[MacsGalor]

I have seen a lot of negative stuff lately and I just waned to say I picked up my 15" Superdrive PowerBook aluminium on the 16th. I find myself in a state of shock and awe. lol The only thing that I have found that I didn't like is the lack of a good cheap bluetooth mouse to go with the built in bluetooth, but you can't blame that on Apple. Otherwise I love this machine and I just hate to see people that don't own one and have maybe have played with one for a couple minutes talk trash. That reminds me of the idiot window users who say Macs suck just because they don't know anything about them. So all you haters go on and hate, but I am going to say;

APPLE IS THE GREATEST COMPUTER COMPANY THAT EXISTS AND THE NEW 15" POWERBOOK HAS NO FLAWS. have a nice day

[agentmouthwash]

I completely agree with you.
I am anxiously awaiting a 15" Powerbook myself. I ordered it yesterday.

Please tell me, does it run hot?

[MacsGalor]

I saw one guy say he had some heat problems but I have had mine on for the better part of the time that I have had it (since Sep 16) I have used it for many different things. heavy gaming, watching DVDs, music ect. and I have not had any heat problems. It runs a lot cooler than the rev a 12" I had one for a little while.

[kikkoman]

Glad you don't have the heat problem. My Ti can get toasty. What kind of battery life do you get doing web surfing and email?

[slider]

Yeah, I am hoping to order mine within a week. Do you have the 1.25 or the 1Ghz chip? It's interesting that you say it is cooler than your 12" (BTW it's original 12", not rev a, it hadn't been revised. Seems to be a MacNN anomaly ). Congratulations on your new PB, I hope to experience it first hand very very soon.

[docholiday]

I am waiting to receive mine too very very soon. I ordered through online ed store.

What really depressed me this morning is seeing soo many threads about how awful performance, battery life etc is on the PB. And I (almost) felt like returning it.
I also felt bad because I have made switchers spend a lot of money to get the new PBs...

But I think once I actually receive it, everything will change...

[fisherKing]

Originally posted by docholiday:
I am waiting to receive mine too very very soon. I ordered through online ed store.

What really depressed me this morning is seeing soo many threads about how awful performance, battery life etc is on the PB. And I (almost) felt like returning it.
I also felt bad because I have made switchers spend a lot of money to get the new PBs...

But I think once I actually receive it, everything will change...

keep in mind that these forums are for the few who spend time at such things...and are all about getting help, improving performance, etc.

not the day-to-day mac users, but those who like to get in & fix things themselves..

enjoy your pb..!

[bcaslis]

I don't want to say that the 15" is terrible, but so far I am not completely satisfied, more like disappointed.

I posted yesterday about heat problems. Today the heat seems a bit less (I actually heard the fan once this morning so it's not completely broken).

The heat may be less than a 12". Also note that the wristpad area on the 12" was a hot zone and it is not on the 15". However on the top near the display and the back half underneath are hot zones. This 15" has external surface temperatures hotter than my 17" and much hotter than my previous 15" 1GHz Tibook. Some may consider this machine cool compared to their 12", but in relative terms this is NOT a cool running PowerBook in my view.

On battery life, I haven't done alot of tests yet and I think actual numbers are somewhat meaningless unless you consider all variables like wireless on/off, display brightness, and others. You can certainly turn things down to extend life, but I didn't buy something with a bright screen and wireless just to turn off wireless or turn the brightness down. In relative terms, it's definitely getting much worse battery life than a 15" 1GHz Tibook. I would have to say that battery life is about the same as a 17". This is not good and except for possible weight I don't know why Apple did this.

The speakers are OK, but if you compare them to a 17" they are bad. Probably a bit better than the 15" Tibook.

Now my biggest pet peeve. On the Tibook and the 12" you can open the screen wide if you want to need to. On the 17" the angle you can open to is less and in my view barely OK. Given the weight of the 17" screen I could understand why this was done. The screen on the 15" opens to LESS of an angle than the 17". I couldn't believe it. Why Apple did this is beyond me, but my main reason for the 15" is better laptop use and the heat and screen angle make it a much less compelling option over the 17" than I expected. On the positive side, the hinge is tighter than the one on the 17" which is OK on the desktop but not tight enough for use on the lap.

On the positive sides, the screen is brighter than a 17" rev a (I haven't seen the 17" rev b yet) and about the same as the 1GHz Tibook (still the machine that I liked the most yet). The airport is much better than a Tibook and seems about the same as the 17". Same comment for Bluetooth. The hard drive is nearly silent, and fan when it finally comes on is the same quiet design as the one on the 17".

If you don't have a 17" and want less weight and cost, the 15" is not a terrible machine. But looking at a replacement for the 17" (since January I've wanted the feature of the 17" in the 15" size) the machine is not nearly as good as I had hoped. Maybe my expections were too high, but I'm seriously considering returning it. It's an OK machine but not the best PowerBook yet.

