[Duh_Vinci]

Heyas, I have lurked for some time in here tryin to read up as best I can on the powerbooks viability as a desktop replacement for me. I think I can get it to work.

HOWEVER,

I am kinda torn between the 12 inch and the 15 inch powerbook. I have a 17" CRT I will hook up to when I am at home so I don't think that will be an issue. Is a 12" going to provide enough space when I am out at Borders or on a photoshoot to allow me to do what I want?

The fact that I get edu pricing makes the 12" very attractive to me as I am cheap. for the 400 I save with it I can slap a 1 GB stick in it and put the rest towards peripherals (kb, mouse, stand, bag).

What can you guys who are designers in this forum tell me about the 12" vs the 15" for doing PhotoshopCS edits and InDesign layouts and Illustrator artwork. Will the 12" work on the go for this? Or is it just too tiny?

Thanks in advance and feel free to expound. I am tryin to learn as much as I can here. (why can't the Apple Stores do a 24 hour "try before you buy" deal? I would gladly put a security deposit down to be able to put one through its paces)

Cheers,
DV

[nate_02]

I haven't had much experience with a 12" mostly becasue I own a 15"

I do quite a bit of photoshop work and some things I can barely fit in my screen. I think it can be done on 12", but it might take a little more time to move around the windows to easily navigate.

Ultimately, I'd like to have a 17" for graphics and video, and a 12" for all my personal stuff (if money wasn't an issue)

[Timo]

I think the 12" main value is its compactness. It's a great machine for toting around, and for simple, visually uncluttered applications.

But if you're leaning towards having your portable be more like a desktop replacement, then I think the 15" is the way to go, as long as you can deal with the extra weight and bulk.

[waxcrash]

Originally posted by Duh_Vinci:
What can you guys who are designers in this forum tell me about the 12" vs the 15" for doing PhotoshopCS edits and InDesign layouts and Illustrator artwork. Will the 12" work on the go for this? Or is it just too tiny?

The 12" is fine for adjusted levels/curves is Photoshop, but once you start working with layers and edit your images, it is too small. Trying to put a layout together with IdDesign or Quark is not fun on a 12" screen. If graphic work is your primary goal, get the laptop with the biggest screen that you can afford. I'd go with the 15" - the perfect mix of screen size and portability.

[grayware]

I'm doing all my work on my 15. I have a Cube w/ a 17" monitor but the PBook is my baby. IMO 12 is too small once you add all those palettes up.

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by waxcrash:
The 12" is fine for adjusted levels/curves is Photoshop, but once you start working with layers and edit your images, it is too small. Trying to put a layout together with IdDesign or Quark is not fun on a 12" screen. If graphic work is your primary goal, get the laptop with the biggest screen that you can afford. I'd go with the 15" - the perfect mix of screen size and portability.

I'd have to agree with what everyone has said. I have a 15" AluBook and am currently running Photoshop and InDesign (I'm ashamed to say I used to use Quark). I think it depends on how much time you are expecting to spend away from your desk. If you aren't planning on doing heavy design work away from your desk, I'd say go for the 12". I was thinking about this, but I was going to give my old 17" CRT to my mom as it was getting old and I would have wanted to get a new 19". I now use my PB outside, in the library, in the kitchen, in the lavatory (as proudly voted in a previous post). It's primary location is on my desk, but when I do carry it around I often wish I had the 12" because of its size, weight and battery life. I think it would be fine for some design work though. The only disadvantages that I can see with the 12" is that from the models I have seen the screen isn't quite as bright as the 15 and 17". The memory is only upgradeable to 1.25Gb and only has one slot. The one slot wouldn't seem to bother you since you will upgrade it (which I suggest you do), however the 15 and 17" can take up to 2Gb so if you think you may need the extra memory down the road and plan to keep the unit for a while, keep this in mind whilst making your purchase.

I suggest going to an AppleStore if there is one around you. They have the 12" and 15" models (I wish they had chairs so that you could sit down and use them for a while) and all that I have run into have Photoshop and usually InDesign on them. Try them out, even bring some files with you! The 15" was my first laptop and when I got it there was a disparaging difference between the 12" and 15" so I went with the 15", now the 12" is faster, can be hooked up to a DVI monitor and has more memory expansion. Now that I have a PowerBook I really want to take it everywhere and try to get away from my desk as much as possible. For this reason I wish I had a 12" It's easier to use on a plane, at Borders, etc. If you plan to do serious design work in these places I'd wish you luck anyways!

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by grayware:
I'm doing all my work on my 15. I have a Cube w/ a 17" monitor but the PBook is my baby. IMO 12 is too small once you add all those palettes up.

