[Cloud]

Okay so I want to buy one of the new Powerbooks, but in first quarter 2006. But I can't see myself justifying spending $3000 on a laptop that won't be anywhere as near as fast as my current desktop PC. Is it me or does Apple SUPER overprice everything? Maybe they can just because they know certain people need their products.

But basically I'm a graphic designer. I use Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark and InDesign, Flash etc. the most and sometimes I'll use all those at once plus a music program, have IM services open, browse the internet and so on. If I'm going to shell out $3000 for a PB, and it won't run smoothly I just don't see the point.

But maybe I'm missing the whole point of any laptop in general whether its Mac or PC. I know a laptop is all about portability. So should someone like me be doing all the hard rendering type work on something like an iMac or a PowerMac... where it can handle it more smoothly? And then transfer the finished files and so forth to a laptop and then use that to present or take with me where ever I go?

From there I can see the logic of portability. I do all the grunt work on an iMac or PowerMac then use a PB for its portability. I can do everything I want on a PB (internet, IM, small application uses, editing photos etc) and therefore I know fully that my PowerBook is not meant for rendering huge files.

So am I getting this right? I don't own an Apple but I would like to in the near future. If I'm corrent on this post then I'll just get a 12".... maybe a 15" if its worth the extra $1000 or so (including upgrades). But if I am going to buy an Apple for the first time.... is a PowerBook the best to learn on rather than an iMac or PowerMac?

**Learn as in the whole OS, usability.... everything about Apple and its products and services.**


Thanks for your help.

BTW I still really don't see why so many Apple Products are priced the way they are. I'm no cheapskate.... but it just seems too overpriced in my opinion.

[cash]

Hello there,

I'll give you a perspective from my experience

I program a lot (honours year computer science) and programming breaks down to using a text editor (specifically in Matlab). I program on my laptop and do 'test simulations' with it and it's perfect - quite slow, but perfect for programming and decent enough for test runs (i have a p3-600 HP and a ibook g3 900).

Once I finish programming, I transfer the necessary files over to my main machine (p4-3.2GHz), and run the 'real simulations' on it. Some of the simulations take 2 days to complete on my main machine, so I wouldn't dare put my laptops through that kind of torture So yes, I'd do my rendering and any other computer resource-intensive stuff on a desktop that is more powerful.

Hope that helps!

--
cash

[Randman]

If you are a graphic designer, get a 15 or 17. The extra ram and screen size are must-haves. Otherwise, get an iBook 12 for portability.

I have a 17 and love it. I have 2GB of ram and it handles all my design needs just fine. That, and I can take it on the road. And the screen is a dream.

[mrmister]

Get an iMac and an iBook. Done and done.

[tooki]

Originally Posted by Cloud

Okay so I want to buy one of the new Powerbooks, but in first quarter 2006. But I can't see myself justifying spending $3000 on a laptop that won't be anywhere as near as fast as my current desktop PC. Is it me or does Apple SUPER overprice everything? Maybe they can just because they know certain people need their products.

It's not just you that thinks it -- but you're wrong. Find a truly comparable PC laptop (weight, size, graphics chip, battery life, AC adapter size, etc) and you'll find that it's no cheaper. You get what you pay for. Cheap PC laptops always sacrifice something. PowerBooks don't.

Apple's machines aren't cheap. But they're not overpriced, they're right in line with other products of this level of quality.

As for a laptop not being anywhere near as fast as a desktop: that's the way things are, be it Mac or PC. It's been many years since there was speed parity between desktops and laptops. In shedding weight, you shed performance, too, and that's just how it is.

tooki