17 inch powerbook vs 15 inch powerbook

[mballent]

I tried a search in the forum but only found things related to 12" vs 15" PB... I would like to get one of these and just wondering which one would be better. I am looking at the 1Ghz version of the 15" with one 512mb dim and the stock 17" pb besides the obvious screen size is it worth then bucks? There are more goodies in the 17" like firewire 800, can that be used yet? Airport extreme, sounds nice but is it backward compatible to the other 801.11 versions? How easy is it to move files from a Win XP box back and forth to the Powerbook. Sorry if this has been discussed before but my search has come up empty. I appreciate your assistance with this decision. I have not worked on a Mac for years I think it was Mac OS 8 perhap earlier, but I am looking forward to playing with the UNIX side of OS X ;-)

--
-Michael

 

[f8&bethere]

MacBidouille claims to have reliable information on upcoming Powerbook updates.

They claim that the long-awaited Powerbooks will make an appearance at the "end of the next month" and will be produced with the PowerPC 7457 from Motorola. Speeds are expected to be 1.1, 1.25 and 1.33 GHz with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 throughout the entire line.

I would wait untill the end of August or early September before I bought a new powerbook. The new wireless is backward compatible. Also files transfers are as easy.

 

[David Azia]

Do you have any links or sources which give a general outline as to what the new Powerbooks will feature? I don't want to end up in New York in August and make the mistake of buying the 12in PB if indeed a newer model comes out a few weeks later.

MacBidouille claims to have reliable information on upcoming
Powerbook updates.

They claim that the long-awaited Powerbooks will make an appearance
at the "end of the next month" and will be produced with the
PowerPC 7457 from Motorola. Speeds are expected to be 1.1, 1.25 and
1.33 GHz with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 throughout the entire line.

I would wait untill the end of August or early September before I
bought a new powerbook. The new wireless is backward compatible.
Also files transfers are as easy.

 

[f8&bethere]

No more information.

MacBidouille claims to have reliable information on upcoming
Powerbook updates.

They claim that the long-awaited Powerbooks will make an appearance
at the "end of the next month" and will be produced with the
PowerPC 7457 from Motorola. Speeds are expected to be 1.1, 1.25 and
1.33 GHz with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 throughout the entire line.

I would wait untill the end of August or early September before I
bought a new powerbook. The new wireless is backward compatible.
Also files transfers are as easy.

 

[mballent]

I did a google search on MacBidouille and found macrumor.com and they did not give more information, but at least I could read the rumor... I was planning on waiting until August already so hopefully they will come out by then...

MacBidouille claims to have reliable information on upcoming
Powerbook updates.

-Michael

 

[edwaltz]

re: file exchange with Win XP. OSX includes Samba services, so file sharing is easy. I do it daily at the office and regularly at home with my wife's XP machine.

I would take the opportunity to try out the 17" before going that way. That machine pushes the definition of 'laptop', IMO. Really more like a portable desktop machine.

I got tired of lugging a 7+ pound laptop on trips, so I went minimalist-- the 12" little Al. I'm quite happy with mine 99.9% of the time.

rumor is that the 15" is overdue for a major overhaul (read: Al case). Given Apple's track record, I would be surprised to see any major changes in the 17" model for six months or so. Just my hunch based on years of Apple-watching, nothing more.

Welcome back (almost) to the Mac side !

Ed

I tried a search in the forum but only found things related to 12"
vs 15" PB... I would like to get one of these and just wondering
which one would be better. I am looking at the 1Ghz version of the
15" with one 512mb dim and the stock 17" pb besides the obvious
screen size is it worth then bucks? There are more goodies in the
17" like firewire 800, can that be used yet? Airport extreme,
sounds nice but is it backward compatible to the other 801.11
versions? How easy is it to move files from a Win XP box back and
forth to the Powerbook. Sorry if this has been discussed before but
my search has come up empty. I appreciate your assistance with
this decision. I have not worked on a Mac for years I think it was
Mac OS 8 perhap earlier, but I am looking forward to playing with
the UNIX side of OS X ;-)

--
-Michael

 

[mballent]

We were planning on getting the laptop sometime in the end of August, and according to MacRumors it appears that an announcement should come out around that time... We do not really travel too much so the laptop would stay home most of the time. Just want something that is mobile in the house. My wife has back problems and would like to not be tied to the office just to work on stuff. She saw what can be done with a Mac and she was hooked... We will need to visit the local Apple store and try them out. I was concerned that the 15" model was getting a little dated and the 12" seems too small so that was why I was leaning toward to 17" version, since it has all the goodies

I do have one question about adding a display. When you hook another display to the laptop does it just mirror what is on the laptop or do you get more space to work on? Like if you are in Illustrator, can you keep the "wire frame" on one screen and the rendered version on another? I hope that makes sense...

