[driven]

Ahhhh it's here!

I got my new PowerBook G4 1.67 80GB, 128MB Video tonight! (15' screen)

I've only played with it for an hour or so but so far I couldn't be more thrilled!

It will take me a few days to get everything ported over from my Wintel notebook so I can use it on a daily basis. I also still need a few things: Carry case so I don't scratch her, etc.

Some things probably will never be ported (Microsoft Money ... this may well end up on my desktop PC). I also have some minor kinks to work out of my Palm sync stuff but I'm excited. She's SOOOO much smaller and lighter than the dying 2002 Dell that she is replacing. As I learn XCode I'm getting more and more excited about my move to Mac. The Powerbook just heightens the excitement!

more in a few days .....

[justingo1]

Awesome! Lets see some pics!

[driven]

In good time .... in good time .... patience grasshopper! :-)

[maCCer]

Originally posted by driven:
In good time .... in good time .... patience grasshopper! :-)

waiting for you pic!!!1

[driven]

I gotta tell you: The backlight keyboard is FAR more useful than I imagined it to be. To steel a line from McDonalds: "I'm lovin' it"!

The keyboard layout itself is taking a little getting used to though. Things like page up, page down, home, end are currently elusive. I'll find them ... I just have to "think different" I guess.

One question: The Airport wireless always wakes from sleep "turned off". Do you know any way to have the airport activate automatically and connect to my wireless network?

[tooki]

Hint: learn the magic of the function (fn) key. Try it with the arrow keys, the delete key, and some of the alpha keys.

tooki

[tooki]

Originally posted by maCCer:
waiting for you pic!!!1

For what? It won't look any different from any other AlBook you've seen.

tooki

[driven]

Originally posted by tooki:
Hint: learn the magic of the function (fn) key. Try it with the arrow keys, the delete key, and some of the alpha keys.

tooki

Tooki - Thanks.

I suppose I should RTFM.

Are these keys documented anywhere? (Actually I now see where the four arrow keys say "page, home, end".) <-- Gee, backlit and all! DOH!

Side, unrelated note: Have you (or anyone) tried the Apple bluetooth keyboard with the Powerbook? How do you like it? (I'm thinking for office use)

[driven]

One more clueless newbee question:

Where the heck are the insert and delete keys?

[betoranaldi]

I use a Apple Bluetooth Keyboard on my 1.25 ghz powerbook and love it, works just like a wired keyboard. and the batteries last about a month and that is with never turning the keyboard off... I am too lazy to do that and I use rechargable batteries

[senseigmg]

Originally posted by driven:
One more clueless newbee question:

Where the heck are the insert and delete keys?

my BT Keyboard batteries have lasted about 2 months now, and i'm still going with 4/5 bars.

Fn+delete=delete

[driven]

Originally posted by senseigmg:
my BT Keyboard batteries have lasted about 2 months now, and i'm still going with 4/5 bars.

Fn+delete=delete

Thanks for the info.

As for the delete key: OUTSTANDING. Everything is so damn obvious that when I figure it out I suddenly feel stupid. (Please resist the urge to jump on that comment.) <GRIN>

[tooki]

Note that I had already listed fn-delete in my post.

tooki

[driven]

Tooki,

Yeah ... I see it. I swear ever since I was hospitalized with that brain virus a few months back I've been missing the obvious. It's starting to frighten me.

(BTW: Which alpha keys are affected by the fn key??)

[tooki]

The alpha keys that also have numbers on them (it's the "embedded numeric keypad").

Anything on any key that's written in small letters is the fn key combo.

tooki

[driven]

A few weeks into owning my new PowerBook:

Things I love:
- Instant restart from sleep
- Very very little battery drain during sleep
- Pretty cool power-brick (now that I know what those "wings" are for! )
- EXCELLENT beautiful screen. Blows the doors off of my old Dell UXGA 15" display, and comes close to blowing the doors off of most of my desktop LCDs.
- Keyboard is fantastic, and I love the backlighting
- Video card ... wow.... (128MB VRAM)
- FAST ... far faster than I expected it to be.
- Not a single crash. (Can't say that about my Windows laptops.)

Things I'm a little disappointed in. (VERY short list)
- Battery life. Not quite as long as I expected. I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy a 2nd (or 3rd) battery for international flights
- Heat ... normally no problem. When I run a game however this thing gets FRACKIN HOT!

(Side note: This new forum software really messes up the compose screen when using Safari!)

[Randman]

Turn bluetooth off if you're not using it. And if you're on the road and not online, can save a little with AirPort off as well.
Have you played with Energy Saver settings and adjusting the settings to see if you can get a little more time on the battery.
Backlit keyboard also eats battery. Easier to turn on when you need it.

Finally, you can hot swop batteries on a 15 and 17. Just put the machine to sleep and you have a certain amount of time to switch batteries with the PB still in sleep mode. Very handy when you're on the road and no charger is near.

[driven]

good suggestions. Thanks!

I also wasn't aware that you could swap out the battery while the computer was asleep. That's great! It also eliminates the need to install two batteries at the same time as I had to do with my Dell. (Which brought it up to 11 pounds also!)

[asodamiac]

how exactly did you transfer files from your pc to your mac? can you start a network between a mac and a pc? if not, i'll have to burn quite a few songs/pictures just to put on the mac. not fun.

[driven]

I just plugged them both on a network. (I have a gigabit network in my house with 9 hosts on it at the moment). <-- I've now identified myself as a geek. <GRIN>

Quite honestly I had a job that automatically backed up my PC files to a PC server .... so I pulled them off of that server and back onto my Dell. I've now moved these share points to the G5 ... seems to work better.