[MacsGalor]

Originally posted by slider:
Yeah, I am hoping to order mine within a week. Do you have the 1.25 or the 1Ghz chip? It's interesting that you say it is cooler than your 12" (BTW it's original 12", not rev a, it hadn't been revised. Seems to be a MacNN anomaly ). Congratulations on your new PB, I hope to experience it first hand very very soon.

Its the 1.25GHz and I have ran the battery down to about 2% from 100 and still not had a heat problem. The battery life really depends on what you are doing, for some things its not bad others it goes fast.

[MacsGalor]

Originally posted by docholiday:
I am waiting to receive mine too very very soon. I ordered through online ed store.

What really depressed me this morning is seeing soo many threads about how awful performance, battery life etc is on the PB. And I (almost) felt like returning it.
I also felt bad because I have made switchers spend a lot of money to get the new PBs...

But I think once I actually receive it, everything will change...

I just got another guy to switch to maccs today, he got the same as I did 15" superdrive I can't even count the number of people that I have gotten to switch. I think that Apple should start paying me...lol but seriously I love this , it makes my day to get someone to switch!

[Link]

Originally posted by bcaslis:
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah... blah blah blah!!!

Blah blah blah blah, ramble ramble rant blah blah blah, blah blah ramble!

Blah blah blah... BLAH! Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah! Blah....

[bcaslis]

Wow, what an insightful reply! Thanks for sharing all that info! Gee, I bet you even have one so you are qualified to judge!

Originally posted by Link:

[dennis88]

Originally posted by bcaslis:
I don't want to say that the 15" is terrible, but so far I am not completely satisfied, more like disappointed.

I posted yesterday about heat problems. Today the heat seems a bit less (I actually heard the fan once this morning so it's not completely broken).

The heat may be less than a 12". Also note that the wristpad area on the 12" was a hot zone and it is not on the 15". However on the top near the display and the back half underneath are hot zones. This 15" has external surface temperatures hotter than my 17" and much hotter than my previous 15" 1GHz Tibook. Some may consider this machine cool compared to their 12", but in relative terms this is NOT a cool running PowerBook in my view.

On battery life, I haven't done alot of tests yet and I think actual numbers are somewhat meaningless unless you consider all variables like wireless on/off, display brightness, and others. You can certainly turn things down to extend life, but I didn't buy something with a bright screen and wireless just to turn off wireless or turn the brightness down. In relative terms, it's definitely getting much worse battery life than a 15" 1GHz Tibook. I would have to say that battery life is about the same as a 17". This is not good and except for possible weight I don't know why Apple did this.

The speakers are OK, but if you compare them to a 17" they are bad. Probably a bit better than the 15" Tibook.

Now my biggest pet peeve. On the Tibook and the 12" you can open the screen wide if you want to need to. On the 17" the angle you can open to is less and in my view barely OK. Given the weight of the 17" screen I could understand why this was done. The screen on the 15" opens to LESS of an angle than the 17". I couldn't believe it. Why Apple did this is beyond me, but my main reason for the 15" is better laptop use and the heat and screen angle make it a much less compelling option over the 17" than I expected. On the positive side, the hinge is tighter than the one on the 17" which is OK on the desktop but not tight enough for use on the lap.

On the positive sides, the screen is brighter than a 17" rev a (I haven't seen the 17" rev b yet) and about the same as the 1GHz Tibook (still the machine that I liked the most yet). The airport is much better than a Tibook and seems about the same as the 17". Same comment for Bluetooth. The hard drive is nearly silent, and fan when it finally comes on is the same quiet design as the one on the 17".

If you don't have a 17" and want less weight and cost, the 15" is not a terrible machine. But looking at a replacement for the 17" (since January I've wanted the feature of the 17" in the 15" size) the machine is not nearly as good as I had hoped. Maybe my expections were too high, but I'm seriously considering returning it. It's an OK machine but not the best PowerBook yet.

A terrible machine?
Get out of here!
Well, you seem to be the only one who is not happy with the new 15".
But it's a little weird that you are the only one who says it gets hot, while all the others says it runs very cool.

[Link]

bcalis, you really DID sound like a troll there amigo, I'm surprised you didn't complain about the rubber feet being a darker color or not as sticky as the tibook's feet.. or maybe the superdrive clicking differently!

Besides NOBODY says the tibook keyboard is better then the aluminum keyboard.. unless they like to type with sponges...

Sorry, my friend, I just don't catch your drift, aside from just saying the albook sucks you decide that it has lower battery life (I've never heard of tibooks getting more then 4 hours to begin with and once you actually use the damn thing it goes down to 2 anyway), it's fatter (a whooping .1 inch?! like you'll notice?) it's heavier (mmhmm yeah), and it's not as well built (now you really sound like a troll).

