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Positive PB experience
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tkmd
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Aug 21, 2004, 03:56 PM
 
I know that that the g4 processor in my Al pb is not as fast as the current crop Wintel offerings. However yesterday I hooked up the PB to the TV to watch a dvd. I put the movie on the "other screen" so the movie would be on the TV and the Macs screen would show the desktop. I decided to then continue to encode a movie into mp4 (processor heavy) at the same time I loaded Limewire (RAM hungry). While all these processes where running I typed a letter in Word and mailed it and to top it off I copied a bunch of jpegs and was burning it to a CD via toast. I am VERY pleased to say that I really did not notice a significant slow down in user experience- the GUI remained responsive. With problems being posted along with the "please help" post I thought I would mention this positive experience.

I remember the promises that SJ said about OS X in 2001 and all we got was 10.0 and the "spinning color disk" all the time. This OS has come to fruition in my opinion, even with the g4 in my PB. Of course, I have alot of RAM even by todays standards but all in all with enough RAM and todays PB, OS X has really matured. Anyone thinking about a PB - go for it.
Pismo 400 | Powerbook 1.5 GHz | MacPro 2.66/6GB/7300GT
     
d.fine
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Aug 21, 2004, 04:49 PM
 
Good post !! There should be more threads like this one. People come here when they have a problem or would like advice, but positive experiences should also be shared !! Thank you !

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
spatterson
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Aug 21, 2004, 11:13 PM
 
*hugs 15" AluPB*
     
hldan
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Aug 22, 2004, 12:39 AM
 
Nice Positive experience! We need more from the Mac Users.
iMac 24" 2.8 Ghz Core 2 Extreme
500GB HDD
4GB Ram
Proud new Owner!
     
Ryan1524
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Aug 22, 2004, 01:21 AM
 
i once selected all the apps from my applications folder. the dock went nuts and the screen was flooded with about 50 new windows. did not crash and i can still use the apps. didn't try them all, but the big ones ran just fine.

i don't think i'd even dare try that on my PC.
Ryan
     
wuzup101
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Aug 22, 2004, 02:05 AM
 
Ditto... I'm very pleased with the way OSX handles everything. I can't wait until tiger comes out because the computing experience will only get that much better. I planned on using this as my mobile machine will at college and taking my desktop PC (which I built) up as a power machine to do the large tasks. I've decided that I don't even need the PC up at school because this machine handels everything I need to do with ease. I'm very impressed with my first apple experience and I can't seem to even think about buying another PC desktop. I'm even thinking about getting a dual G5 system after I get the money from my internship next summer. I've also been recomending this machine to quite a few people in the PC forums and you wouldn't believe the posative responses from people who are true PC fans. A lot of them actually seem to have iBooks or Powerbooks as portables and swear by them. Apple must be doing something right, and I can only hope they keep on the path to greatness. It would be nice to see them continue to grow as a company and get a larger part of the market share. I definitely don't mind paying for my equipment, especially if it's a machine of this caliber.
Mac: 15" 1.5ghz PB w/ 128mb vid, 5400rpm 80gb, combo drive, 2gb ram
Peripherals: 20gb 4g iPod, Canon i950, Canon S230 "elph", Canon LIDE30, Logitech MX510, Logitech z5500, M-Audio Sonica Theater, Samsung 191T
PC: AMD "barton" XP @ 2.3ghz, 1gb pc3200, 9800pro 128mb, 120gb WD-SE 120gb
Xbox: 1.6, modded with X3 xecuter, slayers evoX 2.6, WDSE 120gb HDD
     
sniffer
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Aug 22, 2004, 11:33 AM
 
Chiming in! I know we always hear PC that and PC this. But man, the PB rev. C is no slouch. I also hook it up all the time when I have it on my desk, and frequently watch Divxs or playing games full screen on one screen while surfing the web on the other. Considering OS X doing double buffering and all the complex hula-hula I am very content with this machine performance under OS X. Apple has come so far already. Especially the multitasking is a joy.

PB 12" 768MB.

Sniffer gone old-school sig
     
d.fine
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Aug 22, 2004, 12:43 PM
 
I got my first Apple (a 15" AluPB 1.25GHz) in March 2004, which is not so long ago. Prior to that I had always used PC, even made my own. After using my new PB for 2 weeks, the PC never came on again. OSX is a pleasure to work with, it does what I ask it to do (unlike my PC ). My first Apple experience was so pleasing and good that since I've gotten a Rev B DP2.0GHz G5 (awesome machine!), an iSight, Airport Express, and a 3g 20GB iPod. My gf laughs at me and calls me a 'Mac freak', because 6 months ago I couldn't say a good word about Apple, and now it's all I want !!! Old Peecee is gathering dust somewhere, I turned it on again 2 weeks ago, and after working on it for 10 minutes it crashed 3 times, I said 'you ******* piece of ****' turned it off, and hasn't come on again since ...

