# Which PowerBook G4 do you like?



## ddma (Jan 8, 2003)

Well, since each PowerBook G4 now features with some differences, which one is your fav?

12" - 867MHz, No L3 Cache, Smallest Apple notebook ever, Bluetooth, AirPort Extreme, 1024x768 (4:3), No PC Card Slot, No Firewire 800, Lightest weight, VGA, No Backlit Keyboard

15" - 867MHz, 1GHz, 1MB L3 Cache, Titanium, No AirPort Extreme, PC Card Slot, No Firewire 800, ADC-ready, No Backlit Keyboard, 1280x864 (16:10) Wide Screen

17" - 1GHz, 1MB L3 Cache, Largest Apple notebook ever, Bluetooth, Airport Extreme, 1440x900 (16:10) Wide Screen, Backlit Keyboard, Firewire 800, PC Card Slot, Airport Extreme, ADC-ready


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## kendall (Jan 8, 2003)

Knowing someone that went to Macworld yesterday, they told me that the 17" PowerBook is awesome (they ordered one) and that the 12" PowerBook is like holding an iron, literally.

They said that the 12" PowerBook got so hot in fact, that many people couldn't stand to hold it.  They also said they witnessed one stop working for unknown reasons (believed due to heat).

Anyway, from their report, I feel hesitant to decide which PowerBook I like the best without actually seeing the new ones firsthand.  

From the stand point of what a PowerBook shoudl do, I like the Aluminum and updates and think once/if the 15" PowerBook next revision includes those, it'll still be the best PowerBook for price, size and portability.


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## Giaguara (Jan 8, 2003)

Probably 12" is hot because it's .. for many things apart from the G4 it's still ibook. But it'd be probably what i'd buy now if i didnt have my ibook.

If i had a good job and a lot of money the 17" ... Wow ... *drools*


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## hazmat (Jan 8, 2003)

I will drool over the 12" when it allows more than 640 megs of RAM and has more video RAM.  And other little thing....


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## kendall (Jan 8, 2003)

But iron hot..?  Having owned several PowerBook G4s, I know how hot they can get but I've never heard one described as iron hot before.  

My iBook on the other hand barely gets warm.  I remember using my PowerBook G4 on my lap in the summer and breaking a sweat.

I wonder if the Apple store has any of these units on hand.  I'd really like to seem them.


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## Cat (Jan 8, 2003)

I don't know about the heat issue, but it's definitely attractive: smaller and lighter than the smallest iBook (and even the Duo!), but full featured (new ports, heavy processor, new Airport, integrated BlueTooth etc.). 

We can bicker about the ram and the videocard etc. but then, hell everything can be improved! 

Without any radically new hardware (like the new rumored IBM processors for instance) it has delivered a very good product. Just now I'm reconsidering whether to buy an iBook or the 12" AlBook. I agree that it's a good idea to see it firsthand before buying though.


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## Urbansory (Jan 8, 2003)

I love the 17, but I won't need that when i'm on the go, that's overkill for me, but if i had money for it, what hell, i'd get one. I prefer the 15, not too small, not too big, it's JUST RIGHT.


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## onan (Jan 8, 2003)

Having just handled a minibook in an Apple store, I didn't find it to be unusually warm. Admittedly, it was just sitting there idle, not encoding and burning dvds or anything exciting like that.

While I like the ancillary features of the macrobook (lit keyboard, firewire 800), I refuse to carry around anything that size unless it has commandments etched into it. (And even then, only for irony.)


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## chevy (Jan 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Giaguara _
> *Probably 12" is hot because it's .. for many things apart from the G4 it's still ibook. But it'd be probably what i'd buy now if i didnt have my ibook.
> 
> If i had a good job and a lot of money the 17" ... Wow ... *drools* *



For desktop pictures, I prefere to imagine that you are working with the 12" PB.


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## iKst (Jan 9, 2003)

I like all powerbooks, but if i had the money i would buy 17" PB.

I wouldnt realy have it with me all the time and i would use it for my desktop replacement. But it is still cool if you can unplug cables and take computer with you to vacation or something like that.

So i guess it wouldnt run on batteries very much, more like a portable worktation.


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## chevy (Jan 9, 2003)

I don't wanna try a PB17 in a plane ! The effect may be more devastating than a knife !


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## Solaris (Jan 14, 2003)

I like the 17", but won't look at buying one until after the next Macworld. Let them iron out any bugs (remember the battery problem with the original TiBook?).

Who knows? Maybe by then they'll have dual 64bit CPU's. It is wide enough!


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## aishafenton (Jan 14, 2003)

Hmm, I think the 12" is the way to go. The key feature for me is being able to drive an external display upto 1600x1200. 

If it can do that, then I just want it as small as possible so I can carry it around between external monitors 

I'm actually about this far away [measures an inch with fingers]  from buying one. Does anyone else have any comments on them before I take the plunge?? Has anyone else noticed them being too hot??

Actually one thing I'm curious about, what is the keyboard made out of? Are the keys plastic?


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## hulkaros (Jan 14, 2003)

Titanium PowerBook 15.2"/1GHz/DVD-R and not only because that's the one I've got  

But because I think its the best form: Not too small and not too big! Another thing is that it is as fast as the top 17" or dare I say faster?


