Benefits of a Powerbook/iBook?

[Septimius]

Need to buy a notebook in the Fall for law school. I have a budget of roughly ?770/$1400, and have been a PC user most recently (last 6 years). I'm looking for a lightweight notebook with a sizeable hd and decent memory. I've been looking at Powerbooks/iBooks and PCs alike, and am curious if the Apple "experts" here could make an argument for or against one or the other. I'm pretty open to switching over, if there's a good enough reason, my main reserve being Apple's significantly higher prices.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to wait for the switch to Intel.:pp

Any info would be appreciated. I'll continue researching either way.

[PureEdit]

You pretty much just need to try out OS X and see if you like it. Its a pretty amazing OS compared to windows, and it integrates very well with the hardware. After switching I will never go back to windows, pcs just look and feel like a joke compared to macs to me now.

Good luck in law school ;)

[topher1078]

Discounting all the Windows/OS X comparisons (for which I'm sure you can find plenty of information) I recently made the switch from a Dell laptop to a PowerBook. So some not often-considered reasons which are laptop specific for an Apple laptop vs. a PC one -

1) Build quality - Apple laptops have such a solidness to them with no flismy plastic, the keyboards are excellent and with no sharp edges they are just a wonder of a laptop.

2) They have the best power brick of any laptop - similiar to iPod if you have one - compact, with an extension cord which is easily managed making it even more portable. Also, the little ring of light around the cord tells you when the battery is charged, which is a great little feature.

3) Powerbooks have the illuminated keyboard, which is a wonder to work with.

4) The automatic screen dimming is a great feature to prolong battery life.

5) For Powerbooks especially, that you get such a packed computer in such a slim packaged.

There are some reasons, and I'm sure more people will give you more.

[anthony]

Discounting all the Windows/OS X comparisons (for which I'm sure you can find plenty of information) I recently made the switch from a Dell laptop to a PowerBook.  So some not often-considered reasons which are laptop specific for an Apple laptop vs. a PC one -

1) Build quality - Apple laptops have such a solidness to them with no flismy plastic, the keyboards are excellent and with no sharp edges they are just a wonder of a laptop.

2) They have the best power brick of any laptop - similiar to iPod if you have one - compact, with an extension cord which is easily managed making it even more portable.  Also, the little ring of light around the cord tells you when the battery is charged, which is a great little feature.

3) Powerbooks have the illuminated keyboard, which is a wonder to work with.

4) The automatic screen dimming is a great feature to prolong battery life.

5) For Powerbooks especially, that you get such a packed computer in such a slim packaged.

There are some reasons, and I'm sure more people will give you more.

586071699[/snapback]

Does the 12'' Powerbook have an illuminated keyboard?

[binkgle]

i find that the bang for your buck is much better on mac laptops than pc laptops. i find the opposite to be true in the desktop market, but that's a differnt topic. mac laptops in my experience have longer battery lives and the os feels smoother with the touchpad than winxp (though I may have imagined that). when i get a laptop, it will be a mac for sure

[chmsant]

3) Powerbooks have the illuminated keyboard, which is a wonder to work with.

4) The automatic screen dimming is a great feature to prolong battery life.

586071699[/snapback]

But please note that the illuminated keyboard and ambient light sensors are features only available on the 15" and 17" models. The screen dimming after x amount of minutes however is standard.

I just recently purchased a 12" powerbook, my first mac. I absoltuely love the thing to death. Ultralight, portable but perfect for getting the job done. I too will be attending school in the fall and found this to be an awesome portable.

[Freakz]

chicks dig it

[Septimius]

Thanks for the comments. I did notice the portability aspect in looking at the Mac notebooks. I have a desktop, so I'm just looking for something that can hold a sizable amount (20gigs or so) of data without becoming bogged down. My previous HP notebook ran so slowly, I ended up having to purchase an external drive to compensate. And yeah, I can cut down on the data, but I'd like to see if there's some way I can keep it AND still run the notebook smoothly.

Couple features I loved on my old iBook were the non-grounded plugs, the small cable size, the battery indicator light and the overal weight. At the same time, PC notebooks are becoming smaller and smaller, so I'm torn. ;)

[joseph-]

I would personally suggest either of the 12" Apple portables. Both are outstanding systems for the price, and you will definately appreciate the size/weight factor if you have to carry them around for an extended period of time. Another option (should you decide against the Apple route) would be any of the models from the Sony Vaio S-series (which I personally use...no cheap plastic, roughly the same dimensions as the Apple small portables, and as good as if not better battery life).

