I need a teeny, light-weight, reasonably fast laptop. I thought that would be the 12" Powerbook, but now I'm not so sure.
Me: A film student, doing a lot of screenwriting. Most of my editing happens in a lab on campus, but I'd like to start working with Final Cut on my own. Also, recently addicted to downloading episodes of Battlestar Galactica off iTunes, and British sci-fi off Bit-Torrent.
My current computer is a 2001 IBM Thinkpad, which has run like a dream since the day I bought it. But it has been too heavy (almost 7 lbs), too power hungry (2 hours max battery life) and too big (barely fits on an airline tray) from day one. It has an internal glitch that has to be serviced (the CD/DVD drive keeps losing power) and my downloads are eating the hard drive. It's time to get a new primary machine.
Whatever I buy, it will have to hold up for at least two and a half years. That's just who I am. Also, I have to buy new, from an authorized dealer. I've thought about buying something under warranty from Ebay, but I don't have the guts.
I can't talk to the Apple Store guys. When I mention that I might hunt up a 12" Powerbook on Amazon.com, they look at me like I kicked their mom. People here with Powerbooks are glad to have them, but no one's talking about buying one new, today.
I want something small and light and reasonably fast. The MBP are too heavy. The MB are a maybe, but only if they make sense. My biggest fear is that I buy the 12" Powerbook, settle in, and come September, a teeeny aluminum MacBook Pro is born and I want to kill myself.
A thought: My husband uses an equally ancient eMac. If I like the 12" Powerbook, but it's just too slow to handle Final Cut, I could always bully him into a new machine, and use that.
Me: A film student, doing a lot of screenwriting. Most of my editing happens in a lab on campus, but I'd like to start working with Final Cut on my own. Also, recently addicted to downloading episodes of Battlestar Galactica off iTunes, and British sci-fi off Bit-Torrent.
My current computer is a 2001 IBM Thinkpad, which has run like a dream since the day I bought it. But it has been too heavy (almost 7 lbs), too power hungry (2 hours max battery life) and too big (barely fits on an airline tray) from day one. It has an internal glitch that has to be serviced (the CD/DVD drive keeps losing power) and my downloads are eating the hard drive. It's time to get a new primary machine.
Whatever I buy, it will have to hold up for at least two and a half years. That's just who I am. Also, I have to buy new, from an authorized dealer. I've thought about buying something under warranty from Ebay, but I don't have the guts.
I can't talk to the Apple Store guys. When I mention that I might hunt up a 12" Powerbook on Amazon.com, they look at me like I kicked their mom. People here with Powerbooks are glad to have them, but no one's talking about buying one new, today.
I want something small and light and reasonably fast. The MBP are too heavy. The MB are a maybe, but only if they make sense. My biggest fear is that I buy the 12" Powerbook, settle in, and come September, a teeeny aluminum MacBook Pro is born and I want to kill myself.
A thought: My husband uses an equally ancient eMac. If I like the 12" Powerbook, but it's just too slow to handle Final Cut, I could always bully him into a new machine, and use that.
