# 15" powerbook vs. macbook



## irfaan (Jan 13, 2006)

Hi, I'm a fairly new mac user.  I have just switched over to a 12inch powerbook, and I love it!  I do wish the screen was bigger, but it was all I coudl afford on a students budget! 

Anyways, with the lanch of the new laptops, I was wondering why Apple is still selling the 15 inch Powerbooks?  

I looked it up, and atleast on the educational website, the powerbook and macbook are the same price.  Why on earth would anyone buy the powerbook; the macbook is 4 times faster, has the isight, brighter screen, ect....  Even though its a first version of a new laptop, I cannot understand why you would take the PB?


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## ScottW (Jan 13, 2006)

Well... There are numerous reasons.

1) The Intel machine is new and most applications (aside from Apple's and a handful of others) are still PowerPC. As such, they will run in emulation at a pretty good pace. But, even Steve Jobs said, if you use Photoshop all day long, the emulation might seem slow.

2) It really isn't 4 times faster. It is based on a integer rating. While this is a good basis for comparing chips of different types (PowerPC vs Intel) it is not a good real-world test. Even as Steve said, your CDRoms, Hard Drives, etc... are all going to be the same speed. You can't change that.

If your not a bleeding edge, must have person and you want a system to just get your work done and not worry about the various issues people WILL run into running the Intel system... then the Powerbook is the logical way to go right now.

But, if you like tinkering with things, can deal with some slowness of emulation and have patience to wait for those apps to come out... then by all means, the MacBook Pro is the logical choice.

IMHO - Unless you are using it for higher end applications that are not-ported over and won't be in the next 6-12 months... then the MacBook Pro is the way to go for the future.

But... if your a business is everything, it must be working all the time and I don't have time to wait around for slowness because Adobe hasn't released Photoshop yet then... get the PB.


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## fryke (Jan 13, 2006)

I'd say it's two reasons only:

1.) They still have some and will stop offering them when there are none left.
2.) Some people still want to buy PPC PowerBooks. Nostalgy etc.

Internationally, btw., it seems that Apple has upped the price, for example MacBooks are 100 CHF more expensive than the PowerBooks, currently.


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## MacBook Pro (Jan 13, 2006)

The real question is why do they continue to sell the 15" PowerBook G4 at the same price as the MacBook Pro?  I doubt this will be the case in February when the MacBook Pro will be sharing shelf space with the 15" PowerBook G4 in the Apple Store.  I say this because once people sit down with them both, natively, the MacBook Pro blows away the 15" PowerBook G4.  Even apps run under Rosetta in most cases out perform the G4 by a noticable margin.  People wont need specialized benchmark numbers to convince them who's the champ.

If anyone attended Macworld, I was the guy who had roughly a 26 hour love affair with the MacBook Pro.  Shiller even asked on the second day while passing by if we were going to have a February wedding.   I'm counting the days!


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## Captain Code (Jan 13, 2006)

I think you'd be crazy to buy a 15" Powerbook now.  The MacBook is going to last you a lot longer than the Powerbook because it'll stay faster for longer as things get more bloated.

It's like buying a new TV.  You might as well get an HDTV now since it's the future and SDTV will be dead fairly soon anyways.


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## Krevinek (Jan 13, 2006)

I can see plenty of reasons to stick with the PB15", but as someone who has a fairly recent iMac G5 (and don't feel like paying again to upgrade it from my August purchase), and is in the market for a laptop that will last awhile after selling my Pismo. The Intel version makes more sense for me, especially with the much improved gaming performance that is cropping up from Doom 3 and WoW comparisons.

Of course, if I was working with FW800, Final Cut, etc... I would be going for a PBG4.


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## mdnky (Jan 13, 2006)

The PowerBook has a FW800 port and a FW400 port, s-video out, a faster Superdrive that's dual-layer capable (the MacBook is 4x write vs. PBs 8x write), built-in modem (a few people still use them), and a PC Card/Cardbus slot (have you seen any ExpressCard [Mac] products yet?).  It's also a proven machine.

Some people may be forced to stick with a specific setup due to job requirements, employer requirements, software issues, etc..  One instance of this that comes to mind is undergraduate Architecture students at the University of Cincinnati are required to buy a 15" or 17" PowerBook model for their first year.  From what I hear the incomming students for Fall 2006 will be required to stick with the PowerBook models...they don't want the hassle of trying to support the MacBooks yet (which is why they went with one brand in the first place).  The software they require isn't universal yet either and they're not programs that would run well (if at all) under emulation.


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## fryke (Jan 13, 2006)

Still: If I were in for a new PowerBook right now, I'd rather wait until the pro software is at least compatible and get a MacBook Pro then than buy another PPC PowerBook _now_ (unless you someone starts to sell them at reduced prices that is, but even then...).

As for the fact that there are no compatible ExpressCards (32) yet: Imagine you'd have bought a G3 Mac with Apple serial ports, because there were no USB devices at the time...  Such things happen rather sooner than later, and the MacBook Pro having that slot will rather let such devices appear faster. Thinking about it: There'll probably be an FW800 ExpressCard32 sooner or later, because that's _one_ card, pros might actually need.


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## powermac (Jan 13, 2006)

Irfaan like many others are on the fence with which to purchase. I certainly can't offer you any advice. As everyone pointed out there are advantages and disadvantages. For me personally, if I were purchasing now, and the two laptops were the same price, I would go with the Pro Book. If the G4 was significantly reduced in price, then I may go with that. 
Even if you purchase the G4 PB, it is still going to perform well for you over the next two years. It certainly is not a wasted purchased. 
Ask yourself what your needs are, and see which product makes sense for you to purchase.