Some good sites to research are;

http://www.notebookreview.com/ - has onsite reviews for most any laptop model on the market, as well as external reviews.

Notebookforums? - has sub forums categorized by brand. You can ask other owners any questions you may have about specific models.

Whichever you decide, make sure you don't jump the gun. Get a system that will last you awhile and not leave you regretting your decision 6 months down the line. Good luck! :)

[ZZOOzzoo]

To be honest, PowerBook has a hardware itself doesn't really offer any benefit over other laptops.

Illuminating keyboard and shock-proof harddrive are what IBM Thinkpad has been offering for a long time, and I find PowerBook's wireless reception just average.

But as otheres said, OSX is a nice operating system and I've been having fun trying out different softwares and built-in OSX features.

I highly recommend PowerBook, but if you're not interested in OSX, you won't really miss out anything special from not owning a PowerBook. (or iBook)

[joseph-]

Stay away from Dell...whatever you do.

Vaio S270 @ Newegg - $1,274

Edited June 16, 2005 by joseph-

[VGVL]

Illuminating keyboard ... are what IBM Thinkpad has been offering for a long time...

586071880[/snapback]

IBMs lackluster solution is to make a LED shine light onto the keyboard. Apple developed an elaborate system involving fiber optics so the keyboard is truly backlit. They also integrated it with ambient light sensors. Its a very different approach, no cutting corners.

[BajiRav]

unless you care for optical audio, illuminated keyboard (15 & 17") and hard drive parking....then powerbook have no additions over iBooks except for some minor speed tweaks which I am sure won't have any impact on day to day use.

I got iBook G4/12"(current model) as my first mac after discounting 14" since the increased screen size is wasted by same resolution (1024x768)

only major difference is that iBook can not use secondary monitor as extended desktop.

if you want powerful laptop with lightweight there is no beating a pentium M based system right now. I would say compare IBM mid range (T series...T42/43 are good ones) with iBook 12/14" depending on your budget. Sony vaio might be a good candidate as well.

if you choose an iBook make sure you get Bluetooth right away 'casue it seems you can not add it afterwards.

IBMs lackluster solution is to make a LED shine light onto the keyboard. Apple developed an elaborate system involving fiber optics so the keyboard is truly backlit. They also integrated it with ambient light sensors. Its a very different approach, no cutting corners.

it still works great. serves the purpose and you can turn it off/on

[joseph-]

IBMs lackluster solution is to make a LED shine light onto the keyboard. Apple developed an elaborate system involving fiber optics so the keyboard is truly backlit. They also integrated it with ambient light sensors. Its a very different approach, no cutting corners.

586071899[/snapback]

And also only featured on a laptop nearly $600 above chrisa's budget of $1400. ;)

[PureEdit]

Illuminating keyboard and shock-proof harddrive are what IBM Thinkpad has been offering for a long time, and I find PowerBook's wireless reception just average.

586071880[/snapback]

The IBM laptops with the illuminated keyboard used to have a light on the screen that would shine on the keyboard. The PowerBooks actually have l lights around each key.

[joseph-]

The IBM laptops with the illuminated keyboard used to have a light on the screen that would shine on the keyboard. The PowerBooks actually have l lights around each key.

586071907[/snapback]

Actually, it's fiber optics inside the key. The letters on the keys are what glow.

[MonkeyClaw Veteran]

i got a 15 inch pb bout a month ago and havent touched my pc since. my pb has so many nice features that everyone has mentioned, the thing feels solid as a rock. it has the back lit keyboard with the sensors which is a very nice feature, and its just an overall very nice machine, plus its very powerful (ghz isnt everything).

the big thing is os x, it really is a prime example of how an os should be. that is what was the deciding factor in my decision and what i suggest is go to the closest apple store or use a friends copy of os x and get a feel for it. read up on all the nice subtle features that come in handy. it really is the best os out there imo.

[zanzibar]

Stay away from Dell...whatever you do.

586071893[/snapback]

This can't be more true :laugh:

My old roommate paid $3000+ for one of those Dell XPS laptops... It had 512MB RAM and a 3.2GHz P4 and blah blah blah. It only weighed 10 pounds and could only run on battery for about 2 hours. Anyway, this "gaming" laptop ended up overheating at least once a week when he decided to play games.

