Well, after a week and change of playing with my new Apple, I think I can safely write a review of it. I wanted to wait a while and play with it some before offering my thoughts. I will divide up this review into parts.
1) Initial Impressions / Design
2) Operation / Function
3) PC vs. Mac
4) Final Thoughts
Part 1--
After looking for a laptop for some time, I finally settled on an Apple. Others I considered were a Voodoo, a Fujitsu Lifebook, a Toshiba R200, and a Sony T or TX series. For one reason or another, none of those made the cut after seeing each one and testing it. I was looking for something small and lightweight, for word processing and using the Internet. I am a teacher, and I take it back and forth to school every day, do lesson plans on it, etc. Gaming and high-end graphics are not of importance.
Also, I am very picky, and am willing to spend extra money for something that looks good, a nice design. I simply wasn't finding anything. Somebody suggested I try an Apple. Being a lifelong PC user, I laughed at their ignorance and forgot about their silly idea. But I was walking through the mall and passed the Apple store, and thought why not. I wanted to look at the iPod videos anyway. Lo and behold, there sat the Apple Powerbook series. I was totally captivated by the clean, smooth design.
There isn't a PC laptop made (that I saw) that can compete with the Apple's clean lines and simple form. I was extremely impressed. The only drawback for me was the weight--4.6 pounds. I was shooting for around 2.5 to 3 pounds. Still, 4.6 is not that much more, and it is by no means bulky to carry around. The deciding factor was Apple's student / teacher discount (open to any teacher or college student). $200 off the Powerbook itself, plus $110 off the Applecare protection plan, and $200 off the 1 gig of RAM stick, which is the only upgrade I made. I ended up with the following specs--
12" PB G4
1.5 GhZ processor
1.25 gigs of RAM
80 gig HDD (100 available)
CD/DVD burner superdrive
3 years Applecare Service
The screen is 12.1 inches, with a 1024 X 780 max resolution. This is a decent size for a thin and light laptop, but a higher resolution would be nice. I have to bump the font size up a notch or two on websites. Here is a pic of the screen.
Part 2--
Operation of the computer is remarkably simple. It is pretty much ready to go out of the box, and Apple doesn't include a ton of free trials to every single company on earth. They do include some nice programs that are easy to remove if you want to. Of course, iTunes comes standard, as does some photo and video editing software. I haven't played too much with most of it. I plan to take a lot of it off. I did add MS Office for Apple, with Word, PowerPoint, and Entourage.
It comes with an Apple Airport card standard, so wireless networking is really easy. It connected immediately to my home network, and surprisingly, lets me connect to the network at school, even though I don't have the client software. Keychain is a great feature. It saves all your passwords and settings for each network you use and automatically logs you on to the one you need.
It also comes with Bluetooth 2.0 built in, and is very easy to connect to cell phones, or my desktop computer to share files.
Performance is more than acceptable, especially with the RAM upgrade. The one in the store only had 512, and files open noticeably faster, as well as multi-tasking much more efficiently. I would definitely spring for the upgrade if at all possible. Processor speed seems comparable to my Pentium 4 3.0 GhZ.
OS X Tiger is incredibly well laid-out, very intuitive and simple to use. I notice it doesn't seem you can tweak as much as Windows, but not much needs to be. It is definitely a more stable platform. I really enjoy using it. Dashboard is one of the greatest things ever.
The touchpad is great, just the right amount of sensitivity. I really like how, when you use two fingers on it, it scrolls. Great design.
Battery life is fair, averaging about 3 hours with all the power settings set to performance. I think 4 hours would be reasonable with some modifications to how it uses power.
Part 3--
Like I said, I am a lifelong PC user. I have never used a Mac before, and had many concerns about compatibility. Anybody who is looking at buying a Mac to complement or replace a PC, don't worry. Using Tiger is remarkably easy and intuitive. As far as compatability, I have transferred several files from my desktop PC, such as Explorer favorites, Word and PowerPoint files, images, music and movies, and no problems at all.
I find OS X much more intelligently designed than Windows, and far easier to use, especially in its organization of files and searching for them. I think it would be fair to say I prefer OS X over Windows on a daily use basis.
It will take some adjustment for some things, such as settings and preferences, but not too long. Nothing to worry about very much.
Part 4--
So is this the laptop for you? It depends. If portability is a big issue, and you need a full featured notebook, then I would give this one some serious consideration. It's extremely easy to use, and very portable without sacrificing standard features like an optical drive. This is a perfect laptop for students walking around campus, or people who travel a lot.
Screen resolution is an issue, especially if you don't see very well. A 15" PB with higher resolution might be better for you. Also, don't even think about running high-powered games on this. Not going to happen.
The single button mouse on the trackpad drives me nuts at times. I wish Apple would do away with that feature. And the shiny, beautiful aluminum case? Make sure to get something to cover it. You will need it. And on that note, I want to give a mention to Waterfield Designs, at SFbags.com. I already have a backpack I use, and their Sleevecase is a work of genius. It's a protective sleeve to slide a laptop into, which then goes in any bag you want. here are some pictures.
Well, thats it. Thats my review. I know it is short on technical specs, but those you can get on Apple's website. I wanted to give my impressions that you can't get until you live with it for a while. If there is anything I left out that you want to know, please IM me or reply to this review and I will let you know.
