I Am Utterly Disappointed.
Written: Jun 03 '03 (Updated Jun 03 '03)
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Pros: Compact, attractive, good features.
Cons: Weight, value, software, screen size.
The Bottom Line: Expensive for the things you get, mediocre performance, makes this notebook not for you.
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| kenikov's Full Review: Apple PowerBook G4 12.1 in. (M8760LL/A) Mac Notebo... |
I have written a previous review to this, but it was not that helpful. I've decided to write a new review, going much deeper into specifications and comparasions instead of my own opinions. Nonetheless, the outcome is the same.
Size
The main idea of a notebook is for it to be portable. If this was not the idea, we would all be still using our full-size, tower desktop PCs. Apple and Gateway, together have both killed the whole idea of laptop portability with the long, stretched out 17" Powerbook and the morbidly obese Gateway 600XL and 600X laptops. Apple, with their first G4 notebook that is considered super-compact, should be pretty impressive. Afterall, it is Apple's smallest notebook. Not. The overall portability of this machine is pretty good. You take it out of the box and you can easily carry it, without having to lug it out of the package like a briefcase. It is a 12" screen, adding on to portability. However, the weight of this thing is unexcusable for the category it is in. Most 12" laptops are under 3.5 lbs, most good ones under 3lbs. Sony offers a 2lbs one. For this laptop to weigh as much as it does (about 3.6lbs) is ridiculous, especially if it has a 12 inch screen! For a $1700 notebook to weigh that much in the portability section is just downright awful. It would make it one of the heaviest laptops in it's category. The price however may justify this, considering $1800 is just below the average mainstream notebook price. Overall, the portability is acceptable.
Features
The features of this thing is pretty good, if you get the higher-end model. The Powerbook 12" users which I will be calling just Powerbook from now on, always brag about the Superdrive. Yes, for a $1799 notebook, it's superdrive comes pretty cheap. Many morons tend to recommend the Powerbook solely for this. You can easily go out and get the iBook a better one that is faster, rips DVDs smoother, and much pricier delivery superb performance a Powerbook can only dream of. Just go out to a local CompUSA or something, and ask for an external DVD burner. It is basically something you just plug into your notebook or desktop, to get super-fast and smooth dvd burning. If this is the main reason you need this Powerbook, forget about it. I suggest you get an external DVD-RW.
The graphics card is not bad, neither is the iBooks however. In fact, PCWorld (one of the top reviewers on anything computers) rates the ATI Graphics Cards higher than the NVidia. The iBooks graphics card handles Warcraft III perfectly, so the graphics card in the Powerbook is not a vast improvement...if any.
The CD-RW burns CDs really quick according to Powerbook users because of the G4. They think because of the G4, it burns faster than the iBook. Slap 'em. Slap 'em HARD if they say that to you. The reason the Powerbook would burn CDs faster than the iBook would mainly be because of the Combo-drive quality. One maybe, and should be better than the other. If you can't wait a few more seconds though, you also deserve to be slapped...or you could get an external CD-RW drive :).
The ports are all pretty good. I don't think it has USB 2.0 though, but it does have Firewire. A fair trade-off.
Speed
"Oh gosh! The G4, magnificent, a beauty, the best thing that ever happened to Apple" is what I keep on hearing from inane buyers of this computer. The G4 is everything, but an advantage. There are however...some.
General speed would be one. A lot of people go for the G4 because they think the G3 is old. They deserved to be kicked. Apple has not given up on it's G3 yet. Think of the G3 as a Celeron and the G4 as a Pentium 4 (slower). People tend to think of the G3 as a Pentium 3, which has pracitcally stopped in improvements. The G3 is still improving. The G4 however does still have the edge in speed. Not impressive quickness however. Though PPC are very efficient, don't expect this to beat the average AMD Athlon or Intel Cetrino processor.
The disadvantages of this CPU would be a lot. First off, the G4 raises the price needlessly, but Apple has recently lowered it to be more competitive. Still, for the price you could get a new Cetrino unit.
The G4 also takes alot more battery-life than the G3 does, and it heats-up the computer dramatically quicker.
For $1500, get an iBook with good RAM or a Cetrino Unit, you will be much better off.
Software
The software of this thing is pretty good. All your important iApps and more. No need to worry about this.
It does only boot into OS X though, which may be a problem to developers into Carbon. Real developers don't do either carbon nor Cocoa though ;) .
OS X is a huge success anyways, no need to boot into OS 9.
Programmers might want to install Linux. The programming support for Mac OS X is pretty good, since it's changed to Unix. Python compilers are very easy to find and use. Although lots of the programs have to be run from the terminal or you must compile it yourself like Haskell.
Hardware
The general look of this thing is pretty nice. It is as tough as the iBook? I doubt it. It is still rather attractive and will get you attention at the local starbucks. Maybe not as much as the white, iBook would though. It is less effeminate with the silver, which is an advantage to the males.
As I notice, the hardware support is fine.
The design of the hardware though nice, may be flawed. Again with the weight. Outrageous and disappointing for such a small machine. I've done enough whining on that though.
Last Word
Well, it's speed isn't that great as Mac Heads boast it to be. The overall design is okay. I do not reccommend this machine, because I sincerly think you can get a better deal for the price. The new Cetrinos are out, and they beat this Powerbook out on speed, battery-life and efficency. You will be much happier. If you want super-portability, check Sharp UltraThins that start under 3.5lbs and easily less, also the Panasonic Toughbooks at under 3.0lbs and Sony at 2.0lbs or less I think. PCWorld said that you can buy these legally and safely at Japanese sites that will deliver to the US, and the sites are all in english. After about 20 minutes of searching through my magazines, I found you one! You can thank me later ;) http://www.dynamism.com
If you are still hooked on Apple, like PCWorld says: "The PowerBook G4 does have useful DVD-burning capability. If you don't need that, the slightly heavier IBook has most of the PowerBook's functionality and costs less."
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): $1799
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor: PowerPC G4
Processor speed: 801-900
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: SuperDisk
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
kenikov
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Location: Canada
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
"I just came from the Price Club. I'm loaded up, baby!"
- Kramer
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