to be happier with a G4-based laptop, what with OS X being my only OS these days and frequent usage of iTunes, iPhoto, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Kinda a no-brainer, I guess.



    But anyway, I, too, am stuck in that "which one?" mode. I've all but decided against the 12" PowerBook because of several reasons (read my G4 iBook thread for details).







    But I REALLY think the upcoming aluminum PowerBook stands to be the sweet model in a trio of cool laptops. Yes, the 12" is small and light and EXTREMELY portable. But it's lacking some cool features that the 17" model has and that irks me greatly.



    However, I simply can't afford the 17" and, to be honest, I think it might be TOO big.







    The 12" is freakishly small (a good thing), BUT no DVI, lighted keyboard, FireWire 800, etc. The 17" is freakishly big (good thing also), but way out of my range.



    As it stands today, May 8 2003, if $3000 fell into my lap, I'd sock it away until the 15" aluminum PowerBook came out. I'd pray that it had the cool goodies the 17" model does (I'm betting it will). With the 15", you'll get a screen large enough (and with enough resolution) to work comfortably on (page layout, retouching, etc.) AND DVI so, when you're home, you can hook it to a gorgeous LCD display.







    After I bought this 15" PowerBook, then I'd wait on the rumored 17" widescreen Apple Display to show up and buy that for hooking up to at home!



    I can't wait to see what this 15" is all about. I truly hope it's everything the 17" is, just a tad smaller. If so, I might pounce rather quickly and just make the move.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    ransomedransomed Posts: 169member
    pscates: you're making me reconsider purchasing the 17". I used to have a 15" PB 500 Mhz, but it got stolen I loved it. It sounds like you do a lot of graphic design, as well as I.



    I guess the only things that would really steer me into the direction of the 15"er would be price, more portability, and the rumored new ATI video card. I'm not a hard core gamer, nor do I do 3d modeling, but it's nice to know you have a really nice video card that can handle a high frame rate at high res, for whenever you get a chance to play.



    I do work on video from time to time, so a bigger screen would be nice, but as pscates said, I could take the money I saved from not buying the 17", save some more, and maybe go nuts and buy a 23" ACD



    hey... I'm entitled to dream, aren't I?
  • Reply 19 of 48
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    My friend has a similar choice to make, only it's not so easy...



    A new 1 GHz SuperDrive TiBook for $1899 from his campus bookstore right now, or wait for an AlBook which will surely be more expensive. At $1899, the current PowerBook is hardly lacking...
  • Reply 20 of 48
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Holy crap, that IS a good deal!



    I just never dug the Titanium PowerBook. Looks-wise it never did anything for me. That white stripe around the keyboard area irked me.







    Then I heard all the "fry your scrotum" stories, the tales of poor AirPort reception, the easily-scratched surface, etc. I never, ever got excited about a PowerBook (or considered even purchasing one) until these new ones were unveiled in January.



    I love the idea of having a laptop so your stuff is with you AT ALL TIMES. But, when you're home, you plug it into a nice display and you've got all that extra work area. I'd rather have a 15" PowerBook and a 17" display at home than the top of the line G4 tower and 23" Cinema Display.



    Honestly!



    You just get more bang for your buck, I think. Desktop power, but you pack it up and go. Then, while home, you get TWO monitors to work on! And, when you're in public, the chicks dig you because you've got a bitchin'-looking device in your lap.







    Everyone wins!
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