You even complain about how far the screen can open.

The tibook suffered from horrible build quality, it's one of the most-defective laptops I've ever heard of .

[EvanV]

What are some good games to play for Mac? I know there aren't many, so just asking now Has Pong come out for Mac yet? lol, j/k.. Seriously, I was just curious what games you guys are playing.

[dennis88]

Originally posted by EvanV:
What are some good games to play for Mac? I know there aren't many, so just asking now Has Pong come out for Mac yet? lol, j/k.. Seriously, I was just curious what games you guys are playing.

It's a lot of games for mac, and it's usually the best games that get ported to mac, while the bad games don't.
You have unreal tournament 2003, ghost recon, CM 03, medal of honor, return to castle wolveinstein, warcraft 3, neverwinter nights, tony hawk 4 and alot more.
And splinter cell, halo, raven shield are some of the games that is coming real soon.

[workerbee]

Originally posted by EvanV:
What are some good games to play for Mac? I know there aren't many, so just asking now Has Pong come out for Mac yet? lol, j/k.. Seriously, I was just curious what games you guys are playing.

You can also waste huge amounts of time with Dungeon Siege, Warcraft III and WC III Frozen Throne, Jedi Knight II and possibly Star Trek Elite Force II.
Before you know it, it's xmas out there, and you've forgotten to get any presents.

Oh, and Warrior Kings will easily waste even more of your time.

[MacsGalor]

I think that people like bcaslis come into mac forums and bad mouth all the machines because they are windows weenies and are trying to get people not to switch. Now because you will never find a winblows user that is nearly as loyal to thier machine as a mac user they could be employees of the dark side who work on commission and are getting mad that they are losing customers to a better OS.

[ericwass]

I'm astounded that anyone who has the slightest critique of an Apple product gets branded a troll. I swear sometimes it feels like some of you are the bald headed drones from the 1984 Mac ad, chanting obidiently along with Steve Job's all-encompassing visage. I, myself, ordered a 15" AL last week and I'm interested to hear others' experiences with it, both positive AND negative. I've been exclusively buying Apple computers since 1977 and, trust me, some of them have been crap. And Apple should know about it. They're a profit-driven company, for God's sake. They exist to take your money. Brand loyalty does not mean slavish obidience to the company line. Lighten up on the critics, people!

[LfGrdMike]

Well said Eric. Some of you just can't take anything negative about the mac. Im a die hard mac user and I have been dissappointed about a few minor things with my macs. My PowerMac 6100/66 Was a freaken piece of ****. The Apple II was a good machine as well as the Macintosh LC. The iMac 350 wasn't that great. I love my iMac 600 and my PowerBook is the best mac I have ever owned EVER. My dads Blue and White G3 is a pretty good machine too.

That powermac 6100/66 Worst mac EVER! Glad I through that piece of crap in the garbage.

[bcaslis]

Excuse me, but I've owned Macs since 1986. I've owned almost every PowerBook that Apple has made. Have you?

Your original message said that this is the BEST PowerBook ever. Period. First, it's impossible to say that since best is different for everyone. Second you can't say that unless you compare pluses and minus to other PowerBooks. Unlike some of the weird replies I've seen above, I was commenting on some factual issues, not whining about things like "oh my god, it's too fat". FYI, I'm typing all this on a 1.25GHz 15" Right now.

Replies like yours made this sound like it's the coolest running PowerBook ever. It is not by a long shot. My 17" runs cooler to the touch (I don't know about internal temperatures). When I was copying files to it, my 17" was only warm on the outside, but the 15" was too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. Have you tested this? Did you copy 30GBs of info from another machine as a firewire hd? If not, then I don't think you can say it's not a valid criticism. I have run it on my laptop for web browsing (like right now) and it's OK, but that's not a full test.

How far a screen opens is also an issue that potential buyers should at least know about. It won't be an issue for some, but will be for others.

The battery life also needs to pointed out. It will be a disappoint for Tibook owners. Many will feel the tradeoffs of better wireless and other things are worthwhile, but it shouldn't be blindly dismissed.

Finally on getting others to buy Macs and troll like comments. How many of you responding to criticisms on the 15" have one? If someone says Apple is stupid that is a troll-like comment. But it they are talking about things they've tried on a new machine and don't like, that is a valid criticism. If there wasn't anything wrong with a Mac, Apple wouldn't need to make new better ones. And other the past few years I've convinced at least two dozen people to convert to Mac and bought at least two dozen Macs myself in the past few years.

Originally posted by MacsGalor:
I think that people like bcaslis come into mac forums and bad mouth all the machines because they are windows weenies and are trying to get people not to switch. Now because you will never find a winblows user that is nearly as loyal to thier machine as a mac user they could be employees of the dark side who work on commission and are getting mad that they are losing customers to a better OS.

