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iREZ · Dec 24, 2003, 02:34 PM

I'm in the market for a pb and money here is a slight issue. I'm about to start school and im a student in graphic design and I want a pb to take to and fro. At first I thought I should go with the 12" Rev B seeing how its just as powerful as the 15" inch in terms of processor speed and RAM (seeing how I'm only goin to get 768 in either book). I dont know how much the extra real estate in the 15inch would benefit me if I have a monitor at home to hook up the 12 inch too, the only thing that makes this tuff is that with the 15 inch I get a better GPU and that's about all the extra benefits I see. Is it worth forkin over another $400 just for this. Im stuck in a pickle please help me out, and I will be waiting for MWSF before I buy.

MacsGalor · Dec 24, 2003, 04:50 PM

Go with the 1.25 GHZ 15" you can also get alot me RAM in it. There is a big speed difference (in my opinion) between the 12 and 1.25Ghz 15"

iREZ · Dec 24, 2003, 04:55 PM

cant afford the 1.25 I was comparing the 12" inch to the 1GHz 15"inch, and besides cant afford the 1.25GHz (outta my price range).

Maflynn · Dec 24, 2003, 04:58 PM

Originally posted by iREZ:
I'm in the market for a pb and money here is a slight issue. I'm about to start school and im a student in graphic design and I want a pb to take to and fro.

Did you look at the ibook, that may fit your price and performance needs better and its more durable, i.e., throwing it in the back of your backpack.

Mike

Necrocool · Dec 24, 2003, 04:59 PM

Go for 12".. It's way easier to take out a 12" powerbook and start using in classrooms than taking out a 15". Use an external monitor at home.

Necrocool · Dec 24, 2003, 05:00 PM

Btw.. i think Powerbooks are more durable.. my iBook got way more scraches... The PowerBook's metal casing is just strong, and at least doesn't show any scratches.

jimf_81 · Dec 25, 2003, 04:26 PM

I'd go for the 12, especially if you are using another monitor at home. There seem to be a lot more problems (frequency) with the 15" PB's than the 12's or 17's.

mrgaskell · Dec 26, 2003, 12:42 AM

I don't know, I have a 12" PB rev.B and as just tickled pink with it until I did a movie in iMovie to iDVD, encoded SUPER slow. Then I used some large images in Photoshop yesterday (around 5gb initially) and it was unbearably slow. I know that the file was super-bloated, but just reducing the image to a 300mb file was slow and then the actually filtering took forever.

No real rant, but I have a friend in design school who regularly works with large files for classes and I just think that you should buy the most power you can afford and then some.

Wiskedjak · Dec 26, 2003, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by mrgaskell:
I don't know, I have a 12" PB rev.B and as just tickled pink with it until I did a movie in iMovie to iDVD, encoded SUPER slow.

What do you consider "super slow"? I did a 20 minute iMovie in iDVD on a 1.8 G5 and it took an hour to encode and burn.

typoon · Dec 26, 2003, 02:38 PM

Originally posted by mrgaskell:
I don't know, I have a 12" PB rev.B and as just tickled pink with it until I did a movie in iMovie to iDVD, encoded SUPER slow. Then I used some large images in Photoshop yesterday (around 5gb initially) and it was unbearably slow. I know that the file was super-bloated, but just reducing the image to a 300mb file was slow and then the actually filtering took forever.

No real rant, but I have a friend in design school who regularly works with large files for classes and I just think that you should buy the most power you can afford and then some.

HOw much RAM do you have? That could also be the issue.

mrgaskell · Dec 27, 2003, 03:59 AM

I have a 12" rev. B PowerBook with 768mb PC2700 DDR RAM. The encoding took about oh, 3hours for a 52 minute movie. Once encoded, it only took 23 minutes to burn each subsequent disk. I did have a lot of motion menus and 15 chapters in the movie.

mrgaskell · Dec 27, 2003, 04:00 AM

Oh, and I was saving/writing to an external Firewire disk that also had the Video on it, which may of made the difference as well.

Wiskedjak · Dec 28, 2003, 05:52 PM

Originally posted by mrgaskell:
I have a 12" rev. B PowerBook with 768mb PC2700 DDR RAM. The encoding took about oh, 3hours for a 52 minute movie. Once encoded, it only took 23 minutes to burn each subsequent disk. I did have a lot of motion menus and 15 chapters in the movie.

Based upon my experience for a 20 minute movie on a G5, yours seems about right for a PowerBook.

stevesnj · Dec 28, 2003, 08:13 PM

Originally posted by iREZ:
cant afford the 1.25GHz (outta my price range).

If you qualify for Apple's ADC program you can get a 15" Superdrive for just over $2,000

Link
http://developer.apple.com/membership/usa.html

and click on Hardware purchase store for their price plan for ADC members

iREZ · Dec 28, 2003, 09:36 PM

Im aware of the developers program but what qualifies a person for those discounts other then being a student in college? Id probably purchase the 15 inch if I could use that discount, but if not I think imma go with the 12 inch. I dont wanna join for 99 bux if I cant get that discount.

stevesnj · Dec 28, 2003, 10:01 PM

Originally posted by iREZ:
Im aware of the developers program but what qualifies a person for those discounts other then being a student in college? Id probably purchase the 15 inch if I could use that discount, but if not I think imma go with the 12 inch. I dont wanna join for 99 bux if I cant get that discount.

I would call them for that specific info....good luck

typoon · Dec 28, 2003, 11:29 PM

i just my 12" I'm loving it so far. Price, Power and Portabilitiy it's definitely worth the price.

x user · Dec 29, 2003, 12:22 AM

My 12" is more durable than the iBooks I had previously.

Really much nicer altogther than the iBooks.

PeteWK · Dec 29, 2003, 03:19 AM

My wife and I have a 12inch Rev. A and a 667 DVI respectively. It all comes down to portability for her and screen realestate for me. Both size factors have their pro's and con's. I would go with the one that best fit your needs that way. If you're only going to have one computer, I would go with the 15 inch. If you have a desk top, then the 12. I once had just a 12 inch iBook (White) as my main computer and I just couldn't deal with that screen being the only one I was going to use.

PeteWK

bateman1 · Dec 29, 2003, 03:55 AM

ADC Student Program provides you with the once-in-a-lifetime discount available on the ADC Hardware Store.

Read about it here , everything you need to know is on Apple's Developer page.

I am in a very similar situation (about to go back to school, studying graphic arts) and because of this discount I believe I am going to attempt to finance a 15" 1.25. I'll decide after Macworld Expo.

So good luck to you!

typoon · Dec 29, 2003, 10:23 AM

Originally posted by x user:
My 12" is more durable than the iBooks I had previously.

Really much nicer altogther than the iBooks.

I'll agree with you there for sure. My Powerbook feels so much more solid than the iBooks from the 500 G3's to the new G4's.

iREZ · Dec 29, 2003, 02:14 PM

Thanks for all the help

sktrdie · Dec 29, 2003, 03:39 PM

i love my 12"!!

zanyterp · Dec 29, 2003, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by iREZ:
Im aware of the developers program but what qualifies a person for those discounts other then being a student in college? Id probably purchase the 15 inch if I could use that discount, but if not I think imma go with the 12 inch. I dont wanna join for 99 bux if I cant get that discount.

you should be able to as all that is needed is proof of enrollment/acceptance. . .if i remember right. here is a thread that has more info on it: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=158869

hope that helps. . .and that the link works.

nick