Would like to buy Powerbook G4 17"...have questions first...

[morris81]

It is time for me to decide on what platform to buy for the next 18 months. I am actually a little over due on my upgrade cycle. The last laptop I purchased was in June 2003. I am a long time PC user (4 laptops, numerous desktops) and am somewhat familar with unix and linux. I consider myself a mid-range gamer who does not need the resolution at 1600x1200 with 8x AA to enjoy gaming. I am sort of disappointed with the whole Sonoma platform from intel (although the dothan cpu just rocks). I have been considering for a long time whether or not to purchase a Powerbook. I believe now is the right time, but I have some questions about OS X and the iLife applications.

1. Is it possible for me to rip dvds to the powerbook and re-encode them in the iMovie HD so i can get hidef quality movies? (Could you link me to a faq or something that would show this)
2. I am aware macs aren't as good as a PC for gaming. I only play Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and UT 2k4. I am wondering at the native resolution of the 17" powerbook, how gaming is?
3. Battery life....I am going to get a second battery for this.....what's the avg. battery life for watching a movie on this

I will also be keeping my PC laptop and desktop (P4 3.6) so playing games or doing things not available on the Mac is not a problem or concern for me.

 

[Ecgtheow]

1. iMovie only works with DV from a camera so you can't do that. There are some tools for ripping DVDs, but you could never get hi-def quality video from a dvd.

2. There are Mac versions of all of those games, and I think they all support the wide aspect ratio of the PowerBook (a lot of other Mac games do, too). As for performance, Accelerate Your Mac might have some info on that.

3. It varies on usage. You should be able to get around four hours.

 

[Commodus]

1. There are DVD-ripping apps for the Mac (I don't use them and so don't have the names on-hand), but remember that modern-day DVDs are generally limited to 480p resolution; 1080 has to wait for Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD.

2. Gaming at 1440x900 won't be spectacular, but it'll be playable. If you want a Mac laptop that can run games truly well, you'd want to first see if the PowerBook G5 shows up in the summer or fall.

3. You'll at least be able to watch a full regular movie on a 17" PowerBook. It might be tempting fate to watch an extended-edition Lord of the Rings film.

Basically, with the 17" PowerBook G4 you really want to buy it because it's the lightest, thinnest 17" notebook, and because it runs OS X.

 

[morris81]

hey thanks for the advice! I appreciate it. I went to the apple store today to play with the 17" Powerbook more and its moved to the top of the list.

 

[Wuzup101]

They really are nice machines. You definitely should check out world of warcraft if you do decide to get a powerbook (or even if you decide on something in the PC realm). There are plenty of games on the mac, and though they don't run as well as they do on PCs, they are definitely playable. You can always game on your pc desktop, but if you're like me you'll fall in love with your powerbook and use it all the time. I do have a fairly decent home made PC... it's at home collecting dust. The 15" for me with a 19" external LCD is the perfect desktop replacement.

Hook yourself up with another 1gb stick of ram (for a total of 1.5gb) and you'll be very happy...

Honestly if I could afford a top of the line dual G5 powermac right now I would jump on one in a heartbeat. Macs arent cheap but OSX is awesome and soon will make you wonder why you ever put up with XP.

 

[DarkAmeba]

OSX is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have owned my 1.67hz 15" powerbook for only 2 days now, and i am already converted. I find myself using the mac for everything i possibly can. I say get the powerbook for sure, even if only for osx

 

[halfadder]

Learn to use the "Expose" feature and you'll be hooked on OS X for sure!

One thing that I had to overcome when I bought my PowerBook was the tendency to find and use Mac ports of existing Windows software, rather than seek out native Mac applications. For example, while Mac MS Office 2004 isn't too bad, I have found Nisus Writer Express to be a better "Mac OS X word processor" than Word. (Apple's "Pages", part of iWork, is a great app, but it's a page layour program like Publisher, it's not really a true word processor).

http://www.nisus.com/Express/

 

[SLCentral]

Any reason why you are going with the 17"? I found it hard to carry around when travelling, and the screen didn't seem signifcantly bigger then 15" to me. It's also quite a bit more expensive. But, besides that, all the Powerbooks are great laptops .

 

[Whaspe]

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Any reason why you are going with the 17"? I found it hard to carry around when travelling, and the screen didn't seem signifcantly bigger then 15" to me. It's also quite a bit more expensive. But, besides that, all the Powerbooks are great laptops .

There's only $100 dollar difference when you make the 15" have the same specs and the 17" and if you aren't going to have an external monitor then the 17" has more workspace.