So my trusty old 600MHz Sony Vaio notebook just died, and it's time to move on to a new laptop. Given that I'm a mobility whore who also happens to be a graphic designer, I've opted for the 17" Apple PowerBook, maxxed out.

I haven't oredered it just yet, and before I do I'd like to get some of your opinions on it. Has anyone had any problems? Any complaints? Anything you wish wasn't missing?

Also, what's up with the 1920x1400 business?

Thanks a ton!

Rob

1920x1400 is widescreen

Mobility with a 17 inch screen... it wil be huge...

if you want it as a desktop replacement go for it but i find the 17" a lil too big to carry around

I work for apple and my favorite powerbook is the ultimate 15". I think the 17" is a bit too big to be portable. If you wanted the larger screen, you could go with the 15 and a studio display. Unless you where looking for a desktop replacement then I would just got with the new 20” iMac is an awesome deal.

Missing? What on earth is it missing? Apple puts everything but the kitchen sink in the 17" PowerBooks, which is one of the things that makes them so damned expensive. Personally, I would get the 15" version instead of the 17" (any brand, not just the PowerBook) because those 17" screens are friggin' huge, making the whole laptop seem too big. You can get pretty much all of the same things in the 15", other than the resolution. Then again, I carry a 12" iBook, since portability is more important to me than screen size.

so are you getting it with 2 gb of ram?? cuz thats thre only upgrade i can see for the 17" lol

Ahh, yes then, the 2GB option.

The 17" doesn't bother me much, but working in a café with it might be a bit.. odd.

I hadn't thought about the 15" with the studio display option. I'll be looking into that!

Thanks!

Rob

17 inch is great but nothing whips a 15 inch. If you are going to get a 17 inch you might as well get a desktop.

I have to agree with the comments about the high-end 15" PowerBook, its the best of both worlds and you could attach it to a larger monitor at home if you need more screen real estate.

Well, I have the setup your talking about, the 15" Powerbook with the apple display (20") and it really is an awesome set up, Got the Logitech MX1000 mouse and wireless apple keyboard and it really was worth the money. The mobility is awesome and the battery life is just amazing, 4 hrs of battery life if you just turn down the brightness on the display of the powerbook, and it still bright enough to see and all. But yeah, its just a really awesome set up, trust me, you money is worth it going into a setup like this

Neztea

I have the same setup, 15" PowerBook + 20" ACD. I run my PowerBook in closed-lid mode.

For portability i think that the 15" is the best, the 12 seemed too small when I used it, and the 17" felt lovely to look at on a desk, but hell to carry around.

I personally will be purchasing a 15" Powerbook with 1GB ram (and since I can pull both sticks out, i will upgrade to 2gb later down the line)

WOah, Crazy, why you run it in closed Lid Mode? I just have the 2 monitosrs running, Its Dual desktop man....

Neztea

15" is the ultimate size, 17 is just way to big!!

Dougal.

graphic designer?> definatly not 12"

depending on yourself, would you sacrifice the mobility for a screen 2 inches more diagonally

-17 also has a lil bit more extra features

macintosh computers seem to have more resolution settings, or is that just cuz my 15" lcd can only support 1024x768 or i have a crappy graphic card

I don't think the 17" has any features that aren't available in the 15" version (other than the resolution).

edit: I just checked, and the only thing that the 17" has that isn't available in the 15" (even as a Build to Order option) is the 100GB hard drive. The max offered in the 15" is 80GB (at least through the web site). I'm sure if you talked to the right person at Apple Customer Service, you could probably get one built in though.

It's only cheap 15" laptops that have XGA (1024x768) displays. Better ones will have SXGA+ (1400x1050) or even UXGA (1600x1200). Unforunately high resolution is something PowerBooks don't have (WXGA/1280x854 for the 15" and 1440x900 for the 17").

Anyways, the 17" is light for its class but still heavy overall. The 15" actually has a better (brightness, contrast) screen than the 17" and it doesn't really miss anything that the 17" has.

Yes, but the other resolutions you quoted are 4:3 aspect ratio, the PowerBooks have widescreen displays, which is why they are shorter.

