[warra]

I need some help. I really want to buy a powerbook, and I've been doing some research for a couple of weeks; my results tell me that the powerbook is a good choice but I have also seen many cons for the powerbook. I have my sights set on the 12 inch since I like the ultraportability and power (I would be taking it to class with me).

My biggest fear is of the heat issues that I have frequently seen. Almost all of the heat related issues I have read about are on forums from the beginning of 2004 and earlier; however, I have seen some recent posts (such as in this forum) about heat issues.

Does the powerbook's case warp very easily due to heat? Or has this issue been somewhat resolved? I do not want to buy a computer whose case will warp and cause problems for other components (i.e. the optical drive) if it becomes misaligned.. If I were to get the powerbook, I was thinking of always using it with this: Cool Pad.

Since I have barely used macs before, I would be using it for basic computing (web, reports, chat) so I would think that it can't get too hot. Am I wrong? I want the power of the powerbook so I have the possibility of running more intensive apps in the future as I become more accustomed to the mac os.

Also, whats the deal with the dead pixels? Are they frequent or is it just an issue for some unlucky customers? Is it more likely for dead pixels to appear with frequent use of the screen even if there were none upon first use? I was actually thinking of getting a lcd screen and use the PB as a desktop in my room, then detach and use it when I am away.

Like I said, the heat problem is my biggest issue. I definitely like the powerbook more than the iBook but is the powerbook worth buying?

[blkdog7]

I have one of the ultra spicy hot 500 Ti powerbooks and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Don't worry about the heat, just get one, you will not regret it.

And, I believe the heat is intentional anyway. Apple intended it that way. Think of the case as great big heat-sink.

[chris v]

I work mine pretty hard, and it gets pretty hot. it has never shown the slightest bit of warping. I love it.

[f1000]

Originally Posted by warra

Does the powerbook's case warp very easily due to heat? Or has this issue been somewhat resolved? I do not want to buy a computer whose case will warp and cause problems for other components (i.e. the optical drive) if it becomes misaligned.. If I were to get the powerbook, I was thinking of always using it with this: Cool Pad.

I've never heard of a PowerBook's case warping due to heat.

Originally Posted by warra

Since I have barely used macs before, I would be using it for basic computing (web, reports, chat) so I would think that it can't get too hot. Am I wrong? I want the power of the powerbook so I have the possibility of running more intensive apps in the future as I become more accustomed to the mac os.

Unfortunately, my PowerBook gets pretty warm no matter what I do. Just get an external mouse and keyboard and you won't ever have to touch your laptop.

Like I said, the heat problem is my biggest issue. I definitely like the powerbook more than the iBook but is the powerbook worth buying?

Not if you're looking for more "power". The 12" PowerBook really isn't that much faster than a 12" iBook. If you want a PowerBook, get it for its extras and more compact form factor.

[Kyros]

The powerbook cases do seem to warp a little still. I don't know if it is heat or not, but both my dad's and my friend's powerbook are slightly warped (12 inch both of them, neither are the lates generation, however). You only notice this if you bother to look from the side, though, something you won't do if you are working on it, also it is small enough that it has no effect whatsoever on usage. In fact, I don't think my friend even realizes his is warped, as I never mentioned it to him when I noticed it (noticed it because I specifically checked, I was curious myself), and he is the type to mention every problem his laptop has since he likes to make fun of my mac evangilism. He is very happy with it though.

[Lesterm10]

I have a 12 inch powerbook, and just like you I only use it for basic stuff, web surfing, intermediate web design, and papers. It serves as my travel companion... and I've had it now for a good 3 months, and it doesn't get scorching hot, but it does get hot just like anyother laptop. I love the feeling of the Aluminum PB over the plasticy Ibook. No matter what happens though, if you get an Apple computer, you'll love it.

[itguy05]

It would have to be pretty hot to warp aluminum. Hotter than you could handle. Most likely the warping is from natural flexing - it happens to most laptops. The only advantage we have is it won't squeak like plastic notebooks.

Repeat after me: The heat issue is not an issue. Computers and laptops get hot. They are designed with this in mind.

Don't worry about it getting hot - it will take care of itself and if need be, it will shut itself down.

[f1000]

Originally Posted by itguy05

Most likely the warping is from natural flexing - it happens to most laptops.

I find that there's actually no flexing of the frame at all. The problem is that the aluminum panel that covers the battery on the 12" doesn't sit flush with the rest of the case; hence, the case wobbles when placed on a desktop. My solution has been to adjust the crossbar that holds the aluminum cover securely to the battery.

[phoenix78]

i have the newest pb 17" running tiger.