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
Lancer409
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Aug 22, 2004, 07:48 PM
 
Originally posted by d.fine:
I got my first Apple (a 15" AluPB 1.25GHz) in March 2004, which is not so long ago. Prior to that I had always used PC, even made my own. After using my new PB for 2 weeks, the PC never came on again. OSX is a pleasure to work with, it does what I ask it to do (unlike my PC ). My first Apple experience was so pleasing and good that since I've gotten a Rev B DP2.0GHz G5 (awesome machine!), an iSight, Airport Express, and a 3g 20GB iPod. My gf laughs at me and calls me a 'Mac freak', because 6 months ago I couldn't say a good word about Apple, and now it's all I want !!! Old Peecee is gathering dust somewhere, I turned it on again 2 weeks ago, and after working on it for 10 minutes it crashed 3 times, I said 'you ******* piece of ****' turned it off, and hasn't come on again since ...

Got my 12inch YaoBook right when revision C came out. which was neat because i thought about buying it the week before, and that was revision "B". I didnt look on forums much before I purchased it, and I remember in '96 when I was awaiting the bankruptcy of Apple with glee .. (yeah I know ...)

i was so uninformed about apple products and osx. I didnt know if it would plug and play like windows XP, if it would accept my usb drives, if it would work with my wireless router at home ... or even ... if i could plug my mouse into the powerbook and have it auto power on .... like on my pc laptop. (I am not a computer newbie, just a mac newbie). After I got my mac, my pc monitor died and it took about 3 weeks or so, to get my replacement through warantee. So within that first month, OSX really got into my blood. I remember when it finally sunk in, that my computer wasnt crashing all the time. Every now and then, some program may trigger a 100% cpu load, and i initially had finder problems, but I've worked my way around it. OSX is a joy to use and when I shapeshifter'ed and candybar'ed it ... i loved it even more.

I remember watching the WWDC keynote, and i've seen it 3-4 times front to back now ... I cant wait til tiger comes out. I guess after years of Windows 95/98/me/XP, I had low expectations when it came to operating systems, but tiger .... man .. the things jobs said it could do (spotlight being my favorite) .. i didnt think operating systems could do such a thing ... woah ...

Since the pickup of the Powerbook, I've gotten a 3g iPod (love it), and I cant wait for other Apple goodies .. seems it's all I want now. The displays were not impressive on the WWDC keynote, but .. god ... in person they are HOT .. and that hinge design ... just like the imac ... I've never been so excited about one companies electronics, software .. peripherals ... wow ... If they owned on the gaming front ... my next computer would definately be a G5 .. but as it is, the powerbook does everything i want it to do, and i'll keep my pc around ... just for gaming ..

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
     
d.fine
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Aug 24, 2004, 03:10 PM
 
Originally posted by Lancer409:
... my next computer would definately be a G5 .. but as it is, the powerbook does everything i want it to do, and i'll keep my pc around ... just for gaming ..
Get the G5 if you can, it's a kick a** machine

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
cenutrio
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Aug 24, 2004, 07:42 PM
 
I tell you guys what I know...

I know that wherever the speed of your PB it won't go overtime. I'm sick of my work HP pavilion intel 3.2 GHz that after 6 months running XP is so slow that my aging PB 400 (768MB, 5,400 rpm) running panther feels much snappier.

Besides, the antivirus running all day long, defragmenting the HD, etc.

PBs (and iBooks) are damn good machines. Very capable, and with lots of nice features. Do not let the numbers impress you. Windows machines are fast out of the box, but just a few months installing stuff on them and they feel like pentiums 75.

Even my almost four year old PB looks and feel better than the 99% windows notebooks out there.


my two cents
-original iMac, TiPB 400, Cube, Macbook (black), iMac 24¨, plus the original iPod and a black nano 4GB-
     
anly
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Aug 24, 2004, 11:12 PM
 
A few weeks back our IT is looking to buy a AL PB 1G, ( used ) cause his PeeCee ( was like a 2G system) just couldn't encode/burn any MPEGs without waiting for over 24 hours and have it crash his system. I'm not sure if he is doing anything wrong, but he said after getting the PB, His nightmares went away and he could actually get some work done. That is one thing i am constantly amazed about our macs and OSX.
Past Love:
Apple II, Mac SI, PB Duo, Pismo, iMac G4, Digital Audio
iMac Rev.A 256MB OSX10.3
PB 17" Rev. C 1.5Ghz
Current:
MacBook 2.0Ghz 10.5.2
MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz 17" 10.5.2
     
ICD2k3
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Aug 25, 2004, 12:27 AM
 
Hey, when you were watchign a DVD...how did you get the movie to only show up on the TV and the Desktop to show up on the PB?...I just got the connector to watch DVDs from my PB onto a TV and I haven't figured out how to have the DVD play only on the TV yet.
     
d.fine
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Aug 25, 2004, 03:52 AM
 
Originally posted by ICD2k3:
Hey, when you were watchign a DVD...how did you get the movie to only show up on the TV and the Desktop to show up on the PB?...I just got the connector to watch DVDs from my PB onto a TV and I haven't figured out how to have the DVD play only on the TV yet.
Connect the TV to your PB, detect it and set it up. Start playing the DVD (with standard DVD Player), move the movie window to the TV screen, the program will say something like 'switching to tv' and then do 'Fullscreen'. The movie will run fullscreen on the tv and desktop will be on the PB LCD ...