[ae86_16v]

Originally posted by ericwass:
I'm astounded that anyone who has the slightest critique of an Apple product gets branded a troll. I swear sometimes it feels like some of you are the bald headed drones from the 1984 Mac ad, chanting obidiently along with Steve Job's all-encompassing visage. I, myself, ordered a 15" AL last week and I'm interested to hear others' experiences with it, both positive AND negative. I've been exclusively buying Apple computers since 1977 and, trust me, some of them have been crap. And Apple should know about it. They're a profit-driven company, for God's sake. They exist to take your money. Brand loyalty does not mean slavish obidience to the company line. Lighten up on the critics, people!

Right on.

You know what though, if bcaslis is right. That would suck major in terms of battery life. I loved getting 3 to 3.5hrs out of my TiBooks (800 & 867).

I am getting mine on Monday, so we'll see.

[StiZeven]

I agree that the 15" AlBook is Apple's best PowerBook to date, but I wouldn't exactly call it flawless. You can still love Apple and their products while recognizing their not-so-great areas.

For me the there is only one real flaw in the 15" AlBook but unfortunately if current reports are true, it's a huge flaw. That's the reported 2.5 hour maximum battery life under real and normal usage. This is really bumming me out and is leaving me wondering why they would design it this way?

[PBG4 User]

I'm copying 20GB of data to my new PB right now, and it is not hot to the touch.

You may have a defective unit or something.

I just brought mine home this afternoon, and have been installing programs and restoring backup data so this thing's been going full tilt as far as firewire I/O is concerned.

[bcaslis]

It took awhile to get hot and the hottest area is on the bottom at the back 1/4. I've also noticed that when on AC, it tends to get hot around where the AC plug is.

That first day the fan never came on, even though the fan on the 17" was going alot. The next day the fan did come on a few times. It's possible that something was messed up and it got fixed by several resets needed when doing software updates. Since then it has gotten hot, but not as hot as the first day.

I did check out a demo 15" at the dealer. It was mainly just idling and being used to surf the web. It wasn't hot, but the entire bottom half was warm to the top. It seems similar to mine for the same usage, so I don't think there's a hardware problem. Under average use I think the 15" will be OK (warm, but not painfully so), but under heavy CPU and disk I think it will be significantly hotter than a 17". I haven't had a 12" so I can't compare to that.

Originally posted by PBG4 User:
I'm copying 20GB of data to my new PB right now, and it is not hot to the touch.

You may have a defective unit or something.

I just brought mine home this afternoon, and have been installing programs and restoring backup data so this thing's been going full tilt as far as firewire I/O is concerned.

[tomfoolry]

I just wanted to add that I've noticed the heat along the rear also. The screen hinge can even be painful to the touch. This really doesn't bother me, though.

The only large disappointment for me is the battery life, which is 1:54 on a full charge with wireless enabled, bluetooth disabled, and the screen slightly dimmed. This was kind of a shock, coming from my iBook which was about 3:30 when new (but much better than the 20 minutes it had been lasting lately). Oh, and the superdrive sometimes sounds like like a jet engine. Most of the time it is pretty quiet, but I tried playing a dvd and the noise from the drive was pretty disruptive.

Overall, I've been really pleased. This machine screams with speed. The screen is extremely bright and crisp. I've noticed that colors seem much more vivid compared to the iBook.

[MacsGalor]

bcaslis, I never said that it was the best Powerbook ever. I made a comment about how some people were talking trash that didn't even own one. I also said "I am going to say" That’s my opinion and stated as such. I never called you a troll the only thing that I said was, you sounded like someone who only has bad things to say. As far as transferring crap I done quite a bit of that I only have 3.5 GB left open on my HD. Maybe something with mine just works better but I still haven’t had heat issues it has only gotten slightly warm but not even close to what I have felt on other machines. Yes I am a bit disappointed with the battery life but it really isn’t as bad as you say your about have right on that note a plus is that it recharges rather fast in comparison to the 12" I had and I think it beats the original 17" as well but I can't say for sure as I haven’t dealt with them a whole lot. I just know that when I had the 12" I hated the battery life and this one seems better. The main reason that I started this is because so many people talk trash and rarely say good things it discourages people who may be researching to buy a Mac for the first time. The comment I made about Apple I still say is true granted some of their stuff ticks me like the one button mouse, they are far far better than most if not all windows companies. That too can be taken as a personal thing I just really hate using Windows and therefore don't like the companies or people like Bill Gates. The main thing that I have is just, include the good things also instead of just the bad. I understand though that is the way our whole society is. But sorry if you felt I as attacking you, the simple fact that you own Macs makes you a friend in my book.