[CyberGreg]

I currently use (and love) an iBook 500. It has the CDRW (8x4x24 I think) drive.

I use it as a true "laptop" (e.g. sitting on my lap) and it is extremely useable, no heat problems etc.

I'm looking for honest comments from other 12" PowerBook users, what do you like, what do you dislike? Is the heat issue a real problem for you? I mostly use my left hand so I usually notice when my iBook warms up (when it does a lot of hard drive accessing), nice in the winter...

I'm also considering the Superdrive but the DVD-R @ 1x bothers me along with the low 8x and 4x burn speeds. With the speeds of other drives (not laptops) going way up I'm thinking the technology is on the verge of an increase. You can buy (PC) laptop drives that burn upwards of 16x and 24x for CDR and 10x and 12x for CDRW.

I've been shopping for a replacement for my iBook because I do use the CD burner quite often and wold love to burn a CD in the time it takes to brush my teeeth!

Thanks in advance for all comments.

[Luca Rescigno]

If you're not going to be making movies, you might rather spend the extra $200 you save from not getting the DVD drive on an external hard drive instead. It's nice to have a backup solution, and CDs are too small nowadays to effectively back up your computer. But DVDs at 4.4 GB each (that's the formatted capacity) should be able to back up all your stuff on 2-5 discs. Yeah, it's kind of expensive for the discs, but you'll thank yourself if you ever try backing up to CDs.

An external hard drive might be a better choice, though, just for backups. You'd get the faster CD burning speed (more useful IMHO) along with a way to QUICKLY and easily back up all your files and take them with you. I got an external 40 GB Firewire drive, bus powered, portable, for just $164.

But if you think you might ever want to copy DVDs or make movies or something, get the Superdrive! It'll make it last longer, and when you sell it it'll be worth significantly more. I mean, four years from now, a 12" PowerBook and an iBook will be pretty much equally inadequate, but if the 12" PowerBook has a DVD burner it'll be more useful.

[CyberGreg]

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
If you're not going to be making movies, you might rather spend the extra $200 you save from not getting the DVD drive on an external hard drive instead.

Thanks... actually for the past several years I've been using my old laptop hard drives inside FireWire enclosures. They are awesome for backing up and temporary storage. Although they too can suffer from a disk failure but you can usually tell.

An external hard drive might be a better choice, though, just for backups.

Yup.. see above...

... I mean, four years from now, a 12" PowerBook and an iBook will be pretty much equally inadequate, but if the 12" PowerBook has a DVD burner it'll be more useful.

Now that I did not think of.... excellent point... thanks!

[dettociao]

Originally posted by CyberGreg:
I currently use (and love) an iBook 500. It has the CDRW (8x4x24 I think) drive.

I had the same thing, with a combo drive and 600mhz


I use it as a true "laptop" (e.g. sitting on my lap) and it is extremely useable, no heat problems etc.


No heat problems on my 12" as far as I'm concerned.


I'm looking for honest comments from other 12" PowerBook users, what do you like, what do you dislike?


I love the portability-- I would never buy a 17" and hesitate even from the 15". The Airport Extreme is freaking great. My college has wireless everywhere, I absolutely LOVE it. Only thing I might dislike is that I try to baby it too much-- I take such precautions to keep it looking tip-top that I sometimes freak out when someone goes to touch it..


Is the heat issue a real problem for you? I mostly use my left hand so I usually notice when my iBook warms up (when it does a lot of hard drive accessing), nice in the winter..

Heat is no problem for me-- sometimes notice it warming a bit but never scorching.


I'm also considering the Superdrive but the DVD-R @ 1x bothers me along with the low 8x and 4x burn speeds. With the speeds of other drives (not laptops) going way up I'm thinking the technology is on the verge of an increase. You can buy (PC) laptop drives that burn upwards of 16x and 24x for CDR and 10x and 12x for CDRW.


The DVD-R @ 1x doesn't bother me at all, I just set it and let it go, or keep emailing/surfing/chatting. Takes about 50min to burn a DVD (which is about 8x for a CD if you're comparing total data/time ratio). I really don't mind the 8x at all... it takes about 6 or 7min to burn a full cd... I'm never in that much of a rush!

I've been shopping for a replacement for my iBook because I do use the CD burner quite often and wold love to burn a CD in the time it takes to brush my teeeth!

Brush longer?

Seriously, I find the powerbook to be a great machine... I love it to death.

[edit: formatting]

[CyberGreg]

Originally posted by dettociao:
I had the same thing, with a combo drive and 600mhz

No heat problems on my 12" as far as I'm concerned.

I love the portability-- I would never buy a 17" and hesitate even from the 15". The Airport Extreme is freaking great. My college has wireless everywhere, I absolutely LOVE it. Only thing I might dislike is that I try to baby it too much-- I take such precautions to keep it looking tip-top that I sometimes freak out when someone goes to touch it..

Heat is no problem for me-- sometimes notice it warming a bit but never scorching.

The DVD-R @ 1x doesn't bother me at all, I just set it and let it go, or keep emailing/surfing/chatting. Takes about 50min to burn a DVD (which is about 8x for a CD if you're comparing total data/time ratio). I really don't mind the 8x at all... it takes about 6 or 7min to burn a full cd... I'm never in that much of a rush!

Brush longer?

Seriously, I find the powerbook to be a great machine... I love it to death.

Thanks!!!

[dettociao]

Buy THIS!:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?threadid=158499

haha.. sorry.. trying to generate a sale.

[icruise]

Originally posted by dettociao:
Buy THIS!:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?threadid=158499

haha.. sorry.. trying to generate a sale.

I think you just invalidated everything you posted above...

But in any case, I vote for the Powerbook too. It does get warm, sometimes even hot, but for the most part it isn't that big of a deal (and when you are going to be using it on your lap you will likely be running off battery much of the time, which reduces processor speed -- and heat -- by default). Both the ibook and powerbook are great, but the powerbook does seem more classy somehow, and it will keep iit svalue a bit better than the ibook as has been pointed out.

[dettociao]

Originally posted by Icruise:
I think you just invalidated everything you posted above...

hahaha, nope. I'm moving... transferred to a new university!