[striker100]

I've read hundreds of posts about quality control issues with the 15" AL Powerbook but not even nearly as much with the 17" Powerbook.

Taking into consideration that there are more 15" purchases than 17", is it possible the 17" Powerbook is of better quality than the 15"?

[cobra7869]

That is a good observation and I was actually thinking that today as I consider a 17" PB for myself. I will say, I bought a PB 17" Rev A and it had it's share of quirks. The 17" PB is in the second revision, so things that have problems are smoothed over, etc... It is possible that the 15" has a few more issues right now, but keep in mind, a majority of the posts on this board are because of problems and you don't hear all the success stories and while I am a big MacNN Forum fan, there are still tons of other users.

My .02.

[stardoc]

I've owned 3 different p'books, and have thought each wonderful. That said, the first two had...issues, especially the pismo. My rev A 17" has, so far, been perfect. I've had no problems at all, that's pretty good for any product.

Originally posted by striker100:

Taking into consideration that there are more 15" purchases than 17", is it possible the 17" Powerbook is of better quality than the 15"?

[Podolsky]

I have owned a lot powerbooks and never really considered the 17. But, now I have a rev b one and think it is better than the 15 in every way. But be aware that if you are used to the 15 the 17 does feel a lot bigger. But, for being very close in price you get a whole lot more with the 17 in just about every way. But you have to be prepared for the size difference.

[grendelAI]

I had the very same dilemma. I actually camped out in the mall for 4 hours trying to make my decision. Ultimately, I went for the 15" because of the size. Even though I am a developer (Java, Python) I did not need that much screen space for a portable computer. However, the 12" was too small.

The 15" is just the right size for me. And, luckily, I have not had any issues with mine (knock on wood).

My only advice is decide what you want to do with it. Then if at all possible, purchase it at an Apple store.

[xylon]

I think it's best not to look at the situation in terms of quality because the term is so subjective. As was pointed out though, there have seemingly been fewer problems with the 17" than with the 15". Even the few problems reported when they first came out (motherboard screeching, sound popping) are minor compared to some of the issues (namely the monitor) that 15" users are reporting.

However, both computers are solidly designed machines. The inherent differences between the 15" and 17" will appeal to different users, each of whom have their own definition of "quality."

In terms of quality control, as was brought up in the first post, there definitely seems to be slip up with these new 15". Of course I don't know the percentage of computers experienceing problems, so I'm not expert, but it seems that the 15" are undergoing more problems then the 17".

[pdub99]

One other thing to look at is the number of 15"ers sold compared to the 17"ers.

[Lorinserbenz]

Originally posted by pdub99:
One other thing to look at is the number of 15"ers sold compared to the 17"ers.

Yes there are more 15's because they are cheaper and more portable.
I will say the 17 inch model does feel like it is put together than the 15 inch.
I had a rev A 17 inch and it was flawless, it was one of the first off the assembly line. All three 15 AL's I had did not "feel" as solid as the 17. Besides all the screen issues I had, all three "creaked" when handling them.
In do time the 15 will be perfect.. I bought a Ti 867 (refurb) to hold me over between selling my 17 and waitng for my Al 15, the qaulity on that unit was stellar compared to the first 400/500 mhz Ti's.

[spitty27]

Originally posted by stardoc:
I've owned 3 different p'books, and have thought each wonderful. That said, the first two had...issues, especially the pismo. My rev A 17" has, so far, been perfect. I've had no problems at all, that's pretty good for any product.

whats wrong with your pismo?!! i've been using mine for 3 years and no MAJOR problems at all...what did you use it for?

[SEkker]

The 17PB revA is like a usual revB Apple machine, while the 15" is a regular revA.

I posted my opinion that Apple has its 'A' design team doing other things, and today's iBook release is one example.

I think most of the 15" revA bugs have been worked out, and they're probably about as good as the 17" PBs now.

[DekuDekuplex]

Originally posted by striker100:
I've read hundreds of posts about quality control issues with the 15" AL Powerbook but not even nearly as much with the 17" Powerbook.

Taking into consideration that there are more 15" purchases than 17", is it possible the 17" Powerbook is of better quality than the 15"?

QC issues were a major consideration when I first chose my PowerBook, and I feel highly satisfied in having chosen the 17-inch Rev. A PowerBook.

At first, it seemed that there were two pixels that didn't always come up correctly on the screen. There was a black one slightly to the left of the center of the screen, and a flickering white one in the upper-left corner. However, the center black bad pixel problem disappeared almost immediately after very light massaging with Radtech� Laptop ScreensavRz, and the upper-left white pixel kept flickering on and off until eventually the problem disappeared completely after several repeated massagings with that product.

Now, it works flawlessly. Besides, I never had to send it in to AppleCare.

If you wish, you can read my review of the 17-inch PowerBook on Epinions.com(SM).

However, in the meantime, I have discovered the following problems with other PowerBooks:

• In February or so of this year, I discovered a 12.1-inch Rev. A PowerBook at a nearby Nobody Beats the Wiz� store that had a defective click button.
  
• About two months ago, I discovered a 15.2-inch TiBook at a nearby Starbucks� that had paint flaking problems.
  
• Prior to that, in about April of this year, I discovered another 15.2-inch TiBook, this one a Japanese model, at the Apple Store in SoHo that also had paint flaking problems.
  
• I have also read numerous reports on this forum about the following issues:
  1. 12.1-inch Rev. A PowerBooks with heat problems.
     
  2. 12.1-inch Rev. B PowerBooks with case warps.
     
  3. 15.2-inch TiBooks with paint flaking problems.
     
  4. 15.2-inch Rev. A AlBooks with white spots.

--DekuDekuplex

[stardoc]

Hi Spitty27,

My pismo is still alive and kicking, but has had its share of problems:

when BRAND NEW (<1 day old), a disk glitch wiped out the OS, and I had to do a reinstall (no biggie, but just a start)

when ~6 months old, it stopped charging due to a logic board failure (not a rare problem apparently)

its left speaker died (new logic board)

its ethernet port died (new logic board)

now, no longer under Applecare, it is acting very flakey--I figure I'll do a reformat/reinstall before passing it on to the next in line (I've got my 17", afterall!)...

Best wishes

Originally posted by spitty27:
whats wrong with your pismo?!! i've been using mine for 3 years and no MAJOR problems at all...what did you use it for?

[stardoc]

Originally posted by spitty27:
...what did you use it for?

the usual, writing, spreadsheets, writing fortran and python programs to reduce astronomy data, just what everyone else does ;-)