[Larry Klassen]

I'm looking at getting my first Mac (switching from PC), and have my eye on one in particular, but have a few questions. The one I'm looking at is a 1ghz power book 12" display w/ 768 ram, superdrive. He also has MS Office loaded on it. The only problem with it is it will not go into sleep mode when plugged in (it will when unplugged, though, which seems more important to me - please correct me if I am wrong). Are there any big issues with this - will this be a problem for me?

Now, I want to use this mostly for multimedia stuff - powerpoint presentations with video, etc. I also want to be able to watch movies on the plane. A few questions arise because of this:

1. What is typical battery life for one of these?
2. Will it play all formats of video/music files (MP3, MPEG, DivX, WMA, etc.)?
3. Would it be possible to burn a movie to the HD (either from a DVD or from a downloaded version, ie. compressed as DivX or another format) and watch it in very good quality from the HD (ie. without dropped frames, etc.)?

As you can see, I'm really wondering about power issues (will 1GHz be enough to do all this multimedia stuff) and compatibility issues.

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice in this regard. It is reasonably cheap, I think, at $925, any thoughts on that as well?

Thanks, from a newbie!

[f1000]

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
The one I'm looking at is a 1ghz power book 12" display w/ 768 ram, superdrive. He also has MS Office loaded on it. The only problem with it is it will not go into sleep mode when plugged in (it will when unplugged, though, which seems more important to me - please correct me if I am wrong). Are there any big issues with this - will this be a problem for me?

I have that exact same model sans SuperDrive. The sleep issue is probably caused by some minor OS X configuration problem.

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
1. What is typical battery life for one of these?

It depends on usage, but I can watch a 2-hour DVD no sweat.

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
2. Will it play all formats of video/music files (MP3, MPEG, DivX, WMA, etc.)?

Yes, but I should add that Microsoft WMV-HD (high-definition) files won't play very well on Macs (due to a poorly written and/or unoptimized player).

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
3. Would it be possible to burn a movie to the HD (either from a DVD or from a downloaded version, ie. compressed as DivX or another format) and watch it in very good quality from the HD (ie. without dropped frames, etc.)?

Yes. Many of us have ripped our DVD libraries to hard drive.

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
As you can see, I'm really wondering about power issues (will 1GHz be enough to do all this multimedia stuff) and compatibility issues.

The only type of multimedia that the 1GHz PowerBook might have problems with is high-definition (HDTV) content, but that may change with the introduction of Apple's next version of OS X called Tiger.

[d.fine]

1. search the forum, there should be plenty of info around this.
2. Yes, with the right software
3. Yes, software

And on most planes they don't allow you to use laptops, could 'interfere' with navigation controls...

Seems like a good, deal, except for that sleep problem, strange.

[Larry Klassen]

Thanks for the replies and info, that was quick!

With the battery, Apple claims 5 hrs - is this at all realistic, or way out? The battery life is a significant issue - I'm coming from a Fujitsu Lifebook that, with the extra battery I had, would run for 9 hrs - amazing. Is it possible to buy extra batteries for the Pbook, and if so what do they normally run?

Oh, in terms of use on planes, I've never been told to shut it down - every carrier I know of allows them to be used during flight. They just don't allow them during take-off and landing, for the reasons mentioned (claimed interference with navigation).

So will it be a fairly seamless conversion to Apple? Mostly I'm wondering about things like my current Powerpoint presentations, Word files, etc. that I will need to run on it.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:

1. What is typical battery life for one of these?
2. Will it play all formats of video/music files (MP3, MPEG, DivX, WMA, etc.)?
3. Would it be possible to burn a movie to the HD (either from a DVD or from a downloaded version, ie. compressed as DivX or another format) and watch it in very good quality from the HD (ie. without dropped frames, etc.)?

As you can see, I'm really wondering about power issues (will 1GHz be enough to do all this multimedia stuff) and compatibility issues.

1. 2 hours dvd playback, 3.5 hours text editing (thats mine after 17 months)
2. yes, use video lan client (vlc - freeware) Find the supported formats in the specs.
3. yes, for example with Mac OSeX (don't mind the name). It saves a dvd to the disk (VOB file) in a couple of minutes. From there you can watch it or burn or convert to svcd etc.

multimedia stuff: yes, its a great machine with snappy performance but a bad screen quality (viewing angle) and frequently running fans.

compatibility: For macs in general compatibility is not an issue since 3-4 years. Word and Powerpoint compatibility is very good (except macros).
Exception: very new formats (VRO files were my last problem) and the most recent games. But shareware solutions come out very quickly for OS X.


Did you think about an iBook 1.2 GHz? If ou don't need dvi video out and superdrive you get better battery life, quiet and rarely running fans (mainly because of a cooler running video chip) and a robust case.
If I were in your situation I would think about that. Instead of a used powerbook you get a new machine with full apple care options for the same price (+ RAM).

[d.fine]

Originally posted by Larry Klassen:
So will it be a fairly seamless conversion to Apple? Mostly I'm wondering about things like my current Powerpoint presentations, Word files, etc. that I will need to run on it.

No problems there, don't worry. From 'my experience' word, excell and powerpoint files from Pc and Mac work together without a glitch...

[Larry Klassen]

I'm looking at the Pbook because I like the improved graphics (from what I hear, this makes a difference, although I won't play games, only video), and I really like the idea of having the DVD burner.

I spoke with the individual, he says he gets about 3hrs run time - is this reasonable? How difficult/costly is it to get a spare battery, and are there any specific ones to look for (or to avoid)?

So the 1GHz would be enough to do all my multimedia stuff without any concerns, right?

And finally, how sure can I be that the inability to go into sleep mode when plugged in will just be a software issue, and how could I get that fixed?

Thanks again, I just discovered this site and its already been an awesome resource!

Larry

[Dr.Michael]

The sleep issue is a little disturbing. But whatever problem it is, software or hardware, it is not a real limitation. But you should use it to pay less than the current value - you never know...

I personally use fruit menu (an application that brings back the os 9 apple menu). It allows you to define a keyboard shortcut to put the machine to sleep. I prefer this mode.

Battery lifetime: 3 hours is ok for a machine that is more than one year old. New batteries cost around 120$/€. But they will also run you powerbook between 3 and 4 hours.