DV, once again I think it is what you are using. You mentioned using the PowerBook on a photoshoot, but also layout. I do more layout than photo editing and thus have been using InDesign more than Photoshop recently. In InDesign I have all of my palettes docked to the side of the display and can close all of the palettes per side by pressing holding the option key and clicking on a palette tab. Even with my 15" I wish I had more room, although this might be because we use 21" CRTs at work. I think you need to actually see the two models in person and decide what you want. By docking palettes in InDesign, hiding palettes in Photoshop and pressing the 'F' key to see my picture without any palettes I've learned to manage having less space. It still isn't ideal, and Photoshop isn't as easy to make work as InDesign, but you have to get what you want. Expose has done amazing things in allowing me to have more windows open and manage clutter on a smaller screen as well!

Also, I've noticed when I'm using my PowerBook away from my desk, I tend to have it closer to me. When it comes to the number of palletes you can have up, the 12" although being 3.1" smaller gives up less than 100 pixels in the vertical direction. Things will appear smaller, but it isn't as if you would be seeing that many more layers in the Photoshop layers paletter, although they would be smaller. My point is that when if you are usually closer to the screen when using the PB away from your desk, you might not notice as much of a difference as you think. Just a theory based on experience with a 15" and from seeing friend's 12".

[wily]

Since monitor isn't your consideration, the 12" is a great tourer.

I traded my TiBook in for a 12" Albook - miss the screen resolution, but for compactness, it's superb.

12" is small - not tiny. The other night, I worked on 50gig files and I was so lost in my work, I didn't notice the difference until I quit for the night.

In my opinion, you're choosing between size of computer vs. size of monitor.

Which is more important to you?

[iREZ]

I'm a student in graphic design and work in pre press, and my 12" works flawlessly. Adding an external makes work alot easier but work can be accomplished using the 12" screen as well. You don't need that much screen real estate, it's just convenient. You'll be fine with 12" and it's super portable, is comparable to the 15" speed, and now has 64MB of VRAM. It's hard not to go with the 12".

[Duh_Vinci]

Some great feedback in here! Thanks guys! I am leaning towards the 12 inch combo drive model. It looks like a great price for a great performer! ($1400 at Apple Store EDU)

I appreciate all the great answers. I will most likely not be doing a LOT of work with the book while on the road or away from my desks. I have a 17" ACD at my office at work and a 17" Viewsonic CRT at my home office so screen real estate won't be a huge issue. Thanks for all the great response though. I will be sure and let you all know what I go with!

Cheers!

DV

[olePigeon]

Wait! One more thing I thought you might be interested in. The 15" can be upgraded to a 128MB video card for only $100 more (cheaper under education.)

If they release an update for Photoshop to offload the filters and brushes with CoreImage, man will that card be sweet!

[Randman]

Originally posted by Duh_Vinci:
The fact that I get edu pricing makes the 12" very attractive to me as I am cheap. for the 400 I save with it I can slap a 1 GB stick in it and put the rest towards peripherals (kb, mouse, stand, bag).

In that case, and since you have a 17-inch external monitor, it's wise to go with extra ram and extras.
But, have you ruled out an iBook? While it does have some limitations compared to a PowerBook, you can get a 1GB stick on a G4 with a 14-inch screen.
I'm a designer and at home, I'm using a G4 iBook, 14-incher, 1Ghz with 1.12GB of ram and an external 19-inch monitor and it handles just about everything I've thrown at in with PhotoShop, InDesign and Quark. Just something else to consider.

[OMGWTFBBQ]

The try before you buy for 24 hours with a deposit won't work unless they deposit is the full amount - otherwise you could just bail on it, with a full laptop for cheap.

So the other option would be to make the deposit the full price.

Last I looked, paying the full price for an item in return for taking it home is also referred to as "buying it".

In the case of Apple - especially if you are going to buy a stock model from an Apple Store (as opposed to a configured one online), then it should be extremely easy to turn it back in if you are not happy with it.

AFAIK Apple has a short period (but much longer than 24 hours - something along the lines of a 10 days I think) during which you can decide that it is just not for you and you can return it.
But perhaps that policy has changed or is not as I understood it in the first place.

All of that said - I have the 15" PB and I love it and highly recommend it.

[Duh_Vinci]

Great community Macnn has here!

Good point about the iBook and about the Apple Store return policies. I will hopefully be getting over to Kenwood Town Centre in Cincy this weekend and will get to play with the portables and ask a few questions.

Thanks again guys!

Now, if I can just convince my wife that I NEED this powerbook. hehehe.