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
tkmd  (op)
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Aug 25, 2004, 12:00 PM
 
Originally posted by ICD2k3:
Hey, when you were watchign a DVD...how did you get the movie to only show up on the TV and the Desktop to show up on the PB?...I just got the connector to watch DVDs from my PB onto a TV and I haven't figured out how to have the DVD play only on the TV yet.
Yeah this took some experimentation- plug in the s-video and go to system preferences. Go to displays and press "detect" it should detect the video input. Look for the arrangement tab and select dual screens. Assuming you were in the "mirror mode" your desktop will disappear from the TV screen. Now drag the DVD screen to the other screen (AKA your TV screen). It will sense another screen and switch to that mode.
Pismo 400 | Powerbook 1.5 GHz | MacPro 2.66/6GB/7300GT
     
sketch
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Aug 25, 2004, 03:58 PM
 
Finally some positive stuff I'm hoping to make the switch over to Mac soon and I have my eye on the PowerBook. But I got abit nervous after reading one negative post after another. Of course problems can happen with anything.

So the Powerbook doesn't slow down with time? That's a very good thing! Last thing I need is to spend all that money and have it slow down in 6 months. Is it true about the LCD screen degrading over time?
Switcher here! PowerBook G4 1.67 avec 2GB ram. Running 10.3.9.
     
drmcnutt
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Aug 25, 2004, 06:35 PM
 
Originally posted by tkmd:
I know that that the g4 processor in my Al pb is not as fast as the current crop Wintel offerings. However yesterday I hooked up the PB to the TV to watch a dvd. I put the movie on the "other screen" so the movie would be on the TV and the Macs screen would show the desktop. I decided to then continue to encode a movie into mp4 (processor heavy) at the same time I loaded Limewire (RAM hungry). While all these processes where running I typed a letter in Word and mailed it and to top it off I copied a bunch of jpegs and was burning it to a CD via toast. I am VERY pleased to say that I really did not notice a significant slow down in user experience- the GUI remained responsive. With problems being posted along with the "please help" post I thought I would mention this positive experience.

I remember the promises that SJ said about OS X in 2001 and all we got was 10.0 and the "spinning color disk" all the time. This OS has come to fruition in my opinion, even with the g4 in my PB. Of course, I have alot of RAM even by todays standards but all in all with enough RAM and todays PB, OS X has really matured. Anyone thinking about a PB - go for it.
How do you watch a DVD and burn a CD at the same time on a Powerbook?

DRM
     
jstein
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Aug 26, 2004, 10:22 AM
 
Originally posted by tkmd:
I know that that the g4 processor in my Al pb is not as fast as the current crop Wintel offerings. However yesterday I hooked up the PB to the TV to watch a dvd. I put the movie on the "other screen" so the movie would be on the TV and the Macs screen would show the desktop. I decided to then continue to encode a movie into mp4 (processor heavy) at the same time I loaded Limewire (RAM hungry). While all these processes where running I typed a letter in Word and mailed it and to top it off I copied a bunch of jpegs and was burning it to a CD via toast. I am VERY pleased to say that I really did not notice a significant slow down in user experience- the GUI remained responsive. With problems being posted along with the "please help" post I thought I would mention this positive experience.

I remember the promises that SJ said about OS X in 2001 and all we got was 10.0 and the "spinning color disk" all the time. This OS has come to fruition in my opinion, even with the g4 in my PB. Of course, I have alot of RAM even by todays standards but all in all with enough RAM and todays PB, OS X has really matured. Anyone thinking about a PB - go for it.

Wonderful thread tkmd,
I commend you on taking the time to say something positive about your experience with your powerbook. Although this is a troubleshooting forum from time to time it is nice to hear someone bearing good news about their Apple experience. Yes Mac OS X has lived up to all of its promises and then some. Anyone remember the days, of dual booting whew! The beauty of an Apple Powerbook or for that matter any Mac machine is that they are workhorses and usually work so well, that when there is a problem one can tell automatically. Which is the main reason why Apple users go crazy when something is not going right.


Apple users enjoy!
     
tkmd  (op)
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Aug 26, 2004, 12:13 PM
 
Originally posted by drmcnutt:
How do you watch a DVD and burn a CD at the same time on a Powerbook?

DRM
External LeCie cd burner.
Pismo 400 | Powerbook 1.5 GHz | MacPro 2.66/6GB/7300GT
     
   
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