[ichoosedeath]

Hello All.. I am looking to pick up a PB. I was offered a really good deal on one, but I am just not sure... Here are the two choices I can afford, please help me decide!

Option 1. PB G4 Titanium - 1Ghz / 512MB / 60GB / Superdrive / Airport
Some people love them, some people hate them.. This one is pretty much flawless.

Option 2. PB G4 Al (12") - 1Ghz / 256MB / 40GB / Combo / AE
Apple Refurb


They both have their pros and cons.. The TiBook has 1 year of apple care left, the 12" Al has the ability to go 3 years. The TiBook has 1MB L3 Cache in it, the Al 12" does not.

The Prices are pretty much identical, so, please help me figure out which is the better of the two beasts


Thanks for your help!
-Drew

[I was David B.]

Originally Posted by ichoosedeath

Hello All.. I am looking to pick up a PB. I was offered a really good deal on one, but I am just not sure... Here are the two choices I can afford, please help me decide!

Option 1. PB G4 Titanium - 1Ghz / 512MB / 60GB / Superdrive / Airport
Some people love them, some people hate them.. This one is pretty much flawless.

Option 2. PB G4 Al (12") - 1Ghz / 256MB / 40GB / Combo / AE
Apple Refurb


They both have their pros and cons.. The TiBook has 1 year of apple care left, the 12" Al has the ability to go 3 years. The TiBook has 1MB L3 Cache in it, the Al 12" does not.

The Prices are pretty much identical, so, please help me figure out which is the better of the two beasts


Thanks for your help!
-Drew

I owned a Ti867 and a 12inch/1Ghz.
I bought the Ti after the 12 inch for test purposes and sold it again. Please read my reasons here .

If you don't want to read the whole thread, read only the second last post of Dr.Michael (that was my old character). There you find my main reasons why I did not like the TiBook as much as teh Albook.

[ichoosedeath]

Thank you very much for that... I must bring up a couple of things.. 1, the Fan noise doesn't bother me in the least. I used to be a *nerdy x86 kid*, so I had computers with crazy high RPM fans, so a little whistle doesn't bug me, and my girlfriend has a TiBook 867 and the typing seems comfortable to me. The screen will be the biggest issue.. Let me ask you this: I will be using this for my portible *Website and Flash* workstation. Do you think the 12" screen would have enough screen realestate to use Dreamweaver and Flash without getting ticked off at having all toolbars and such open??

All other things considered, if the screen size was even, I would pick the Albook, no question in my mind!


Thanks again, your post was muey informative!
-Drew

[I was David B.]

Originally Posted by ichoosedeath

Let me ask you this: I will be using this for my portible *Website and Flash* workstation. Do you think the 12" screen would have enough screen realestate to use Dreamweaver and Flash without getting ticked off at having all toolbars and such open??
-Drew

That is hard to answer. The 12 inch screen is small. If you are a minimalist like me who can perfectly adapt to any situation and find workarounds, you will enjoy the portability of the 12 inch powerbook.

I frequently use command-h to hide the apps that I don't need and launchbar or command-tab to bring them to the front again. Thats very quick and you don't have to remove your fingers from the keyboard. This way my screen is not cluttered at all and I can use many apps simultaneously.

But I remember that having the widescreen of the TiBook gave more air to breathe. I use Photoshop from time to time and the screen real estate of the 12 inch is limited and only good enough if you have small pictures to work with.

Originally Posted by ichoosedeath

Thanks again, your post was muey informative!

[ichoosedeath]

That is another plus for the Albook.. I love the TiBook.. I always have, but it seems I have to be extremely careful with it. I would have a hard time transporting it without worring about chipping paint, etc...

[ichoosedeath]

Originally Posted by I was David B.

That is hard to answer. The 12 inch screen is small. If you are a minimalist like me who can perfectly adapt to any situation and find workarounds, you will enjoy the portability of the 12 inch powerbook.

I frequently use command-h to hide the apps that I don't need and launchbar or command-tab to bring them to the front again. Thats very quick and you don't have to remove your fingers from the keyboard. This way my screen is not cluttered at all and I can use many apps simultaneously.

But I remember that having the widescreen of the TiBook gave more air to breathe. I use Photoshop from time to time and the screen real estate of the 12 inch is limited and only good enough if you have small pictures to work with.

Oh one more question! How did the AlBook pare up to the 867 in speed? I know the bus speed of the AlBook is over twice as fast, but I would have to think that the 1MB of L3 would really help it zip along. My girlfriend has the Ti867 and I was pretty impressed with its performance!

[I was David B.]

Originally Posted by ichoosedeath

Oh one more question! How did the AlBook pare up to the 867 in speed? I know the bus speed of the AlBook is over twice as fast, but I would have to think that the 1MB of L3 would really help it zip along. My girlfriend has the Ti867 and I was pretty impressed with its performance!

AlBook 1GHz is noticibly faster than the Ti867. I measured a couple of number crunching java apps and found roughly 20% faster performance. Both machines with 768 MB RAM.

But I would guess that the Ti 1GHz is as fast as the AlBook. And the Ti has 64 MB Video RAM.

[ichoosedeath]

Great points.. Maybe what I will do is snag the TiBook.. Play with it for awhile. If it turns I don't like it, I can sell it. I am getting an exceptional deal, and for some reason, these guys still go for a good buck on eBay.

[davidwells]

IMHO the 12" screens are not as bright and crisp as the 15.2/17" screens. (I sold my 12" and going to buy a 15.2" within a week or so)

[ichoosedeath]

Thank you David(s)

[brettcamp]

I have a 12" AlBook, albeit a generation later than yours (1.33, 60GB); my wife as the same TiBook model you're looking at. Her screen is brighter and sharper, and the extra screen real estate and higher res would be useful to you in doing web design.

If you're going to be hauling it around a lot, however, the 12"'s greater portability is quite handy. But then you'd want to add an external display. (I use an external display with mine, and that'll set you back another $200-$400.) My work is mostly text based, but I still wouldn't want the 12" screen as my only display.

The two machines will probably run at about the same speed; mine's faster than my wife's, but then it has a faster chip, unlike the one you're looking at. TiBook has ports on the back, AlBook has ports on the side; I prefer the side ports, but no biggie. Her TiBook has a few scratches, but no serious leprosy yet.

Both your machines have effectively the same warranty, but you can extend the 12" and not the 15". And the 12", being newer, will likely have a longer useful life. But in every other way, the 15" sounds like a better deal -- you get a Superdrive (and can thus burn DVDs), bigger HD, and bigger, sharper screen so probably don't need to spend more on an external display. So if you're willing to sell after a year, or live without applecare after a year, I'd go for the 15".

[ichoosedeath]

Well, I snagged the 1Ghz TiBook, and so far, I am very impressed.. Now I just need a bag that wont tarnish its case (Other than the bottom of this, it is pretty much prestine)..

Thanks again for your input everyone, it was much apprecaited!

-Drew