Powerbook G4 15" or MacBook?

[jwkay]

I've been looking at upgrading my 12" PB since the MacBooks came out. At the moment, I'm weighing up two alternatives.

a) new MacBook - black variant with 1GB RAM
b) 6month old 15" PB G4 - final model with 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm

The Powerbook is USD 160 more than the MacBook, but seems to be a lot more machine in many respects. I much prefer the Aluminium, and find the PB keyboards very nice to work with. It's also got more RAM, VRAM and a fast hard drive.

I'm not bothered about Windows compatability, and this would not be my primary machine, either - that's a dual G5 - but for working (Sibelius music scoring, Keynote presentations etc) on the road.

What do you think? PB or MB in this case?

 

[dylan]

I'd go with the MacBook. It's more future-proof and I think Apple is going to have some nice perks for Intel users down the line. Also Universal Binaries aren't going to be around forever.

Just go with the newest then you shouldn't have any regrets.

 

[Warbrain]

Personally, I would go with the Powerbook. The MacBook is going to have problems as more people being to use them more, and you don't want to subject yourself to those issues. The Powerbook is fairly bug-free and there are plenty of programs that will run on it with no problem since they've been compiled for PPC for years.

Unlike the person above me, I doubt that Apple will have any nice perks for the Intel users except for a few minimal features. Apple isn't so much worried about getting everyone onto an Intel Mac as soon as possible rather than supporting the old computers all the way through the transition and slowly get people to the new processors.

 

[tristan]

The PB seems overpriced to me.

 

[Temujin]

If the PB has the "Lines" then I would go with the MB. If not then I would go with the MB Intel = future

 

[jwkay]

Personally, I would go with the Powerbook. The MacBook is going to have problems as more people being to use them more, and you don't want to subject yourself to those issues. The Powerbook is fairly bug-free and there are plenty of programs that will run on it with no problem since they've been compiled for PPC for years. .

That's one of my concerns: I've had Revision A products from Apple before, and got tired of the number of times I had to return them. The PowerBook is a tried and tested system compared to the MacBook. Also, Sibelius is not Universal Binary and won't be until it's next major release. That would be next year at the earliest, given that there's recently been a major release (v4).

On the other hand, I can well understand the temptation to go for the absolute latest kit.

Pricewise I should've mentioned that a Acme Slim Cargo case accompanies the PowerBook.

 

[UKnjb]

I have a PB G4 and it just does everything for me (very little video editing, but everything else). I've had a look at the MB and I cannot find anything on it that seems to say "Buy Me!". And all the stuff on these forums seems to say "Don't buy me yet!".

 

[qua]

Mbp

I got a 15" MBP / 2gig duoC from the very first shipments and have had NONE of the publicized problems. This leads me to believe that most are quality control issues. No overheating, no display lines, no freezing, no whine whatsoever (can hear a clean woosh of a fan if you place your ear right on the machine). Ditto for my brother's so far (he's only had it two weeks).

Rev.A machines are a risk, but so is life. I've had problems with others so I've been there. But, I'll continue to try to live on the bleeding edge.