Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > 17 Powerbook or not

View Poll Results: Get the 17 powerbook
Poll Options:
Yes 36 votes (69.23%)
No 16 votes (30.77%)
Voters: 52. You may not vote on this poll
17 Powerbook or not
Thread Tools
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 12:04 AM
 
I have the option of selling my 15" powerbook 1ghz/1g ram to a friend. Should I? and get a 17 powerbook. Is it worth it? I have about 24 hours or so before she goes and buys a new one. I'm getting around $2600.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Pleasanton, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 12:38 AM
 
I never sell anything to people I know. This way, if anything I sell breaks, I don't have to hear or feel guilty about it.
     
Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 01:05 AM
 
You know, you're absolutely right Sean.

Ditto.
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 01:53 AM
 
its less then 6 months old. Still under warranty. Plus if they want too they could buy the extended warranty.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: No frelling idea
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 04:30 AM
 
Good point, but if it were me I would definately let her know. I'll sell to a friend, but I always tell them what I like and dislike about it and of course if there are any problems with it. I feel less guilty about it when I know I have been completely honest to a fault, even stuff I personally think is no big deal. Kinda off topic. Get it man!
     
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Florida
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 04:40 AM
 
Personally I would definitely go for it. I am the kind that seizes the opportunity to stay one step ahead in technology. Besides, for the price you are getting for your 15" it is a no brainer in my opinion. Let the friend know your stand on the repair policy and warranty however.
     
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 06:03 AM
 
I agree with urrl5201 - if the chance comes up to upgrade at not unreasonably cost I do it without fail.

However, I'm the first to have voted "No", but that's just my take on your position. You don't say if you prefer the 17" to the 15".

Hope you're happy with what you decide either way!
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 06:37 AM
 
Thanks for the feedback. In no way would try to rip a friend off, just not my style. I will be throwing some extras in(bag and some software) I do like to upgrade(maybe to much) I do like my tibook alot and just trying to justify the upgrade, if its worth it or not.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: WV, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 08:43 AM
 
That's a very fair sounding price...I'd go for it. However I'm not so sure I'd buy the 17" PB right now...if possible, I'd wait until June & see if the PB line is updated.
5G 60GB video iPod
512MB iPod Shuffle
Westone UM1 Canalphones
     
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 09:07 AM
 
Originally posted by AssassyN:
That's a very fair sounding price...I'd go for it. However I'm not so sure I'd buy the 17" PB right now...if possible, I'd wait until June & see if the PB line is updated.
Good point on the updates... here's another one to consider:

Some people (myself included) don't like the 17". While I love the actual machine and the features/specs, and am in fact not even too turned off by the price... I HATE the size.

I STRONGLY suggest that anyone considering the purchase of a 17 try one of these out in a local apple store if at all possible first. They are MUCH larger than you might think (so large, in fact, that I don't want one based solely on the size).

Then again, if you WANT the size, by all means go for it, it sounds like you're getting a great price for your book.

For comparison, I just (FINALLY) found my ti (that exact machine, including the 1gb of RAM) for $2500 + shipping, and I thought it was a "little" high... so you're definitely getting the good end of the deal.

Mine should be here Monday!!!! I can't wait <waits VERY impatiently, I think I'll have to drink heavily this weekend to make it go by quicker

Thanks,

Alex
     
Forum Regular
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Stillwater, OK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 10:11 AM
 
Coming from someone who never saw the 17" before buying and owned the 15" GHz SuperDrive, I would say yes go for it without doubt. From my experience, Apple has fixed all problems that they had with the TiBook (at least my complaints/problems with the TiBook). That includes fan (hardly ever comes on), heat (no heat problems), durability (no bending or cheap plastic feeling), no paint (no paint fades/chips). Bottom line it feels like like a very polished and well designed notebook.

If/When you get it, if you are like me, will not give a rip if Apple comes out with an upgrade soon because you will love it so much. It is truly a remarkable machine. I can't think of any problems with mine.

And about people saying it is just way to large. I would argue that it is not that large at all. This is coming from a skinny weak 5' 4" student. I carry mine around in the Brenthaven Backpack where ever I go and it is not heavy to me at all. Compare it to the desktop replacement PC notebooks most others are carrying around and at under 7lbs the 17" is still substantially lighter then most PC notebooks I have seen (not to mention they only have <= 15" screens). Sure it has a big footprint but it is not much different then the 15" in size.

Check it out, these are pics I took the day I got my 17 incher:

http://www.kaukis.com/archives/000012.html

Chris
     
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 10:27 AM
 
Originally posted by b3b0p:
And about people saying it is just way to large. I would argue that it is not that large at all. This is coming from a skinny weak 5' 4" student. I carry mine around in the Brenthaven Backpack where ever I go and it is not heavy to me at all. Compare it to the desktop replacement PC notebooks most others are carrying around and at under 7lbs the 17" is still substantially lighter then most PC notebooks I have seen (not to mention they only have <= 15" screens). Sure it has a big footprint but it is not much different then the 15" in size.
I wasn't so much referring to the size as in weight/thickness/footprint... more the size of this monster on your lap/desk/airplane tray. As your pictures illustrate, it is substantially wider and a good bit longer than the ti.