I personally like love the 17inch powerbook and I will be purchasing it when I go off to college. For designing I would highly recommend the 17inch. You just can't ever have enough room on your display

Also: The 17inch can drive the 30" display and the hard drive is bigger. Other than that the 15inch and 17inch are the same.

You and all the others who said this are wrong. the 15" can drive the 30" display with it's ATi Radeon 9700 128MB and the 15" also can come with a 100GB Ultra ATA Drive (5200rpm) directly from the Apple Store for both of them.

once youve maxed out the 15" powerbook to the same specs as the 17", there is barely any difference in cost between the two.

go for the 17"

I know it can drive the 30" display if you get the upgraded video built into it, but according to the PowerBook specs page (which is what I was going by) the 100GB drive is not available on the 15". Maybe they made a mistake on that page.



Apple's PowerBook specs page (note what it says in the chart under hard drive)

There is exactly a $200 difference in price, and over a pound difference in weight. For portability, the 15" beats the 17" hands down. That being said, if portability isn't an issue, then a 17" or 20" iMac G5 would be a much better deal.

Here is the price for both of them maxed out (17" on left, 15" on right):

yep my region of the apple online stop allow 100gb on the 15"
edit: nope its the same for you, go to where you'd buy a powerbook and then just choose 100gb under the options.

Yes, I know that now. I was just looking at the specs page when I made my original post stating that the 100GB drive wasn't available in the 15". Apple really should update that page.

Interesting how people who say the 17" pb is too big are people who don't own one.

I've owned a 17" powerbook since the month they came out, so almost 2 years now. I carried around with me for a year of college and now carry it to work and back most days (when I don't leave it in the office). Yes, it's 6.8 pounds, but it's definitely not 'too' heavy. i've never been discomforted by carrying it around. The important thing is to get a good lightweight bag to put it in. I put mine in a marware sleeve and then put that in my large timbuk2 bag.

The only thing that would keep me from getting another 17" powerbook when this one finally peters out will be price. If I can afford it, I'll get another 17". If not, I'll get a 15", but I'll sorely miss the lost screen space.

Maybe that's because they've used one and determined that the extra weight and size and cost were not what they wanted, therefore they didn't buy one. IMHO, there is not THAT big of a difference in resolution between the 15" and the 17" screens to justify a $200 price difference and over a pound difference in weight. As soon as I get the money, I'm looking at buying a PowerBook to replace my iBook, and most likely it will be a 15" (unless Apple releases a widescreen 12" version by then, which I hope they will). When you are carrying the machine around with you every day, that size and weight difference means a LOT.

if you are spending that much money on a powerbook anyway, the extra $200 for the 17" is worth it IMO.

a pound difference in weight is nothing really, anyone who moans about it really needs to go to the gym more lol

"Combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack) (17-inch model)"

"Combined optical digital output/headphone out (minijack) (17-inch model)"

"Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1440 x 900 pixels on the built-in display and up to 2560 x 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors (17-inch model)(6)"

It isn't just the weight, it's the size as well. Try using a 17" notebook on an airplane or a bus. There just isn't room. Even the 15" is pushing it in some situations. If the size and weight of a notebook didn't matter to at least a portion of the market, why would the sub-notebook class of machines even exit?

the 15" powerbook would be my first personal preference. Although I really like the screen real estate that the 17" offers, I think that it is too large for me. the 15" fits nicely in my backpack / briefcase and is comfortable to work with. 17" laptops require special laptop cases to fit them, and are quite clumsy to work with in crowded/busy environments.

If you are looking for a big-screen portable desktop replacement, then go for 17", for mobility/desktop replacement go for 15", for mobility go for 12".

If you like the 17" that much just roll with it. Personally, I'd prefer a 15" like most people here, but like the others said if it's OK with you to carry it around and it's not that big of an issue to you then you should just get it. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it weighed 6.8 pounds, but I have a question. Since the screen is bigger, will it need more battery power to run or what?

I would assume that it would. I think the 17" model has a bigger battery to compensate for that though.

Personally, I'd love to see Apple turn the 12" into a true sub-notebook and give it a wide format screen (1420x800 maybe? That would roughly work out to 16:9, perfect for a widescreen DVD).