Rating: 
Summary: 6.9 lbs.
Review: The 17" Apple Powerbook weighs 6.9 lbs NOT 13.2. Were you guys snorting crack when you wrote that?!The 17" Powerbook is the best purchase I have ever made. Plain and simple. Nothing else need be said. - Xidius
Rating: 
Summary: overall good, but not perfect
Review: The Powerbook 17" is reasonably fast. I suggest however to get it with at least 1GB since any Apple computers work defnitively better with a good amount of ram (half Giga is really the minimum). With 2GB (as I got) you will be quite satisfied since that will avoid the use of virtual memory (that can be painfully slow). Also, with 256MB of ram the video card performs quite well (despite I did not tested the computer with hard demanding video software). Comparred to my old PB, the ventilation is quite silent and efficient. Overall I am quite satisfied, still there are some negative points.
1. There in only one button mouse. Apple instists in this idea that is even more ununderstandable since many of its programs (like Safari) actually support a 3 buttons mouse.
2. The screen is ***far*** to be perfect. There is a strong pink backgroud that makes thet display unusable for photo editing. Mac OS is also provided with a very poor color calibration system. I impreved a bit the result by using a color scheme for a 3rd party monitor, but still the pink background is not completely erased.
3. I had some problems with the USB port and finally I had to erase my ipod. I am not sure if that is a problem of the powerbook or of the ipod. With the firewire (which i reserved for other devices) the ipod worked without problems. I suspect (despite I am not sure) that there is some bug in Mac OS since I had other problems with other devices under USB on both this and other Macs.
4. The use of an external monitor is still quite primitive.
a) You can not move the dock on the external monitor
(unless you do not want to use only the external one).
b) You can not have the menubar on both monitors at the same time.
c) The X11 client will open every window always on the main monitor.
d) The procedure to use the external monitor keeping close the powerbook
is quite boring.
These days the new version (1.6GB) appeared. Its specifications look very similar (still lacking a G5). I suspect that it owns the same screen of mine. This can be a serious problem under certain circumstances. So maybe you could be better serverd by a 12" (easier to be carry) and a good external monitor.
Rating:
Summary: The weight is totally wrong!!
Review: The PowerBook weighs HALF of what you said it does! 6.9 POUNDS NOT 13.2! That should really be fixed. The PowerBook is the lightest 17" laptop, not the heaviest! Jeez. And it is also quite possibly the coolest computer ever made.
Rating:
Summary: The weight is totally wrong!!
Review: The PowerBook weighs HALF of what you said it does! 6.9 POUNDS NOT 13.2! That should really be fixed. The PowerBook is the lightest 17" laptop, not the heaviest! Jeez. And it is also quite possibly the coolest computer ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Nice But PCs Have Caught Up
Review: This is my first Mac. I've had it for six months. Prior to this, I had been a PC user all my life.
I bought the Apple based on the strength of reviews from legions of friends in the design field who were early Mac converts and my desire just to try something different. I use it primarily for editing photos and video. I do LIKE this machine alot -- it's beautiful and it's a genuinely solid performer. But the price/performance ratio -- despite ramping up to 1.5 MB of RAM from the paltry 512MB standard-- just isn't there. No way around it.
Photo editing bench tests for this machine versus similarly priced PC products prove its limitations. It's a fairly slow machine for the price. As for the Operating System, the Mac package is interesting (even fun at times) but remarkably less advanced and intuitive than I expected and has been touted.
Believe me, the "switch" is not as easy as Apple would have you believe. And surprisingly there's absolutely no support for those who take the leap. You need to decide if it's worth relearning everything you know about personal computing. Personally, I haven't found the payoff outweighs than the hassle. Yet.
I look back on what I could have got for the same money from HP or another PC maker, and I now feel a little stung and underwhelmed by this machine. Again, it's nice. But it's something of a sheep in wolf's clothing.
Think Different? Absolutely! But also think twice. And think hard.
Rating:
Summary: Best, fastest laptop on market- Mac smokes Windows Again!
Review: This is the fastest, most powerful laptop I have ever seen. It simply blows away all of the Pentiums, and while the 14" G4 Mac is a tad faster, this 17" screen makes this computer a supercomputer in a thin aluminum case. I use both Windows XP and Mac OS X (Mac OS X is eons ahead of Windows XP), and to compare the 2 is not fair- the Mac wins in almost every category you can think of. I run Virtual PC on this computer, so in a pinch if I must slum a bit and use a Windows application, I can do so (although at slower speeds). The backlit keyboard is great, but the performance is what sells me on this awesome machine (my 6th laptop, and 10th computer in last 8 years). Best computer I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE! You won't believe your eyes...
Review: Wow. This is a stunning laptop. No other laptop on the market can match the Apple Powerbook. Yes, no other laptop SHOULD match the Apple Powerbook because you're paying nearly double the price for this one, but I assure you, you won't be disappointed with this power-house. I am a college graphic design student, and I was required to purchase this computer for my field of choice. I was sort of reluctant to have to ask my parents to purchase ANOTHER computer for me, but once I started researching the powerbook, I totally changed my mind immediately. I worked on Powerbooks inside my classes and began to fall in love. Stunning graphics, quiet as a mouse, and people will all be jealous of this little beauty. I suggest upgrading memory to 1 GB. It makes your computer run so much faster with multiple programs. You can burn a dvd and surf the interent while working on a document. It's really nice to be able to do all of that without your computer freezing on you. Go to the Apple website and research more about the Powerbooks, and if you choose this route for your laptop, you won't be disappointed!!!
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