Just from personal experience... I was seriously considering getting one myself, until I saw it in the store. The first thing that popped to mind was "good god, that's rediculously large." I think it was the width of the thing that really caught me off guard. Perhaps if it was a tiny bit deeper and slightly more narrow I'd like it more.

Not only that, but for all the extra size you only get 160x46 extra pixels over the ti (1280x854 vs 1440x900), so the ti actually has a sharper display.

Just my $0.02... YMMV.

Alex
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 01:22 PM
 
I just got off the phone with her and she wants the Tibook I explained to her about the warranty and her options on it. I would love to wait until june to get the 17 Aibook but I can't. This means that there will be an update to the powerbook line.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 04:45 PM
 
Well its done. I just ordered the a new powerbook 17, so that means there will be an update in June. Now I'll use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my tibook harddrive to the aibook harddrive. Hope it works. Thanks for the input.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: WV, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 04:51 PM
 
Originally posted by dab007:
Well its done. I just ordered the a new powerbook 17, so that means there will be an update in June. Now I'll use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my tibook harddrive to the aibook harddrive. Hope it works. Thanks for the input.
SWEET! You've got an AWESOME machine headed your way! Be sure to come here if you've got any questions...CONGRATS!
5G 60GB video iPod
512MB iPod Shuffle
Westone UM1 Canalphones
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 06:44 PM
 
Originally posted by AssassyN:
SWEET! You've got an AWESOME machine headed your way! Be sure to come here if you've got any questions...CONGRATS!
I do have one question. I have never cloned a drive do you think I'll have any problems cloning 15 powerbook drive to the 17 powerbook. I have an external firewire drive that I boot from time to time(repair drive). This is how I think it works, please correct me if I'm wrong. I boot from the external firewire drive on the 17 powerbook. Make the 15 powerbook a target firewire drive and connect it to the 17 powerbook. Use Carbon Copy Cloner 2.2 to erase the 17 powerbook drive and clone the 15 powerbook drive to the 17 powerbook drive. Will this work? Thanks for the help
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: WV, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 30, 2003, 11:00 PM
 
Ya know I've never had any experience w/ cloning drives or using external boot drives, but if my knowledg serves me correctly, what you're suggesting (and the steps you've said) sounds legitimate...anyone else know for sure?
5G 60GB video iPod
512MB iPod Shuffle
Westone UM1 Canalphones
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 31, 2003, 04:07 PM
 
Well its here! WoW its pretty nice. I think its a keeper. Cloning the drive is the best and easiest way. I had to change the way I did it because I could not get the 17 powerbook to boot from the firewire drive. I booted from firewire drive on the 15 powerbook then cloned the drive. About 30 minutes later I booted from the 17 powerbook with a prefect copy of my 15 powerbook drive. Run diskwarrior and drive10 to check, its all good.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
Forum Regular
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Stillwater, OK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 1, 2003, 07:20 AM
 
Wow! That was fast.

Congrats. Hope you like it.

Chris
     
Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 1, 2003, 07:51 AM
 
Congratulations on your new toy.

I just heard this morning from an attorney from Pillsbury out in San Francisco who also deals with Apple frequently that the reason there's a hold-up on the release of the 15-inch is because Apple is updating the 17-inch to 1.2Ghz.

*Supposedly* the new 15-inch aluminum will debut at 1Ghz and 1.2Ghz respectively, also.

Well, time will tell!

Personally, I've read too much over at the Apple Discussions 17-inch forum with hissing sounds to make me concerned about buying one.

But, hope you enjoy your new system and have a great day!

Oh, edited to add, get those little rubber bumpers so that your bezel doesn't scratch your machine.
     
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 1, 2003, 10:29 PM
 
I am not sure why people are concerned about the size of this machine. I like the extra width. It actually fits on my lab as I type this in bed. With my TiPB, I had it sitting on a board to keep it stable. And with a notebook mouse, the right palmrest serves as a mouse pad.

I do recommend anyone testdrive any computer they consider buying. But the PB17 weighs less than a Pismo (which was fine for me to carry almost anywhere) and thin like the TiPB.

I visited the Apple boards, not sure what you are mentioning. This machine really is a full update, with almost all problems from the Ti resolved.
     
dab007  (op)
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Vacaville, Ca U.S.A
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 2, 2003, 03:10 AM
 
The 17 powerbook is great. Just can't get over how big the screen is. Size is not bad. You get over when you open is up. Glad I got it.
Take care,
Don
www.donnyb.com
     
   
Thread Tools
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:14 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2011 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.7 © 2000-2011, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.3.2