Getting an Apple Powerbook
#21
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
One thing you will find though is that although there is a premium for the hardware the long term software cost is lower since your not being nickel and dimed for every little utility you need.
There are lots of software packages out there for free for osx. Its stupid to pay like $40 for an application like a cd label printing program yet windows users are generaly forced to do that sort of thing day in and day out.
Most windows users resort to shareware but technicaly they should still be paying $20 or so for software. Over the course of the life of the machine the software charges add up.
There are lots of software packages out there for free for osx. Its stupid to pay like $40 for an application like a cd label printing program yet windows users are generaly forced to do that sort of thing day in and day out.
Most windows users resort to shareware but technicaly they should still be paying $20 or so for software. Over the course of the life of the machine the software charges add up.
#22
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
Not to overstate this, but you just about want to buy extra RAM *first*, and have it waiting to install when the computer comes home before you even boot it up the first time. Just be aware that Macs are finicky about regarding IC timings, so pay the extra $10 or so for memory qualified to work in your box, to avoid nasty problems. Dealmac has an excellent page called dealRam to find quality, inexpensive memory.
Originally Posted by Jason
My first post from my new Powerbook! I went with the 1.67 Ghz G4 15" with the standard 512 memory. I plan on upgrading the RAM third-party soon. $2099 with a Superdrive and a student discount.
#23
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
Originally Posted by hiram6
Hmm, battery life doesn't sound right, unless that big ole screen really gobbles it up. My 12 inch iBook gets easily 2.5 to 3 hours out of a charge.
Also, the keyboard is not all that sturdy against claws. In case you have a huge dog who likes to type... I do.
#25
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
Not sure about the cost of batteries. Mine were replace for free, but I'm not sure if that's because the warranty really covered them or if my husband stood there and gave the Apple guys the stink eye...
#26
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
My trusty old Dell Inspiron gets about 4 hours to a single battery charge, sometimes more. That may actually be worse than getting 2.5 in your powerbook, because it's 4 hours with Windows - I'd rather have half that with OS X.
Good point, hiram! One of these days I'll upgrade, just like I did with my car.
We all paid a premium for our Hybrids over a comparable ICE-only car. People are just willing to pay more if it's something that's worthwhile to them. Macs vs PCs is no different.
#27
Re: Getting an Apple Powerbook
I would love a PowerBook, but I really can't afford one.
However, no matter the laptop I would run a good desktop Linux on it, like MEPIS because I'm just as sick of Windows as the next guy, or gal. I'm running it on my old P400 Toshiba and it's beautiful, although a bit slow, but so was XP.
I'm actually running Debian Linux on my old PowerPC G3 Beige minitower as a webserver. It's been up 194 days without a hiccup. I started using the some of the software that's standard equipment in Linux distros on Mac OSX via the Fink program where you can download debian packages of software compiled for OSX, like The GIMP and XMMS, two excellent open-source projects.
Once you get comfortable with Linux, Windows becomes even more of a pain in the *** to use. There's so many features that make life a lot easier in KDE, it's hard to enumerate them all, until I sit at a Windows machine.
MEPIS is an excellent Linux distro, it's based on Debian so there's over 12,000 (or whatever it's at now) packages of software available for it, and it's a live, installable CD so that means you just pop it in, reboot and it runs straight from the CD without installing or even touching the HD, unless you want to. Usually takes about 15 minutes to install on my 1Ghz Celeron, faster on better machines.
However, no matter the laptop I would run a good desktop Linux on it, like MEPIS because I'm just as sick of Windows as the next guy, or gal. I'm running it on my old P400 Toshiba and it's beautiful, although a bit slow, but so was XP.
I'm actually running Debian Linux on my old PowerPC G3 Beige minitower as a webserver. It's been up 194 days without a hiccup. I started using the some of the software that's standard equipment in Linux distros on Mac OSX via the Fink program where you can download debian packages of software compiled for OSX, like The GIMP and XMMS, two excellent open-source projects.
Once you get comfortable with Linux, Windows becomes even more of a pain in the *** to use. There's so many features that make life a lot easier in KDE, it's hard to enumerate them all, until I sit at a Windows machine.
MEPIS is an excellent Linux distro, it's based on Debian so there's over 12,000 (or whatever it's at now) packages of software available for it, and it's a live, installable CD so that means you just pop it in, reboot and it runs straight from the CD without installing or even touching the HD, unless you want to. Usually takes about 15 minutes to install on my 1Ghz Celeron, faster on better machines.
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07-27-2006 12:15 PM