--
-Michael

 

[Jono Slack]

HI Michael

I'm ashamed to admit I've had all 3 of 'em. First of all a 400mhz 15", then a 12", and then, when my son needed a computer to help with some web work, I took my chance, gave him the 12" and got the 17" I'm typing on now.

I haven't used the Firewire 800 yet, but the airport extreme is just great - I'm not sure if it's backward compatable, but the new airport extreme base stations certainly are. I would assume that it's compatable with 11b.

The screen is GORGEOUS, I just love it, it's a little bigger, but so thin, and so beautifully made and designed. The 15" is also lovely, but (early models at least) were not all that robust.

As for moving files back and forth from an XP box - I have a Vaio notebook right next to me - both connected to the airport basestation, Having set up the mac to accept windows login, I can simply access the mac files on the pc from within explorer (no more trouble than a peer to peer on XP.

I also have Virtual PC installed (a bit slow) but if you have any old Windows stuff you need to run, it's perfectly acceptable, and really does work (including access to USB ports, digital cameras, networking etc. etc.).

Can't do UNIX myself, but OSX is just great (I don't really think it's any more stable than XP, or faster - sometimes slower in fact - but it looks and feels soooo much better.

ONE PIECE OF IMPORTANT ADVICE

Mac don't seem to mind if you scratch their machines, and so, they make no effort th have them scratch proof! Whatever mac you go for, you should get one of the neoprene sleeves designed for them (you can get them on the mac website). Otherwise a bunch of keys in your briefcase or a plug or something will get you in the end, and you'll be so sad!

Hope this helps
kind regards
jono slack

I tried a search in the forum but only found things related to 12"
vs 15" PB... I would like to get one of these and just wondering
which one would be better. I am looking at the 1Ghz version of the
15" with one 512mb dim and the stock 17" pb besides the obvious
screen size is it worth then bucks? There are more goodies in the
17" like firewire 800, can that be used yet? Airport extreme,
sounds nice but is it backward compatible to the other 801.11
versions? How easy is it to move files from a Win XP box back and
forth to the Powerbook. Sorry if this has been discussed before but
my search has come up empty. I appreciate your assistance with
this decision. I have not worked on a Mac for years I think it was
Mac OS 8 perhap earlier, but I am looking forward to playing with
the UNIX side of OS X ;-)

--
-Michael

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

 

[Jono Slack]

We were planning on getting the laptop sometime in the end of
August, and according to MacRumors it appears that an announcement
should come out around that time... We do not really travel too
much so the laptop would stay home most of the time. Just want
something that is mobile in the house. My wife has back problems
and would like to not be tied to the office just to work on stuff.
She saw what can be done with a Mac and she was hooked... We will
need to visit the local Apple store and try them out. I was
concerned that the 15" model was getting a little dated and the 12"
seems too small so that was why I was leaning toward to 17"
version, since it has all the goodies

I do have one question about adding a display. When you hook
another display to the laptop does it just mirror what is on the
laptop or do you get more space to work on? Like if you are in
Illustrator, can you keep the "wire frame" on one screen and the
rendered version on another? I hope that makes sense...

None at all ;-)

Yes - if you add another display, you can either mirror the original display, or spread your desktop to it (I do this often). The mac handles this very nicely.

I guess there may be new macs announced in August, but doubtful if they ship for a while. I don't suppose the 17" will change much (different processor and USB 2 look likely).