HEAT-
[mac]
i have my power settings on automatic. my pb never gets hot... but then again i dont really push it hard like video editing or dvds or gamng etc... when it does get really hot it gets hot in places that wont 'really' affect the use of your pc.. like it wont be uncomfortable.. only if you put it on your lap.. but how many people do that anyway?? lol.

as far as fans go, the pb has the most silent fan on the market in my opinion. all you can hear is the air rushing through the chassis and it sounds like a gas stove... it is very silent and very tolerable.

i dont notice any warping when it gets hot either.... i take very good care of my pb and make sure i am handling it with due care. its expensive so you want to make sure you are handling it with alot of care. any wrping would be because of mishandling i would think. yes it is aluminium and it will bend 'if it is made to bend '. lol

[wintel + etc..]
yes these get hot too. they get hot in areas that make it difficult to use even if it is not on your lap. i had an acer travelmate once and it got hot under the left pal because the HD was located there.. so if it gets hot it gets hot in bad places that make it annoying to use. fans fans fans.... what is it with fans in these other brand laptops?? they hum and buzz and give off high pitched screams.... ughhhh... you have to use these t really appreciate how silent the apple pb fans realy are!!

PIXELS-

[mac] i have a 17pb and NOT EVEN ONE dead pixel or bright ... just no faulty pixels! one thing that is a plus for the apple lcds are the viewing angle!!!! screw sxga and uxga on other laptops.... the apple screens i have had allow me to read text and view pictures in their normal colour even when almost 180 degrees to the screen! i dont have to adjust my head from side to side trying to view the screen like you do on other laptops with sxga and uxga screens.

[wintel + etc..]
it is quite sad.. i had my travelmate with a beautiful faulty pixel free screen but i had to tilt my head up and down and left and right to improve my view on that section of the screen because of a poor viewing angle.

SPEED/PRICE -

[mac]
this is where i tend to beat up on the apple. poor hardware when compared to windows based laptops. yo pay sooooo much for apb and you get very outdated hardware such as videocard and ram speed and generally the mac seems to perform poorer when i compare it to my old centrino laptop. i dont care what anyone argues in defense of apple here but it is a slower machine overall. for what you pay you should get much better (recent/later/newer... take your pick...) components.

[wintel + etc..]
beautiful... comlete flexibility of how to build your own system and very upgradeable and it is cheaper than the mac.


overall...... i bought an apple for the unix base and its software building tools and the ergonomics of use... such as fan noise, screen width + viewing angle, heat points on the actual chassis so that it doesnt get hot undert the palms, ummmm.... and apple manufacture their components to a higher standard lol... with some unfortunate exceptions... but that is just process engineering with reliability and quality control... it isnt perfect but it is great!

my 2 cents worth.. hope it gives you a few points to consider.
cheers,
rob

[I was David B.]

My Powerbook does not get very hot. Its a 1GHz (Rev b) 12 inch model.
Case warping was only an issue with the 867 MHz rev a. I cannot say if it is due to heat or indeed due to flexing during transport.

But it can easily be fixed: Just loosen the screws that are visible from outside and the powerbook will fall back into its correct shape. Faster the screws afterwards - done. No problem at all.

The powerbook will only get hot if you use it with an external screen. Be prepared for nonstop fan noise.
And think twice if you are not better served with an iBook if you want to take it to classes. The iBook can be treated more roughly and runs longer with a battery charge.

[lilrabbit129]

My 12" 867 PB Rev A (thought of as the hottest one) is fine. Unless you're stressing the processor at 100% all the time, your fan won't come on too much. That being said, the lest palm rest (right over the hard drive does get warm. Its slightly uncomfortable, but not to the point where warping could happen.

[warra]

Thanks everyone, it was definitely a relief to read that. I'm definitely gonna buy a powerbook. About going to class; I was thinking of buying the sleeve from Radtech. Even so, I wouldn't be taking it to class every day.

[warra]

Quick question: Will the pb still get hot if it is kept open while connected to an external lcd or is it just as hot open or closed?

[lilrabbit129]

It does tend to get warm if run with an external LCD. It would be better to have the lid open. Even if you're running in clamshell mode (the built in LCD is off), having the lid open lets the air disappate through the keyboard and palm rests.