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## Zammy-Sam (Jan 14, 2003)

How is the speed with the 12inch pb? Does the loss of 1mb L3 cache slow it down dramatically?
And is the 12inch screen same like the iBook one? I really love it and if it would be a bit brighter... perfect!


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## ddma (Jan 14, 2003)

Here is the early test results.

http://www.barefeats.com/pb17.html


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## hazmat (Jan 14, 2003)

> _Originally posted by aishafenton _
> *Hmm, I think the 12" is the way to go. The key feature for me is being able to drive an external display upto 1600x1200.
> 
> If it can do that, then I just want it as small as possible so I can carry it around between external monitors
> ...



I can think of quite a few, but the biggest one that comes to mind is the 640 meg RAM limit.

*Edit:* As I have said, I did drool when I heard about the 12" PB, but the specs need to be improved.  Better video, higher RAM limit, etc.


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## stealth (Jan 14, 2003)

hmm. well. since i ordered the 17inch powerbook. i guess thats the one i like  especially that huge screen and backlight keyboard.. and its superdrive.. and its Firewire 800.. and .. and..  WOW


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## MacPain (Jan 14, 2003)

i recieved my tibook today. a true beauty, runs like a charm. wouldn't trade for neither the 17" nor the 12" pb.


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## banjo_boy (Jan 14, 2003)

if I had to pay for it. It is nice and small. Anything is faster than the machine I have at work. It hooks up to a Larger monitor. And a Super drive. I can work on a 12" monitor if needed.

Now if someone said, I want to buy you one. I would get the 17".


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## dtmdoc (Jan 15, 2003)

i posted i would go with the 12" model.
my only pet peeves is limit of 640 mb of ram and bigger cache like others here have posted.  while i would love the backlit keyboard i truly dont need it, but i want a g4 very badly in place of my iBook.

if money where no object then i would go for the 17".


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## motoyen (Jan 15, 2003)

I will be looking to buy the 12" model around September/October. Does anyone think that Apple will upgrade the specs of that model by then? Specifically being able to add more RAM?


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## dave17lax (Jan 16, 2003)

Considering that a 17inch display is still 1000 bucks, i have dropped that dream and started saving for a laptop. I wish they'd update the 15incher to aluminium, a buddy of mine has a tibook that he's put through it's paces and it looks horrible. also i wish they could find a way to illuminate the keyboards of each laptop in the apple lineup,not just a "pro" ;p feature.


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## jcart12 (Jan 16, 2003)

mine!

15.2, 1gb, Superdrive and 1ghz of goodness


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## Jasoco (Jan 16, 2003)

I would like it if they would fix the 15" to look and feel like the 12" and 17". I say maybe make it a cross between the two.

With L3 Cache. 1GHz as it is now. Aluminum Alloy casing. Maybe that cool light up keyboard. The resolution it has now is fine. FireWire 1 and 2. And Airport Extreme.

That would be nice.


Of course when those come out I will but the current TiBook model cheap. So.. it wouldn't matter to me. But that's how it should be.


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## Langley (Jan 16, 2003)

The 12inch PB is my favourite as it's like a portable CPU.  When travelling it small/light and in the office you can pluh it into a larger moniter.  Best of both worlds.


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## georgelien (Sep 30, 2003)

It's been 2 and a half since I bought my first PowerBook G4, and now I'm finally getting the last generation of the TiBooks.

I'm surprised that you left out the Gigahertz PowerBook.

Anyway, 1GHz TiBook G4 is what I plan to get.

Cheers!  I'm gonna be broke, but I'm gonna be happy!  ^_^

Long live Macs!


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## Arden (Oct 1, 2003)

It's been 8 1/2 months since this thread was active... thanks for breathing new life into it!  

I'd go with the 15" AlBook, since it's the perfect combination of form, functionality and price.

This picture is for Onan, if he's still active:


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## hazmat (Oct 1, 2003)

> _Originally posted by arden _
> *It's been 8 1/2 months since this thread was active... thanks for breathing new life into it!
> 
> I'd go with the 15" AlBook, since it's the perfect combination of form, functionality and price.
> *



I totally agree with you, Arden.  I went over to J&R yesterday during lunch to look at it.  I like the widescreen format and everything else.  Only thing is that it just isn't small enough for me to lug around everywhere like I could the 12".  I wish Apple would not treat the 12" like a lesser citizen and give it the specs of the 15" and 17", like faster hard drive, more RAM capacity, backlit keyboard, etc.  Or is the chassis simply too small to accomodate this stuff?


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## lurk (Oct 1, 2003)

> _Originally posted by hazmat _
> * Or is the chassis simply too small to accomodate this stuff? *



After ripping my 15 inch powerbook apart to fix a broken hinge my guess is that the 12 inch form factor is just too small to fit everything in.  In addition I would not be surprised if for things like CPU and HD the problem is heat dissipation.  

-Eric


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## hazmat (Oct 1, 2003)

> _Originally posted by lurk _
> *After ripping my 15 inch powerbook apart to fix a broken hinge my guess is that the 12 inch form factor is just too small to fit everything in.  In addition I would not be surprised if for things like CPU and HD the problem is heat dissipation.
> *



I can accept that then if that's the case.  But, I wish Apple would say this rather than making everyone wonder why they treat the 12" as 2nd rate, you know?


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