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12" Powerbook: Slick and Sexy, But Not Without Issues

Posted by Hemos on from the looking-at-the-machine dept.

Gentu writes "Two very good reviews on the 12" Powerbook have been published today. The first review can be found at the Washington Post and is very positive but not very thorough, while the second one found at OSNews is an in-depth review of the popular Mac laptop, tackling down many issues that future purchasers should be aware of. 'The new 12" Powerbook is nothing more but an iBook on steroids with a G4 in it' OSNews concludes, but the overall read is very interesting."

3 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Has anyone got Linux running on one of these? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The question has to be why would you want it to boot into linux. Don't get me wrong, Linux is great, but if you've got OS X why do you want something that is basically the same (minor differences) but without the flexibility of running all your aqua apps.
    Bob

  2. Re:MHz vs. GHz by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Is apple falling way behind? How do these systems compete with the 2 and 3 GHz intel systems coming out?
    How fast is the processor actually running on those portable 2 and 3 GHz intel systems? When running full speed, how much battery life are they seeing?

    I'll bet you still can't watch a DVD straight through while on battery with those intel systems.

    --
    NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
  3. iBook on Steroids by P.+Niss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The new 12" Powerbook is nothing more but an iBook on steroids with a G4 in it.

    I understand that this isn't necessarily intended as a positive comment, but isn't this exactly what a lot of potential Apple laptop customers have wanted? I purchased an iBook right after the revision in May 2001, and replaced it with a 15" PowerBook G4 last fall. I've enjoyed having the better performance, particularly when running Virtual PC, but I miss the smaller form factor and more convenient portability of the iBook. To me, an "iBook on steroids" would have been just what I was looking for, and my understanding was that a lot of folks who loved the iBook but needed better performance felt similarly. I think the bottom line is that, if you approach this from the high end of wanting a PowerBook, just a little smaller, you risk disappointment, but if you approach it from the lower end of wanting an iBook, just with a little more oomph, you'll be fairly satisfied.