[Frans]

After 18 years of MS-DOS and Windows I can only suggest you to buy a mac: it works much smoother, it's much more intuitive and the new features of Tiger are great. If you need any tips on migrating (like how you can make a delete button) just let me know

[plasticman]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the quietness of the laptop. I used to have a Sony laptop in the past which I eventually stopped using, one of the main reasons for which was its noise. The powerbook is almost silent. Occasionally I hear a very faint whisper from the fan, but most of the time its very quiet

[shabbasuraj]

Originally Posted by warra

is the powerbook worth buying?

yes

[newsushi]

I bought my 12" PowerBook for my Senior year in college. I only wish I had had the funds to purchase it my Freshman year... My PowerBook was the largest boost in productivity that I have ever had. I took 22 hours of senior-level classes with intensive projects and seminars. I took on an enormous amount of work putting together a $10,000 public relations campaign, redesigned the school newspaper, edited several publications, etc etc. It was a tough semester, but without the PB, I wouldn't have been able to take on so much work AND get it all done.

Fortunately, I had a place to plug in my PB in the morning when I arrived, and in the afternoon while I was catching up before going home. Otherwise, my 12" battery lasts all day long. With the screen dimmed, my battery lasts longer than 7 hours. At full screen brightness, it lasts about 4-5. And I don't just do word processing and web surfing. I do heavy graphics rendering and layout, and typically have the entire Adobe Creative Suite open and in use. I also have to typically restart once or twice each day to free up RAM (and that's with 1.25GB of RAM) because of my memory-intensive graphics work.

But even using the machine intensively for 8+ hours every day, most of which was on battery, the head was never too much of a problem. Not only that, but even when the fans are on, it is far quieter than most laptops that I have had experience with. My GF's Dell inspiron sounds like a 747 by comparison. I actually get distracted by the whirring of her laptop's fans when we work together...so thank god for iTunes

The 12" is definately the PB to get, IMO. It is the dimensions of a piece of notebook paper and 1" thick. It has MORE than enough power to do nearly anything (unless you will be working extensively in 3D animation..which would be quite slow on this book), it's lightweight, and its stylish...what more could you want? Oh yes, wireless is built in, Airport Express ROCKS the house (I'm listening to lossless audio through my Yamaha receiver and Boston Acoustics reference bookshelf speakers right now...and it sounds great), built in bluetooth allows me to use my logitech mx900 wireless keyboard and mouse, and mini-DVI out allows me to use the monstor Dell 24" ultrasharp monitor (well, I don't actually HAVE it yet, but I will soon ). So, I have the power of a desktop (it's no dual G5, but it does what I need it to), in a 8.5" x 10" x 1" super sexy package. Perfect.

-NewSushi

[lilrabbit129]

I agree that the 12" form factor is very nice. IT's extremely portable and very light.

Now I might get flamed for this, but I recently saw one of my student's Vaios with a 13" widescreen LCD with x-brite. Wow, I was impressed. Not really with the computer but with the screen. It honestly looked like it would be the "little brother" of the 15" and 17" powerbooks. My suggestion to apple? On the next PB revision, have an all widescreen line up. 13.3", 15" and 17" all widescreen. I've seen mixed reviews on x-brite, it's very shiny and I can see how glare could be a huge problem, but it did look nice.

Don't get me wrong, my 12" PB still looked very nice next to his vaio, its just the first time that my PB was given a run for its money, by a PC, in style.

[Randman]

X-brite is overrated. Looks good at first but it's a bitch to do any serious work on, imo.

The 12 is indeed nice, I had a rev d model for a week when they came out but I still prefer my 17. Bigger screen, still portable, backit keyboard, able to hold more ram AND hop swappable batteries.

[b1NARY73]

I have had the pleasure of owning the most recent 17" and a Dell XPS. Hands down if I had to choose, I would keep my PowerBook. I would miss HL2, but there is more to life than playing games and getting fat..... . The XPS is actually my work laptop, I used to have a IBM thinkpad, which was nice, but this Dell is really nice, minus the lackluster OS that it came with.

[SassyPants]

I'm still contemplating getting a powerbook. Right now, my only issue is the performance...

it lags behind the wintels...and that's a disspointing truth...

anybody know if the PB's will be upgraded signifigantly to almost chase the performance of the wintels before summer ends?

[lilrabbit129]

If you compare performance of a Powerbook to a desktop PC, then yes there is a gap. If you compare them to a desktop replacement type wintel "laptop" then I would also agree that there is a gap. But if you compared say the 12" Powerbook with a similarly equipped and similarly weighted PC laptop then the Powerbook's performance will be even or outshine the competition.

[annasky]

I had just stopped at a Mac store today for the warped case on my powerbook g4. They told me it was a common problem and it's perfectly fine. They explained to me the metal contracts and expands due to the heat. So there you go, the reason the cases warps lies with the heat. I'm kinda mad cus I get annoyed knowing that my precious powerbook has a slight comestic imperfection and they won't fix it. But other than that, it's a very good computer, wont ever have to worry too much about spywares, popups, and viruses like you would with windows.

