[pete]

My recent experience with two powerbook 15" from amazon was pretty bad (horizontal lines, defect spacebar, dent, dead battery etc) and so I'm kind of scared to order anything right now, but I need a powerbook so my options are:

- there's a local guy who's selling his last generation 1.67ghz/80gig/1.5gb ram/128vram/combodrive for $1700. It has quite a bit of warranty left and is new but in an opened box

- Get a closeout 1.67 15" older generation standard config from macconnection.com for $1819 after rebate. Only thing is with them is that they don't accept returns so it's a bit of a gamble and I'd have to deal with apple immediately if something was wrong.

- Order a closeouot 1.5ghz/80/64mb vram from abtelectronics for $1619 - I'll get double the warranty with my credit card and can extend later. They also have a good return policy.

- Take a chance and get a replacement from amazon -maybe the third time will be ok...


I can't believe getting a decent powrbook has become such a deal. All I want is a 100%powerbook but that seems very hard to come by. Although I don't really like the horizontal lines and they irritate me, I can live with them. I don't really count on an apple fix anymore as it seems that there are indications that Apple considers them 'normal'. Superdrive would be nice, but I can live without it too. I'd like something that will last a few years and wonder if the limited 64mb vram of the 1.5ghz version would somehow come back to haunt me later. I really don't use it for much more than word process, email, web, movies, photoshop and painter, imovie and iphoto/iview, but of course I'd like to have a machine that feels zippy and has good power.

Thanks for any input and for confidence-building....again. my luck recently has really put me off buying a computer. From something that usually is fun, it just feels like a hassle and burden.

[motherduce]

I'm about to return my new powerbook.

I purchased it 13 days ago, received it 9 days ago, and have been disappointed. I have major scan line issue and my PB often pops open with a faulty latch.

Very disappointed in my first return to Apple since the early 90s.

Looks like I'm going to pick up an older 12" model and then use the rest of my money to pimp out a PC as a gaming/dev machine.

I really wanted to keep my 15", because it's the only Apple model that meets ALL my needs, but I can't live with the poor quality it ended up as.

[pete]

I'm sorry to hear that and feel the same way with my recent purchases. Unfortunately, the latest powerbooks are really the ones that fit my needs best too, at least on paper. To pay almost the same amount of money for previous generations and get less does not appeal. Yet, I guess I'd be paying for a better product ultimately, even though the specs are lower. The problem is that because of my experience recently, I wouldn't trust the older generation either.

In any case, I still hope Apple will address this soon...there are obviously a lot of people waiting for things to be clarified...

Pete

[SpaceMonkey]

I've been happy with my previous generation (non-HD) 1.67 GHz 15" Powerbook. I had one minor issue with a bad video card that developed about 3-4 months after I got it, but Apple promptly fixed it (they repaired and shipped it back to me on the same day that it arrived at the service center!). I get between 3:30 and 4:00 hrs of battery life depending on screen brightness/airport/bluetooth, etc.

My only real complaint is that the Superdrive seems error-prone when ripping CDs (clicks and pops), even with error correction turned on, way more error-prone than the LG combo-drive that I installed in my old PowerMac G4. But I've read that that is normal for this drive (Matshita UJ-845E).

[jhogarty]

Pete - have you looked at the refurb, previous model, on Apples site?

Refurbished PowerBook 15-inch 1.67GHz SuperDrive
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Hard Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64 MB DDR)
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rates
Backlit keyboard
$1599

You would save around $400. Looks appealing but I really want min. 128MB vram.

J.

[pete]

I'm reluctant to buy from Apple because of their return policies, especially a refurbished machine. They also charge taxes which, because I live in NY, will be quite a lot. I thin that kind of takes macconnection out of the running too, so I'm left with the private guy, abtelectronics and another amazon try...

Would you say $1700 is a good price for the configuration 1.67ghz/80gb/128vram/1.5gb?
It was purchased a few months ago, but never used.

[tomrock]

If the local guy would let you play with it for an hour or so I think that would be valuable. Sometimes these things make weird noises after they've warmed up a little so playing with the actual machine you're going to buy would be worth something to me.

1700 sounds fair for the machine you describe but if you had cash, maybe he's take even less. Naturally, be careful with cash if you don't know the guy at all.

I see this machine has a combo drive. Are you okay with that? You won't need to burn DVDs?

[jhogarty]

Yes, that sounds fair. I'd offer $1650 after I checked it out to make sure it is in good running condition. I'd also check the serial number out on the Apple site. If possible check the reciept too. You don't want to pick up a "hot" Powerbook.

J.

[motherduce]

I think in the end I'm just going to have to settle for a lower end Mac for now. I'll give up portability and pick up a used iMac or mini for the time being, then revisit a laptop purchase next year at some point.

Right now though, Apple has not convinced me I should switch. I am pretty computer-savvy, and have gotten my windows box to a pretty functional state, so the OS argument, while valid, does not make me want to dump an extra grand on a machine with a crappy screen.

[pete]

You know, I asked the guy for the receipt and he said he had won it so he didn't have it, but that I can check out the serial number on Apple's site. The guy has excellent ebay feedback so I am inclined to believe him, but how can I be 100% sure? I've noticed when I've contacted people on craigslist about their powerbooks that they often don't have the receipt. that's amazing to me as I would never lose or throw away a receipt for such an expensive item. I doubt they are all stolen. Anyway, Apple's applecare check just gives the approximate date of purchase, that's all. I also put it into the stolen mac database. Is there any other precaution I should take?

[jhogarty]

Just be careful is all I can say. I went to ebay when I wanted to get a Powerbook. Almost every one I bid on was a scam. So I gave up. When I'm ready I'll either get it from the Apple store locally, Apple store online - refurb, or from Amazon.

Just a plug for Apple Store, refurbs: I just got an eMac that I bought for my brother. I haven't found anything wrong with it other than when it came up it wasn't stretched to the full screen height & width. 1 minute later I had that fixed and now I'm loading all the updates on it. I also bought my 23" Cinema Display and Dual 2.5 as refurbs. The dual case had a minor mark on it but it works great. I'm seriously considering a refurb powerbook (15") like I posted above. Something to hold me over till the next round of Powerbooks.

J.

[hickey]

If the local guy lets you test drive the pbook for a little while, like others have said, id go for that. I was lucky enough to get mine off craigslist, the guy I bought it from had his original receipt and let me try it out prior to buying it. But I've also been tempted by the refurbs on Apple's site, but I'm lacking enough cash to get anything I really need right now.

[Drowelfchyld]

Is there a Mac store in your area? Mine had a few open box/refurb Powerbooks for relatively decent pricing, and since they were already open, you could sneak a peek... I personally like buying things in stores so I don't have to worry about it getting lost in shipping. And, I can yell at a real person if they try to give me the run around on the return policy

[pete]

Went with the local powerbook as the guy seemed very reliable and honest and I had the opportunity to closely inspect it beforehand. I also called apple to check the serial number and they didn't have any record of it as stolen - not that it's a guarantee but still. When I met the guy all my doubts were removed. What can I say? It's great and everything works smoothly, swiftly and flawlessly. The display, of course, has no lines and resembles more my new 20" cinema display in color rendition. The higher resolution was cooler in color I think. Of course I would have liked the higher resolution, but I realise that having a flawless display, not to mention a 100% working computer, is more important to me than the higher resolution. I hope this lasts because I'm so happy with my new setup....

I'd post a review, but I doubt anybody would be interested given that it's the older model.

Thanks for all the input and advice. I'm a happy camper now.

Cheers,

pete