Up Up And Away! Superdrive is here.
Written: Dec 19 '02
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Pros: Huge Display, Superdrive (iDVD), Shiny Silver, Fast
Cons: Awkward sized laptop, one firewire port, battery sleep issues
The Bottom Line: Oh my gawd. It's about time. Apple's best laptop with a SuperDrive... Buy buy buy.
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| cjlarkin's Full Review: Apple PowerBook G4 15.2 in. (M8859LL/A) Mac Notebo... |
So where are my blue tights & red cape? Because it's clear SuperDrive is here. And it'll make you feel like a Superhero with it's speed, strength, stablility and shiny shiny Titanium.
Every since Apple released the PowerBook G4 laptop I have been craving, drooling to buy one. But I decided to wait until I saw the right model. Well the right model has been released. The PowerBook G4 1Ghz SuperDrive.
It's a fantastic machine that is now able to take the place of my desktop units at home as it can do everything I need it.
The screen is huge enough to easily multitask applications. Something I just never really noticed as bad feature on previous laptops I had. And the screen is very bright in comparison to a PowerBook G3 2000 (FireWire / Pismo). Side by side to a PowerBook G3 2000 (FireWire / Pismo) with the display setting on max the PowerBook G4 1Ghz looks to be at least 30% brighter.
Of course, now having a SuperDrive the first thing I did was capture video from my TV via Formac Studio DV and try to make a DVD. My gosh, how easy was the whole process?!
Import directly into iMovie, Export the video to iDVD, drag and drop into iDVD and click burn. The DVD was burned in about an hour for a 45 min episode of Alias (ABC, Sunday nights--plug--). My room mate has a 2Ghz IBM Processor with an external DVD Burner and it takes him nearly twice the time to burn about an hour of video. He also runs into issues with the disc being incompatible with DVD drives. Not to mention the computer locking up.
I popped out my newly burned DVD, put it in two different DVD players and room mate's machine - absolutely no issues. Looked great, worked great. Exactly as to be expected.
The laptop came pre-installed with Mac OS X 10.2.2 and when I booted up for the first time the automatic Software Update program needed to download some updates. I find the interface of Macs and OS X, the design of the equipment and the quality of the product to be my number one reason Apple computers are my computers of choice.
I have been using Apple computers for nearly 15 years. Swearing I would never use one ever again after school three and 1/2 years ago I completely switched and very glad I did.
The PowerPC G4 1Ghz processor is a NOTICABLE difference from G3 computer. Applications like VirtualPC running Windows 2000 is now completely acceptable. I use my PowerBook G4 1Ghz on a completely Microsoft based network. Since Microsoft has released a Mac version of Outlook that will run in Classic, I have no need for an IBM based PC.
It truly is a SuperMachine. From video processing, to audio application such as iTunes, to DVD Burning, to running IBM PC related software, to simply surfing the internet it all runs well, and with fantastic speed and smoothness on an Apple PowerBook G4 1Ghz.
There are a few downsides to the laptop. First, the sizing of the laptop is a bit weird - especially if you're used to traditionally sized laptops. It's long, very long compared to most laptops. It's lighter then most laptops, but the length presented an interesting issue in trying to find a good sleeve for it. And with it being so thin, I'm getting used to that the laptop is durable.
There is only one FireWire port. Why? I have no idea and feel it's the laptop only poor design. Usually I connect at least two FireWire devices. I'd rather have one USB Port and two FireWire ports. But obviously I can get a FireWire repeater / hub.
The only other issue I have found is that the Laptop has a problem when on battery power being put to sleep, and before raising the screen and awakening the laptop if you plug in external power the laptop will not wake up. The resolution is to remove the battery, unplug the external power, let it sit for a few and then plug it back in without the battery. Using two different batteries show the same problem. I am sure Apple will release a fix for this eventually. And obviously there is a workaround.
The other issues I have with the laptop are related to Microsoft's horrific version of Internet Explorer and MS Office suite that one has to use in order to survive in the business world. But even on a PC these applications need much improvement. One work around is i use Chimera browser instead of IE and I find it works much better on the PowerBook G4 1Ghz then IE or even the current release of Netscape.
I highly recommend the Apple PowerBook G4 1Ghz Laptop running MAC OS X as a machine for professional & fun applications.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2499
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor: PowerPC G4
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
cjlarkin
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Member: Chris Larkin
Location: Fort Lauderadlde, FL
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
Senior Telecom Engineer, techno fanatic, enjoys big boots and is a bad speller.
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