[itguy05]

Originally Posted by SassyPants

I'm still contemplating getting a powerbook. Right now, my only issue is the performance...

it lags behind the wintels...and that's a disspointing truth...

anybody know if the PB's will be upgraded signifigantly to almost chase the performance of the wintels before summer ends?

The performance is fine. It's not too laggy behind Wintel laptops. If anything, I'm more impressed with my PB 1.67's speed vs Wintel laptops - it holds its own.

[JoshuaZ]

Powerbooks make everyone envious of you. Go for it.

[yudman]

Is the powerbook worth it? Well hell, does the sun warm the earth? Of course it's worth it! You get it all, power, performance, sleek looks, and awesome resale price down the road when you want to upgrade. Once you go Mac, you never go back.

[wingdo]

I've had my 15" PB for over a year. I upped it to 2GB RAM and it has the 128MB VRAM option. This sucker gets very HOT playing WoW or EQ. I use an iPad when playing. That said, my PB is always turned on. It runs 24/7. I VNC in to it from work as it remains my primary e-mail machine as well as a file server.

I've never heard of any warping with books nor have I seen it on mine.

Buy the 'Book, you'll not regret it.

[iluvmymactoo]

This is my second PowerBook and I love it.

I do a lot of graphics work with Adobe CS2 and Painter IX and I don't hear the fan on this one. I'm sure my Rev C would heat up a little more than this one, but never to anything unusable.

Warping Neither of my PowerBooks have warped. I know a few people with PowerBooks of varying sizes and they don't have warping issues either.

I don't see the usefulness of comparing a PowerBook with a Windows laptop, you're talking two different chip sets and two completely different operating systems. I've been working in Adobe along side someone doing similar work on a windows lappie and to be honest my PowerBook performed far better (if that's the best way to compare?).

Should you buy a Mac? Of course you should.

[sadpandas]

yes, buy one. i am not launching rockets or making time machines so the power book is just right for my modest needs of recording audio, editing video, and graphic design.

[sadpandas]

double post sorry.

[warra]

Originally Posted by yudman

Is the powerbook worth it? Well hell, does the sun warm the earth?

Hahahaha nice yudman I like that one.

[SassyPants]

What about, with all this news about Apple switching from the PowerPC to Intel...

if it's goign to happen, is it still worth it to get a powerbook?

[Dinan]

Originally Posted by SassyPants

What about, with all this news about Apple switching from the PowerPC to Intel...

if it's goign to happen, is it still worth it to get a powerbook?

and what about the possible upgrade coming sometime later this summer..

[Bicyclist]

I'm a professional web designer and full time college student. I can fix just about any PC and I know Windows inside out.

I bought a 12" 1.5Ghz PowerBook to go along with my custom Athlon64 desktop.

The first PowerBook I got had a defective screen. Totally messed up, but I got a brand new one at the store the next day.

I also ordered a gig of ram. Pretty much necessary if you're going to do serious coding/image work. I just about always have Dreamweaver 2004 and Photoshop running. With the default 512mb, there is noticeable slowness, but 1.25gigs of ram fixed that.

Powerbook gets pretty hot, but only on the back, not the keyboard.

Also, there is a 100$ rebate on top of the student discount... if you're a student of course.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Besides gaming, this is pretty much a desktop replacement. Extra RAM is recommended for power users though.

[Link]

1.5ghz 15"er here, lovely machine and very sturday as I had hoped for when I first saw it. IMHO the heat is pretty relative to what you're doing, if yoou crank that sucker you're gonna get it warm quick, GPU intensive stuff seems to really do this, but when you would have the machine on your lap, it shouldn't be a problem.

[yudman]

Well, the results are in. Have you bought your powerbook or what?

[zerock]

i would go for it, but i decided against it, i have a titanium 1ghz 15", and upgrading to something like a 1.5ghz g4, its not worth it for me still..

[warra]

Yea I'm definitely gonna buy it this month sometime so i can get that rebate thing.

[warra]

Thanks everyone.

[yudman]

Originally Posted by warra

Hahahaha nice yudman I like that one.

And on the 8th day, God created Macs, and it was good.

[donkey]

I have a similar question on Powerbook. I'm looking for a used Powerbook with superdrive but there have been comments on the heat problem and dead pixels, etc. From what I heard, some rev has fewer problems than others. Can anyone tell me which rev is the most solidly built?

And if I prefer a HD with 5400 rpm, is my choice limited only to rev C or rev D? Is there a way of upgrading a faster HD?

Donkey