h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Powerbook time? Maybe.
Who needs money anyway?

What would god, er... Bill say?

I'll send you my little apple keychain!

*counts the number of powerbooks appearing everywhere* Floor 42 the portable powerbook community?

Just got a message from my (sort of) brother in law, aka the Mac Ninja...oh it's all so scary. I mean, I'd hang on to the desktop of course, I've gotten used to it and I even like it most of the time (shh it can hear me I swear!)

And sadly there are only two real reasons for me wanting to go for an Powerbook -
1) work - they're a tad more suited for graphics
and
2) they have a great loan program

Actually 3 - I was raised on Apple IIs, and later Macs...and I miss them in a weird nostalgic kind of way...

Believe me, if you go for the PowerBook, you won't be sorry.

Well, at least until they release the new faster, better, cheaper models early next year. But that's always the case...

The best deals at this point are probably online, but you might want to do yourself a favor and compare stuff at a store (hey, get out into the world ) before you make a final decision. Even moreso than most desktops you want to be sure you can live with the thing, especially if you're considering the iBook model. If you really want to use it as your main computer, you're probably going to want to pony up the extra bucks for at least the PowerBook G3/333, if only for the 14.1" screen, PC-Card slot, etc., the things they left out of the iBook to make it cost less....

what he said.

Well you know me, must go with the super-toys when it's my own non-existent money on the line...
The iBook looks too darn slow to me. This would be used primarily for Photoshop (yee hah, another five hundred bucks!) and other memory hogs. So I was thinking the Powerbook G3 with 256MB - or am I going overboard here? I remember "building my own" at the Apple store and it ended up at some ridiculous number like $4199 - the only thing I have in my favor is I don't need a gazillion gig hard drive - the minimum will do (since the desktop has 9 gigs and even with every silly superfluous program I own on it, it's only using about 2 gigs).
Unfortunately I simply can't pay for the whole thing at once, it's just not an option right now. Which means either I have to take out a loan from the bank or buy it on some sort of payment plan, or there's another option that I don't even want to think about...
Oh yeah and availability is a factor, too, since I'll need to be producing work on this thing by the end of December. Hmm.
I need time, darnit! I can't believe I'm going away for two weeks in a matter of days (okay in a week and a half or so). I'm wondering if I can get by with my mom's Toshiba laptop, which I know I can't. Grr. I hate being pressured into new toys, I think they're much more fun on a whim

Well, not to talk to myself or anything but...
It looks like I'm not going to be taking any sort of plunge just yet, thankfully. I've just arranged for a Photoshop capable loaner (PC) for the duration of my trip to Denver, so problem solved. Probably better to get one after the holidays anyway, when I'm a bit more clear headed about the financial situation.
Is Mac, in fact, coming out with something even more fantabulous at the beginning of the year?

Well, here's the keys:

1) Don't buy your RAM from the place where you buy your system. This is a given. RAM is much cheaper from other places, and it is in fact rather easy to install.

2) Don't buy your system direct from Apple. It's perfectly okay to buy from an authorized reseller, and some of the catalog types will be offering slightly better deals. On the 400 they'll be better by a couple hundred bucks.

The iBook is no slouch when it comes to speed, but I think the real key with Photoshop is going to be that bigger screen plus a lot of RAM. The iBook only has one RAM slot if I recall, limiting its potential. The 400 will give a noticeable increase over the 333 (which is what I have) but at a price that's pretty dear.

The best place to try may be ClubMac (http://www.club-mac.com/). They allow for custom configs and will be cheaper than Apple. Availability may be tight. Don't buy your extra memory from them. If you want a cheaper 400, you can opt for the CD-ROM instead of the DVD-ROM. You can also settle for less memory now and add more later. The standard 64 is too little, though. (I bought an extra 64 for a total of 128.)

Heh, scratch all that then. Well, there is definitely a new PowerBook line coming. It's the last of the 4 product lines that hasn't been recently revised. They will run at faster speeds (possibly topping out with a 500MHz; the base may be 350 or even 400MHz, G3s still, though, not G4s yet by all accounts I've heard). They'll be cheaper for equivalent or better specs. They may be released as early as the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, which is January 4-8, so in this case I would wait at least that long. More recent rumblings suggest they may not be ready until a month or two after that, so who knows, but wait at least that long if you can.

D'oh! Simultaneous posting gets us again!

Good tips, Greg, thanks. I must say I'm a bit wary of installing RAM myself. In fact I have some for my desktop just sitting here waiting for Casey to come over and install it for me (he does it all the time at work). I don't know, something about the "must be done in a static environment" warnings renders images of me in one of those quarantine suits out of a global-killing-virus tv movie

So the point is if I end up getting one of these suckers, you're going to have to tinker with it for me!

Tips may not apply for new ones, especially if getting it soon is an important factor, because for a new model you'll likely get it soonest from the Apple Store.

Another thing to consider is that the current model may serve you well, and the price should drop considerably on any leftovers once the new model is introduced.

I'll be more than happy to help you with any of it, you know that. Anything to bring you back to the right team.

Ooh I hope KM doesn't read this thread, you'll be in trouble!

Yes, well, I guess there's no helping some people.

*pretends to be KM for a minute* A mac what do you think you're doing

*Turns back to be Ant* Don't by an ibook they weigh a ton and the keyboard is horrible, go for a powerbook, and remember this is from a PII 400mhz PC owning laptop boy, besides all the editors at h2g2 have powerbooks

*throws open door*

And just WHAT is going on here?

*covers Kate's ears*

Greg! You know better than that!

No... no, you don't.

Well grrrrr anyway!

I think I shall never understand these Mac-enthusiasts. Not all of them, mind you. The ones who simply *use* Macs are perfecly understandable. It's the... the... Jehovah's Witness type that puzzle me.

Don't make me call a SWUBAG meeting. You know I'll do it.

You know better than that. I'm only the "Jehovah's Witness type" as a joke.

The iBook is heavier, but its battery lasts longer. Some people like the funky look. It's actually more rugged than the PowerBook. It lacks several features of the PowerBook, though, in addition to the obvious appearance stuff.

And you know damn well you can't compare MHz to MHz, of course.

Uh-oh. What have we here?

I'm awfully dissapointed with this thread.

And Kate, you said you grew up on Apple IIs and Macs and that makes you MISS them?!? I grew up on an Apple IIGs and that made me despise them!

KM, a SWUBAG meeting is absolutely necessary. Since you're the president, you should call one now.

OH, wait, since we're the only two members, that doesn't really work. We're both already here.

You know, everything was calm and rational until you two showed up.

BANANA PANCAKE!!!

WOO WHOO!

*Dives off the countertop into a jar of peanutbutter*

Mmm crunchy!