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## irfaan (Jan 13, 2006)

Thanks for all the responses, I'm not really looking right now, as i just splurged on the 12in last summer.  I used to know lots about PC, and I'm still trying to catch up on learning all about macs, this site has helped alot!

Side Question, is it worth upgrading to iwork 06 from 05?


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## irfaan (Jan 13, 2006)

or ilife?


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## fryke (Jan 13, 2006)

Since Apple has not said much about it, there isn't much info yet. But I'd say we'll discuss that in a thread about iWork as reviews pop up on the web. So far, people on this forum have the info that's on apple.com/iwork I guess.


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## fryke (Jan 13, 2006)

iLife -> http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266301


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## fryke (Jan 13, 2006)

And as we were talking, MacCentral has published their 'first look' at iWork '06: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01/13/iworkfirstlook/index.php?lsrc=mwrss


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## gwynarion (Jan 14, 2006)

I recently bought a iMac G5 w/ iSight, knowing that there could very well be an Intel iMac that was a big improvement.  I had two reasons for doing this.

1.) Hardware: There are always some problems -- major or minor -- when a big change in architecture is made.  While I am usually happy to buy the first version of a piece of software I generally will not buy the first version of a piece of hardware.  My reasoning back in November was that even if there was a new iMac in January it would still be at least six to eight months before there was a rev b machine.  I didn't want to wait that long.

2.) Software: While I hit my hardware update cycle this winter I am still a good while away from my software update cycle (about 18 months).  If the new Intel iMac is perfect and if I had bought it instead of the one I did then I would have been using apps like Photoshop and Illustrator for all that time under Rosette, which I wasn't keen on.  On the other hand, when I buy new software and it is universal binaries, it will run great on my PPC iMac.


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## fryke (Jan 14, 2006)

With the iMac, real world comparisons will also show that the performance gap between the two isn't _so_ high, gwynarion. At the beginning, with stuff emulated in Rosetta, anyway. However: When talking about a PB G4 and the MacBook Pro, I'd say the performance gap _does_ warrant a little more thought. My guess (and yes, that's only a guess) is that even in Rosetta emulation, Adobe's CS2 apps will run more or less the same in both notebooks. But come this Summer, when universal binaries _really_ start to appear as final versions, the performance gap will be much bigger.


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## Fiesta:mac (Jan 14, 2006)

What??? no FW800 support in macbook? Are the nuts?


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## kainjow (Jan 14, 2006)

Fiesta:mac said:
			
		

> What??? no FW800 support in macbook? Are the nuts?


You'll most likely be able to buy an ExpressCard that has a FW800 port. Actually this looks like it would work: http://www.xterasys.com/e94b.htm


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## AdmiralAK (Jan 14, 2006)

My AluBook is now two years old (well, it will be 2 in 5 days ) - it still kicks butt. I know that it will be good for at least another 2 years (for what I use it for anyway) - so in 2 years, or  more, the MacBook Pros will be better - Dual Layer DVD-RWs will be out, or heck maybe even Blue-ray/HD-DVD drives will be out by that time. The kicks will have been worked out, and all apps that I regularly run will have either universal binaries, or x86 counterparts that I can get 

I don't use classic all that often - unless I want to play a game that is only classic (or has a classic installer - even though it has an OS X component). I hope that someone will make an emulator that can run OS 9 so I can play my vintage games 

As for the question at hand - at this juncture - I would most certainly pick a PPC powerbook to the MacBook because of some software, and because of the added "value" ports (S-video, more FW, cardbus, modem)


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## fryke (Jan 14, 2006)

kainjow: that card probably won't work. It's an ExpressCard 54 (mm width), we'd need an ExpressCard 34 (mm width).


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## mdnky (Jan 14, 2006)

Not sure if anyone saw it yet, but on the battery life issue it seems the MacBook will equal the current PowerBook line.  The Duo chips being used evidentially have a slightly higher draw than the current G4 model does, not to mention the brighter more hungry screen*, so the small gain in battery capacity probably won't equal out to any real time gains.

* Why you'd need a brighter screen than the new PBs is a bit of a mystery to me...it's already pretty darn bright.


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## fryke (Jan 14, 2006)

You need a brighter screen

a) in the office, depending on lighting conditions
b) outside. Ever used a notebook with a colour screen outside in summer? You'll need every brightness you can get. Or a transreflective screen (only used for PDAs and mobile phones so far, because colours look washed out compared to a real TFT) or even better: a greyscale TFT, where you don't need a backlight at all in the sun, because the sun effectively lights the display.

But: You can, of course, dim it down on the MacBook Pro to save energy. I rather have enough brightness and use it at 50-70% than having to use it at 100% most of the times like I do with my PowerBook G4.


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## mdnky (Jan 15, 2006)

fryke said:
			
		

> Ever used a notebook with a colour screen outside in summer? You'll need every brightness you can get.  ..........  I rather have enough brightness and use it at 50-70% than having to use it at 100% most of the times like I do with my PowerBook G4.



I live in Louisiana now and use mine outdoors all the time...so yup, definitely know all about the sun issue...only around here it's more like all year round, not just summer only (why I moved ).

I agree on that part...except that they already made the screen brighter on the HD model PowerBooks.  It kind of makes you wonder if they're actually referring to the older model PowerBooks on the brightness comparison for the MacBook, since it does say "67% brighter than its _predecessors_".  Maybe it's just a slight upgrade over the HD model, or just creative marketing to those more likely to buy a MacBook Pro (those with 2-4 year old PowerBooks).  But yea...I'd rather have it and dim it, than not have it and need it.


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