Unless you have specific need for USB 2, I wouldn't be too worried about getting the current 17".

kind regards
jono slack

--
-Michael

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

 

[edwaltz]

Michael--

It sounds like you have thought this through thoroughly. If I were looking at a machine as an office-alternative, I too would be looking at either a 15" or, probably, a 17" inch. My purchase of the 12" was a conscious trade-off of speed to gain portability.

The larger machines give more opportunities for expansion, both in terms of RAM and through more external connections (My #1 gripe is lack of a PCMCIA slot on little Al for uses like adding a memory stick reader or USB 2 interface.)

If the (anticipated) 15" does NOT adopt the aluminum body, I would judge it carefully for rigidity. My boss has a first generation Ti PB, and I am reluctant to pick it up with only one hand, there is so much flex in it. Apple improved this in later models, but I still prefer the rigidity of the Al models.

Good luck in your search. Having started on an Apple II+, I have seen the best and the worst of Apple engineering over the years. This generation of Powerbooks is some of the finest industrial design they have ever produced, IMO-- and they set a very high standard for themselves to match.

Ed

We were planning on getting the laptop sometime in the end of
August, and according to MacRumors it appears that an announcement
should come out around that time... We do not really travel too
much so the laptop would stay home most of the time. Just want
something that is mobile in the house. My wife has back problems
and would like to not be tied to the office just to work on stuff.
She saw what can be done with a Mac and she was hooked... We will
need to visit the local Apple store and try them out. I was
concerned that the 15" model was getting a little dated and the 12"
seems too small so that was why I was leaning toward to 17"
version, since it has all the goodies

I do have one question about adding a display. When you hook
another display to the laptop does it just mirror what is on the
laptop or do you get more space to work on? Like if you are in
Illustrator, can you keep the "wire frame" on one screen and the
rendered version on another? I hope that makes sense...

--
-Michael

 

[win39]

We were planning on getting the laptop sometime in the end of
August, and according to MacRumors it appears that an announcement
should come out around that time... We do not really travel too
much so the laptop would stay home most of the time. Just want
something that is mobile in the house. My wife has back problems
and would like to not be tied to the office just to work on stuff.
She saw what can be done with a Mac and she was hooked... We will
need to visit the local Apple store and try them out. I was
concerned that the 15" model was getting a little dated and the 12"
seems too small so that was why I was leaning toward to 17"
version, since it has all the goodies

I do have one question about adding a display. When you hook
another display to the laptop does it just mirror what is on the
laptop or do you get more space to work on? Like if you are in
Illustrator, can you keep the "wire frame" on one screen and the
rendered version on another? I hope that makes sense...

The display on the 17 inch is supposed to be the same one that is on the 17 inch iMac and at least one site had a side by side picture showing how much brighter the 17 inch is than the other PBs.

The 12 inch display just mirrors. The other two power books allow different information on the built in and an additional display.

If you do not mind the size I think you will like it. Truly a portable desktop machine.

 

[Jono Slack]

Hi There

the 12" ibook just mirrors, but the 12" G4 allows you to spread your desktop in the same way as the 15" and 17" (I know, I've done it!).

kind regards
jono slack

We were planning on getting the laptop sometime in the end of
August, and according to MacRumors it appears that an announcement
should come out around that time... We do not really travel too
much so the laptop would stay home most of the time. Just want
something that is mobile in the house. My wife has back problems
and would like to not be tied to the office just to work on stuff.
She saw what can be done with a Mac and she was hooked... We will
need to visit the local Apple store and try them out. I was
concerned that the 15" model was getting a little dated and the 12"
seems too small so that was why I was leaning toward to 17"
version, since it has all the goodies

I do have one question about adding a display. When you hook
another display to the laptop does it just mirror what is on the
laptop or do you get more space to work on? Like if you are in
Illustrator, can you keep the "wire frame" on one screen and the
rendered version on another? I hope that makes sense...

The display on the 17 inch is supposed to be the same one that is
on the 17 inch iMac and at least one site had a side by side
picture showing how much brighter the 17 inch is than the other PBs.

The 12 inch display just mirrors. The other two power books allow
different information on the built in and an additional display.

If you do not mind the size I think you will like it. Truly a
portable desktop machine.

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

 

[mballent]

It seems that this thread does not die... I do appreciate the update and the great information you folks provide!

--
-Michael