1) Initial Impressions / Design
2) Operation / Function
3) PC vs. Mac
4) Final Thoughts
Part 1--
After looking for a laptop for some time, I finally settled on an Apple. Others I considered were a Voodoo, a Fujitsu Lifebook, a Toshiba R200, and a Sony T or TX series. For one reason or another, none of those made the cut after seeing each one and testing it. I was looking for something small and lightweight, for word processing and using the Internet. I am a teacher, and I take it back and forth to school every day, do lesson plans on it, etc. Gaming and high-end graphics are not of importance.
Also, I am very picky, and am willing to spend extra money for something that looks good, a nice design. I simply wasn't finding anything. Somebody suggested I try an Apple. Being a lifelong PC user, I laughed at their ignorance and forgot about their silly idea. But I was walking through the mall and passed the Apple store, and thought why not. I wanted to look at the iPod videos anyway. Lo and behold, there sat the Apple Powerbook series. I was totally captivated by the clean, smooth design.
There isn't a PC laptop made (that I saw) that can compete with the Apple's clean lines and simple form. I was extremely impressed. The only drawback for me was the weight--4.6 pounds. I was shooting for around 2.5 to 3 pounds. Still, 4.6 is not that much more, and it is by no means bulky to carry around. The deciding factor was Apple's student / teacher discount (open to any teacher or college student). $200 off the Powerbook itself, plus $110 off the Applecare protection plan, and $200 off the 1 gig of RAM stick, which is the only upgrade I made. I ended up with the following specs--
12" PB G4
1.5 GhZ processor
1.25 gigs of RAM
80 gig HDD (100 available)
CD/DVD burner superdrive
3 years Applecare Service
The screen is 12.1 inches, with a 1024 X 780 max resolution. This is a decent size for a thin and light laptop, but a higher resolution would be nice. I have to bump the font size up a notch or two on websites. Here is a pic of the screen.
Part 2--
Operation of the computer is remarkably simple. It is pretty much ready to go out of the box, and Apple doesn't include a ton of free trials to every single company on earth. They do include some nice programs that are easy to remove if you want to. Of course, iTunes comes standard, as does some photo and video editing software. I haven't played too much with most of it. I plan to take a lot of it off. I did add MS Office for Apple, with Word, PowerPoint, and Entourage.
It comes with an Apple Airport card standard, so wireless networking is really easy. It connected immediately to my home network, and surprisingly, lets me connect to the network at school, even though I don't have the client software. Keychain is a great feature. It saves all your passwords and settings for each network you use and automatically logs you on to the one you need.
It also comes with Bluetooth 2.0 built in, and is very easy to connect to cell phones, or my desktop computer to share files.
Performance is more than acceptable, especially with the RAM upgrade. The one in the store only had 512, and files open noticeably faster, as well as multi-tasking much more efficiently. I would definitely spring for the upgrade if at all possible. Processor speed seems comparable to my Pentium 4 3.0 GhZ.
OS X Tiger is incredibly well laid-out, very intuitive and simple to use. I notice it doesn't seem you can tweak as much as Windows, but not much needs to be. It is definitely a more stable platform. I really enjoy using it. Dashboard is one of the greatest things ever.
The touchpad is great, just the right amount of sensitivity. I really like how, when you use two fingers on it, it scrolls. Great design.
Battery life is fair, averaging about 3 hours with all the power settings set to performance. I think 4 hours would be reasonable with some modifications to how it uses power.
Part 3--
Like I said, I am a lifelong PC user. I have never used a Mac before, and had many concerns about compatibility. Anybody who is looking at buying a Mac to complement or replace a PC, don't worry. Using Tiger is remarkably easy and intuitive. As far as compatability, I have transferred several files from my desktop PC, such as Explorer favorites, Word and PowerPoint files, images, music and movies, and no problems at all.
I find OS X much more intelligently designed than Windows, and far easier to use, especially in its organization of files and searching for them. I think it would be fair to say I prefer OS X over Windows on a daily use basis.
It will take some adjustment for some things, such as settings and preferences, but not too long. Nothing to worry about very much.
Part 4--
So is this the laptop for you? It depends. If portability is a big issue, and you need a full featured notebook, then I would give this one some serious consideration. It's extremely easy to use, and very portable without sacrificing standard features like an optical drive. This is a perfect laptop for students walking around campus, or people who travel a lot.
Screen resolution is an issue, especially if you don't see very well. A 15" PB with higher resolution might be better for you. Also, don't even think about running high-powered games on this. Not going to happen.
The single button mouse on the trackpad drives me nuts at times. I wish Apple would do away with that feature. And the shiny, beautiful aluminum case? Make sure to get something to cover it. You will need it. And on that note, I want to give a mention to Waterfield Designs, at SFbags.com. I already have a backpack I use, and their Sleevecase is a work of genius. It's a protective sleeve to slide a laptop into, which then goes in any bag you want. here are some pictures.
Well, thats it. Thats my review. I know it is short on technical specs, but those you can get on Apple's website. I wanted to give my impressions that you can't get until you live with it for a while. If there is anything I left out that you want to know, please IM me or reply to this review and I will let you know.