Sad, considering I paid less than $2500 for my PowerBook and it has never overheated.

PS: Same is true for Alienware. $3400 for nearly the same computer, and it had the same problem... Pathetic.

[joseph-]

Personally, I've never fully understood the concept of those "gaming" notebooks. I'm sure the people that own them can rationalize their purchase (as can be said about anything) but it just seems to generally defeat the purpose of a laptop being *portable* if it's 10lbs, has a battery life of about an hour, and is too hot to have anywhere other than a hard surface like a table.

But Dells are just cheaply made all around. They may have decent internal components, but you can definately see where they cut the corners to drop the price just by feeling the build quality and amount of plastic in the cases.

[zanzibar]

Personally, I've never fully understood the concept of those "gaming" notebooks.  I'm sure the people that own them can rationalize their purchase (as can be said about anything) but it just seems to generally defeat the purpose of a laptop being *portable* if it's 10lbs, has a battery life of about an hour, and is too hot to have anywhere other than a hard surface like a table. 

But Dells are just cheaply made all around.  They may have decent internal components, but you can definately see where they cut the corners to drop the price just by feeling the build quality and amount of plastic in the cases.

586071984[/snapback]

I agree. Obviously, if you can't cool a 2" thick desktop replacement with all the fans that thing had, you're doing something wrong.

[wicker_man]

I got a 12-inch PowerBook last August and haven't regretted about it even once. It does everything you might want a modern portable computer to do. Hell, I even play UT2004 on it with decent settings and no lag!

[BajiRav]

Personally, I've never fully understood the concept of those "gaming" notebooks.  I'm sure the people that own them can rationalize their purchase (as can be said about anything) but it just seems to generally defeat the purpose of a laptop being *portable* if it's 10lbs, has a battery life of about an hour, and is too hot to have anywhere other than a hard surface like a table. 

But Dells are just cheaply made all around.  They may have decent internal components, but you can definately see where they cut the corners to drop the price just by feeling the build quality and amount of plastic in the cases.

586071984[/snapback]

the advantages of these gaming notebooks (lets not call them laptops :D) is their portability. if you are a serious gamer then having a machine which you can carry around to different lan events is certainly desireable. The portability defined different than say a 12" lightweight laptop.

afterall these laptops were sold since people asked for them. the market defines the demand.

Dell is certainly cheaply made although the components used are as good as any other company...one look and you can tell that its a dell. I had Dell Inspiron 8200 as my first laptop. at ~8 LB it was heavy (2 batteries for 4.5 hrs :no: ) but it allowed me for occasional gaming I used to do.

[Septimius]

I'm definitely staying away from Dell (despite the school's insistence that I stay away from Apple and purchase Dell or IBM :p). Anyways, portability sounds good....

I'll still be working with my desktop PC, so does it prove annoying as far as compatibility working with the two together? That and switching between OSX and XP? I haven't used the former to any great extent, so you can take my questions as that of an ignorant Mac beginner.

[pax13]

The decision for what you should purchase should be based on what you pretend on doing with your computer, as you well know by now, mac's are slower, there's no competing with modern pc's processors right know, that is the main reason apple switched to intel, and no P4's are not laptops, they are portable computers wich is different so stay clear from those, if you need some machine for basic work, text, simple graphics, some image editing & music, there is no reason you should not choose either, with the due future possibility that apple may have problems updating software for PPC based computers since they will be switching to intel, & windows will finally have a due update to its OS in about a year wich should do what apple did when they switched to osx ( not breaking so much compatibility regardless ) as time as shown apple does not much care for users with older machines, once you're outdated, u better stick with your software because there will soon be no more compatibility with newer software ( take OS9 & OSX - OSX still could emulate but 9 soon lost all new soft ). So it is rather your choice & risk, do not listen much on people about how nice & pretty, or bad & ugly things are, but weigh all items & consider for yourself on what you intend to do with the computer & for how long you intend to have it!

If you still want my opinion, I would buy an AMD64 based notebook, with a directx9 compatible graphics card, not too powerful tough because they tend to waste some power, & a good screen, a full gb of ram is also good! But I like my machines powerful & I take them to the max! When the time comes just upgrade to Longhorn & u will be flying!

[zhangm Supervisor]

If you're not in the US, Samsung laptops may be an option. They're about as thin and light as you can get, without compromising on performance and quality.

I'm not sure on the price, but the X20 may be what you're looking for.