those 12" apple powerbook g4's
 

Long time apple despiser until the last 12 months..

Long time PC users..

but god these things look shit hot:

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0...l?tag=pdtl-img

Has anyone here converted over to the dark side from being an avid pc user? what was your experience?

I use both, but my love is for Mac. I've got an old Powerbook that's still kicking, and my girl's got a new one and a dual Processor G4 that she does graphic design work on. She's a Mac nut...even has a few "vintage" ones in storage.

I want to get one of the 17'' TiBooks and dump my last PC. Virtual PC is a great program for those who still need to run Windows apps. Only thing...they were just bought out by MS, so I don't know what will happen there.

Anyhow...we love Mac. Can't say enough good things about the platform.

I used Pcs for years and my partner had a G3 Powerbook. I started messing with it and really liked the OS9 operating system much better. I recently, bought a new powerbook with OSX and now avoid Windows machines completely. Apple really has their shit together and their hardware runs beautifully with their software. Apache web server comes instaeed and runs out of the box. Firewire drive sharing is erffortless and networking is a breeze as well. The machine never crashes and all of the software made for the mac is excellent. I know more and more developers are writing for the Mac now as well. Compare any Mac verson of software to the PC counterpart and the Mac version alsways runs better. If you really need to run some Windows programs you can always use Virtual PC which works fine.

Sputter

many of the mac fans over in the forums at Arstechnica have posted that they've found the new 12" Powerbook to be of near the lowest build quality they've ever seen Apple sign off on and send out the door... many complaints about the screen not fitting into the unit properly, and the screws backing out of the chassis over a short period of time. oddly, no complaints at all about the other Powerbook models, just the 12"..

damn that sounds scary chupa, thanks for the info.

What I can't get OVER is how they can fit a GeForce4 into those little babies. Imagine playing UT on one, or something similar.

The fact its based on FreeBSD is a major draw card for me, and everyone who is using the latest macs is raving about them. I'm a mad fan of their design.. the only comparable notebook to the 12" G4 is the Sony Vaio 12" which is the other one i'm comparing.

I think its time to sell my notebook and upgrade.

Here are the contendors:

12" Sony Vaio or 12" Apple G4
17" Sony Vaio or 17" Apple G4 Titanium

Does anyone have one of these?

My girl's got the 15''. It's the perfect size :thumbsup Not small, not big...just right.

don't get me wrong, i *really* wanted one of these... a super svelte *nix-based laptop would really be nice for travelling, i'm hoping its just the initial batch that has these problems, and all will be corrected in later builds of the line. the 15" and 17" models are just way too big for my tastes, i'd never carry them anywhere due to the weight and sheer size...

not too big on VAIO's these days, except for their ultra-portable offerings (most of which are 'japan only')... i picked up one of these in Akihabara district of Tokyo last month, just about as small as you can go..!

http://www.dynamism.com/u3/full/dice.jpg

http://www.dynamism.com/u3/full/open-top.jpg

what are the dimensions of that?

Size: 7.3(W) x 5.5 (L) x 1.2 (1.8 w/ battery) (H) [inch]
184.5 x 139 x 30.6 (46.1 w/ battery) [mm]

Weight: 1.80 lbs / 0.82 kg

933MHz CPU, 512mb memory, 20gb internal disc... a real marvel of engineering in my opinion..

I've been looking at the sony u3.

Tell us how you like it. It looks really nice. How do you like the thumb controls?

I understand that it has already been discontinued. Any idea how the replacement might be specd? maybe the centrino?

Lickmymonster

Yeah it will be the Centrino. Honestly I still think the Sony Picturebook is the best mini computer that has been put on the market. Hopefully whatever they make next will top that.

hey there monster... a grey day here in houston, yes? the thumb controls are pretty easy to get used to, and i'm even left-handed!

hehe, the japanese are upgrade happy as always, the U3 has indeed already been superseded by the upcoming U101... the dimensions of the U101 are a bit larger, but it sports a 7.1" display as opposed to the 6.4" on the U3, and can be flipped around like a book for easy handling while standing. while not available as of yet, it is listed as including a "Ultra low voltage 600A MHz Mobile Intel® Celeron® Processor" at 400MHz FSB, i'm assuming this is a Centrino as those specs seem unfamiliar to me as a current intel offering... heres some pics to whet your appetite, i'll have one of these when they are available i think, i like the new design..

http://www.dynamism.com/u101/full/compare.jpg

http://www.dynamism.com/u101/full/dress.jpg

http://www.dynamism.com/u101/full/flat.jpg

http://www.dynamism.com/u101/full/bear.jpg

hmm... i've got a picturebook too, but to be honest i rarely use it anymore after getting the U3, the screen resolution of 1280x600 is odd and not very good for surfing or looking at normal pages online (*lots* of scrolling up and down), and i guess i've just never had much use for the onboard camera. ok, ok, so i did use it just a little bit doing 'upskirt' shoots at the local Barnes & Noble, but it was just once, i promise..!

ok, ok, so i did use it just a little bit doing 'upskirt' shoots at the local Barnes & Noble, but it was just once, i promise..!

LOL

Thanks chupacabra I have been trying to reshearch these models for weeks. Now that I know the new model designation
i should be able to track it down.

Yea the weathers grey here in Houston the last to days. First of the wek the meterologist sid rain mid week. Now they say easter
sunday.

:thumbsup

Lickmymonster

Learn About the New Powerbooks (VIDEO)

http://www.audioneird.com/

Looks like a 600mhz celeron. They are claiming twice the speed
of the crusoe. Thiner case, larger screen, 30 gig drive. Built in blue tooth.

Sounds like some good upgrades

Lickmymonster:)

yes, the Transmeta CPU's don't really get me too excited, i'm hoping the new Intel offering is more robust for these smaller machines. as expensive as the Sony models always are at launch, you have to give them props for innovation..

Check out that Mac video.

heh... sadly, i cant. quicktime doesn't run on the Irix OS, and i don't have a PC close by... can you give me a summary perhaps candyflip..?

My PowerBook G4 rocks - I do use it mostly for music though.

I like it a lot better then my PC desktop, which is pretty pimped out in its own right.

to keep it simple: I use both.

It's just a video overview. By Apple...so it's in their marketing style. They've got some well known Mac people checking out the new models and being amazed. Typical Apple...but they do it well.

These Powerbooks, even the 12'' have everything imaginable.

The PCs do the dirty work.

I got my 17" PowerBook , I love it :thumbsup I never thought I would make a switch, but after playing with it for 20 minutes I was sold. It has built in Blue tooth, 802.11g wireless, usb2 firewire 2 and dvd burner among other things the thing is 1" thin now thats a serious notebook! :) I got mine like a month ago and don't have a single complaint... BTW it's running Darwin BSD for OS :) so you can do real cool stuff with it :2 cents:

If you're going to pimp for real then you got to get an Apple. Powerbooks are sweet!

powerbooks are nice. I have a 15" one and i am happy with it

i have one in every room

nice tool,toshiba libreto is even more powerful and it's less than $1k! amazing thing