[ashishn]

I am in UK.

I am thinking of buying a Powerbook. I have been Windows user so far and havent tried my hands at laptops but wan tostart with Apple.

I saw 12" iBook and found it very small so was a bit disappointed but price of 12" PB is affordable. My use of laptop is mainly going to be emails, browsing, some office work on documents, some oracle programming, java and J2EE programming and project management. Is 12" PB suitable for this?

I have very short time left as I am travelling back to India on 7th Nov and buy before that.

I heard that only Apple online store offers configurable option. Can I upgrade RAM, harddisk etc from local PC World store? I can claim VAT rebate if I buy from PC World local store

I dont travel much so do I need extra battery?

Is Apple Care really useful? It really shakes up my budget

I can wait for my powerbook. Please suggest something.

Cheers,
Ashish

[fisherKing]

not sure about the oracle programming...
the 12" is a great machine; you might appreciate it's small size when you start to carry it around.

you can definately upgrade it (ram, hd); it's worth getting it with the hard drive you want, that is not an easy install, ram is very easy.

search the forum here, you will find many happy 12" powerbook users
(including me).

good luck!

[maxx9photo]

I'm a happy convert from PC to Mac (12' PB) and me too use this as browse the net, MS office from work and some photoshop work, Java applet too. Applecare is very helpful when it's needed for your extra protection. Extra batt is not necessarily for me as I always bring my powercord.

[Saterik]

Originally posted by ashishn:
I am in UK.

I am thinking of buying a Powerbook. I have been Windows user so far and havent tried my hands at laptops but wan tostart with Apple.

I saw 12" iBook and found it very small so was a bit disappointed but price of 12" PB is affordable. My use of laptop is mainly going to be emails, browsing, some office work on documents, some oracle programming, java and J2EE programming and project management. Is 12" PB suitable for this?

I have very short time left as I am travelling back to India on 7th Nov and buy before that.

I heard that only Apple online store offers configurable option. Can I upgrade RAM, harddisk etc from local PC World store? I can claim VAT rebate if I buy from PC World local store

I dont travel much so do I need extra battery?

Is Apple Care really useful? It really shakes up my budget

I can wait for my powerbook. Please suggest something.

Cheers,
Ashish

PC World in the UK only sells the stock Mac configurations, so you can't just go into the store and buy one with an upgraded drive or RAM etc.

I'm not sure of how Apple Care works if you buy it in one country and then need to make a claim in another. Someonelse will have to answer that.

[ashishn]

Yes, PCWorld told me that I have to upgrade after buying.

Are RAM brands compatible with PCs ok for Mac? If so then I can upgrade at cheap price after going back to India.

Isn't 4200 rpm driver very slow for capturing movie from a DC camera? I will be doing some stuff of this kind, making VCD, SVCD from home videos.

Does the movie editing software support SVCD creation? (I am not sure if I should post this question here but more and more people are creating movies these days so someone may be able to answer)

Thanks.